The Startup Junkies Podcast

Most restaurants don't survive their first year. This one won five awards in it. Including back-to-back People's Choice titles and a top finish for Best Asian Business in the entire state of Arkansas.

Maria Smith left a long corporate career (including years at Sam's Club) to open Lasang Pinoy with her brother, bringing Filipino cuisine, and Filipino karaoke culture, to Northwest Arkansas. 

In this episode, she breaks down the history behind the cuisine, the real financial and emotional challenges of opening a restaurant, why one specific karaoke song is banned from the building, and her dream of franchising the concept nationwide.

⏱️ Chapters
00:20 Welcome & Meet Maria Smith 
01:46 Maria's Origin Story: From the Philippines to Arkansas 
03:06 One Year In: Awards & Milestones 
04:58 The Rich History Behind Filipino Cuisine 
07:06 Why Northwest Arkansas Connects with Filipino Food 
07:36 Karaoke Nights: Go Bananas & Go Coconuts 
09:23 The Golden Mic Karaoke Championship 
10:00 The One Song Banned From Filipino Karaoke 
11:55 Running a Restaurant with Family 
14:50 Building the Right Team 
16:07 The Power of Small Details 
18:11 Biggest Challenges: Cash Flow & Emotional Endurance 
21:21 Giving Back to the Community 
24:14 The Future: Franchising Filipino Food Nationwide

---
Learn more about Lasang Pinoy: https://lasangpinoynwa.com/

🎙️ New founder stories every week — subscribe so you don't miss one.
🔗 https://startupjunkie.org/

What is The Startup Junkies Podcast?

Candid conversations with the founders, operators, and investors building companies in Northwest Arkansas and beyond.

The Startup Junkies Podcast is hosted by Jeff Amerine, founder of Startup Junkie, a Northwest Arkansas organization that has provided no-cost consulting, programs, and events to entrepreneurs for more than 15 years. Each week Jeff and the Startup Junkie team sit down with people who have actually done it: first-time and serial founders, small business owners, investors, accelerator alumni, and the ecosystem builders working alongside them.

Expect real stories, not lectures. How they got started, how they found their first customers, how they raised money or chose not to, what nearly broke them, and what they would do differently. Topics range from validating an idea and finding capital to hiring, marketing, leadership, scaling, and selling the business.

With more than 450 episodes since 2015, the back catalog covers nearly every stage of building a company in Arkansas and the Mid-South. If you are starting something, growing something, or helping founders do either, this show is for you.

This feed also carries Querido Emprendedor, our Spanish-language founder series, and the Fuel Podcast, featuring companies from Startup Junkie's Fuel Accelerator.

New episodes weekly. Show notes, transcripts, and the full archive at startupjunkie.org/podcast.

Startup Junkie's mission: improving lives through innovation and entrepreneurship, from Northwest Arkansas around the globe.