How Wing Lam Built Wahoo’s Fish Taco Into a Cultural Icon

Anthony Codispoti (00:00)
Welcome to another edition of the inspired stories podcast where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. My name is Anthony Cotaspodi and today’s guest is Wing Lam, co-founder and CEO of Wahoos Fish Taco. Founded in 1988 and based in Costa Mesa, California, Wahoos Fish Taco blends global flavors from China, Brazil, and Baja Mexico.

offering a casual dining experience known for its bold and worldly menu. Now under Wing’s leadership, the company has earned multiple honors, including the Golden Foodie Award and recognition as best OC brand by OC Weekly. Wing graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in finance and has nearly 40 years of experience in the restaurant industry. Beyond running Wahoos,

He has served on boards for nonprofit organizations like Share Our Strength and the Juvenile Diabetic Research Foundation. In 2018, Wing received Corporate Creativity and Innovation Leadership Awards from Child Creativity Lab and secured the IMPACT Award from the International Executive Council. He was also named among the 500 most influential by the Orange County Business Journal. Now, before we get into all that good stuff,

Today’s episode is brought to you by my company, Ad Back Benefits Agency, where we offer very specific and unique employee benefits that are both great for your team and fiscally optimized for your bottom line. Imagine being able to give your employees free access to doctors, therapists, and prescription medications. And here’s the fun part. The program actually puts more money in your employees’ pockets and the company’s too.

One recent client was able to increase net profits by $900 per employee per year. Now results vary for each company and some organizations may not be eligible. To find out if your company qualifies, contact us today at adbackbenefits.com. All right, back to our guest today, co-founder of Wahoo’s Fish Taco, Wing Lamb. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

Wing Lam (02:09)
Anytime I’m out here on the west coast where the surf is up and the sunshine is going. ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (02:15)
I love

it. I could tell your energy already. This is going to be a fun one. So you’ve got decades of experience in the restaurant industry, but you studied finance in college. How does that financial background kind of guide your decision making when it comes to expanding the business?

Wing Lam (02:31)
Well, one of the main reasons most restaurants don’t do as well are businesses, right, is understanding finance. Accounting is a great skill to have after you’ve made money, but finance is all about risk reward, right? So every time you want to initiative an idea, anything you want to come up with to help your business make more money, get more clients, right? You have to understand the risk reward options, right? The riskier it is,

The higher the returns, the higher the rewards. The lower the risk, the lower the returns and everything else. So you just kind of find your comfort zone, what you’re comfortable with. And also, you know, have multiple strategies that one are riskier, one are more conservative. Like just think of your portfolio, right? CDs, mutual funds, very low risk stocks, bonds, very risky, maybe, maybe not. Right. So it all depends on your comfort level, but you have to have a mix. Right. So it’s all about balancing your comfort zone.

and finding the things that work for you.

Anthony Codispoti (03:33)
What first brought you into the restaurant industry?

Wing Lam (03:36)
I got tired of corporate America. That’s really the easiest thing. So I tell everybody, if you are young or old, wherever you are in your life spectrum, right? And you find yourself in a dead end, I hate waking up every morning to do this. It’s time to go do something else. Find something that inspires you, whatever that may be, but make sure that there’s a possibility that you can make some money at it. Cause a lot of people was, I love to play music. I’m like, well.

until somebody pays you, it’s a great hobby. Okay? So remember that, you know, you can be in a cover band, which kind of fulfills that gap a little bit. You make a little bit of money, but most of the guys that I know that are in cover bands have day jobs, you know? So that’s a good balance too. So you find something that fulfills your passion and may not be where you make your money, but it allows you an outlet for creativity, fulfills your soul.

but you still gotta have a real day job to keep it going.

Anthony Codispoti (04:37)
So was your first foray into restaurants when you started the business?

Wing Lam (04:41)
No, I’ve been literally when I say restaurants, I’ve been in it from the time I was like two or three years old. My parents have had restaurants all over the world, Japan, Hong Kong, Brazil, and United States. So I’ve always been in it. So I knew that business and I realized how hard my parents work. So my parents said, no, we want you to go to college and use your mind, not your hands. So we did that for a little bit.

And I found out, you know, maybe I want to use my hands, you know, and when I say my hands, it’s also, I’m a very good, like I say, social person. So having parties and, you know, hosting people, you know, I was always good at it because it naturally came to me. Right. So opening a restaurant was the easiest transition because there was a possibility that I could actually make some money.

Anthony Codispoti (05:34)
So where did you actually grow up if your parents had restaurants all over the world?

Wing Lam (05:39)
So I’m full-blooded Chinese, but my parents happened to fled communist China after World War II, and they ended up opening one of the first Chinese restaurants in Brazil. So I’m a full Brazilian citizen. I still travel to all you people out there. I never ⁓ became a US citizen because no reason other than no time to go get the paperwork done.

So now with the new administration, maybe I should go get my paperwork done. So I don’t accidentally get deported out of the country, but I still travel under a Brazilian passport. And most people look at me and go, what island are you from? That’s usually what they ask me. And I always joke about I’m from the big island of Brazil, not Hawaii. And they all crack up because we thought for sure you’re from one of the Hawaiian islands. goes, well, I look like I could be from Hawaii.

I’m actually full-blooded Chinese. I grew up in Brazil. So that’s why, you know, I have the very easygoing attitude about life, you know.

Anthony Codispoti (06:43)
because of the travels or specifically because of growing up in Brazil?

Wing Lam (06:47)
Because growing up in Brazil, and also traveling the world with my parents and by myself over the years, culturally speaking, don’t ever use the word it’s weird. It may be weird to you because you’ve never seen it. But when you understand other cultures, you’re going to go, eh, it might be weird when you first see it, but it’s perfectly acceptable in their culture to do that. So you’ll be amazed at some of the things I’ve seen.

then my wife will go, ooh, that is so gross. I’m like, well, culturally speaking, that’s not acceptable in America, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong in Malaysia, Italy, Mexico, whatever it is, because we have different cultures. So the more you see, the more you understand that the world is different and we have our own customs, traditions, whatever they may be. And it may be weird to you, but to them, it’s perfectly normal.

Anthony Codispoti (07:42)
Can you give us an example of something your wife found particularly ⁓ weird, unusual when it comes to food? Is this like, all right.

Wing Lam (07:49)
I’ll give you one.

In America, you would never ever say you have a bad hair day. That’s like big taboo or you’re overweight. That’s taboo, right? But in China, it’s perfectly okay for me to see you right now. And then he goes, my God, who just cut your hair? It looks like crap. You need to go to my barber. And literally I can tell you firsthand experience. The first time I went to Hong Kong, my mom went to a salon every morning.

because whoever we were having breakfast with would say, my mom, oh my God, look at your hair, it looks like shit. We need to go to my barber or my salon. The next day, whoever we’re having breakfast with would say the same thing. For like five days in a row, we went to five different salons because whoever we were having breakfast with didn’t like the way my mom’s hair looked. And I’m like, that is not funny.

Anthony Codispoti (08:39)
Was it really that they didn’t like the way her

hair looked or did they each own their own salon and so they were trying to drum up some business?

Wing Lam (08:45)
Yes, I can tell you the style wasn’t that much different from one to the next. But it’s culturally speaking, it’s almost like, hey, let’s go grab a cup of coffee. But you would never tell a girlfriend, hey, your hair looks like that. You need to go to my salon. You would never do that. You see what saying? But in China, it’s perfectly OK. And I’m like, that is crazy. But I saw it firsthand, I’m like,

Anthony Codispoti (09:02)
I’m not a smart man, but I’m not that dumb. Yeah, yeah.

