OUR STORY

From survival to the American Dream

While you can find donut shop chains anywhere, family-owned donut shops are popular in Texas — often in small, charming towns. A big part of Texas’ donut culture traces back to Southeast Asian refugees who arrived in the U.S. in the late 1970s and 1980s. Many immigrant families settled here and started donut shops because the business had low startup costs and could be run as family operations. With the ingenuity of Ted Ngoy, the “Donut King”, many Cambodian (Khmer) refugees were given a chance to survive in the U.S.

The same happened for the owner here at Drippin Donuts. As a child, Pasna and her family fled the genocide and war in Cambodia in the late 1970s and arrived in the U.S. with almost nothing; without money, personal belongings, and little to no English.

Family, Resilience, and Entrepreneurship

Cambodian donut shop owners often ran their stores with entire families. Pasna worked for her older sister in Dallas, TX before opening her first shop in 1995 at the age of 25. By 2010, with the grand opening of Drippin Donuts and the help of her partner, John, Pasna owned a total of four shops across Central Texas. She and John settled in the Travis County area to focus on Drippin Donuts and together raised their two daughters. Today, Pasna and her family continue to work early hours to bake kolaches and donuts from scratch. You may see them from time to time covered in flour walking to and from the kitchen.

From our small team to yours, we are grateful for your support. Thank you, deeply! (au-kun chraen - អរគុណ​ច្រើន)