- Lindsay Jang moved to Hong Kong 15 years ago and has opened five businesses.
- Although not all of Jang’s ventures were successful, she says she learned something from each one.
- At 43, the entrepreneur and mother says she’s finally found ways to disconnect and find work-life balance.
Lindsay Jang moved to Hong Kong 15 years ago and has kept herself busy, very busy.
Since the move, she’s launched five businesses — including a Michelin-starred restaurant and a workout technique listed on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop. Now, at 43, she balances her time between running her companies and raising her two children.
Born in Alberta, Canada, Jang is the eldest of three sisters. Her father was a civil engineer and her mother worked as a special needs teacher. A stroke of luck changed her family’s path when her parents won a gold brick, worth C$100,000, in a local carnival lottery in 1981, the year she was born.
Soon after, when her father was laid off, he invested in a Chinese-Canadian restaurant in Sherwood Park, near her hometown. Her father continued to run the restaurant and her mother decided to become a stay-at-home mother. “Growing up, the restaurant was a big part of our lives and really shaped who I am today,” she told Business Insider.
Jang struggled to find the right career path. “I had scholarships for science and French, and I explored a few different paths—science, art school, digital publishing, and business management—but none of them really resonated with me. I didn’t graduate from any of those programs. ” she said.
She dropped out of college when she decided she wanted to be an actress.
She stopped in NYC before moving to Hong Kong
In 2002, Jang left Canada and moved to New York City to study acting. She took a job as a captain at Nobu Fifty Seven and began contributing to the restaurant’s special events department. In 2009, at the age of 27, she moved to Hong Kong with her then-romantic partner, Matt Abergel, who had accepted a job offer as an executive chef.
They had two children during their relationship before splitting in 2011. Despite the split, they remain close. “We are best friends, co-parents and business partners,” Jang said.
In 2011, Jang said they raised about $500,000 to open Yardbird, the restaurant that went on to earn a Michelin star in 2021. It followed with Roni — another izakaya-style dining bar — in 2012.
Jang said the lead investor in both restaurants had been a regular customer of theirs in New York. “He ate at Masa, where Matt worked, every week and occasionally came to Nobu Fifty Seven,” she said.
Yardbird, in Hong Kong, won a Michelin star in 2021. The yard bird
The team managed to find their rhythm at Yardbird early. “We reached capacity in just a few weeks thanks to word of mouth, and once the media found us, it brought a steady stream of guests,” Jang said. “We didn’t rely on PR or traditional marketing – instead, we distributed stickers and t-shirts to build the brand.”
Social media was still an early concept—Instagram had just launched a year earlier—and didn’t play much of a role in the hype. Jang, however, faced challenges online in the early stages when she was sharing the restaurant’s no-reservations, no-service-charges policies. “People didn’t like those ideas and weren’t shy about voicing their concerns,” she said.
The restaurant has continued to draw crowds for the past 13 years, despite politics. “The main draw is undoubtedly the over 20 types of yakitori skewers made with local ‘three yellow’ chicken from beak to tail, grilled over binchotan charcoal,” according to Michelin’s website. An extensive collection of Japanese whiskey has also added to its appeal.
Jang opened Ronin, another izakaya-style dining bar in Hong Kong, in 2012. Ronin
After the couple broke up, they went back to being friends. “Between sharing businesses and kids, we pride ourselves on giving each other the space and time to do the things we need to do to be happy,” restaurant co-owner BI Abergel told BI. “Things are pretty good most of the time, and when things are tough, we know that the foundation we have as friends is stronger than anything we face.”
Not all of Jang’s ventures have been successful
Jang has also seen some of her companies fail.
Sunday’s Grocery, which began as an extension of the Yardbird brand, opened in 2014 and closed in 2016. “We took over an existing business to test the concept, but the location wasn’t ideal and the costs were too high to make it viable. stable,” said Jang. “It was a valuable experiment, and while it didn’t last, it taught us to prioritize scalability and location.
Jang went on to launch Sunday Spirit in 2017, before shutting it down in 2023 due to challenges with margins, certain team dynamics and working within Japan’s very specific market structure. “Both of these ventures taught us that not every concept has to be forever,” she said. “It’s okay to let go of ideas that no longer resonate or fit the bigger picture. The key is to embrace fit while staying true to the vision.”
She continues to run Hecho, a creative agency she started in 2017. Previous clients include Hongkong Land, a property investment company, and Swire, a conglomerate working in sectors ranging from aviation and beverages to healthcare.
Finding balance and staying healthy
In the past, Jang had a hard time finding a work-life balance. “I don’t make rules for myself when it comes to disconnecting, because my work and my life are connected,” Jang said in an interview with Compare Retreats in 2020. Lately, though, she’s been finding ways to decompress .
“I’ve made a concerted effort to disconnect more,” she told BI. Flexibility plays a central role in her time management. “I run my entire life from my phone and computer, which allows me the freedom to manage my schedule. So even though I’m technically always plugged in, I still make time for myself and my family,” she added.
Jang says she exercises regularly. Lindsay Young
Her daily routine now includes a 20- to 45-minute session in the infrared sauna. She said it was a trip to HigherDOSE in New York almost 10 years ago that got her interested in heat. “It was intense, but it felt productive. Since I had space at home, it made more sense to own one than to pay by the minute elsewhere.”
A few years after the sauna was installed, during COVID-19, Jang transformed her TV room into a workout studio. “The space was better used as a place where I could sweat and move every day,” she said.
Her most recent lifestyle adjustment was to stop drinking. “I cut alcohol out of my life over a year and a half ago, which was important given my background in F&B,” she said. “I was nervous about what social situations would be like without alcohol, but I’ve found that my life has improved in every way.”
Her career has also shifted towards fitness
Four years ago, she co-launched Family Form, an exercise technique and studio in Hong Kong. She said the mat-based workout aims to use movement and infrared heat to strengthen and balance the body.
“People connect with it on a deeper level because it’s accessible yet challenging and becomes part of their daily routine,” she said.
Jang launched Family Form, a Goop-listed exercise technique that is expanding in Shanghai. Family form
Classes are often at full capacity with waiting lists. In Google ratings, almost all of its ratings are five stars.
Expansion into mainland China is part of the plan and has come with obstacles. “We’re building our community in China right now when we launch in Shanghai in a few months, and it’s been interesting to navigate the approach to such a different market,” she said. “It’s been a mostly grassroots effort, and we’re very grateful for the word-of-mouth support from our community.”
In July 2024, Family Form received support for Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop directory listing. List says, “It’s intense, but also completely cathartic.”
“Someone from their team contacted us,” Jang said of the post, adding that they didn’t pay for the listing. “It was just an organic connection.” A representative for Goop did not respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.
In November, the company started classes in Manila and will start in Shanghai in early 2025.
As for her future, Jang hasn’t planned too far ahead. “I prefer to remain flexible and open to opportunities as they arise,” she said. Jang said she has several projects in the works, including a new brand of health products to launch next year.
“While Hong Kong will always be home, I plan to spend more time in a more relaxed environment once my children are at university,” she said. “Running multiple businesses has taught me the importance of balancing ambition with consistency. The biggest life lesson I’ve learned is that success comes from staying true to your vision while remaining flexible enough to adapt to change. “
