Humans of Downey - Mikail

"Within a two month span, my daughter, Mikaila, was born, and I opened this restaurant. When she was one year old, I thought, 'Oh, this little life is dependent on me for everything.' That's what pushes me to work harder, it pushes me not to fail. I don't care how tired I am, I do it for her. Without her, I don't know if I'd still be doing this. I know my wife gives me support, but business ownership is hard work. Every business is hard, but the restaurant business is harder because I'm in it. And sometimes I say, 'Aah, I don't want to do it anymore.' I might fail, but I can't because of this little human being right here, which I love more than any thing. She pushes me to be a better person. Not that I was a bad person before. I liked to hang out with my friends and have a drink and stay out. But now, after work, I want to go home and hang out with my kid.

"What's most important to me during this Christmas season is my daughter. She just turned 4. As she gets older, more of this stuff becomes about her and less about me. I have fun doing things for her. A couple of days ago, she helped decorate the Christmas tree for the first time. She is old enough to want to help out now, so even if she puts things in the wrong spot, how happy she gets. That's what makes me happy. I love taking videos of her all the time. Christmas now is 100% her. She'll tell me what she wants for Christmas. This year it's a Doc Mobile. Some Disney character is a doctor and has this Doc Mobile, which I'm getting her for Christmas. She's really excited."
~ Mikail