(lee aoki, nancy kikuchi, me, and cooke sunoo)
i went to little tokyo service center to meet up with my new business counselor, lee aoki. also at the meeting were cooke sunoo, director of the asian pacific islander small business program, and nancy kikuchi, who, until today, was my business counselor. i met nancy in 2003, handed her my business plan for my first restaurant, and asked her to help me get a bank loan. what i got instead was so much more. nancy taught me how to select a good contractor for the kitchen build-out, a good accountant to handle the dizzying amount of filings that go with running a small business, and a good restaurant equipment supplier. she also calmed me down when i made my first major business mistake: impulsively signing a lease without negotiating the terms. and after she successfully got me a wells fargo loan and saw me open my doors to my first restaurant, she sent out postcards to everyone she knew to tell them about the grand opening. all along the way, she was always supportive and encouraging, truly believing in my vision for the restaurant.business is a game of nerves and nancy was someone i could always turn to to remind me that my food and business instincts are good. thanks, nancy, i miss you already.
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