where food cart empire builder Nong Poonsukwattana (of Nong's Khao Man Gai) riffed on the conference's theme of "perfection." Poonsukwattana — who famously built her empire by perfecting one chicken-and-rice dish — talks about the abuse she sustained from an alcoholic father, moving to America despite speaking little English, and eventually learning the language by watching Jerry Springer. "One of the first words I had learned," she says, "is 'whore.'"
Ultimately, Poonsukwattana ruminates on how, despite all her success, she's actually far from "perfect": "I have learned now that I will never achieve that. In fact, I'm so far away from it. But the journey is incredible.