TikTok is more than just an entertainment platform—as proven by 21-year-old Jennifer Le, who single-handedly transformed her father’s Vietnamese restaurant into a bustling business.
Le was devastated to see her parents struggle after the pandemic drastically reduced day-to-day customer numbers, so she reached out to people online in the hope that it would reach at least a few people in the local area.
She posted a short emotional video of her father Vuong Le, who owns Lee’s Noodle House in Santa Rosa, Calif., with the caption: “It makes me so sad to see my parents just wait for customers to walk through the door to eat at their Vietnamese restaurant.”
Underneath the video, she pleaded: “TikTok do your thing and help support my parents’ Vietnamese restaurant. My parents haven’t been having that many customers and been feeling stressed dealing with financial issues. If you want to check it out, they make delicious Vietnamese food.”
The video now has over 1 million views and the community came out to support the restaurant in droves. “I’m really thankful,” said Vuong Le in a report by CNN.
Brought to tears
Le posted again to her TikTok account thanking people for their generosity, adding, “The amount of love and responses from the TikTok community has been insane!…The comment section has brought my parents and I to tears. We are so grateful for all the support, and for everyone who is coming out!”
In an interview with The Press Democrat, Vuong explained more about the moment his daughter captured with her smartphone. “She surprised me a lot. I didn’t know she did that. But it’s a fact. How come at nighttime nobody dines in? It’s so stressful. We usually close at 9, but now we close at 7:30 because you can’t afford to pay PG&E gas and electric and all that and you cannot wait for customers.”
The restaurant first opened in 2003, but suffered a decline in business when the pandemic hit. Le’s father cooks and serves, while her mother is the head chef.
TikTok has become a boon for digital marketing campaigns, especially when reaching out to younger generations who get much of their information through the app.
This is also just one of several instances in which individuals have used to TikTok as a means to gather help and funds for different causes on an international level—including setting up GoFundMe pages to help elderly Walmart workers retire.
Learn how to navigate and strengthen trust in your business with The Trust Factor, a weekly newsletter examining what leaders need to succeed. Sign up here.