What's up, sunshine? Rise up. Welcome to
the show. I'm Koi Wire. This is CNN 10,
your 10 minutes of news, the fast, fun
facts, and knowledge bombs to fuel your
minds and keep us in the loop.
Pop quiz hot. What food is traditionally
associated with celebrating the Lunar
New Year? Noodles, grapes, dumplings, or
cheese?
If you said dumplings, you girl.
Dumplings symbolize wealth because their
crescent shape mimics ancient Chinese
currency with a belief that the more
dumplings you eat, the more prosperity
you will receive. I love everything
about this next story. Actually, not
everything, because it makes me very
hungry. CNN's Will Ripley takes us
inside Dint Taiung, an unbelievable
Taiwanese restaurant brand that wraps
precision and passion into each
unforgettable bite. Known for perfectly
pleated Shaolong bow or soup dumplings,
Ding Taiong has turned high standards
and consistency into a recipe for global
success.
>> How long did it take you to learn how to
do it perfectly when you started at age
16?
>> It takes about 2 to 3 years to master
the entire process. Two to three years.
Oh,
>> so it's okay. It's okay that I'm
terrible.
>> Dintai chairman Warren Young can fold a
perfect shalom in seconds.
>> Oh wow.
>> How did you do it? Like how did you make
it look like that? I've got I've got
pork poking out here. Each dumpling has
18 precise pleats weighing exactly 21 g.
Inside finely minced pork, tender,
lightly seasoned. It melts into hot,
savory soup the moment you take a bite.
>> What do you hope that people learn about
Taiwan when they come to Dintai?
>> That the people of Taiwan are warm and
friendly.
>> At Dint Taiong, the perfect soup
dumpling comes from respect for the
food, the customers, and the employees.
Making magic happen with every bite.
>> If I told you a giant hat and sweaty
armpits could lead to a Shark Tank
success, would you believe me? Two of my
former teammates from smalltown
Pennsylvania did exactly that. Billy
Thompson created the Thompson Tea, a
sweat-roof shirt inspired by a challenge
he dealt with his entire life. It led to
a $700,000 investment on Shark Tank and
has been saving people the embarrassment
of pitting out ever since. Sean Starer
co-founded Noggin Boss, a company built
around an oversized hat that's become a
fan favorite across the sports world.
It's led to licensing deals with some of
the biggest sports entities on the
planet. Their stories prove that
sometimes the biggest opportunities
start with problems hiding in plain
sight. I caught up with Billy and Shawn
to hear how they turned their ideas into
reality.
Take me back to the moment that this
idea hit you.
>> It was an idea of being disruptive. The
hat industry and the promotional
industry hasn't changed in decades. So,
we wanted to come out with something new
and innovative that allowed you to
promote all the things that you love,
whether it's a sports team or a
corporation or a charity or just
something that you're passionate about.
>> Necessity was the mother of invention
here. And so, this was a problem that I
dealt with. And, you know, obviously
when you go through something like this,
you think you're the only one, right?
But I knew cuz we were wearing
undershirts at the time for this
problem. And I knew like gosh, if there
was just a way that you could prevent it
from passing through the undershirt, you
might have something.
>> How many people told you this will never
work? Uh, I lost count to be honest with
you. Even my closest friends, even
family members. And I love that about
them because that means that they care,
right? It's, "Hey, Sean, are you sure?
Are you sure that you want to do this?"
But I'm the type of person that allows
the product and the data to show if we
have something here. I allow the product
to kind of speak for itself.
>> Thankfully, I'm surrounded by enough
good people where I don't think I don't
recall anyone necessarily telling me
straight up that it wasn't going to
work. But here's the thing. you could
see the doubt in their face, right? When
you explain the idea, they're being
polite and you could see the doubt. And
for that reason, I actually didn't tell
very many people I was going to take it
right to bankruptcy if I had to cuz
that's that's where I was headed right
during startup phases. I was burning
through cash, burning through our
savings, burning through all of it. Um,
so it it had to work. What's something
people don't see about entrepreneurship?
>> I'm married. Uh I we have three children
and you know with that comes
responsibility not just for your family
but whenever you start a business you
have employees to take care of and those
employees have families and lives and
and and they depend on you. So what what
what people don't see is just uh the
restless the sleepless nights because
you just have you have a you have a lot
of responsibility. It's just not you're
focusing on yourself.
