This Award-Winning Korean Chef Says Entrepreneurship Is Glamorized. Her Recipe For Success? Hard Work and Consistency. Esther Choi, founder of mŏkbar and mŏkbar Brooklyn, believes entrepreneurship isn't as easy as it looks on social media. These are the lessons she hopes other aspiring entrepreneurs can learn from before they decide to take the plunge into launching their own business.

"I grew up cooking pretty much my whole life. While my brother and sister and other kids were playing outside, I just wanted to be in the kitchen with my grandma," says Esther Choi, chef and founder of mŏkbar and mŏkbar Brooklyn. "I learned a lot of my cooking from my grandmother and even now, a lot of my recipes are inspired by her."

Driven by her Korean roots, Choi draws inspiration from age-old techniques from her grandmother's kitchen to introduce her customers to the flavors of Korean culture. During her teenage years, she worked in a very small Japanese-Korean restaurant.

"That experience of my first job at 14 years old led to my love for the restaurant industry. Over time, through high school and college, I kept working in restaurants, both in the kitchen and front of house and learned so many skills," says Choi.