Meet Alberta Chu | Fried Chicken Stand Owner & Food Instagrammer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alberta Chu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alberta, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I think taking a risk is when you are not feeling 100% ready for something but go forward with it anyway. Although I know that career changes are risky, I never obsessed over that fact when I went from working as an attorney to owning my own food business, Herculean Chicken, a pop-up food stand that sells Taiwanese style fried chicken. My original plan was to operate Herculean Chicken in Phoenix once a week while I kept my full time job as an attorney. However, life had other plans for me last fall and I moved to Tucson for personal reasons. As I was moving to a new environment and somewhat “starting over,” I decided to also have a career change and go all in with starting Herculean Chicken. Although it may seem to some that I took a great risk in my career change, I may have never started Herculean Chicken if I didn’t take a leap towards the unknown when the moment felt right.

It has been about six months since Herculean Chicken was born. Although it has been full of challenges, I cannot imagine not having started my business just because it was “risky” or because I did not want to step out of my comfort zone of having a steady income. I see risk as as one of many components when making career decisions, but I am not afraid to take a calculated risk even if that means I have to start over in an unfamiliar field not knowing whether my business would ever take off. For me, having the opportunity to do something I really want as a career is worth the risk.

What should our readers know about your business?
I have been running my food Instagram account @phx_food_whisperer for over two years prior to starting Herculean Chicken. Through that platform I met a lot of people in the food industry, many of them very passionate about sharing their stories along with their food. I always wondered how it would be on the other side of the influencer/food business equation. In the summer of 2021, I took the first step in starting my own food business by taking a food entrepreneurship course with Local First Arizona with the intention of starting a Taiwanese fried chicken pop-up in Phoenix. I grew up in Taiwan and love the street food there, in particular the fried chicken cutlet and popcorn chicken that are very popular for tourists and locals alike. I wanted to bring these items to the growing Phoenix street food scene.

Since this January, Herculean Chicken has been vending at food festivals and events in Phoenix and Tucson. The first event we ever participated in, the Asian District Night Market hosted by the Arizona Asian Chamber of Commerce, was very challenging as we were not prepared for the large number of attendees. However, pulling off such a large event right off the bat made me realized that I was indeed ready for this venture.

Through this journey with Herculean Chicken I learned that it is important to surround yourself with people that believe in you and want the best for your business. Starting a business can be scary, especially in a new career field. I am grateful that many of my friends believed that I had the ability to start a food business even without having any prior experience in the industry. Also, there is often a gap between ideal and reality in operating a business. Often a third party will see the blind spots of your business that you, as the owner, do not see.

Having people that will tell you their honest opinion and not just what you want to hear is critical to growing a business.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
For Phoenix, my favorite indoor attraction is the Musical Instrument Museum in North Phoenix. The museum has permanent displays of instruments from around the world, as well as many other interesting exhibits. For outdoor adventures, I would recommend tubing at the Salt River or boating at Lake Pleasant.

Scottsdale Fashion Square is good for shopping and high end restaurants and downtown Phoenix for bar hopping. If a special occasion is being celebrated, I would definitely recommend Sunday brunch at the Wrigley Mansion. The view up there is fantastic and the service and food are likewise outstanding. For Tucson, I would definitely recommend visiting the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, which is part zoo, part botanical garden, and part museum. Biosphere 2, which is an artificially made closed ecological system, is another unique attraction. For outdoor enthusiasts, Mount Lemmon and Saguaro National Park has plenty of hiking trails and great views!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband Kyle. Kyle has always supported me professionally before and after I started Herculean Chicken. He took the food entrepreneurship course with me so we could operate the business together despite him having a full time job and he has been there at every pop up event and helps in every aspect of the business. I am so grateful to have such a selfless partner.

Instagram: @phx_food_whisperer / @herculeanchicken

Facebook: Herculean Chicken