Wing Lam (09:14)
And literally every morning we went to a different salon.

Anthony Codispoti (09:18)
Okay, so that’s an interesting cultural difference. Let’s get back to ⁓ Wahoo’s Fish Taco. How did the idea to start this come about?

Wing Lam (09:26)
So when I got tired of doing what I was doing in corporate America, right? I went to my mom and dad and goes, hey, they basically said the same thing as, well, we told you not to go to college and come back into our business. But if you like, we’re getting ready to retire. You want to take over one of our restaurants. And I say, you know what? Love Chinese food. I still eat it all the time. I just didn’t want to be the SOB, son of the boss, right? So I said, you know what? Mom and dad, we’re in Southern California.

A lot of our friends culturally surf, skate and do all this. Can we open a restaurant that’s more like a surf themed restaurant? And they looked at it and said, you’re crazy. You’re not Mexican. Right? It goes, I know we’re not, but if we’re ever going to pull this thing off, this is it. So we came up with the recipes to blend a little bit of the Brazilian culture, the Asian culture and the Mexican. And if every surfer in Southern California, when they go on their first road trip surfing,

south of outside of the country, right? It’s they drive to Mexico, which is what we did. And everybody always talked about for as long as I remember, it’s like, my God, did you ever eat those fish tacos in such and such place? And nobody in Southern California made them. So we said, hey, here’s something that all the servers talk about. We’re the only kids in the group, me and my two little brothers that know how to cook. So the idea was let’s come up with a surf themed Mexican restaurant.

That was the beginning of it. And then we found out that all the surfers hang out with skateboarders and hang out with snowboarders and all the other sports. So indirectly, what was originally a surf hangout became a surf and sport hangout. So everything to do with actions. This is where everybody comes because all the brands happen to be in Southern California. ⁓ so if you in again, prior to the covid, if you were going to the beach, I could name you everything that you were wearing.

And all those brands were manufactured in Orange County. And that was really interesting because Snow, Skate, BMX, all of the exports.

Anthony Codispoti (11:31)
not just

that the brands were based there, that they were actually doing their manufacturing there as well.

Wing Lam (11:36)
Yeah, I mean, again, the brands that created was done here. But again, all the manufacturing was done overseas, right? The production, but all the samples. So pretty much if you were in a skate park or snowboard park, anything like that, any brand that you would have on your back was made by somebody that I was friends with.

Anthony Codispoti (11:39)
Okay.

Gotcha. Okay. So the idea was like, Hey, there’s these great fish tacos that are served down in Mexico. Let’s bring that to Southern California and let’s kind of make it our own. And what did it look like to sort of take the fish taco concept and infuse some of the Brazilian tradition and the Chinese ⁓ culinary styles into that.

Wing Lam (12:17)
Well, the first thing we did is the rice that traditionally Mexican restaurants serve are its red Spanish rice and refried beans. Well, we do white rice and black beans because that’s traditionally more Cuban, but also more Brazilian. So all we did is take out all the extra meat parts, the pork made of vegetarian, so it’d be more approachable by everybody. So that was the first thing we did. And people literally the first couple of years to coming into my restaurant.

they would joke about what were those little rabbit pellets on their plate. It was the black beans because they never seen black beans in 1988. So that was one. Two, we brought teriyaki into our menu so you could literally get a teriyaki steak burrito. Nobody at the time was doing anything like that unless you went to a Japanese, Korean or anything Asian, right? So we started infusing the flavors and found out that some of the things did really well together. Some didn’t, right?

But again, it was just finding that balance. And people used to laugh at us. First thing they always ask is, don’t you know you’re not Mexican? Well, this is not a Mexican restaurant. This is a little bit of everything that I grew up eating. And once I mentioned that, my parents have Chinese restaurant, that checked off the Asian box. Once I would mention that I grew up in Brazil, that would check off the rice and beans. And then the Mexican part was the tacos and burritos from our surf trips. So everything made sense once you asked me. But a lot of people go, I’m not going there.

You know, because one, it’s not authentic Mexican. I would argue, say, I never said I was authentic Mexican. I never said I was anything. just said, here’s what I like to eat. And I’m going to share with you guys. And hopefully you guys will like it too. And turned out most people first surf trip to Hawaii, they would eat teriyaki chicken. Right? So it wasn’t that far from what I wanted to be. I wanted to remind you of places that you travel to surf. And this is what you ate.

So look at today, like two years ago, the most incredible image from the Olympics was that surfer, right? That comes off a wave. It was the biggest image. He’s Brazilian, right? So when you look at culturally now, all the best surfers, skaters in the world are from Brazil, right? So when they come into my restaurant, they don’t know why they are at home. And once they find out that I’m from Brazil, they’re like, ⁓ that moment, right? Or it reminds them of when they went to Hawaii.

And they’re like, ⁓ right?

Anthony Codispoti (14:47)
So what is it in your restaurants that feels like Brazil, that gives sort of that familiarity?

Wing Lam (14:52)
It feels like a surf shack that you literally just walked off the beach in Mexico. That’s the initial. And once you start tasting the menu, it reminds you of these cuisines you’ve had from around the world when you travel.

Anthony Codispoti (15:08)
And yeah, you mentioned, obviously surf, skate, snowboard. This is kind of a big part of the culture there. And so how, so I get like, feels like you’ve just walked in like, you know, right off the beach into kind of a surf shot. ⁓ How did the sort of the other sports kind of like get encompassed into the vibe here?

Wing Lam (15:27)
Well, what happens is in California anyway, when it rains, it snows. And when it snows, people go snowboarding. But what happens is during the beach, there’s these thing called runoffs, right? All the stuff ends up in the ocean. So for a few days, nobody goes surfing because it’s polluted, right? So guess what everybody’s doing? The same surfers that can’t surf, they’re snowboarding. And then they tell their friends up there in the mountain, because, there’s this little place near the beach.

that when you come down to go surfing, you should check it out, right? And when there’s no surf and there’s no snow, you go skateboarding. So the skateboarders are all the other guys saying, hey, when there’s nothing going on, you don’t need a wave or ice, you know, snow to go snowboarding, go skateboarding. So they talk to each other and there’s this place. And not only do they come to me, I’ve done all the events for 38 years on the beach.

on the mountains, at the skate parks. So when you see the X Games, US Open of Surfing, all of these events, you usually see me there setting up, taking care of all the athletes. I did all the hospitality for these kids. And I joke about it, 38 years ago, these kids became the Kelly Slaters of surfing, the Tony Hawks of skateboarding, the Shaun Whites of snowboarding. I was there when they first did their first event, because they were amateurs, they were kids.

And I meet a guy, you know, literally with a grill serving some tacos. And they all look at me and go, what is this guy crazy? There’s no money to be made here. You know, but I supported them and now they support me. You so I get to do all the events right now.

Anthony Codispoti (17:09)
So where did you open the first location?

