I first met Dina Yuen in a coffee shop in San Francisco in early 2011. She was an early member of Commonred and as was typical operating procedure I would meet with any of the first 5,000 users that emailed me. I was shocked upon meeting her to hear of an insanely ambitious idea: she wanted to become the Martha Stewart of Asia. The goal was shockingly huge but I quickly realized that Dina was the type of person that just might be able to pull it off.
Asian Fusion is a media company that bills itself as a one stop shop for all Asian related topics. They have recipes, travel recommendations, fashion, etertainment, and more. My favorite series they publish is the MVA - Most Valuable Asian. I hope to someday be featured.
So when you have such massive goals, where do you begin to attack the problem? Dina recently released her first of many books called Indonesian Cooking: Satays, Sambals and more which is already on its third run on Amazon after launching in March. It features recipes from salads, to appetizers and drinks that Dina has collected in her world travels. I recently attended the book's launch party in San Francisco which featured recipes from the book. The Consulate of Indonesia was so thrilled with the promotion for the country that they helped sponsor and fund the event.
What's next for the part Chinese part Russian future media mogul? First of all more books, and second an expansion of the website and Asian Fusion empire. Ultimately what does Dina want to do with the added exposure and public role she might have? She has been a supporter of orphaned and abused children for much of her life and she wants to bring more light to that cause, ultimately helping more children get out of that terrible situation.
It's been a year since I met Dina and her goal has not changed, her vision has only clarified on where her entrepreneurial journey will ultimately lead. So can Dina achieve her massive goals? There's at least one little baby that seems to be pretty excited to find out (see left). I had a chance to interview Dina at her event a few weeks ago and taste some of the delicious food from her book (see pictures below). You can order on Amazon today. Watch the video here: