As part of the TEDWomen Conference at Barrett, the Honors College, co-founder of artisan ice-cream shop Sweet Republic Helen Yung spoke to students about her inspirations, trials and triumphs.
While the actual conference is held in Los Angeles and New York, it was streamed live to ASU students and faculty at the Social Lounge in Honors Hall on the Tempe campus.
Between the simulcast talks intended to inspire women to take on entrepreneurial roles, Yung, in person, recalled crouching under her bed on Sept. 11, using the glow of her cell phone to see through the thick smoke covering her New York apartment.
“(It) was a wake-up call that tomorrow may not happen,” Yung said. “If you don’t take advantage of what you have today, tomorrow may not come around at all.”
In that moment, she decided to turn her career path from investment banking to culinary experimentation, particularly making ice cream.
So instead of handling billion-dollar accounts, Yung now manages a menu of funky flavorings such as blue cheese ice cream or basil mint sorbet.
Yung founded Sweet Republic in Scottsdale along with her business partner, Jan Wichayanuparp.
The three-and-half-year-old company is widely recognized for its creative concoctions.
Alton Brown, host of the Food Network’s Iron Chef America, described Sweet Republic’s handcrafted vanilla ice cream in the Toffee Banofi sundae as “mother’s milk.”
Yung said investment banking allowed her to live in places including Tokyo and London, but the best part was fulfilling her foodie craving for local and global cuisine.
“I’ve learned to educate my palate,” Yung said. “I think that is something valuable. I would never change that.”
Yung’s transition through culinary school and the restaurant business was a “long and winding road” — with ice cream being the best treat at the end.
“Just the craft of creating something — making something by hand — is just so much more rewarding than seeing numbers cross the screen,” Yung said.
As part of the Herberger Young Scholars Academy’s trip to Barrett, 11-year-old student Annapurna said she’s tried almost every flavor offered at Sweet Republic.
“She includes almost every single culture in her ice-cream,” Annapurna said. “So you’ll find stuff from India, China and Spain.”
Annapurna said Yung is her inspiration for her culinary quest to learn more cooking techniques.
W.P. Carey School of Business junior T.J. Wey said she was glad to have an in-person entrepreneur as part of the TEDWomen event that was able to answer questions. She said the simulcast reshaped her perception of the way women are personified in business.
“When you think the word ‘entrepreneur,’ you think men and not women,” Wey said. “That’s something strange to me.”
Angela Gunder, webmaster for Barrett, the Honor’s College, and organizer of TEDWomen at Barrett, said Sweet Republic was picked because it’s owned and operated by women as well as committed to its community.
“A lot of the great change that comes about starts locally, and then it builds to a global level,” Gunder said. “Giving our community access to these sorts of ideas that the work that you do here has a great ripple effect and has an impact on a lot of folks is very, very profound.”
This is the second year the honors college has hosted TEDWomen at Barrett, which is the only location in Arizona licensed to broadcast the event.
While the actual conference is held in Los Angeles and New York, it was streamed live to ASU students and faculty at the Social Lounge in Honors Hall on the Tempe campus.
Starting at 9 a.m., students heard from Pulitzer-winning journalists, humanitarians, technology entrepreneurs and many others in a series of 18-minute talks that focused on women reshaping the future of business.
The event is a highlight for TEDxBarrettHonorsCollegeSalon, an intermittent series held at the Barrett Amphitheater featuring discussions and videos from TED.
Reach the reporter at uvitkovs@asu.edu
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