Wing Lam (17:11)
The first location was in Costa Mesa. And if you know the history of Costa Mesa in the 80s, it was two of the biggest surf brands in the world. Quicksilver and Billabong had their headquarters within a block and four blocks away from my original store, plus a bunch of other surf related brands. So when you have the number one and number two brand in the world supporting me, it made it easy for all the other brand goes well, if it’s good enough for

them, it’s good enough for me, right? So everybody that served and not only did I have the brands and within the first year in one night, I had four former world surfing champions having dinner in my restaurant at the same time with their sponsors. When kids saw that it was like, think about, you know, seeing Michael Jordan or any of these celebrities, somebody you really looked up to hanging out with your brand. made it authentic.

because it wasn’t just me claiming to be a surf themed restaurant. This is where world champions ate. And fast forward of the four guys that were in that restaurant, at the time the biggest was a kid named Tom Curran. I’m still friends with him to this day. He’s a three time world champion, right? So that’s the thing, you and I’m friends with the current three time world champion, John John Florence, right? And that’s the thing where people see me and they’re like, Wing is not asking him for an autograph.

I’m actually hanging out with them. There’s a whole different, you know, because I’m there supporting their events.

Anthony Codispoti (18:44)
Hmm. So you mentioned ⁓ within that first year you had, you know, for these sort of celebrity athletes that were in the shop having dinner with, you know, their sponsors. Was that sort of like the moment that catapulted you or had you had some sort of incremental success leading up to that in the first year?

Wing Lam (19:04)
So what happened was Billabong being the closest factory proximity to me. was literally a block and a half away, right? When I would have, I call it a Macacamimi crazy idea, I would go over there and say, Hey, I wanted to go do this. because nobody in the food industry was asking, their answer was like, what’s the harm? What’s the worst that can happen? Nothing. People go, Hey, that was a dumb idea.

But every, I call it a stupid idea I’ve always had, Billabong always said yes. Right. So we did a trade show with them. Then we did a video premiere with them. Right. And what happened was the kids that came, not all of them served or were sponsored by Billabong. Some of them were sponsored by the other brands. So guess what happens? Those kids would tell their marketing, their team manager that they came to this and I was there. And this is, can we do this?

Because before me, was zero hospitality in this space. So if you didn’t bring your food or drink, there was nothing to eat or drink. I was the first one to do it. So Quicksilver basically came to me and goes, Hey, we’re going to do this video premiere party. Ended up to be a total mess. mean, cops came to shut it down, whatever. But it was Kelly Slater. When, when he just turned pro, we did the first video premiere party with him.

And the rest is history. Because once I did that, all the other brands goes, my God, you just did with Kelly Sater. He’s the hottest new surfer, but he hadn’t won anything yet. Then somebody said, Hey, we got this thing. We got this thing. And I would say, sure. So all these little parties, events, trade show, contest, there was always a band playing at the after party. We’re doing the soundtrack for the video. These garage bands.

was Green Day, Offspring, Blink 182, and the list goes on. So again, they were all startups. Fast forward, they’re traveling the world, just like all these people are in the Olympics, right? So when I see them on TV, somebody goes, oh my God, I’m like, I’ve been friends with that guy for 20, 30 years, right? And literally today we’re planning another launch for a new band, and it’s gonna be ridiculous. And all my friends are like,

How do you get to be that person? Because I’ve it multiple times before.

Anthony Codispoti (21:39)
and you’re not starstruck in their presence, right? I think that’s probably a big part of it. If you’re there like, you know, my gosh, that’s not the kind of person they want to hang out with.

Wing Lam (21:41)
No, to music.

Because they’ve never been that close.

Right? Yeah, because they’ve never been that close. And I’m literally, the other day, I mean, my level has gotten outside of action sports because we call it a mutual admiration society. Everybody that does something really good wishes that they could play the guitar, wishes they could hit a baseball, wishes they could catch a football, whatever that may be. So two weeks ago at an Angels Dodgers baseball game.

I took my friends on the field to meet Dave Roberts, the manager of the Dodgers. And they’re all looking at me, how are you going to do that? I pick up the phone call one friend that says, what do you need? need field batting practice. Boom, boom. And they’re sitting there going, this is for them. It’s unbelievable. But to me, I’m friends with Dave Roberts. Right. And I should never know a guy that’s got what three world series rings. Right. But I do because that’s the other side of the world is that what common is with all the good athletes and celebrities.

do on their spare time, they give back. So when you start giving back, you can’t help but meet amazing people.

Anthony Codispoti (22:55)
So I want to dive into this a little bit more. This isn’t part of the conversation that I had sort of expected to unfold, but this is interesting in how you’ve grown the business. And tell me if I’m seeing and hearing this correctly. It’s sort of this give first attitude that you have. It’s there’s a thing going on over here and you know, nobody’s serving food. Why don’t I go there and serve food? This is interesting. This is like a fun group. Like these are my kind of people. I’m just going to go.

And I don’t know what’ll come from it, I’ll get to meet some folks. Am I kind of seeing this correctly? Or did you go in from the beginning and you’re like, hey, if you guys want me to show up, it’s gonna be $10,000 for me to come and serve food. You’re laughing, so no.

Wing Lam (23:39)
No. So what really happened 38 years ago was the first event, surf contest was, Hey, you know, let me come in and take care of all the athletes, the judges, the, you know, all the staffing. And literally the first thing is we have zero budget for that. There’s no line item for hospitality. Right. But then I said, Hey, how can I still come? Right. And they said, you know what? You can come to our warehouse and get swag, t-shirts and shorts.

I looked at them and that’s a great idea because that’s what I go to work in every day, t-shirts and shorts, right? So the whole bartering thing wasn’t my idea, was theirs to say, hey, we love to have your food. We can’t pay you. And, but we got stuff. So the running joke is in my team is none of us have bought t-shirts and shorts or shoes, watches, sunglasses in the last 38 years because we barter because everything is made here in Southern California. Right. So

We came in to make the event better. So I’ve used the same attitude of, hey, I’m going to come in and help your little charity, whatever that may be, right? And come to find out all the biggest charities, the way they make more money is by having celebrity endorsement. Because I call it shiny objects, right? Everybody loves to take their picture next to whoever that may be. So I’m like, so it wasn’t that I set out to go meet these guys. I set out to go, hey, let me help you.

with food, whatever it may be that can help your event be better. And they call it cause marketing today, corporate social responsibility, all this stuff. I just did it because I knew that it would be better with me than without me. Because without me, they’d be eating crackers. With me, they’d be eating food. That was the difference. They were drinking wine or drinking beer before they’d be drinking water. So I brought my team along.

Anthony Codispoti (25:16)
There was no fancy term back then.

Wing Lam (25:33)
whatever that meant, right? Coke, Pepsi, Monster, all the big brands that would help me do the events. And they all thought you’re crazy. But guess what? Along the way, like I’m trying to think, because you’re in Columbus, ⁓ that’s, you’re in between, right? Because the Bengals play in Cincinnati and the Browns play over in Cleveland, right? But at the time, I, if I can tell the funny story is the number one draft pick about 20 some years ago,

Anthony Codispoti (25:55)
You know your geography.

Wing Lam (26:03)
and had just won the Heisman Trophy was Carson Palmer. He was a starting quarterback for the Bengals. We went on a road trip to go have fun with him in Cincinnati because I’m friends with his agent. Right. So the long story is totally unrelated to me. A friend of mine’s family member ended up getting transferred to Cincinnati. And I said, I’ll tell you what, being into a new neighborhood, everybody’s going to give you, know, you got to earn your stripes. I said,

come to the event that I’m going to do with Carson Palmer and guess what happened? The entire blog goes, how did you get invited to this cornhole tournament on the field of the Bengals when you just moved into Cincinnati? was, well, one of his friends is a friend of mine and he handles all of his charity. So instantly this kid family became the head of the neighborhood.

