Today’s AMAZING KARMA! story visits with Jinny Cho, owner of Detour Doughnuts in Frisco, TX.
Jinny opened Detour Doughnuts in 2018, a doughnut and coffee shop in Frisco, TX. Named after the St. Louis – San Francisco Railway in 1902, Frisco has grown into a city of 250,000 residents just outside of Dallas. Today and every day, Detour Doughnuts fiercely represents all the diversity of the community it serves. It’s core to who Jinny is. Here’s her story:
Jinny Cho
HI JINNY! TELL US HOW YOU GOT HERE.
My story begins in Korea where I was born. My parents and I immigrated to the U.S. when I was seven. I’ve been around donuts since elementary school, working in Dad’s donut shop as well as others. I didn’t imagine this was going to be my future. Instead, I got a degree in biomedical engineering, with hopes of going to medical school.
Then things got complicated.
Dad got sick and needed a liver transplant. I gave birth to my son while caught in an abusive relationship. My immigrant status prevented me from applying to medical school. I share this freely but apprehensively, because I realize after all these years that this has made me who I am. I’m still learning to embrace it.
In time Dad got his transplant and recovered. I got divorced and now happily raise my mini me. I shelved med school, closed my eyes, and jumped head first into Detour Doughnuts. I was 23, a single mom, very scared, but excited.
Pride Month
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO STAND FOR CULTURAL DIVERSITY?
It didn’t happen right away. In the beginning I poured everything I had into the business. There was no backup plan and I had to make it work.
Detour was an escape from all the other things in my life. It was my creative outlet, a way to turn the pain of my past into something beautiful. Also delicious.
Eid
As Detour grew, I grew along with it. Or maybe it was the other way around, and I grew Detour to match the change that was happening in me. COVID, Black Lives Matter, and Stop Asian Hate made me see my Korean-American self in a more purposeful light. I wanted to be proud of my heritage, to express myself freely, to represent authentically. To do so, I realized I had to extend the same privilege to others, which then became central to our identity as a business. I wished we could all love more, and hate less.
Diwali
As we reach our 7th anniversary, I’m proud to say Detour “makes doughnuts that look like our neighborhood”! In addition to traditional celebrations like Halloween and Christmas, you can count on us to be there for Lunar New Year, Eid, Black History Month, Pride, Día de los Muertos, Diwali, Hanukkah and more!
Día de los Muertos
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR SOMEONE TO SUPPORT YOUR BUSINESS?
I’m so appreciative of my customers, many of whom knew me first as a kid in Dad’s donut shop!
They’re supporting not just me, but all other small business owners who struggle so hard to build their business. They’re supporting someone who strives to be an example of a good leader for her team, a good mother for her son, and a good advocate for her own self-care.
Above all, my customers validate what Detour stands for: that America is at its best when we care for everyone.
Hanukkah
WHAT OTHER SOCIALLY IMPACTFUL BUSINESSES DO YOU LIKE TO SUPPORT?
Here’s a few:
- August – a sustainable menstrual products company that sets aside 10% of profits to fight period poverty and donates period products to underserved schools
- Cafe Momentum – a restaurant that works with formerly incarcerated youth, providing them with life skills, culinary education & jobs
- Don’t Be Strangers – an AAPI women-owned small business that fights adult loneliness
- Buddhist Center of Dallas – a street food vendor market serving up some of Dallas’s best Thai food every weekend
Black-Owned Businesses
THANKS JINNY! LET’S ALL SUPPORT HER AMAZING KARMA BUSINESS!
Where: 8161 FM 423 #250 Frisco, TX 75036
Website: https://www.detourdoughnutsandcoffee.com/
Our Amazing Karma! award was created to tell the story of a small business doing something exceptional. Behind each of these small businesses is an incredible person doing it even though they don’t have to, and spreading good karma when they do!