Four years ago, Sulhee Jessica Woo (aka Bento Box Mom) waded into the waters of social media, as a mom with a marketing background just looking to share some of her life. After a little trial and error, Sulhee Jessica, mom to three girls (5, 10 and 12), struck a chord and her following started to grow. For this week’s Meet a Mom interview we asked this talented creator to share a bit about her path to almost 6 million followers on TikTok, her new cookbook, and more.
Can you please tell us about your background and how that lead you to content creation?
I love photography and my father was a videographer. My grandpa taught me to develop film when I was 7 years old. I went to school for journalism and media studies with a concentration in public relations and advertising. I worked at an advertising company where I did social media and then I was a marketing director for a company.
My kids and my younger sisters were talking about TikTok. I liked knowing what my kids were doing so I joined and then started posting random stuff and my sister was like, “You should put your daughters’ lunches on there.” I posted a few lunch videos and my account got banned and I was like, “Oh well!” But I just saw my daughters still loving it and the second time around my videos went viral right away. It’s been 4 years and now I’m coming out with a cookbook. I was also a makeup artist for Mac Cosmetics and Smashbox. After I had my third daughter I wanted to stay home and made accessories for kids and did digital drawings of kids before discovering content creation.
Do you make every meal cute?
I do like making everything pretty. I’ll try to make eggs perfectly cooked and rice look pretty. I don’t really think about it, but being a visual artist it comes naturally.
Do your kids eat all their lunch?
Most days they try to – they know that mom cooks this and it’s better than school food. They wanted me to make fun lunches and I also wanted it to be fun for me. I’m going to be doing it forever with 3 kids.
What are some easy tips to zip up lunch presentation?
I think it’s the little things. Even if you’re not decorating lunch super cute, writing a little note takes just a minute and elevates your lunch. Use little food shape cutters on cheese, sandwiches, ham, fruits, vegetables. It doesn’t take long to stamp out a few pieces of fruit. If they eat strawberries every day and you make a heart, it is different.
You posted videos with Gordan Ramsay as part of a digital series you were a part of. What was that like?
Gordon Ramsay’s team reached out and they were saying, “Hey, we’re looking for people for a digital series!” and I said I was interested. Personally, I didn’t want to do competition shows, but this one wasn’t as cutthroat as his Hell’s Kitchen or Master Chef shows. It was the best item ever. When Chef Ramsay isn’t doing those shows he is nice and awesome.
What do you make yourself?
Most days when I make their lunch I take into consideration what they want but also what I want. If I want a salmon bowl for lunch the next day, I’ll cook salmon for dinner. I’ll pack them rice and salmon and I’ll make myself a salmon bowl with hummus and greens.
What can people expect from your new book, Let’s Make Some Lunch?
I wanted to bring in my brand of making lunches but also have this cookbook that’s for everyone. There’s a breakfast for lunch chapter, sandwich wraps and rolls, dinner leftovers and around the world ideas. I love international comfort food and it’s what I’m known for. But you can make all those into a lunch. It drops on July 30 just before school starts. It’s on presale now!
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