Anthony Codispoti (26:41)
Ha ha ha.

huh.

Wing Lam (27:02)
Everybody wanted to know how he had the Carson Palmer bobblehead, how he had the jersey, all the things that I don’t care about because I’m in California. I don’t know anything from Cincinnati, especially if it’s got Carson Palmer’s name on it, right? So I gave it all to this kid and his family immediately got accepted into the neighborhood. And I’ve been able to do that with all kinds of players all over the country.

Anthony Codispoti (27:24)
Did you kind of stumble into this kind of give first approach or was it like some sort of a master plan from the beginning or or is it something that your parents taught you growing up?

Wing Lam (27:35)
parents have always said hey always help don’t ask you know just if you can help help it’s as we say it’s the right thing to do don’t do it because you’re getting something for it that’s a transaction right give help when you can without expecting anything in return so they always said in my head I’m like why would I want to do that right because we’re all looking at a transaction I’m giving you this because I’m getting that but it turned out that their formula

has worked amazingly well. When again every now and then you’re to get taken advantage of. It is the world right? So make sure you take those guys out of the group right? And I always tell my friends goes you know what that guy missed the point because he’s never going to be invited to our team functions again and we do some really fun things together. So that guy I’m never going to tell him you’re a dodo head taker but guess what you’re not welcome.

Right?

Anthony Codispoti (28:36)
⁓ What’s a red

flag that you look for, Wayne?

Wing Lam (28:39)
Because the thing is we call it, they can’t remember CRS. I won’t tell you what the S stands for, but they can’t remember, right? So what happens is they’re like, hey, wait, we’re going to do this, and I’m going to give you this. Whatever, right? Am I great? When it comes time to get my part of the get, they forget what they promised you. And in my head, I’m like, come on, we’re all adults. Nobody forgets. If I said two, four, six, whatever that number is, right? Just fulfill your part of it.

If you come back to me and says, my God, can I do this instead? I’m like, yes, but we’re not doing this again. And I tell all my friends, by the way, if you ever do business with that guy, get whatever you want first before you do your part. Because once your part is done, he won’t remember what you promised you. And that’s my issue. mean, Hey, we’re all big boys. I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do because that’s what you asked me to do. And this is what you’re going to do. And if that’s whatever that may be. Right. And I.

Tickets would be the perfect example. Promoters in general are the middleman. They’re not the band and they’re not the venue. So they don’t control really, they control air, I call it, right? They’re there to promote an event. So as part of the transaction, be hey, we need food, da da da da, and we’re gonna give you four tickets to come to the show. I don’t really care, but I’m gonna tell my crew, hey, by the way, this next concert, you’re gonna get four tickets, right?

Now, the day before, they’re like, hey, sorry, Wayne, we can’t give you four, we’ll give you two. What do I tell the two people that I promise? See, that to me is an issue, right? And I’m not going to argue with you. I’m going to say, okay, remember, I’m going to remember that the next time you need something, right? Because I’m never going to cut you off. I’m just going to make sure I get my four tickets before I deliver anything in the future, right? And people forget that we’re big boys. Yes, no, are very good terms.

Anthony Codispoti (30:24)
Yeah.

Wing Lam (30:30)
maybe it doesn’t exist in my world, right? So either gonna do or not gonna do what you said you were gonna do. And I don’t need a contract, I don’t need anything. I just need your word that you’re gonna do it, right? So I live in a very like yes or no world, you know.

Anthony Codispoti (30:42)
And it.

And it sounds like ⁓ one of the ways that you’ve been able to build such a great network is through some of the charity work that you do. Can you tell us about what California Love Drop is?

Wing Lam (30:57)
Well, so the California love drop was started by call by accident. When COVID hit between Wednesday and Friday, when they announced in California that not all non-essential business had to shut down, we lost 85 % of our business in two days. So literally we went from about 700 employees down to about a hundred employees. mean, literally three people in a restaurant that where they used to be 15, right? I had food that was going to be thrown away.

I found a way to repurpose it by going out and delivering hot meals to the local hospitals. Right. So after about four deliveries, my kid brother basically said, Hey, very noble, but we’re out of money. So if you’re going to keep doing this, you got to find money to keep doing what you’re doing. So my girlfriend, Wendy, you know, friend, not my wife said, Hey, I heard that you’re going out to do this. You’re crazy. You’re supposed to be at home because this is what I’m doing. And she said, well,

Anthony Codispoti (31:39)
Mm.

Wing Lam (31:55)
Can we name it and I’ll help the radio station, KLOS, create a GoFundMe page for you? We can get money. And I’m like, we don’t have any money to pay for that. I goes, I’ll do it myself because I’m the former head of marketing for the radio station. So we ended up getting Heidi and Frank, the number one DJs in Southern California to every week talk about this movement and ask the listeners, 1.2 million listeners every day goes, hey,

If got some extra change, throw it this way because we’ll take the money to make some meals to the frontliners. So she goes, we can’t be wahs. It’s got to be another name because what about the California love drop? I’m like, why? He goes, well, because we’re spreading the love. And that’s how it started. So then I called my other friends, Monster Energy Drink, Hint Water, Yogurland, Cliff Bar, all these companies that were going out to do events that got cut off. So I had pallets.

of bars, drinks, yogurt that we go together. So not only was I delivering a little burrito, I bring you some desserts, I bring you some snacks, I bring you some drinks. And then the other crazy partner was Vans had just gotten their shipment in for the US Open of Surfing that got canceled. So they had trucker hats, bandanas, wallets, everything branded with US Open of Surfing 2020 that they were gonna throw away.

And it says, give it to me and I’ll give them to the nurses. Nobody noticed I said 2020, they didn’t even got canceled. They just saw the checker. They saw vans. They’re like, my God, I’ve never gotten a trooper hat. Right? That normally cost me $20. So we deliver swag, food, treats. And we thought we’re to do the same for a month. Five and a half years later, we’re still doing it. Right?

Anthony Codispoti (33:34)
Great brand. Yeah.

So what does it look like

now post-COVID?

Wing Lam (33:50)
So what we’ve done the last two years, we go to other nonprofits, we’ll go to a golf tournament, right? And instead of saying, hey, if you don’t have the budget to pay, we’ll find one of our sponsors to donate money so we can come in and provide meals for the golfers. We provide meals to the toy drive, we provide meals to the backpack drive. We come to the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA, all these places that a little short on their budget because everything is still tight.

So we just come in and find ways to bridge the gap, say thank you to the volunteers, to the staff, right, that are still there. And we say, hey, we appreciate what you do, right? And we’re here for you. So let us know how we can get creative. And besides the meals and all that, we find the items that they need for the kids. So if you need a computer monitor, we go to our partners at ViewSonic. If you need school supplies, we go to our partners at Pentel.

So we find things that most people are like, where’d you get that? goes, well, we have friends. So I, because of the surf industry said no to me, but we’ll give you product. I became a really good barter. So I go to the companies because it’s so much easier to get three computer monitors than to get a hundred dollars of proof. You’d be amazed to get a check from a corporate entity. You got to write 10 page requests.

and tell them what you’re going to do with it and how much they’re going to get back. When I just need three samples of something, come and get it.

Anthony Codispoti (35:19)
I

I see. So you’re not going and asking for cash as much as you’re going and asking for product or the thing, the service that that company provides. And hey, can we have a few of those?

