Edward Quach: The Yocake Boss

Edward Quach is the owner of the cupcake and froyo fusion store called Yocake. He also works for EQCO Real Estate. Edward is part of the University of Maryland at College Park Alumni. As he studied leadership in business in college, he always envisioned to "be his own boss" one day. Edward definitely came into mind as our group focused on the topic of creativity and communication.

Yocake is a relatively new store, established since 2009. Yocake's name speaks for itself as Edward came up with the idea of YO - taken from froyo, and CAKE - from cupcakes. He always had a sweet-tooth (like me!), so froyo and cupcakes definitely are on the favorite sweets list. Why have one, when you can have the opportunity to take two? Edward came up with the idea of having a soft moist cupcake as the dessert foundation, placing one of the many froyo flavors delicately on top, and then making a grand finale with your choice of the numerous toppings.

The most important question I asked Edward was when presented with a task or conflict, in what ways do you try to accomplish or solve it. Edward told me that "deadlines do work, when YOU are in charge (as in the boss)." For a minute or two he reminisced the days where he would procrastinate until the last minute to do papers or projects for a class. Once Yocake opened, he knew procrastination is no longer acceptable. He said that the best way to approach the situaion is to create a deadline for the end goal. Edward explained to me how he would break down into monthly, weekly, and daily goals in order to reach the goal by the deadline. His motto was "no rest until goals are met."

Even though Edward is the owner of Yocake, he told me he would always have to compromise with the co-owner, his sister. He awsked me if I remembered when they had the green tea tart as one of their froyo flavors. I replied yes, and questioned why they no longer have it offered as one of the froyo choices anymore. Edward and his sister had a dispute with the idea of the flavor. Edward was thrilled about the creativity of the new flavor, but not so much with his sister. She claimed that the flavor would only be popular with Asians and not so much appreciated among the other cultures. Edward as the boss, insisted with the idea. Within a month his sister's prediction was correct; green tea flavor wasw not a favorite among customers. The cost exceeded the benefits in their situation, so they decided to only occasionally bring back the flavor (when they receive customer requests). Edward elaborated that being a boss isn't easy. There are many things to keep in mind. For example he would have to make sure: new flavors to attract customers, regulate ideas, sales are kept high, maintain budgets, and subordinates get along with one another.

Edward was an extremely friendly (he gave me 2 free cupcakes after the interview =]) and approachable person to interview. He kept his eyes on me the whole time I conducted the interview which can sometimes be intimidating (to me) but it is a sign of being an active listener. Edward used a lot of hand gestures when he explained his Yocake experiences with me. I believe these gestures became a habit as he communicated with his employees in the same manner. He had this pet peeve where he did not like when I refered him to Mr. Quach; he prefered Edward because he said "I'm only 28 years old! Don't make me seem like I'm an old man!" Throughout the interview I refered him to Edward and notice I did the same in this post.

I was kind of nervous at the beginning of the interview, but he always had a smile on and loosened up the atmosphere with a joke from time to time. Being a little nervous, I would forget to use smooth transitions from question to question. I caught myself a couple of times just jumping form one question to the next. Of course I need to work on my "ums." Draughting down Edward's answers were important, but being respectful meant the most at that point, I chose to maintain eye contact. I tried to limit myself from getting carried away with my notes and constantly looking down at my notebook. Learning from Edward, I should remember to smile more for my next interview.

Edward's favorite quote: "Successful people are willing to do things unsuccessful people are not willing to do."