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The Amazing Authorities Podcast
Food Science to Human Resilience: How Bryan Kwok Le Built a Life of Purpose, Innovation & Connection
00:29:40
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- [00:02]
A
Welcome to the Amazing Authorities Podcast, where game changers, visionaries, and category leaders share how they built their brands, platforms, and global influence. Your host is Mitch Carson, international speaker, media strategist, and creator of the Instant Authority system. If you're ready to learn from those who've done it and want to become the go to expert in your space, you're in the right place.
- [00:31]
B
Dr. Brian Kwak Le is in the house. He is our amazing authority on the Amazing Authority podcast. Welcome to the show, Brian. Because you insisted on me calling you Brian, we got the doctor part out of the way.
- [00:48]
A
That's right, Mitch. You know, My dad was Dr. Lay, so I. I get to decide my own fate.
- [00:55]
B
Okay, well, you know, that's. Yeah. Because when people call me sir. This is a funny little story. When people call me sir, I don't like that because I'm getting older and I'm not accepting it very well. So I look around and I do one of these. I say, sir. I don't think my dad's in the room. And I'm not knighted by the Queen of England. I happen to be American.
- [01:24]
A
Nice. Nice. I like that.
- [01:26]
B
So that's why I get that, you know, that.
- [01:28]
A
That.
- [01:28]
B
That sir stuff off. But was your dad a medical doctor?
- [01:33]
A
He was a medical doctor. He was. He was a real doctor. I'm. I'm just, you know, a food doctor. Right. You know, well, you're not just you.
- [01:41]
B
You're with information. You're piled high and deep.
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A
Oh, definitely. Definitely deep. Definitely high, for sure.
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B
How did you get into being a food scientist? I mean, is that. Do you just have a big appetite, or was there more to it?
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A
Oh, it's so funny. I actually didn't care that much about food growing up. I was like a hardcore chemist. I was like, everything's molecules, Everything's chemistry. And then at some point, I was pretty burnt out. So when I graduated college, I decided to walk across the country. So I walked from California to Louisiana over 2,000 miles. And during that time, I was just cramming, like, 4,000 calories every day, just like anything I could get a hold of. And I was like, oh, that makes me feel good. I can walk longer on that. And then stuff was like, oh, that was terrible. Like, I can only walk 5, 10 miles fast. Usually I can do 25. And so food started to become really important to me. And I was like, there's probably something to that, but I know it wasn't a straight line. I went back to get my PhD in chemistry, and I got super Bored because of my account of now known adhd. So I, I, I, I stopped going to class and I started going to the design school. And in one of the design school classes was, they talked about food and I was like, oh, that's more interesting. This is way cooler than like making drugs or pharmaceuticals or you know, petrochemicals. So I, I, I, I took to it and eventually I dropped out and, and then I just, I just restarted my journey, you know, I, and I discovered food science. I was like, maybe I should do my PhD in this. So I did that.
- [03:36]
B
Where'd you go for your PhD in food song? Because you don't hear about that too often in the States.
- [03:41]
A
No you don't. There's like maybe like 20, 30 universities I went to University of Wisconsin in Madison. So they got a nice program there. There was also one in Cornell and UC Davis. But yeah, they don't come up very often. It's a, it's a very, it's specifically state schools minus Cornell for whatever weird reason. And it has to be land grant universities. So it's a weird like regulatory thing where they have to have a food science program. So it's, it's quirky.
- [04:13]
B
And people that would hire you for having a food science. Because most people, I hadn't heard of it until like I mentioned to you before the interview today, I had an ex relationship. She had a degree in food science. She got hired by a large gastro division of Dusitani Corporation here and was.
- [04:36]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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B
So that was why I learned about it. But prior to that I'd never heard about it in the States.
- [04:43]
A
Right, right, I heard about it. The only reason I knew about it was because I read it in a research journal, like if you can believe that. And yeah, I mean I got really lucky. I mean there's definitely kids out there who know what food science is, but barely like, and there's only, there's actually only 12,000 of us, you know, like professional food scientists in the United States. So you know, even in the department you mean. No, just any like Bachelor's, Master's. Like there's even fewer of us PhDs. Very few. Like we, we like, we've had to collect to each other. We're like, oh, there's only like 400 of us maybe. Right. Or a thousand of us. But yeah, it's a, it's a really interesting field. I think it really matches a lot of my, my, the way I think.
- [05:35]
B
Brian, you were breaking up a little bit.
- [05:37]
A
Oh, I'm breaking up. Oh no. Are we, are we doing okay now?
