Today we’d like to introduce you to Danny Lee and Michael Zhou. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Meeting during admitted students week at Case Western Reserve University, Danny Lee and Michael Zhou clicked instantly. Sharing a deep passion for health and fitness, their friendship grew, naturally, over the next three years. Danny was on track to med school after undergrad and Michael was finishing up his business degree. On a Saturday of their fall semester, the third year, Michael was frustrated with a business gig that didn’t go through due to COVID issues, so he came to Danny’s room to vent. After hearing Michael’s frustration, Danny decided to pitch a business idea to him and that was how Redheart was created. Without hesitation, they stayed up all night creating a blueprint of Redheart’s mission, and vision and began constructing a viable business plan.
Working with Bob Sopko from LaunchNet and networking through CWRU’s Veale Institute of Entrepreneurship, they stumbled upon an opportunity with the Jolly Scholar, a campus restaurant, where they were able to test their products. It wasn’t long until they saw success in the demand for their food products. At the end of their third year, Danny and Michael graduated and decided to pursue their business full-time.
They started off with CPG (consumer product goods) launching their protein cookie product, but the process took much longer than they anticipated due to co-manufacturing logistics. In the meantime, this allowed them to work on continuing their original journey since their time at Case. They opened their first kitchen at Carnegie Food Hub at the end of September 2022 and have been operating there since.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There were many ups and downs. It took a while for the two to find the right model and strategic path for them to move closer to their final destination. To reach their final goal, there are many areas in the food industry that they would like to tap into to make the largest impact. However, each and one of them takes time and it was a challenge to think through which plan they would dive into first. One of the biggest obstacles in their journey has been capital.
They truly believed and still believe their business doesn’t require institutional funding until some traction is proven which is why they made the decision to organically grow their business in the initial stage and see how they would be able to perform. If the business was sustainable that way, they would rather grow it slowly and steadily. The small amount of initial capital they had taught them to stay as lean as possible to maximize their returns; this allowed them to brainstorm various ideas to keep costs as low as possible. When they think or if there is a right time to find institutional funding, they would be more than happy to undergo that process.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Redheart, Rino Bowls, and Seoul City Wings?
We’re aiming to create a health and wellness ecosystem. Our large goal is to give bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts a safe place to eat out with their loved ones and friends as there are just no options that can fit strict dieters’ requirements. This doesn’t mean our food only gears towards this cohort; anyone is still able to enjoy our food as we have a spectrum of food items that can fit exactly what an individual desire. We still heavily believe in a “moderation is key” diet which is why we’ve also founded other concepts, including Seoul City Wings which is a Korean-inspired wings concept. We attempt to have different types of foods on the health spectrum to make sure we cover different aspects of health, including mental health. We set ourselves apart by utilizing Asian-fusion cuisine, bringing different types of unique flavors to the table while making sure all of our foods are a step in the healthy direction.
The perfect example we reference is the in-house creation of our Seoul City wing sauces that exclude commonly-used, detrimental ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup among others that are found in many wing stores across the nation. In addition, we haven’t seen any food options that have plain seasonings or seasonings that can be completely personalized, but health fanatics and bodybuilders have always been on the lookout for an option like this, and we want to make that available through Rino Bowls. Rino Bowls is also about to launch a “Lifestyle Meal” program which really gears towards entrepreneurs, busy individuals, and others that want to have healthy meals daily or frequently throughout their week. We will be making these bowls much cheaper for individuals that order in advance and will be freshly prepared on the days they want them. We’ve had inquiries in the past to start this and are now finally ready for this program to launch.
How do you define success?
Success can come in many forms, however, we believe that true success is creating a lasting positive impact by providing value to our community and society as a whole. From starting small we hope to make an impact in our community first and expand our reach across the nation.
Contact Info:
- Website: rinobowls.com & seoulcitywings.com
- Instagram: @rinobowls & @seoulcitywings
- Facebook: @rinobowls & @seoulcitywings
