LAFAYETTE PARISH — Ethan Ly’s entrepreneurial journey began in seventh grade, when he first realized he wanted to build something of his own. “It started back in 7th grade when I realized I was an entrepreneur,” Ethan said.
From an early age, he gravitated toward finding ways to create and sell, learning what it meant to take risks and follow through on ideas.“It always started out with me selling candy, just in school — I was this kid that sold candy,” he said.
Over the years, Ethan explored different ventures, including pressure washing, content creation, and building a social brand. That trial-and-error approach eventually led him on a family trip to Seattle last year, where a stop at a small doughnut shop introduced him to mochi doughnuts for the first time. “When I came back from Seattle that feeling really stuck with me — like how a simple treat, such as a doughnut, can create such an atmosphere,” he said.
That moment sparked the idea for Domichi, his mochi doughnut business, which he started to bring a similar sense of connection to Lafayette.
“In my book, there’s never been a real failure, because it’s always built up to the next thing,” he said.
As his ideas grew, so did the pressure of trying to do everything at once. Balancing school, business, and the organizations he was involved in began to take a toll.
“For a while I thought I could do everything at once — and that is far from the truth. Spreading yourself thin across different things is not the most ideal way to grow,” Ethan said.He said the workload eventually pushed him to a breaking point.
“I stopped going to class, my grades were slipping, I wasn’t doing assignments, I was ignoring the organization and I realized I can’t allow myself to do that,” he said. Ethan said he never felt connected to school in the same way he felt connected to building businesses.
After weighing his options, he decided to step away from school and pursue his business full time, a decision he says he does not regret. Throughout every venture, he credits his family — especially his mother — for standing behind him.
“I had a lot of support from my family, especially my mom. From the get go when I was like mom, I wanna do this thing, she was like absolutely,” he said.
“She’s supported me in every single venture and every single idea I’ve talked to her about, and we don’t have a lot of money, we don’t have a lot of wealth; but it means so much more when that’s the case that she’s willing to bet on me in every venture that I’ve wanted to do,” he said.
For Ethan, authenticity remains at the center of his work and his business.
“We’re all human and I think we connect when you’re being as real as you can,” he said.