- [05:41]
B
Go ahead, say that again.
- [05:43]
A
Okay. Yeah, yeah. I was just saying like it really matches my skills because in the way I see the world is because I've got a lot of, I like to dabble in a lot of different things. Like I'm not, I wouldn't say I'm an expert at any particular thing. I just have a lot of information about the most random stuff and somehow I managed to make a good living off of that.
- [06:09]
B
So what do you, how does someone hire you as a food scientist? Do you go into work for one of the large food producing corporations? Like would you go and work for a Johnson and Johnson or one of the, I mean, or I don't even know who they are in America. Heinz ketchup.
- [06:26]
A
Right, right, right. No, I mean that's where a lot of my friends would go. But you know, for me as a consultant, I actually end up helping a lot of like small or medium sized businesses who are looking to either get into the food industry. Like it might just be an entrepreneur who's you know, starting something up and wants like a product designed or it's a, you know, established company that, you know, maybe doesn't have the money to build out entire R and D team. So they hire me and I get to be there R and D team for, you know, three to six months. So it's nice because the projects are short and you know, I can do different things in between. You know, I'm not really the type of person that's looking to make the max amount of money. Honestly. If I was, I would just, you know, hunker down and work for a company. But really for me it's about finding projects that work for me, be able to pay my bills and you know, doing really cool stuff. That's, that's, that's my bottom line.
- [07:30]
B
Well, do you consult for restaurant groups, coming up with menus and, and then, and putting your stamp on it? Is that also a, A, a sector of your business?
- [07:40]
A
Yeah, I've definitely done it. I've done it, you know, for really interesting restaurant concepts. Like a lot of them are going to be more like using like, you know, artificial intelligence or robots even. Right. Like, so they need to make sure like the machinery built like creates the menu perfectly. So I find that really fascinating. It's like the future right now and really just honing in on like how do we replicate this flavor across like 10 locations. Right. Like how do you do that when there's a lot of different variables involved. And, you know, we get into the chemistry, we get into the biology, and figure out a lot of the food safety involved, too.
- [08:23]
B
I want to go back to what you just said a little bit ago and that it was astounding. We glossed over it quickly. You walked from LA to Louisiana. What prompted that? Woke up one day, I'm gonna walk to Louisiana and eat some good jambalay. What?
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A
Yeah, I was. I was desperate for jambalaya.
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B
Right.
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A
I was looking for some, you know, go to the source you wanted. Right, right. Exactly. Right, Right. No, what happened was my dad passed in 2010. That was a year before I was about to graduate. And I, you know, I took that pretty hard because I didn't have a great relationship with him. But at the end of the day, I think he was a lot of, you know, brains behind the operation that is my family. Right. Like, I always looked up to him as, you know, just super smart, super intellectual, like, could do anything. Like, he'd do woodworking. He was a violinist. Like, he loved art and he did photography. So, yeah, he was a bit of a. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Just able to, like, get his hands and head into a lot of different things. And so when he passed, I was just, like. I was a little shocked. Like, he was 62 and, you know, I. It's young, right? Like, he died of a stroke. And it's not like he was in bad health. It's just, you know, circumstances. Yeah, he was. Of all things. Right. He was a doctor. Like, he was. He should, you know, of all the people, he could have seen it coming. But you never do, right? Like, it doesn't matter how much, you know. And that. That struck me, right, that.
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B
That.
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A
That gave me some insight. It's like, it doesn't matter how much, you know, it doesn't matter what you do. Sometimes life just, you know, throws you a curveball. So I was like, you know what? I've always been. I've always wanted to do this. And I don't. Honestly, I don't know where I got the idea. I think someone gave me a book about it, and I was like, you know what? I only got one life. And, you know, my dad was paralyzed on half side, half of his body, so he never got to do a lot of traveling. Well, while I was growing up, he used to do a lot of it. And he came to United States in Louisiana. That was the first. In New Orleans. That was the first spot that he landed from Vietnam. And so my whole shtick was like, I'm doing this in Honor of my father. Right. Like, and for myself, like, I wanted.
- [10:52]
B
To survive the war. Did he. Did he integrate?
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A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was a physician on the Southern Vietnamese side. And he got sent to the, you know, the. The work camps after the war ended. So that was always a real. He never talked about it, you know, like, I'm sure no one talks about. It was a memory.
- [11:15]
B
And he was a doctor, though. They probably utilized him. Did they?
