Brandon Ting, went from a non-English speaker to a student in the University of Washington (UW) Foster School of Business, one of the top-ranked business schools in the United States. And now he is the founder and CEO of Kizuki Ramen and Izakaya.

Why did he choose to start a business with ramen noodles? The reason is his love to ramen. He used to drive three hours to Vancouver, Canada, just for a bowl of delicious ramen. Gradually, he found out many people in Seattle were willing to take a long drive just to eat authentic ramen, like he did. That made he start thinking, why not open a ramen restaurant in Seattle, WA.

Along with some classmates in UW Foster, Ting decided to explore the idea of a ramen startup in 2010. He spent all of his time studying restaurants, estimating sales, trying to discern costs, and evaluating service. He traveled to Tokyo, Japan  and contacted numerous ramen chains to inquire if they would be willing to partner with him. There are tens of thousands of ramen shops in Japan, but no one wanted to share the secrets of their ramen.

Determination and hard work are traits that Ting has carried throughout his career, but he also has an uncanny ability to seize opportunity. Ting and his partners opened their first restaurant in Bellevue, WA working 90 hours a week to ensure that everything was flawless. The result? Long lines formed at the restaurant almost immediately. It was a winning formula. 

Ting continues to insist on the full Japanese experience, invite a designer from Japan to create the atmosphere of a Japanese ramen shop with open kitchen and caring customer service. He now has a team that possesses experience and sales in the billions. Even with 800 employees, he continues to support his alma mater Bellevue College by hiring current students as servers and alumni as managers. 

"I believe our restaurant can serve many markets in the U.S.," That is his goal.

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