Wing Lam (35:29)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And turns out that the people that don’t have tangible things that we can use, i.e. security companies, right? All of these other companies landscaping, we asked them, said, hey, can you donate some money? But we tell them, but you get to pick a charity that you want to support. So now instead of you writing a check for 500, we come in with everything.

And it’s like giving them 10,000. So they get for the same amount of money, they would have gotten this much notice. Now we all show up and we look like we’re bringing the world because we’re bringing food.

Anthony Codispoti (36:09)
Because you’re not just the

landscaping company bringing a $500 check. It’s the landscaping company, the security company, the computer monitor, the school supply, and you show up with everything and you’re all this one big giant team and they’re like, wow, what have you done, Wayne?

Wing Lam (36:24)
Yes. So their content that they’re able to create is much bigger than here’s a little check. That to me is like nothing. Right. But when you show up with all the schwab, all this stuff, people are like, ⁓ my God, we only wanted this and we got all this. Right. And the impact, the content, everything is 10 times bigger.

Anthony Codispoti (36:45)
And so who organizes all this today?

Wing Lam (36:47)
Me and my friend Wendy, we’ve got a bunch of volunteers, Susie, Brian, we all call each other and go, hey, what do we want to do next? One of the craziest partner in this whole thing, because it was, I call it an accidental again, right? He calls me because the store is not open at 11. During COVID, we open at 11.30 because I’m understaffed. So he’s waiting outside of my store and he goes, why aren’t you open? He goes, well, you know, know, this thing called COVID. We have to shorten the hours, right? So we started talking.

And I said, my first thing is, what are you doing? He goes, we’re all at home. And I said, Hey, can you come out and help me? Cause I know that you do a lot of charity work and all this stuff you were scheduled to do got canceled. And he looked at him goes, you’re out of your mind. I’m not going anywhere with you. I told all employees were staying at home. Right. But I said, but we are doing a blood drive in our building because we emptied out half of the building and you need a distancing, right? You have to stand six feet apart and all this stuff.

And I said, do you realize that I’m a partner of the American Red Cross? And it goes, and KLOS is the official radio station to the American Red Cross. So if you can give me a little bit of money, I’ll bring lunches to the nurses that are doing the blood drive and I can talk about it on the radio. And he looked at me and goes, so how much money? He goes, hey, whatever you can do. And he said, 300 bucks. goes, that’ll do. Right. So all of a sudden we started doing this and I said, you know what?

I’m not happy with just you giving me the check. I want you to participate. So very reluctantly, he came to one hospital, stood on the corner. Then he comes to another hospital, stands on the other corner. The third hospital we go to, this is like in a two week period, because we were going out almost every day to a different hospital, right? We go to Children’s Hospital, CHOC, and he again, he’s standing on the corner and out of nowhere, a nurse just bare hugs him.

Remember, this is where everything is distancing, right? And he’s completely speechless. This is like May of 2020, right? He’s like in shock. And the nurse proceeds to tell him how thankful she is that he’s there. And this is the nurse that delivered his premature babies. And all of a sudden, light bulb goes on. He goes, I get to thank the people that took care of my babies.

Anthony Codispoti (38:49)
yeah, you don’t get close to people.

Wing Lam (39:16)
history. So we then goes, what do you need? We’re going to go out. We started doing this, right? Now he’s with me. He can’t, I can’t keep him away. Right. And his entire team is like, I love what you’re doing, but why? Right there. His entire team was, it doesn’t make zero sense. Yes. You’re supporting wing. You’re going out and doing things that nobody else. It makes zero business sense. Right. But remember why do.

Anthony Codispoti (39:39)
It doesn’t make it makes zero business sense is what they’re saying this isn’t contributing to the bottom.

Wing Lam (39:46)
people on the freeways have the personal injury attorneys. Because when you get into an accident, you’re going to remember the first name that you, yeah, call this guy because you’ve seen that billboard a thousand times. It’s subliminal, right? But it’s top of mind. So three years into this thing, it starts raining like two years ago. It has the worst rain in California history. The morning DJ Frank

on the radio is talking about how there’s a leak at his house. Right? I immediately call, you know, Frank goes, Charles and I will be there tomorrow to fix this thing. We’re talking, he lives two hours away from us. We drive up there, we have a team, we fix the leaks, right? For the next four weeks, every time it rains, Frank is like, dude, just call Charles, just call Charles, just go.

You can’t pay for this kind of advertising because it’s not advertising. It’s in the news, right? 37 years in business. The last two years, Charles had record numbers, the best two years of his company’s history in sales. And the only difference is he’s my sidekick, Antis Roofing and Irvine. Their numbers, and I can’t tell you how many other companies that are in the business.

Anthony Codispoti (40:47)
Yeah.

Wing Lam (41:14)
calling me, goes, how do I get into action? He goes, I only have one roofer. I only have one security company. I only have one landscaping company. Whoever got in, you’re it. I’m not going to go, hey, let me get another one. Right? So unless you get out on your own, and I don’t like you for whatever reason, you’re not getting invited. So all of the people that are on Charles’ side of the world, the landscaper, he brought them all in. They’re having amazing numbers as well.

Because in the conversation it goes, my God, I heard you’re doing this. So when it comes down to the bidding, we’re commodities, right? You can choose any landscape where you want. Why is this company getting chosen? Because somewhere in their head, they remember hearing that name on the radio, that they were there with me, right? So you get that goodwill that you don’t know you got. But so I can say, hey, Charles didn’t spend a single dollar more than he was already spending.

He’s actually spending less. The amount of exposure he’s gotten is tenfold just by the sheer numbers he’s having, the best two years, right?

Anthony Codispoti (42:22)
Yeah, Wayne, I had another amazing guest on my show recently, Brad Feld. He’s big in ⁓ tech founders. ⁓ He’s big in the tech scene. And he just released a book that is you guys are like two peas in a pod. His book is called Give First. And it’s this whole idea of, know, they’re sort of pay it forward, which is one and it’s closely related. But Give Give First is I’m to give I know that I’m going to get something back at some point. It may not be from that

person that I gave to, but I’m going to put it out there. And whether you call it karma, or you know, whatever sort of you want to put on it, you know, it sort of comes back to you. And as I hear you talking, and sharing all these great stories, I know that there are listeners thinking this is amazing. Like, how do I recreate this world that wing has created there in Southern California for himself?

Wing Lam (42:58)
Yep. Yep.

Anthony Codispoti (43:18)
Like, what advice would you give to listeners who are like, this is awesome. Like, how do I do that?

Wing Lam (43:23)
The first thing you do is obviously for me, don’t, I don’t need 20 other restaurants because we’re competing for the same service, right? So first get all your suppliers and then get your friends that are in other industry. Because again, when we talk about a shingle guy and a taco guy, we shouldn’t be hanging out. But guess what? We both keep people safe. I feed their stomach, they keep them from getting wet, right? So indirectly these partnerships tend to work better because one it’s unexpected, right?

