In the summer of 2006, a photograph of Shelly Hwang ran in the Los Angeles Times. Her
tiny frozen yogurt shop, Pinkberry, was drawing throngs of obsessed customers, causing all
sorts of commotion in its sleepy West Hollywood neighborhood. The snapshot captures her
behind the counter in a blue apron and ponytail, smiling as she serves a cup of her fruit-
topped treat.

Fast-forward to today - 43 store openings and millions of servings later - and Hwang,
dressed chicly in a pinstripe blazer over a ruffled blouse and perfectly creased slacks,
insists she's that same woman. "I still live in the same place, still drive the same car," the
34-year-old L.A. urbanite says, rolling her eyes at any suggestion that she's reached
celebrity status. "I'm still just a back-of-the-house-type person who makes simple, high-
quality frozen yogurt."

It is a mantra of simplicity that has catapulted Pinkberry from a mom-and-pop gem to a
frozen yogurt empire, with Hwang as its humble queen. Now, after three years of swirling
success in California and New York, the L.A.-based company has even bigger plans.
Backed by an infusion of $27.5 million from Starbucks founder Howard Schulz's venture
capital firm, Maveron, Pinkberry plans to open nationwide and beyond by next spring.
How many new locations? Hwang isn't certain. "It could be 1,000 or it could be 10,000,"
she says with a laugh. "Every store has done well, even the stores in New York in the
wintertime. It's phenomenal."

Inspired by her father, who owned a textile corporation in Korea, Hwang always dreamt of
starting a company from scratch. Born in Seoul, she moved to the United States at the age
of 19 to study business at the University of Southern California. After college, with her
parents' financial support, she tested her skills as an entrepreneur by opening two different
restaurants in L.A. But competition in the food industry was fierce and neither could
generate a following. Looking back, she explains what went wrong: "I had, like, 50
different things on the menu - pasta and steak and steak salad and hamburgers and
sandwiches. I had no focus. That was a big mistake."

After those business disasters, she refueled her funds by working as a saleswoman at her
father's Los Angeles branch, but eventually felt restless. She wanted to try again.
She set out to open an English teahouse in West Hollywood, but plans fell through when
the city wouldn't grant her the wine license she needed to serve sherry. So she consulted
her business partner and boyfriend, Young Lee, who had the idea for a frozen yogurt shop.
She went for it.