About An American Dream, with Sprinkles: The Legacy Story of the Donut Queen & Donut Princess:
This memoir, written by Chuong and her daughter, Mayly Tao, pays homage to the arduous journey faced by millions of immigrants who arrive in the United States annually—penniless, without an education, and unable to speak English. Chuong Lee recounts her journey of homelessness, malnutrition, and labor enslavement in Cambodia. Upon arriving in America, Chuong found herself a part of donut royalty as she married into the family of the Donut King, Ted Ngoy, who opened up hundreds of donut shops for Khmer refugees. Mayly Tao, her daughter, created this book and wrote part of it not only to tell the success story of their family bakery, but to highlight the Asian American perspective through the eyes of a “donut kid,” children who helped their parents with their donut shops. Most of those donut kids never returned to their family donut shops to work, but Mayly did, and learned how to use social media to bring the family donut shop to the next level of fame and success to become one of the most popular donut shops in the world. In addition, this book explores generational differences and cultural importance, including the role of the Asian American woman in her family.
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Author Bio:
Mayly Tao is LA’s self-proclaimed Donut Princess, owner of Donut Princess Los Angeles, a donut bouquet delivery concept. She is the host of her podcast Short N’ Sweet: A Donut Princess Podcast where she explores mindset, women empowerment, and small business tips! You can find her ”Securing the Box” at @donutprincessla. She stars in the Donut King Documentary, as seen on Hulu and across domestic flights across the US. She also has her own YouTube where she visits Cambodian-owned donut shops and highlights their stories. She hopes to elevate Asian American voices and representation and vows to create a legacy for the next generation of Asian Americans.
Mayly Tao is a Khmer, Thai, and Teochew Chinese Asian American born to Khmer refugee parents who arrived in America to start a new life. Her uncle, Ted Ngoy, sponsored hundreds of Cambodians to come to America and helped them manage and own their own donut shops. She recently sold her family’s bakery after her mom decided to retire after celebrating 40 years in business at DK’s Donuts & Bakery in Santa Monica, CA.
Her focus on helping people and making an impact has gravitated her towards creating new business as a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist. She successfully launched her new luxury car rental business, “Donut Exotics,” in Summer 2021. Her plans for 2022 is to open multiple businesses in various service industries and she is opening up a second temple and spearheading community efforts in Cambodia in December 2022.