Meet The Superwomen Defining Shanghai's F&B Scene

Gender role stereotypes exist in most careers, and the F&B industry is certainly no exception. But more than ever these days you can find strong, beautiful, independent women breaking glass ceilings and carving their own paths. We thought it a perfect time to highlight some of Shanghai’s very own F&B superwomen.  They are gorgeous, inspiring, tireless workers who are able to handle more in a day than most of us do all week. 

PRISCILLA AMUSE

Food writer for 100lb Foodie and Jun and Priscilla. Lemon explorer

How did you get to where you are now

Jun (my husband) and I started a private kitchen in Hong Kong, as a hobby. We were fortunate to have been discovered by the hotel and invited to run a restaurant with them. I always enjoy writing, so I began writing reviews. That's how I gathered more attention in the industry. Frankly though, I'd love to explore more about food cultures and knowledge. Being on this documentary filming journey has been inspiring. I wish to share my experience and insights with others. I'm very grateful for the opportunities. I'm still far from my goals, but I'm glad to be moving forward.

Any advice for young women?

I have come to realize successful people might not be the smartest of all, but they are certainly the most focused and persistent. The first step is to understand yourself, and what you want to be. Then focus, and persist. There are countless obstacles, big or small, on the road of life. If you know where your goal is, fall and get back up, and move forward.

DALIAH

Owner of Daliah

How did you get to where you are now?

A toxic mixture of 10% lightheadedness, 10% audacity & 80% insanity. It actually makes absolutely no sense…I studied medicine and art. I worked in research, as a free lance photographer, art director, hedonist and day-dreamer. Now I am here. So it is basically about trying new things and not being afraid.

Any advice for young women?

Support each other, collaborate with other women, question social norms and redefine the future for yourself #girlpower  

CAMDEN HAUGE

Owner / operator - EGG breakfast + bakery, Founding Partner - SOCIAL SUPPLY, Founder - Shanghai Supperclub

How did you get to where you are now?

I arrived in Shanghai from New Jersey via London with the desire to get into F+B. After one year, I started renegade dining club, and event production company Shanghai Supperclub, which hosts dinners each month featuring a new chef. After one more year, I quit my job to work towards EGG, which opened in summer 2015.

Meanwhile, as Shanghai Supperclub received more and more requests for bespoke dinners and parties, in early 2016 Olivia Mok and I co-founded SOCIAL SUPPLY, an umbrella full-scale event production company, to handle these requests while still running the monthly Supperclub dinners.

Any advice for young women?

Working hard is good, but working smart is better

Be humble - learn to accept others' help

Don't be afraid of the numbers

Try to seek a healthy balance - you can't make good decisions or lead a team if you're a shell of yourself!

HEATHER

Head Baker/Recipe Developer for Cinnaswirl

How did you get to where you are now?

I have always been into creating and experimenting with new recipes. I love science and chemistry so learning about food on a molecular level is exciting to me! My husband and I came to China over six years ago without jobs and it required a lot of creativity to match my tiny monthly grocery budget with my passion for cooking gourmet food. I get so much joy out of amazingly good food, especially when I can share that feeling with others. That’s why I documented my cooking on a food blog. My cinnamon roll recipe has always been a favorite with everyone. As I was looking for a job to help supporting our family, the timing was perfect to start a home based business. My husband gave a lot of his free time and his expertise to help with starting CinnaSwirl as a home delivery business. Two years ago we received funding to open our store and at present we are working towards opening 3-4 more stores in the coming year. I currently work less at CinnaSwirl and more on developing new products and concepts.

Any advice for young women?

Find out what you're most passionate about and build your life around those things.

Work hard.  No one is going to do it for you. One of the most self- validating things you can do is to know that you achieved something through hard work and dedication.

Be kind to yourself. There might be times when you're stuck and don't know which way to go forward. When those days happen, give yourself love and patience. Remind yourself that everyone has days like that. Make an emotional connection with yourself and give the love and care you need. That may involve ice cream and a pedicure before you are ready to face the challenges again. But you will achieve your dreams.

