Celebrating Asian American Heritage Month with Local Entrepreneurs and Businesses

Bamboo
May 24, 2023

We are celebrating the incredible achievements of 15 exceptional AAPI business owners at Bamboo. As we honor Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, join us in embracing the diverse talents, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit flourishing in our community.

Michigan Founders Fund

Michigan Founders Fund

Trista Van Tine

Co-Founder & Executive Director

A network of high-growth entrepreneurs committed to fellowship, culture, and funding solutions that uplift communities across the state where we live and operate. Their mission is to drive the growth of diverse, equitable, inclusive, successful startups and advance civic leadership in Michigan.

https://michiganfoundersfund.org/

The House of Han

The House of Han

Mike Han

Artist

Mike Han is a Detroit based artist and designer. The House of Han is a body of work, a studio, and a home in the historic Rosedale Park neighborhood. Han’s artwork is a meditative practice that seeks to develop a better understanding of self and identity while connecting deeper with people and the planet. He strives to find dynamic balance through organic yet deliberate mark making on carefully considered materials to explore his heritage, contemplate sustainability, and support people and projects in need.

https://www.thehouseofhan.com/

Dele Nguyen

Dele Nguyen

Photographer and Content Creator

Dele is an Asian-American Vietnamese adoptee. She captures branded imagery for influencers and small businesses in the Metro Detroit area. Dele enjoys creating quality  digital content both fun and affordable!

Dele’s photography has been featured in publications such as Hour Magazine, Crain’s Detroit Business, BLAC Magazine, and more.

delenguyen.com

DeepHow

DeepHow

Video Platform

DeepHow is an AI-Powered Video platform for skilled workforce leaders who want to onboard, retain, and upskill their workforce to maximize training success with minimal cost and time. DeepHow enables teams to capture their know-how using a smartphone, turning expertise into step-by-step how-to videos to create a valuable library of organizational knowledge that can be effectively transferred to every worker.

https://www.deephow.com/

Integral

Ashok Sivanand

CEO

Integral

Integral is a software consulting company that focuses on helping our clients differentiate in the marketplace by harnessing the power of software. They believe in enabling their clients' digital transformation by building in-house technology capability while building great software together. Integral has expertise in web, mobile, cloud and embedded software engineering and a focus on disciplined practices in agile software engineering, lean product management, and human centered design.

Integral has worked with clients like Ford, Rocket Mortgage, Honda, Bosch, and AutoApprove.
https://www.integral.io/

Huck Finch

Hien Lam

Chief Prophecy Fulfiller

Huck Finch

Hien (like the ketchup with the z) Lam is the Chief Prophecy Fulfiller at Huck Finch, a webflow design and development studio that ridding the internet of ugly websites one pixel at a time.

Born to refugee parents who fled the Vietnam War, Hien grew up in San Jose, California. Before attending the University of Michigan, Hien spent a year in Aachen, Germany as an exchange student. After reaching his bachelors, he went on to complete his Master’s in Healthcare Administration from Saint Louis University and spent a couple of years working for the St. Louis VA Health System. His path eventually led him back to Ann Arbor in 2011, where he met his business partner at a healthcare consultancy. Since 2018, Hien has turned his side hustle into his main hustle.

In addition to running Huck Finch, Hien also co-hosts both the Life on Brand podcast, which shares lessons on how change-makers and rulebreakers live life on their own terms as well as the YouTube show, The Webflow Show, where he geeks out about all things Webflow. He also gives talks and conducts workshops with The Lean Startup Conference, Zingtrain, the American Medical Association, and the American Institute of Graphic Arts just to name a few.

https://www.huckfinchbranding.com/

Spicy Gal Chili Oil

Mae Cagalingan

Owner

Spicy Gal Chili Oil

Mae came to the US from the Philippines when she was 6, and ever since she was a kid she’s always wanted to be able to cook for a living. Mae currently works as a pastry cook in between running her chili oil business. Cagalingan’s business started off by just making chili oil for fun, and giving some away to family members. One day she decided to sell a batch, and people ended up liking it more than she expected! Her first sale was a little over two years ago, and now she has pop-up shops at different events and even sells Spicy Gal Chili Oil to a couple restaurants that use it for dishes on their menu.

https://www.instagram.com/spicygal.chilioil/

Creative Fairy Godmother and The ReVamp

Amanda Sweet

Community Manager at Bamboo

Creative Fairy Godmother and Founder of The ReVamp

As Founder of The ReVamp, Amanda Sweet has been able to create a Fashionable Platform through community and clothing swaps to empower people to define their personal goals and give back to those in need. With over 100,000 pounds of clothing donated so far, The ReVamp is a shining example of how fashion can be both fabulous and ethical. Expanding the Clothing Swaps has always been a dream of The ReVamp team and they are excited to help individuals grow and glow. Sweet started the clothing swaps as a way to combat hoarding in the Filipinx communities and an opportunity to create accessible and sustainable fashion to all. She most recently held the international title of the first ever Miss Voluptuous America 2022, utilizing her Platform “Party with Purpose” sharing passion for community service, body positivity, and confidence coaching on a global scale.

So if you're ready to revamp your wardrobe, your mindset, and your world, Amanda Sweet is the Creative Fairy Godmother you need. With her passion, expertise, and positive energy, she'll help you transform into the best version of yourself. Let the magic begin!

https://amandasweet.co/

See Lau Travel

Chris Lau

World Traveler and Content Creator

See Lau Travel

Christopher Lau was born and raised in Royal Oak, Michigan. He moved to New York City a quarter into his life, lived in The Bay Area and is now based in Bangkok, Thailand traveling the world.

Some of his passions include tennis and travel, but his focus has been directed on his most recent work. He has a  passion for creating videos, photography, flying drones to get new perspectives.

Lau has traveled around Asia, Africa, Europe and more! He made the life-changing decision to leave his desk to travel the world. After leaving for 4 months, he realized it was the best decision ever. And now, he travels with more intention.

https://seelautravel.com/

Ascendant Case Management

Sanjay Sharma

President and CEO

Ascendant Case Management

Sanjay is the CEO of Ascendant, an auto injury medical case management company.
He is passionate about working with compassionate nurses and team members, helping patients get great care, and more specifically helping them to recover so they can return to the highest level of normalcy.
He believes that healthcare company should treat their patients like family. Going above and beyond has always been his personal motif when it comes to helping others. At Ascendant, their core value is being patient first and everything they do is on purpose and in an attempt to put a patient’s well-being first even if it means additional time or resources on their part.

Sharma also has an MBA from Michigan State and a Computer Science degree from the University of Michigan.

https://ascendantcares.com/staff-profiles/