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Bio:
Romannee L. Swasdee, Ph.D, as known to all her friends as ?Foo? or ?Dr. Foo?, is a native of Thailand. Foo received her Bachelor of Science Degree in the field of Food Technology from Chulalongkorn, the oldest and most prestigious university in Thailand. After graduation, she worked as a food scientist for Thailand Scientific Research Institute, where she was granted a scholarship from the USAID, in conjunction with a support grant from the UNICEF, a division of United Nations to study her Master of Science degree in the field of Food Science at Texas A&M University. Foo also received her doctorate degree in Food Science from Texas A&M with funding from Tom Slick?s Foundation.
After graduation, Foo joined the Research Department Team at KELLOGG?S in Battlecreek, Michigan for four years before she moved back to Texas to pursue her dream of making Thai foods for the U.S. market. Following her dream and her grandfather?s teaching of the ?Four Necessities in Life,? Foo moved to Austin to join her best friend Pink in opening KIKUYA Boutique, one of the best lady's clothing stores in Austin in 1984. However, Foo continued pursuing her passion in food and follow her grandfather?s teaching. In 1987, Foo opened SATAY Restaurant as a testing ground for her future ?SATAY, Authentic Thai food products.?
SATAY Restaurant has been a success in serving Austinites for over 16 years. SATAY?s Authentic Thai food products are also a success, with more than 10 SKUs including GEMSUGAR, a natural-colored sugar, and JAKARTA Indonesian Cuisine distributed nationwide. Besides SATAY?s venture, Foo also opened ?Thai Noodle House? (TNH) at 26th and Guadalupe to serve her healthy Thai cuisine for the students, staff, and the neighborhood around campus. The success of TNH led her to open a potential franchise prototype in Round Rock, but the unit was not successful due to a bad location, the September 11 incident, and an economic downturn in Austin. Although this particular unit was not successful, the prototype has been picked up by other business groups in other states for a future franchise development under a different name and concept.
Most recently, Foo opened SATAY Express, a ?grab-and-go? Thai food for take-out in a little corner suite right next to SATAY Restaurant on Anderson Lane, and co-founded SDF Specialty Food, LLC in Austin to co-pack specialty sauces and other food products for U.S. market. In addition to directing the three food establishments, Foo also does consulting work for food businesses in other states, teaches Thai and other Asian cooking classes, and creates and develops food products for several major food service chains around the country. Foo continues to voluntarily serve as the ambassador of Thai cuisine and Thai culture due to her strong belief in her Thai heritage and her passion for Thai cooking since childhood. Foo always makes herself available and provides services from her restaurants to any non-profit organization that would help make Austin a better place to live.
Community involvement:
Foo has been involved in many community organizations, from being part of the team, serving on the board, or simply helping their fundraisers. Her board service includes the following:
*Women Chamber of Commerce of Texas,Board member
*Texas Asian Chamber of Commerce, Board member
*Lone-Star Girl Scouts, 2003 Women of Distinction Awardee
*Sustainable Food Center Austin, Advisory Board Member
*Greencorn Project, Ex Board member
*Austin Children Museum, Ex Board Member
*Austin Community College, International Business Council, Board of Trustee
*Thai Association of Central Texas, Ex Board member & VP
*Star Chefs for Savuer Texas Hill Country Wine& Food Festival for many years
Foo and SATAY also participate in many local non-profit organizations/charity events such as The Taste of Austin, KLRU-Austin City Limits, AIDS Service of Austin, and many local school programs.
Person most admired:
My hero and mentor, whom I most admire, is my grandfather who taught me since I was 4 years old that, "Everything you do now reflects you later." As I was growing up, he began teaching me about career development and how to be my best in following my dream. He taught me to follow my career dream through "four necessities in life--food, clothes, housing, and medicine". I chose food.
Favorite book:
My favorite book is "Rich Dad Poor Dad" because it reflects many parts of my own life story, and it also teaches me many good lessons on how to change and control my personal financial status.
What I enjoy most about my work:
The most enjoyable part about my work is working with food and ingredients. I enjoy creating and cooking dishes, either from my Mom's recipes, my own recipes, or any recipes that I get from friends, other chef friends, cookbooks, the restaurants I've visited around the world. I find great enjoyment from challenging recipes that are not working for someone else and making them work--either for them or for me.
Greatest accomplishment:
My biggest accomplishment is buying a permanent home for my Mom and my family in Thailand. After we lost everything in a fire when I was growing up as a teenager in Bangkok, Thailand, we had to live with friends and relatives because we could not afford to pay rent. Coming to America changed my life, and opened the world for me to explore my personal and business financial opportunities.
Greatest challenge:
My greatest challenge was to take my recipes from a kitchen scale to a bigger scale. This includes manufacturing and marketing Thai food products in and from Austin, Texas. I made my products from my passion of Thai cooking and wanted to have full control of the quality of my products. I did not want anyone else to make my products until I was certain that they cared. Due to the high costs and difficulties in procurement of Thai ingredients from the local market to make my natural Thai foods, I had to be very creative about marketing my products which are considered "in a high price range" for the Asian category.
Advances I envision in my field over the next 10 years:
I foresee that I can create any food product and market them all through the distribution channels I have built in the last 14 years. I have also established myself and my company to be the experts in Asian food manufacturing and consulting for the world of food service industry through Internet access around the world. My dream of having SATAY/SATAY Express/Thai Noodle House in every corner of the world is realistic, but it may be disguised in a different form, presentation, and format than the original names.
Strategies to maintain balance in my life:
My strategy to maintain balance in my life is to prioritize everything I do. I believe that family relationship plays the most important role in my business life. Therefore, my family, in this case, my husband, Dr. Manot Swasdee, is my first priority. When it comes to business, I have to juggle among all four businesses, but my employees are my first priority. For other projects that I am involved with, my community is my first priority.
Advice for emerging entrepreneurs:
My advice to the emerging entrepreneurs is to balance their passion with reality. Focus on what they can do best, and make it a success before emerging themselves into all the things that they love to do. In a way, it is important to stay "focused" but also to keep the idea of "not putting all your eggs in one basket" in your mind all the time.
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