SEPHANIE

Founder and CEO of FSJUICE

How did you get to where you are now?

I was born in Shanghai, studied and worked aboard for a long time before came back to Shanghai. Growing up I was allergic to caffeine and has always been a juice lover. It was always easy to find high quality juices in the US but not so at all here even in Shanghai. That appeared to be an obvious opportunity to start something on my own - to make truly natural and healthy juices as accessible as possible. Building a juice business is far more complicated than the simple idea itself, but it turned out to be the most rewarding decision I’ve ever made.

Any advice for young women?

Live your life to the fullest. Find where your passion lies and go for it completely. It will feel totally different when you work for a life rather than for a living.

LINDSEY

Founder and CEO of Happy Buddha and Serenity Foods China

How did you get to where you are now?

An obsession with food is how it all started. I became a vegetarian but had no idea how to cook. Soon I became interested in learning how to convert my favorite comfort foods into their vegetarian version.

I just continued to learn to cook at home with lot of trial and error. One of the things I started making a lot was seitan, a wheat gluten product. When I was happy with the recipe I started selling it.

I didn't stay satisfied for long! With the help of my business partner Lesley, we opened our first vegetarian comfort food café in Jiashan Market. It was a huge learning curve! Step by step we learned, made mistakes and finally started to grow.

 I got where I am due to my passion for cooking and feeding people, the encouragement of my husband and friends, and the best team anyone could ask for. The partners and staff have been through a lot, and since we are still young and growing, they continue to work extremely hard in spite of all of the difficulties. I love them like family.

Any advice for young women?

Do what you love and do it as soon as you can.

Ask for help and advice when you need it. The Shanghai community is so supportive

Believe in yourself! You are stronger than you think.

WENYI & JIAYI HUANG

Owners, Little Catch

How did you get to where you are now?

If you had told us 5 years ago we would have ended up in F&B, we would never have believed you :) We were pursuing more ‘traditional’ forms of employment before the opportunity came up to start in the seafood industry. From there, things just gradually evolved - a mixture of luck, and just a small risk to seize an opportunity to follow our interests and create something. And here we are!

Any advice for young women?

We’re very lucky there are two of us to work as a team and watch each other’s back, so I would definitely encourage everyone to find good mentors and peers you trust and respect.  Other than that, well, everything as a learning opportunity or experience, you never know where it might lead. Work hard, be humble cause the world owes you nothing, but don’t let people push you around, especially based on your gender.

ELIZABETH

Founder of Lizzy's All Natural

How did you get to where you are now?

I launched Lizzy’s All Natural in spring 2014. I am a certified Holistic Health Coach. I moved to Shanghai three years ago from the US. I've always blended green smoothies for myself and when I saw the positive results my clients had too, I launched my line of superfood smoothies. 

My dream is to educate and empower my generation in China about our health and how to use food as a tool for healing and nourishing. I have only made it so far because of the love and support of the community which has embraced the green smoothies, and because of the hard work and care from my team. I feel so fortunate to be working with really passionate people who share our mission to make a positive difference. As a Health Coach, I also try my best to live the principles I teach my clients: find holistic ways to manage stress (yoga, meditation, breathing), get good quality and enough sleep, eat whole foods plant based high quality diet, stay hydrated and make time to balance time for your career with developing meaningful relationships. I definitely do not sleep enough, but owning a smoothie bar with 24/7 access to kale helps to maintain stellar nutrition :) 

Any advice for young women?

Try to build your life and a career around something you feel really passionate about. Society in general may measure the currency of success in the form of money. Don't sacrifice your joy for the expectations of others. Listen to your intuition and follow what you are called to do, even though the journey may require more courage or be more difficult in the short term.

Shanghai is an amazing place for anyone looking to try a project. The community is incredibly supportive and helpful if you ask for it, and the cost of trying out a new concept is lower than in the West. Don't be afraid to fail! Don't be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone. If you have good intentions and are willing to really work hard and hustle, the universe will conspire in your favor.