- [11:19]
A
I think they did. I think they definitely tried to indoctrinate him, that's for sure. But I'm sure he saw a lot of people die. I mean, I. That's probably the hardest thing. He probably saw a lot of people just. He probably could have saved, but, you know, through bureaucracy or, you know, just incompetence or not having the materials or resources, just.
- [11:41]
B
Well, that was also. It's. It might be a little bit somewhat once removed. Because you were born, you're a native of the US the trauma of that war. It was a stupid war anyway. I don't mean to get so political. It was one of those words.
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A
No, no, no. I think we all agree, yeah, World.
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B
War II is necessary for us to.
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A
Go and say, right.
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B
That was a necessary. Vietnam made no sense. Still makes no sense. And I think it's also the only war in the American history that we lost.
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A
Yeah, that's right. It's a. It's really interesting to consider, like, you know, the ramifications of that and, you know, what ended up happen to the Vietnamese people afterwards, you know, and of course I'm there. I'm here in the US because of that. So it's. It's. It's a mixed bag. You know, we all. We all kind of have to wonder, like, what. What life would have been like with different decisions, but.
- [12:38]
B
Well, it's true. So you walked in honor of your father from LA to Viet to. And that's. So that was. That cathartic for you. Did that create.
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A
Oh, yeah, yeah. You know what? It did. Yeah, it was. So the. The one rule I had for myself is I wouldn't bring money. And so my whole thing was I was gonna rely on. I would only walk so long as I could if the. The world supported me. And I. And this is a weird thing. This is a weird thing. I never asked for money, but people would stop, like, either on the street or they stop their car or, you know, I'd meet them in the city and it would just, like, they would just hand me money. Never. Not a word. Ever asked. And then. Or they Would, you know, give me food or water or they would, you know, invite me in their homes for a meal, have dinner, sleep over. It was just like, it gave me this like, overwhelming idea of, wow, humans are genuinely good. Like, full stop. Americans are generally good.
- [13:49]
B
I tend to agree. People say, is man good or evil? I, I would say he's largely good until you start dangling some power elements and they're, oh, yeah, that sex gets involved or love emotions that can make us ugly or can cause the side of man. But for, for most. So were you wearing a Buddhist garb when you were walking?
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A
No.
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B
Okay. No.
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A
That's funny. I was just wearing regular clothes. I mean, at some point they started getting tattered. Right. So. But no, I was, I was just like a normal looking guy, you know, just. I think I, I don't know if people could tell I was on a mission. Right. Like, I was, I wasn't clear. Just hand. Yeah, I just wore like a little cap, you know. Okay. Yeah. Nothing special.
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B
How about whether, when did you do this? What, what month of the year or months? I mean, how long did it take you? I mean, I don't hear that.
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A
Yeah, so I start. Oh, no, I, I started in January, you know, it's la, right. So no problem there. But I ended in I. In July. So it took me six months and I went through, you know, most of it was desert, but sometimes I would go through the mountains and at some point it did snow. It snowed for six days in New Mexico, of all places.
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B
You're walking through that. Did you stay in hotels, I mean, or anything? I mean, what.
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A
I mean, if people gave me. It's like there are. Sometimes people would book motels for me, but sometimes I just stay with people, you know, and like. Or under bridges or just on the side of the road. Yeah.
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B
I was gonna say, like, where did you go to sleep? You had to sleep at some point. Yeah. Did you, did you prepare your sneakers? Did you prepare clothing? I mean, all these things you pack, a toothbrush.
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A
What did you do?
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B
It looks like your teeth are real. I mean, you know.
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A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I, I mean, in the beginning it was pretty. It's pretty light. It was pretty light going. But at some point I just sort of picked up things as I went along. And you, you really, you realize a lot of the stuff you don't need. Like, if you want to just live, there's. There's very few things you really need. And honestly, you know, the funny thing with the shoes is that I did buy a pair of hiking shoes that were destroyed in the first two weeks, three weeks. So I bought a pair of New Balances.
- [16:29]
B
Okay.
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A
And then that was the only pair of shoes I ever wore. It was, like, on sale, right? It was super cheap because I didn't have a lot of money because there was people giving me money. But as I walked five months on those, like, I was like. So then I just started always buying New Balance shoes. And I, It's a missed opportunity. I think a lot of people are like, you should have gotten sponsored by New Balance. Well, that's what I was. I didn't know at the time.
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B
I was just thinking, would have been a great sponsor. They would have given you new every major.
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A
Absolutely. Absolutely.
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B
Well, and what did you learn from that? Because most people don't do that. I've. I've got a friend. Say, there's his name. He ran across America. He was one.
