By Rian Korb

Dropping out of college never tasted so good for 22-years-old, former University of Colorado Boulder student Trajan Pei. He is the owner and founder of TropiTai Delights, a Taiwanese Hawaiian fusion dessert shop in Lakewood.

In Dec. 2023, Pei was majoring in computer science at CU Boulder when the idea of the business came up. However, balancing schoolwork and building a restaurant was not an easy feat and a decision between the two had to be made. Rather than return to classes, Pei left college in Aug. 2024 and launched a business with his mother.

“I saw it as a huge opportunity to at least learn the business end, the marketing end, stuff that I was interested in that I thought would be applicable later on,” Pei said.

His mother wanted to create a sit-down restaurant with a menu of rice and noodle dishes and boba and shaved ice. However, going into business with family is difficult, and he and his mother had a falling out.

“I had to go to my mom and be like, ‘either I need you to let me do this on my own, or I need to back away from this completely,’” Pei said.

Pei shifted his focus on desserts, and thus, his Taiwanese Hawaiian dessert shop was found.

The concept of the fusion dessert shop is rooted in Pei’s heritage. His mother was born and raised in Taiwan. His father was born in Hong Kong and raised in Hawaii. As a result, Pei would often travel to Hawaii as a child to visit his grandparents during the holidays. Pei explains that the fusion idea feeds his desire to be closer to both cultures.

“Growing up, there’s always been the struggle of knowing I’ll never be either,” Pei said. “I’m born Asian American, I’m never going to be fully Asian and I’m never going to be fully American.”

Being a sole owner of a young company came with challenges. Pei’s friend Micky Wu gave Pei a hand taking pictures for the shop’s menu.

“When we first met, he was always stressing about getting the business started and running,” Wu said.  “He ran into a lot of issues with the landlord, city permits, and even little things like the logo design.”

LeBinh Giang is another one of Pei’s friends and a former manager of Tropitai Delights. She remembers being there for the grand opening. The next day, the shop was so busy, they ran out of supplies.

“I told him, at this moment, there’s no dwelling on what you can’t do,” Giang said.  “You need to focus on what you have and how you can make the best of it.”

Pei says some of the challenges he faces are figuring out his monthly expenses, receiving criticism and time management.

“It’s hard to find people that are reliable to delegate the work, which I haven’t been able to successfully do quite yet,” Pei explained.

Pei says he spends about 45 hours a week at the store. As a result, his physical health and mental health have been impacted. Pei wishes he had taken better care of his body before starting the business.

“I have sciatica,” Pei confessed. “Since I didn’t really have time before the business opened to take care of it, I never really did.”

Pei is determined to push through with the support from his friends like Wu and Giang.

“It’s something that some people will never choose to do, including myself,” Giang said. “So I’m very impressed with what he’s been able to do and how long he’s been able to do it.”

“He will always tell you that he could be doing more,” Wu said. “But most people his age aren’t starting and running their own businesses by themselves.”

According to research from the World Economic Forum, only 28% of college dropouts quit with the intention of starting a business.

“It doesn’t seem like they set people like me up to succeed,” Pei explained. “I’m 22-years-old, I don’t have assets, I don’t have any prior business experience.”

Despite this, Pei shared some wisdom for people looking to start their own business.

“You had that idea for a reason and other people are not going to understand it because they didn’t have that idea,” Pei said. “It wasn’t planted in their head, it was planted in your head for a reason.”

Edited by Piper George