And the first thing that the question will be is when somebody comes in and asks you for $100 donation or $1,000, whatever the number is, ask why? What are you going to do with $100? Right? And if you can look at them, it requires a little bit more work. But instead of just immediately, goes, here’s a hundred bucks, you know, get out, right? Ask. And how can I help you better? So my approach has always been, oh, you wanted me to put up

a T-sign at the golf tournament for $500. So 25 years ago, the very first golf tournament they did, I said, let me look at what you’re doing. So I looked at their balance sheet. I looked at all the money that they spent to put on this golf tournament. And I said, here goes, okay, here’s two line items right here, food and beverage that you’re doing for lunch. If I can supply you with that, I’m going to save you $5,000. Do you still want the 500? And they’re looking at me and goes,

Of course I want the five grand. Then the next question is how are you going to make that happen? Because I happen to know the manager of that golf course. So I’m going to ask him to say, Hey, on this tournament, the food and beverage, I’m going to donate, but I’m going to help you with another tournament that you’re trying to get for your golf course because I can provide the same service to them. So now when you’re competing for that other charity to come to your golf course,

you can knock out $5,000 off their bill, which makes you a more attractive golf course because you got the green fees, breakfast, lunch and dinner. If I can knock one of the four items out, because I know every event, here’s the balance sheet, right? You’re going to be able to get them. And they’re like, ⁓ the bartering thing, right? So I always ask, how do I make it better? And if I can’t make it better, I usually don’t get involved. That doesn’t ever happen because

I can, because remember I’m a finance guy, so I can look at what they spend to raise money. And I can usually find three or four items, if not more, that I can knock out. And I said, okay, I can help you with these items. Now you can make more money. You can be more effective, right? And that’s what they end up doing. So I tell people, don’t write checks, don’t do any of that. Get engaged, get involved, and see how you can truly make a difference.

and get to meet the people and all of a sudden they’re like, oh my God, that was amazing.

Anthony Codispoti (46:20)
Wing, when are you gonna write your book?

Wing Lam (46:22)
You know, I’ve got a bloody mind that we’ve been talking about it for years. One of these days, you know, I’ll get to it. But right now I’m just having fun sharing the stories via shows like this and telling people this. Hey, instead of asking what’s in it for me, ask him, how can I help you guys? Right. And the answer is like, hey, you could write a bigger check. That’s always the easy one. But that’s one in that I want to be suspended.

Anthony Codispoti (46:24)
There’s something brewing here.

I

feel like your story is sort of this marriage of Brad Feld’s book, Give First, and unreasonable hospitality, which I’m sure you’re familiar with. You’re the love child of that.

Wing Lam (47:00)
I’ve met the author.

Yes, you do things that make almost zero sense, but it will make somebody else’s life a very memorable occasion. If you can do that for people, people are always going to remember you because you’re the one responsible for that moment in their lives, Unreasonable Hospitality is an amazing. He and I spoke at the same conference two years ago and I was like, this guy is amazing, but he reminds me of me.

Because my life is, every one of my friends that calls me goes, my God, I wish I could do this. I’m like, me make a couple of calls. And they look at me and go, you’re crazy. You’re not getting anything out of it. I goes, yes, but if I can help you, your kid, your wife, whatever that may be, you might remember me some point in the future. And I don’t know what’s going to come of it, right? But I will help you get what you need today.

zero expectation of what I’m going to get in the future, right?

Anthony Codispoti (48:01)
Okay, let’s wait. Let’s come back to restaurant. had the first location. At what point were you like, I’m onto something here, and we’re going to open location number two.

Wing Lam (48:10)
It wasn’t so much that I had something there. I literally had a friend of mine’s fraternity, one of my fraternity brothers, dad that lived in Laguna beach was about 30 minutes away that said, Hey, I’m tired of driving to Costa Mesa once every few weeks. There’s a spot open in Laguna beach. I think I need you to come and look at it. And if without him, I would have never found this place. And just to give you an idea in California and probably in a liquor store near you, there’s a margarita mix called La Paz.

It’s been around for 50 some years, right? It was started by this restaurant, was a bartender there. And they named it after the restaurant, but I’m pretty sure the bartender never got paid for it, right? It was a customer that basically got the recipe. This restaurant had been empty for three years because they wanted to demolish it because it’s on Pacific Coast Highway overlooking the ocean. I literally came in knowing what I know about restaurant permitting. And I said, hey, here’s what I’m willing to pay.

And only if I can keep the building as is, historical. By naming it a historical building, I didn’t have to touch it. I just basically brought in equipment, put a lip-stip on it, and I was able to open the store. And the landlord, owner of the building, would come in and get her nails done next door. Once a month, I’d give her a check. It was a fifth of what the people across the street were paying.

And I told her you’ve owned the building for 50 years. This is more than, you know, your mortgage and whatever. Plus you already own it free and clear. And I said, but one thing, a year from today, I’m either going to give you the keys back because I’m gone out of business where I’m going to buy the building from you. And she looked at me and goes, game on. A year later, I bought the building from her and I said, I need another favor. I’m going to basically double the payment because now I’m paying mortgage.

and I need you to carry the paper for a few years until I can get a refinance. So she did that a few years later, paid her entire amount off and the rest is history. So basically the first restaurant was because people got tired. The third restaurant was the same. People from the East side of Costa Mesa got tired of coming over. So we opened that and that’s how we started opening because people said, it’s too far. Can you open here? I mean, so think about that for a second. So the demand was already there.

So then we opened Lake Forest, we opened Tustin, we opened Huntington Beach and just kept growing. We lost about almost 15 stores during COVID, like colleges, venues and whatnot. So I think we have 42 locations now.

Anthony Codispoti (50:35)
How many locations do you have now?

Okay, what do growth plans look like going forward?

Wing Lam (50:52)
We just reopened, I call it reopened, the first one in Austin, Texas, where at one point before COVID, we had three locations. We’re opening in the Orange County Airport shortly, and we’re actively looking at sites to see if we can expand. But again, California is not necessarily the most business-friendly state in the United States. So other states that are more business-friendly is probably what we’re looking at.

Anthony Codispoti (51:19)
Are these states that still have sort of a like a surf culture or do you think that’s not necessary?

Wing Lam (51:25)
Not necessarily because there’s skateboarding in all the states pretty much. It’s what I call it aspiration because no matter where you live in the United States on your to-do list is go to Disneyland. So California has a lot of aspirational destinations like Hollywood, whatever. And one of them is the beach, the whole surf culture. So going to one of my restaurants in Vegas, New Jersey, Colorado, fulfills that bucket. Cause for that

30 minutes hour you feel like you’re in a beach shack somewhere in California or Mexico.

Anthony Codispoti (52:00)
I want to take a little detour for a moment, Wang, and I would like to talk about a serious challenge that you’ve overcome, whether it’s something personal or professional, and hear how you got through it, what you learned.

Wing Lam (52:10)
You know, the thing is, like when we talk about finance, you never think, you know, they say you should have money for the rainy day. So back in the nineties, we had a fire in Laguna Beach in the hills and rains that followed, which all the mudslides, right? So for about three days, you couldn’t get to our store. So we shut down. And then on Friday, we’re like, how are we going to make payroll?

Because this is when, you know, two or three years into the business, we only have three stores, right? So cashflow is king. a lot of people, so we learn early on, you know, that say, hey, you should have a few dollars in the savings account for literally they call it the rainy day because it literally it fires and then the rains came and it flooded the canyon because all the muds came down. You can get to our store. So not only could our staff not get there, customers couldn’t get in, right?

So we learned, know, so these are all the things, start planning, right? It’s not a thing that they say, save it for a rainy day. It’s a natural fact of life for us, right? So we always plan now ahead for these kinds of things that are outside of your domain. Knock on wood, we haven’t had any earthquakes, but we’ve had quite a few fires and rains issues in Southern California over the years.