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A
Oh, no kidding? Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's crazy.
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B
You know, he ran 30 to 40 miles a day consistently, so he did that. What did you walk per day? I'm sure you're a math guy.
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A
Yeah, 20 to 25 miles. But, you know, I definitely took my breaks. I, I definitely, maybe every three days. I, I, you know, I laid down. I did some reading. You know, I didn't push myself. I did. I, I think a lot of times I listened to my body. That was another new thing that I didn't. I didn't do very often before then, but became a really cool new way of thinking and approaching the world was like, yeah, like, if my biases stop, I'll stop. Okay.
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B
And were you depressed during this time at all? Did you feel lonely, anxious? What was, what was going on emotionally? Because this is an unusual.
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A
This is the hap. This is the happiest time, hands down. Like, I'm free. I don't have responsibilities. People are really cool. I'm doing something I love. I'm really fit. Oh, my gosh. Like, I, Wow. Like, I, I look back and I'm like, how the hell did I do that? Like, I, I'm 36 now, so, you know, I'm not that much older, but, like, the. Definitely. There's a decline in my physicality. So. Yeah. And then I was meeting women.
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B
Disgusting.
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A
What could I say?
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B
Tell me more.
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A
You know, it's, it's, it's. It was interesting, I think, you know, when you're, no matter what shape you're in, I think if you're, you're on, if you have purpose, you know, and you're like, your focus isn't like, yeah, I'm gonna do this because I'm cool, or I'm doing this because, you know, so that, you know, people can talk about me. But it's genuinely like, this is, this matters to me. I think it's a very, it seems to be a very attractive thing. And I've, I've learned over the years, like, oh, okay, like, that's what, that's what's interesting to the fair sex. Right. Like, I, you know, I need to cultivate more of that. So, you know, there's some, there's some fun interactions along the way. And I was really grateful that, you know. Yeah. I, I, it was never something that occurred to me, you know, like, oh, that that could happen. It just happened. It just happened. Yeah.
- [19:46]
B
Oh, that, that's one of the, the joys of life is having attractions and moving forward. It reminds us that we're human and.
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A
Absolutely.
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B
Well, I'm going to bring up a, an uncomfortable topic for most, and I believe most of us have experienced varying levels of depression or blue moments. It's called feeling. I don't know why they use the blue color to do, to relate to. I'm feeling a bit blue. But you've had to deal with dark times of depression and what led you to that and how did you recover from it?
- [20:27]
A
Yeah, so it's funny, like, immediately after I did my walk, I came back and then I was supposed to restart this program, this PhD program at Stanford for chemistry. And, you know, honestly, what had happened was I, I realized it wasn't for me, it really wasn't, because I really fell out of place. I think, you know, honestly, with the walk, I was in a very different space where, like, I was free and open and I was like. But that's really different from, like, this sort of competitive atmosphere where, like, you know, you, you, you can't be that open and you have to, like, really put your head down and, you know, just. Things didn't make any sense for me at that time. So I started, like, waking up with panic attacks. I was anxious. You know, I, I was having a hard time, like, thinking I was in it. It got really bad at one point where, you know, I, I really wasn't sure if I, I wanted to continue living. Like, that was a, you know, I know it's a really scary moment. And I realized, like, oh, there's something wrong. And so I actually checked myself in to psychiatric hospital. I stayed there for three weeks, and that was like, hitting rock bottom because then I was Like, I acknowledged, like, ooh, I gotta stop this. Whatever this train I'm on, I gotta stop. So I dropped out. There's actually two graduate programs. There's one in a PhD and then a master's in another department. I. Yeah, I was doing two graduate programs at the same time. Probably not the best strategy, but I ended that. Stress, man. Like, it's the killer. It's the number one killer. No doubt. But. Yeah, and then. But I'm. So. When I look back, I'm really grateful because I hit. I. It was the worst thing that had ever happened to me, and I was alive. And I took that moment and I said, everything else is a blessing. No matter what I do, if I move forward from here and I'm still alive, I'm grateful. So it didn't matter what my goals were. If I could accomplish them, awesome. If I couldn't, no worries, I'll just pivot. I'll find another way. And no matter how much things sucked or, you know, were caused me pain, it was never going to be as bad as that. And so I. I moved forward from that with a whole different perspective. And I was still depressed. I mean, I. I was still, you know, I had had really, really tough moments, but every year just got better and better and better. And then now I'm here and I look back and I'm like, I. Like, if I'd stayed in that path, there's no way I would have accomplished what I accomplished today. Like, all the, you know, starting my consulting company, writing a book, being part of a documentary. I had to really change my mindset in order to get to this point, which was being really open to whatever life threat me, good or bad, because it turns out, even in the bad parts, like, that allowed me to, like, make a left turn that led to a good part. And I'm like, wow, what a journey. Like, what an amazing experience. And so, you know, over time, like, it just. It became this point where I was like, I'm really happy. And I never thought I'd ever be this happy again. Like, almost to the level as that walk. And so it's almost like looking back and being like, I know what it feels like to be alive and to be, you know, be. Be in the presence of amazing people in this world and, like, doing the thing I love.