>> Ultimately it's the struggle. You know,
it's easy to see the success stories
because that's what makes the news, but
you know, that's why it's news because
it's it's the exception. Although it
looks like the norm because that's what
you're reading about, it's truly the
exception.
>> And now walk us through what was the
mission? What was the issue that you saw
and figured out a way to go and tackle
it?
>> The issue is is sweaty armpits. So,
everybody knows about sweaty armpits and
they know people who probably have
sweaty armpits and it is a little
embarrassing, right? But at the end of
the day, because I have such an intimate
understanding of this problem, I knew I
knew how strong that motivation was for
someone to find a solution and to be
able to conceal it. And our mission was
that I knew I had to reach, you know,
people out there who were dealing with
this problem because at that time there
was no vi and there really isn't still a
viable solution out there for people who
are dealing with this problem. And
especially the the kids, right? Because
they're stuck in school all day long. I
know what it's like. I've been there. So
they were really at the heart of my
mission when I started this thing.
>> Now we didn't grow up in some big city,
right? We kind of grew up at that small
town field. Do you feel like that helped
shape you into the entrepreneur that you
are today?
>> Without a doubt, it had an instrumental
role in in me because from a very early
age, you didn't get to where you're at
on your own. it it came on the backs of
a lot of people that are willing to put
in time with you, whether it's
mentorship,
energy, money, uh getting behind you. I
really don't like the word failure
because um along the lines, you're
right, there's no straight path. There's
there there's obstacles that get in the
way. Rather than just focusing on the
mistake or a failure, if we want to call
it a failure, you get stuck. You you get
stuck. And being an entrepreneur, you
you always have to be moving forward and
learning and putting those things behind
you.
>> You're going to make more mistakes and
you're going to fail more times than you
succeed, right? You just got to make
sure your successes are big enough to
cover all those failures. And in
hindsight, the failures had they would
have had they been successful and
happened, we could look back, whether it
be months to a few years down the road
and we realized if those things did
happen, our business wouldn't be in
existence or even my personal life would
have been altered dramatically.
>> Let's finish this off with some rapid
fire fun. Are you ready for this?
>> Yeah. Yeah. Let's do it.
>> All right. One word that describes
entrepreneurship.
>> Challenging.
>> Blessing. It's a blessing. Coffee or
energy drinks?
>> Coffee for sure.
>> Neither. Water.
>> One thing you wish your high school self
understood earlier.
>> Seek wisdom. Trust your parents. Um,
they know what they're talking about.
They have lived the life that we are
currently living right now.
>> Worst advice you ever received.
>> You know what? I've already disposed of
it. I can't even remember what it was
thankfully. So, I don't have that.
>> Awesome. best advice you ever received.
>> This is advice for any for any of the
any of the high schoolers out there is
that whatever you put your time and
energy into, you will get results.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10.
Beach trips in the dog days of summer
sometimes bring rough waters in the
ocean, but some four-legged heroes are
making waves and saving lives.
Especially this pup, known for its fancy
haircuts and dog show skills, recently
joining a team of lifeguards in Spain.
Now, beach rescue squads usually include
Labradors and Newfoundlands, but No the
Poodle felt he was up for the task at
Las Linda's Beach near Malaga. His
handler says he was scared of crowds and
loud noises at first, so he had to be
trained step by step, not just to stay
calm, but also how to swim horizontally
using his tail like a rudder. When it's
time to utilize the furry lifesavers,
the handler actually enters the water
first to reach the swimmer in distress
and then calls the dogs in to help tow
people back to shore. Now, poodles are
known for super intelligence and ability
to learn, and they were historically
used for water rescue and retrieval
during hunting trips in Northern Europe.
Their fur actually protects them from
the cold water, but they do need their
handler to lather the sunscreen on their
nose. A German breed of dog, the name
poodle comes from the German verb
poodle, which means to splash. So
ultimately, maybe Nilo was positively
destined for the life of a lifeguard.
All right, sunshine. Got some shout outs
now. This first one goes to Mr. Dutton
Hefer at Hazen Middle School in Hazen,
North Dakota. Thank you for following us
on the Instagram. Love seeing all your
messages. And this shout out goes to our
friends on our CNN 10 YouTube channel
all the way from Kenya, Miss Injerry at
West Nairobi School in Kenya. Thank you
for making us a part of your day and
including us in your classroom. We hope
you all have an awesome day and we'll
see you right back here tomorrow, shall
we? I'm Koi Wire and we are CNN 10.