Nong Poonsukwattana

About the Guest: Nong was born in Bangkok, Thailand. From the time she was a little girl, her mother, the sole provider for the family, taught her not only how to cook but also how to be strong. Nong arrived in Portland with two suitcases, $70 in her pocket and a whole lot of ambition. When she got her first job working at a buffet restaurant, she could barely speak English. After honing her skills at local Thai restaurants, such as Pok Pok, Nong opened Nong’s Khao Man Gai food cart in 2009 and quickly received substantial international attention and critical acclaim.

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Rhiannon:  Welcome to this month’s AMA with entrepreneur and chef Nong Poonsukwattana. Thank you, Nong, for speaking with us today. We have some really interesting questions from our members, so let’s dive right in. The first two questions were from Sasi. His first question is what would you tell young kids growing up in the United States in a very comfortable life and who have not been through incredible adversity that you have fought through to inspire them to achieve what you have achieved.