Anthony Codispoti (53:29)
And so when

that first instance happened and you guys were struggling to make payroll, what did you do? How’d you get through that?

Wing Lam (53:34)
Well,

luckily we have mom and dad. You know, so I say, Hey, mom and dad, need to borrow a few dollars until next week, until we can, you get back on our feet. And they’ve always been supportive, but that’s literally the only time in the history of our company that we learned the hard way. You got to have a little bit of money in the bank. Right. So all the guys that are starting, you need to have a little rainy day money, just in case.

Anthony Codispoti (53:37)
Okay.

You got a safety net.

Wing Lam (54:01)
Something happening, like when you’re in the town, could be a tornado, right? It could be something, but it’s gonna happen no matter where you are in the country.

Anthony Codispoti (54:07)
Yeah.

Wing, what is your superpower?

Wing Lam (54:11)
Me is paying attention, I think, right? I think I listen to, so the first thing you mentioned where you’re in Columbus, Ohio, I’m thinking about all the things that I could do with you in Columbus, Ohio. And at the top of my mind, nothing comes to mind yet because there’s nothing that I know of there, right? But if there was, then I’m like, hey, the next time in Columbus, we’re going to go see this or we’re to go hang out there. But pretty much all my friends from around the country.

They’re amazed about what I retain by listening to people like their kids, their wives. I go, Hey, your kid wants to go see this. And they’re like, you know, what are you talking about? Cause I remember he liked baseball. Right. So I tend to remember things cause I want to truly make something happen by, you know, and I can only do that if I pay attention to what you do, you know, cause I do see a picture behind him. There’s a little, there’s an adult and a little kid.

You know, and there’s some hearts there. So those are the things that people, know, you look at that. Those are clues. You know, they’re very easy. You know, when you walk into anybody’s office, look at, always have school memorabilia, right? So the easiest one for me in Southern California is if you went to USC, because USC has produced at least five former NFL quarterbacks. I think one is still playing. ⁓ Sam Darnold is still playing. But of the five, two of them won Heisman Trophy.

Right? I’m friends with all five and people that went to USC will sit there and how are you friends with guys that you didn’t even go to school with? And the answer is I do all their charity work. And that’s, you know, and people will go, wow. You know, so that’s what I’m really good at. So if you think of a big school, I go through my mental role that goes, ⁓ such and such went there, you know, and then I’ll connect the dots. And the next thing you know,

When I come to see you in Columbus, we’re going to go see the Buckeyes, da da da, whatever, right? And it would be something and you’re going to, what? I go, well, I remember.

Anthony Codispoti (56:16)
So here’s what I’m piecing together. You’ve got a good memory. You’ve got a gigantic heart. And then you seem to have this ability to play 3D chess with how do I connect people to make a difference and to make an impact on people’s lives.

Wing Lam (56:31)
That’s it. That’s

all it is. Because if I can do that for you, right? Because the first thing you mentioned was your HR service, right? So in my head, I’m like, hmm, we can talk about that, figure out what you do and see how, know, like, IE, my wife has found corporate wellness dollars from insurance companies. So now instead of going to an HR department and selling her services, she goes here.

Here’s what we’re going to do with the $10,000 from your insurance company. They look at her and go, how do you know that? Because, that’s her job. All of a sudden, it’s a much easier sell to the HR lady because she’s not asking for money. She’s going to find a bucket that they didn’t even know existed. And all of sudden, she’s doing yoga classes, a happy hour, a stretch class, a massage class, whatever, Pilates class in their offices.

And they’re not paying for it because there’s a bucket of wellness dollars in almost every insurance, you know, health services, whatever provider. And so that’s what she does. And she’s really good at it. And from time to time, she goes, wait, can you come in and do a show and tell, show them how to make a salsa, a healthy version of something. And I come in there, I’m getting paid to, you know, put a blender together and show them how to make salsa, you know, instead of buying something that’s got all the preservatives in the store. Right. And that to me is exciting. Right.

So eating healthy is a big part of our lives. My wife has found a way to make a living doing that, right? So we’re always tag teaming each other and all kinds of stuff, you know, where the world’s like, it’s a very small, because if you can figure it out, how to add value, make people’s lives better, right? You’re going to get that business, right? So we don’t stop.

Anthony Codispoti (58:17)
I think that’s such

a beautiful and a ⁓ positive way to kind of move through the world. Like I have to imagine living inside of your skin, Wang. It’s it’s ⁓ there’s there’s just a sparkle to it because the way that you approach things and ⁓ like, I’m looking at Anthony’s back. He’s got a kid and a heart and he’s in Columbus. And how can I like it’s give first rather than what can I get from?

this meeting, what can I get from this transaction?

Wing Lam (58:47)
Yeah.

Because if I can add value to your life, you’re going to call me and you’re going to always remember, hmm, there’s this kid in Southern California. Because one day you’re going to come to Disneyland, right? If you haven’t already been, well, maybe that day you’re going to call me and say, Hey, I’m thinking about bringing my son, daughter to Disneyland. And I’m saying, well, this would be the best way to do it. Right. Because one, it’d be more fun, cost effective, and you’re going to have a great experience. Right. Because otherwise you can just do it on your own.

And I guarantee you, it be more expensive, won’t be as much fun. And you know, it won’t just, I’m just gonna make it better, right? So I tell all my friends, was, what do you wanna do? And how do I make it better, right?

Anthony Codispoti (59:28)
How does your ethos show up for your employees?

Wing Lam (59:34)
the same way, literally. Yesterday, office manager goes, hey, can I go see this? I’m like, yeah. And he goes, John is working there, so I’ll make sure you can go. And she goes, oh, OK. And he goes, well, what about this concert at the House of Blues? goes, such and such is over there. I’ll just call it in, and you can go there, too. And she says, at him. you told me you wanted to go see it. And I’m just picking up the phone and make sure you can go. So my employees, they know.

that Uncle Wing will pretty much, know, within reason, I can do almost anything they need, right? And it’s all Uncle Wing, you know, it’s like, hey, you know, I’m having this, you know, and I already know if you have kids, you know, you don’t have to ask, right? Just say, you know, because water parks, parks, when we do the giveaways, you know, I’ll make sure that they get to be a part of the giveaway, right? So they can go because

Anthony Codispoti (1:00:10)
Uncle Wang, is that what they call you?

Wing Lam (1:00:31)
Why not? You know, we’re going to have the general population win X number of tickets as a sponsor. I’m going to get a number of tickets, right? So I make sure that they’re part of that, right? So I want them to have experiences as well.

Anthony Codispoti (1:00:45)
If people are listening and they would love to do what you’re doing or do it with you, be part of some of the philanthropic efforts, what can they do? How do they get involved? How do they learn more about this?

Wing Lam (1:00:57)
I just

basically go to the website, the California Love Drop, see what we’ve done there, right? And literally we can replicate that in any aspect. I just had recently a couple that really wanted to get into what I’m doing. But I said to them, but what fulfills your bucket? Like, what are you guys excited about? And they mentioned pets. I’m like, let’s do it for pets, not for humans. And they looked at me completely bewildered. I’m like, it’s the same thing.

