In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Month, KOAT celebrates the accomplishments of those who’ve made an impact within our community—inspiring those along the way. Selflane is a local online ordering service, now turned nationwide. It was launched in Albuquerque by co-founder and chief operating officer, Kevin Zhou and his business partner, Charlie Liu in 2017. Hundreds of restaurants locally and nationally have turned to Selflane for delivery services and needs, as the online ordering service continues to expand in ways unimaginable. KEVIN ZHOUFrom the depths of East Asia, Kevin Zhou was born and raised in China. Zhou said his love for culinary arts sparked his interest early on. Shortly after, he and his family relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1999 where his dreams turned into reality. However, the journey came with obstacles he eventually overcame.“It started when I was in third grade. I grew up in a boarding school and one of the programs I was able to choose was culinary arts. So, that’s when I took up cooking, boiling, blanching—that’s where I started,” Zhou said. “When I came to Albuquerque, my mom and stepfather already had a restaurant. It’s called ‘The Golden Eggroll Express’ on Jefferson, between San Pedro and Louisiana. It’s a Chinese restaurant,” Zhou said. “Right away, they threw me into the kitchen, and I loved it. I learned every dish right off the bat, and how to make it. I would be the chef, cooking up all these dishes. When my English improved, I started to help in front of the house as well. I would talk to customers, and I loved it. I’ve always been a personable person, so I love that aspect of the business as well. I was 16-years-old.” FOOD MEETS TECHNOLOGYZhou’s journey within the food industry landed him a couple of jobs in technology shortly after school.“Being in the restaurant, growing up in it, really inspired me to do something with food, but I always knew I wanted to do something with technology. After school, I went to work for a couple of companies, one of them being Shamrock Foods. I was a food representative at Shamrock Foods. I would sell groceries to restaurants. I was working with 60 to 70 restaurants,” Zhou said. “I developed a personal relationship with all these restaurants. One day, a gentleman came in to pitch payment technology for a restaurant. At that point, a lightbulb went off in my head. I thought, ‘wow,’ I’ve always wanted to do something with technology. I can see the future is shaping with technology, so this is my opportunity to learn more. I approached that gentleman; found the name of his company and I reached out. That’s how I got started with my journey.”“My first 6 months on the job, I was able to help 30 restaurants switch to better technology for processing. Along that journey, I learned the technology for processing which is a point-of-sale system the company was selling. The more I got into the industry, I found out the industry is not always behind the merchant,” Zhou added. “Oftentimes, they want to get in the door and start making profits. Unfortunately, that was the case with that company I signed up with, but I had to learn the hard way.”THE JOURNEY“I love the idea of helping businesses with technology and I see there’s such a big need for better technology for these restaurants. I honestly think restaurants are underserved when it comes to technology,” Zhou said. “So, I started doing more research and I found the company that was best in the industry. They were transparent. The founders were respectful and had high integrity. They didn’t want to just get in and make money, they wanted to help businesses succeed because they understood the only way they can succeed is if the restaurant is succeeding. So, I loved it. I applied that night to become a W-2 employee for that company, but I never heard back. In my mind, I saw myself being the perfect candidate for that job in Albuquerque.”Zhou eventually found the hiring manager of the company who resided in West Texas, e-mailed him, and received an e-mail two months later before landing the job. “I felt right at home, knowing that I have a good technology company behind me to back me up. I had to get creative. I was bold. I went out to all the restaurants and businesses in Albuquerque. I got an office in downtown Albuquerque, and I would walk from business to business to introduce myself. It was amazing, because anyone who does cold calling, knows how difficult it is, but I never gave up, because I truly believed I got something that people should look at, you know? At least give me a chance to show them what this is all about and it’ll help them.”DREAMS TURNED REALITYWhile Zhou enjoyed working for that company, it eventually was bought out from another company and its values changed— which prompted him to start Selflane with his business partner, Charlie Liu.“I created my own company and started looking into creating the Selflane software. I was fortunate that I met my business partner, Charlie Liu, who is the software engineer,” Zhou added. “We worked together to create the software. With my expertise in restaurant technology and payment processing and his gift in talent to coding, the two of us went to work and created something we thought could really change small to medium-sized restaurants.”“Our goal is to level the playing field for some of the mom-and-pop restaurants to compete with your franchises, like McDonald’s and Burger King that have the means to afford these technologies. A lot of these mom-and-pop restaurants don’t have that, but they need it. So, we work hard every day to update the system and make it better. Since we launched, we’ve gone through 368 updates,” Zhou said. “We’re from the East Coast to West Coast. We’re in 22 states right now, operating with our point-of-sale system. We’re also in Canada. I think when you created something good, the word gets out and we had other companies reach out to us wanting to partner with us to restore our technology to some of the merchants and their estate.”WHAT'S NEXT FOR SELFLANE?"We want to touch more industries. We started with restaurants. I think the future is different verticals. Basically, any business that has appointment payment needs, we want to incorporate Selflane with their business to make it an ecosystem. So, you can order your food, your haircuts, maybe your nail appointments, right? All in one app," Zhou said. ZHOU’S KEYS TO SUCCESS Never Give Up Believe In Yourself Have Integrity“Nothing is easy in this world. If you have a dream, don’t let anybody tell you, you can’t do anything, you know? Believe in yourself, believe in God and have faith. Keep on trying, never give up. Always have integrity, always tell the truth,” Zhou said. Fun Fact: Kevin Zhou likes to golf in his spare time. He's an avid golfer and participates in tournaments throughout the year.FAN TANGFan Tang, owned by Jason Zeng, is a popular traditional Asian restaurant with a contemporary twist in the heart of Albuquerque. Fan Tang was one of the first 20 restaurants to use Selflane.“Selflane has helped us grow. Online orders used to come in and we used to have to enter them manually by hand. I had a bunch of orders, so it would take a lot of time. Selflane helped me eliminate a position, so I can be a little more efficient. They also don't charge for online ordering, which is awesome. As a small business, it saves me a lot of money,” Zeng said. “I’m a third-generation restaurateur. So, we’ve been in this business since the 1940s. Back in China, my grandpa, my mom’s father was a restaurateur. A lot of these recipes, the traditional ones are straight from that era. The more recent ones, like coffee chicken, smoked tea beef— that’s a creation of either my father or myself.”“We used to own Chow's, a full sit-down restaurant. I wanted to do something that was quick, casual, and fun in this neighborhood, you know? Because I went to University of New Mexico, and I used to live in the neighborhood right up the street, one block up the street on Carlisle,” Zeng added. “Follow that dream. If you can dream it, you can make it happen. Just put your hard work into it. Follow your passions. Make something unique that people want. You know, don't be the same as everyone else and people will come.”FAN TANG/SECOND LOCATIONNew plans to open Fan Tang’s second location in the eastside of Albuquerque is underway. Zeng said they plan to open within the next 8 to 9 months. Fun Fact: Jason Zeng loves to ride motorcycles in his spare time.For more stories on AAPI Heritage Month, visit Project CommUNITY.