- [24:31]
B
Well, let me. Let me ask this, and this is a personal question myself, because I reached my bottom in my life. Both my parents died when I was 22, and I went on a. Yeah, so.
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A
So you know how. Yeah, oh, man.
- [24:47]
B
Yeah. I was at USC doing my undergrad work.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And then bang, bang, five weeks apart. Dad, mom. Boom, boom.
- [24:56]
A
Wow. Yeah.
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B
And I was an only child, so it was a bit of a shocker. Whole family just disassembled.
- [25:03]
A
Yeah.
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B
That one quick shot, I went on the downward spiral, man, of drinking, drugging, all that. I'm quite open about it because I get to help people today who have had those experience. That's the beauty of being older. And you go through these experiences because I do believe MAN is basically good and we're here to help and pay it forward when possible.
- [25:34]
A
A.
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B
Before I. And rise, you know, and there's the whole. Is that similar to what happened? Jumped up again.
- [25:45]
A
Sorry, I, I, I lost you.
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B
You able to achieve, like, you.
- [25:51]
A
Okay?
- [25:52]
B
Yeah. There was a. Did you have to reach a rock, jump up out of that, get out of that rock bottom?
- [26:01]
A
I would say so. Like, I mean, I definitely. I had to, like, sort of reach out and like, pull myself together in a way that, like, it was definitely a level of strength that I never thought I had where I was like, dude, like, this is it. Like, do you either move forward, get yourself together? And it wasn't like, so hard like that, but it was definitely like, like find a way, you know, no matter what. And yeah. Make that leap. Right. Like that leap of faith to, to, to, to get to that stage where you can just get out of the muck. Right. And it's not, and you know, it's certainly not like one and done kind of situation because you always, you know, you kind of like, spiral back down and you kind of go back up. And, you know, there's, there's good and bad days, but I think, like, the dedication. Yeah, there's definitely, like, up and down, up and down, but like, to still, like, have that voice in your head, like, I can do it. Like, even with the ups and downs. Yeah.
- [27:07]
B
Eventually it's, it's never, it's not straight. I would say also in my life as well, two steps up, one step down, sometimes three steps down. And then you got to. As long as that positive slope is in play.
- [27:20]
A
Causes. Yeah. Just. Yeah.
- [27:23]
B
Still, if it's still in play, that's. You got to think of. It's like, well, can. Can I sustain this? And you've got to know that that outcome is there. I mean, you're, and I, and I. I would say a lot of pain went into writing my first book. That took.
- [27:39]
A
Yeah.
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B
Now you're an author. Tell us about the book you wrote.
- [27:44]
A
Yeah. So it's 150 food science questions answered. It's funny because I actually, it was happenstance. The publisher came to me because they were reading one of my blog posts that I'd written while I was in graduate school and they're like, hey, you're pretty decent writer. Like, why don't you write our book? But, you know, here's like a couple thousand, like, right. Like in the end, I didn't, I couldn't really negotiate much because I was a graduate student. But, you know, it was good. It was good, you know, beer money. But in any case, in any case, you know, they gave me 75 questions and they were like, phil, you know, give us another 75 questions. And so I, I spent a lot of time on Reddit, like, just like grabbing whatever I could find. Yeah, yeah. And then I answered all those questions and it was, it was funny because, you know, I actually, I found it to be therapeutic because I was actually writing my dissertation at the same time. This is the last year of my PhD program. And so I was like, this really sucks and is hard and awful. So I was already doing something really hard and awful. And I was like, well, this is like less bad and awful. So I was, I was really just doing two projects at the same time.
- [29:04]
B
Tell us the title of the book again.
- [29:07]
A
150 Food science questions answered. Thanks for tuning in to the Amazing Authorities podcast. If today's episode inspired you, take a moment to subscribe rate and leave a review. It helps more experts like you rise to the top for behind the scenes access and free resources to boost your authority. Head to MitchCarson.com until next time, stay. Stay. Amazing.