Instead of food, we’re to do treats like pet food. So two months in, they’re like, we’re having the most fun we’ve ever had in our lives. They created a thing called the PAW, P-A-W instead of project. It’s PAW, right? The good project. It’s a husband and wife and they go out to local shelters and bring treats. I said, the model is

You’re going to have to fund it initially, just like I funded mine. And the next step, I’m going to give you stuff that you can augment what you’re doing. And then you go out and find sponsors just like I did. And it’s a two step, you just can’t go out because you at a certain point, you’re going to run out of money if all you do is give. So if you can start getting some products and cash, whatever it is to offset it, right. And they’re slowly doing it. And literally.

I see him now twice a week, complete strangers to me, because I didn’t know him two months ago. I just gave him the game plan of what I did. And I said, you guys can do the exact same thing with pets, going to shelters. they’re literally in just a week ago, I introduced them to one of the coolest, I call it Dutch hounds around. It’s called Rowdy. She is a professional skateboarder, winter dog. Okay.

He’s been at the X Games. She’s literally won all these races. And I said, the difference is when you do a pet adoption day now and that wiener dog shows up rowdy, ⁓ it’s like a celebrity showing up. The number of dogs that will get picked up, that they adopted, will be like five-fold if she’s not there.

Anthony Codispoti (1:03:16)
So ⁓ you mentioned budget, and you have to fund it a little bit on the front end. But you can’t be giving away too much. You’re going to start running out of money. What do you think, from your experience, people who have done this, how much money do you think somebody needs to get an idea like this kind

Wing Lam (1:03:32)
It depends on what you’re trying to do, right? Because if you don’t have the money, but you have access to the stuff that the kids or whatever needs, you can start with that, right? So if you know somebody that owns a MyCoast for instance, any of these places that have items, right? Then you turn around and goes, hey, when it goes out of season, can I have it? When you’re changing this, can I have it? When it’s slightly damaged, can I have it, right? And find a way to repurpose it, right? So I’m…

Anthony Codispoti (1:03:39)
Mm.

Wing Lam (1:04:00)
amazingly resourceful because I’ve been doing it for so long, I know what everybody makes, right? So like the t-shirts that we do for charity, for instance, that’s a huge expense. A blank costs you, let’s say, five to $10 plus silk screening, another two to $3. So you’re easily $10 to $15 into a t-shirt to promote your new charity, right? Well, I got one of the surf brands that will donate the blanks. So that eliminates 80 % right there, right? Or the hats.

That’s another 80%. Right. So all of a sudden you can show up branded, right, to promote your new charity and you didn’t have to spend any money. So I’ve helped quite a few startups with just that because they’re like, we really like our volunteers to be able to wear something when they’re at the beach cleaning the desk or serving the dogs or whatever they are doing. Right. So I said, okay, that’s easy for me to do. So then we, we go through the whole process again. think my financial spreadsheet goes, what are you trying to do and what are the items that we need to knock out?

Right? So if I can help you look bigger than you are, right, then people want to be a part of your initiative, right? So you got to baby steps. It might cost you $100. It might cost you $1,000. I don’t know what you’re doing, right, and where you are in the country. But if you look at your network and see who can provide that service, right, then you can go, ooh, I can call John. I can call Tom. I can call Bob, right? And all of sudden, they’re pitching in, right?

And all of a sudden you have a movement, right? So just think of, I call it a Tom Sawyer, right? You’re there painting the fence. If you can make it look fun, everybody will want to be painting the fence with you. So that’s what I’m able to do. I make it fun because I’m going to be backstage, but you can only come backstage when you’ve gone to the shelter with me the week before, right? So I’m very like, here’s the deal. If you say no to the shelter, you’re not coming backstage with me, right? Because I already know you’re a taker, right?

So everybody that’s willing to do, you know, the shelter, then you can come to the backstage and all the things will kind of, you know, and it’s a cycle and everything works beautifully, right? Yeah. So when you have a lot of volunteers that are willing to donate and participate and volunteer, you don’t have any overhead, right? Because labor and whatever the donation product is, service is the money, right? But if all of a sudden the California lift drop has zero overhead, right?

Anthony Codispoti (1:06:09)
Create a flywheel, yeah.

Wing Lam (1:06:27)
That’s why we can function like a very lean machine, because everybody donates.

Anthony Codispoti (1:06:31)
Wing, I’ve just got one more question for you. But before I ask it, I want to do two things. First, I’m going to invite everybody listening to pause for just a moment and hit the follow or subscribe button on your favorite podcast app. We’ve had a fantastic interview today with Wing Lam from Wahoos. I want you to continue to get more great interviews like this. Wing, I also want to let people know the best way to get in touch with you. So I’m going to mention ⁓ two of your websites here, wahoos.com, W-A-H-O-O-S for the restaurants. And then it’s californialovedrop.org.

Wing Lam (1:07:01)
Yes.

Anthony Codispoti (1:07:01)
for

⁓ the philanthropic work that we’ve been talking about. Any other ways that you would recommend folks to either follow your story or connect with you?

Wing Lam (1:07:09)
You can always go on LinkedIn, know, find me on LinkedIn, WingLamb, I mean, because there, again, it’s easy for me to filter out because I got a lot of spam coming through these days, right? And then we can talk about it and I’d be happy to, you know, kind of give you a few tips on how to. So in it, you’d say, Hey, this is what I’m looking to do. This is what I’m excited about because it might be environmental. You want to clean the lake. You might want to save a tree. I don’t know what you want to do, but in my group,

either I’ve done it myself or I somebody who’s done it, right? And I say, here’s a few options that you could do, right? It can be a boy scout, it doesn’t matter what it is that you want to do. There’s a roadmap to doing it right. And if I feel that you’re doing it for the right reason, right? Not to be like, look at me, look at what I’m doing. We don’t do that, right? So then by talking to people, I can usually filter that out because I’ll be asking a lot of fun questions like,

where have you been, what have you done, da da da. And I hate to say it, but I’m gonna check you out, right? That’s what the internet is for, to see if you’re genuinely interested in helping people, right? Because otherwise, if you’re just trying to make a buck doing this, call somebody else. I’m not interested in that, right? But if you end up making money, then yes, but not I wanna make money by doing this, right? So I’m very purposeful in who I help.

Anthony Codispoti (1:08:30)
Yeah.

I like that. So last question for you, Wing. You and I reconnect a year from now, and you’re really excited because you’re celebrating a big thing. What is that big thing you’re celebrating one year from today?

Wing Lam (1:08:44)
You know, right now, think milestones for me, it’s mostly about seeing my kid grow. I do have an older son, Greg, who’s 38, and I have a little one that’s 10, right? It’s seeing him go from, like the pure jump for him this year for the junior lifeguard is a major milestone. The fact that he swam the monster mile, which means you run a mile and swim a mile, he was in the upper half of the kids that didn’t quit, right?

Things like that are exciting, right? But more important is like to me, like maybe five years from now is knock on wood is to celebrate my parents like 98th or 99th birthday, right? They’re still alive. They’re kicking it. They’re getting ready to go to China this weekend to visit their homeland for maybe the last time. Right. And to me, that’s to me is all that is seeing the people around me, you know, get to where they want to get. I think for the most part, I am here.

I mean, there’s really not a whole lot, you more that I think, my God, I would be so much happier if I did this. Yeah, there’s a lot of things, but I’m happy, right? I love the life that I live, but more important, I love helping others, right? That to me is much more exciting. The paying for it is way more exciting.

Anthony Codispoti (1:10:02)
Wing Lamb from Wahoos Fish Taco. I to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate it.

Wing Lam (1:10:09)
Thank you.

Anthony Codispoti (1:10:11)
Folks, that’s another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.