S22 Ep2: Little Moons Co-Founder, Vivien Wong: Grit, grace & graft — what it really takes to go viral

Conversations of Inspiration

Holly Tucker MBE

Education, Business, Society & Culture, Self-improvement, Entrepreneurship, Personal Journals

5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 16 June 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Do you know what it takes to become a 10-year ‘overnight’ success? How do you turn something you love into a $66 million business? And what drives you to keep going in order to make that happen?

In this episode, Holly speaks candidly with Vivien Wong to learn more about her story of co-founding the mochi ice cream sensation, Little Moons.

With a bold vision to introduce the UK to a whole new dessert category rooted in the centuries old Japanese tradition of mochi, Vivien embarked upon a rollercoaster of a journey.

After ten years of blood, sweat and tears, a viral TikTok moment propelled Little Moons to massive popularity, making mochi a household name across the UK and beyond. In this powerful conversation, Vivien shares just what it took to create an offering that entirely redefines how people think about dessert. She also opens up about her experiences as an Asian female founder and highlights how hard work — really hard work — will always prevail, but has learnt how equally important it is to press pause, too.

From navigating cultural appreciation, to the highs and lows of building a memorable brand, this conversation is filled with unrivalled insight for anyone looking to carve out a new niche, bring an idea to life or inspire future generations by breaking down barriers and achieving the unimaginable.

Transcript

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0:00.0	All our friends in the industry said, they never write back to you.
0:03.2	They're really busy.
0:04.4	So competitive to get in there, it will probably take you a year and a half to launch them.
0:08.4	I thought, OK, well, we better start early.
0:10.2	When we sent an email to the buyer, 20 minutes later, he emailed us back with,
0:14.7	You Had Me at Mochi.
0:16.7	My guest is Vivian Wong, co-founder of the utterly brilliant mochi ice cream sensation
0:23.3	that is Little Moons.
0:25.9	And I know I'm right in saying that probably no one listening here hasn't tasted that
0:30.7	gooey deliciousness.
0:33.0	And it's on the shelves of your favourite supermarket.
0:36.2	But as Vivian talks about in this podcast,
0:38.8	and I just love her honesty about the grit and actually the specifics of what it takes
0:44.6	to build a brand that some of us just think is a overnight success. And I just felt during
0:51.1	this conversation that she pulled back those curtains of really understanding
0:55.6	that resilience and commitment to creating something utterly unique, an Asian female founder
1:02.8	and not represented enough in our entrepreneurial worlds.
1:07.3	And she really brings out the joy of putting her heart and soul into something, navigating
1:13.6	those bumps, understanding the gut-wrenching decisions that you have to make at difficult times
1:19.8	of your business. And I love when she said, when it gets tough, the tough gets going. And that's
1:25.8	exactly what you'll hear from Vivian today. So strictly
1:29.5	in the interest of research, of course, I hope you can get a big mug of tea with a few little
	...

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