{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Sushi Empire - Tonny Soesanto, Kikka Sushi","description":"Tonny Soesanto is the relentlessly optimistic President of Kikka Sushi. Tonny\u2019s sushi empire started 30 years ago with just a few employees. The company is now 2,000 employees and supplies a significant amount of sushi to Whole Foods and other top grocery stores across the United States. Tonny is an extremely happy person. He was laughing and smiling throughout my visit to Kikka HQ in LA. This episode will teach you a lot about optimizing for happiness and how to run a business. The takeaway from this episode is that there\u2019s always a way when you work hard with persistence and optimism. Every time Tonny encounters a problem or an opportunity, he finds a way to make it happen. His strategy is to say yes first and figure out execution second. This strategy led to Kikka Sushi becoming one of the first to-go sushi suppliers in grocery and to being one of the first to use brown rice in sushi. Kikka\u2019s yes first approach is why they are still growing today. When competitors said no and died, Tonny said yes and thrived.   Quotes from the episode \u201cI\u2019m very persistent, I don\u2019t want to lose\u201d - Tonny Soesanto \u201cIt\u2019s not the money that I want, it\u2019s the challenge\u201d - Tonny Soesanto \u201cI learn from my experience in life so the best you can do is teach your children or my employees to do the same...You need to view your life as glass half full, never half empty.\u201d - Tonny Soesanto \u201cI sleep on a stainless steel table but that\u2019s fun\u201d - Tonny Soesanto Business contact Info http:\/\/www.kikkasushi.com\/ 431 S. Isis Avenue Inglewood, California 90301 (310) 410-1151 Email us at kikka@kikkasushi.com ","author_name":"Bootstrapped","author_url":"https:\/\/www.bootstrappedpodcast.com\/","html":"