This story is part of our special focus for Filipino Food Month, celebrating the people, flavors, and cultural legacies that continue to feed our community across generations.
🎧 You can listen to my full conversation with Susie Quesada on the Modern Minorities podcast on Spotify.
When I think about Filipino food, I think about love—not the movie kind, but the kind that shows up silently: your lola slicing fruit for breakfast at 6 a.m., your dad fixing you a plate of food when you arrive home late, or your mom slipping extra baon into your bag before you go. It’s the kind of love that has no words. It just appears.
Susie Quesada knows this love. As president of Ramar Foods, the company behind brands like Magnolia Ice Cream and Manila Gold calamansi juice, she’s spent the last two decades feeding the Filipino American dream. When we sat down to chat not too long ago, what struck me most about our conversation wasn’t just the food – it was the way she carries legacy, culture, and community on her shoulders, without needing to be the loudest in the room.
Growing Up Between Worlds
Susie grew up in Walnut Creek, California. Walnut Creek wasn’t the most diverse town to grow up in. "I felt different," she said. "But never unwelcome."
At home, things were different. Susie grew up with 55 first cousins and a tight-knit community of titos, titas, and cousins. Susie was lucky to go to the Philippines once a year because her father worked as a travel agent while she was growing up. Because of her deep connection with her family and her trips home, she grew up with a sense of rootedness.
The Turn Toward Home
Susie didn’t grow up planning to join the family business. She loved reading, writing, and working with kids. Susie dreamed of making an impact through education so she found a job teaching sixth-grade humanities at a diverse middle school in California.
Then one dinner changed everything. Susie’s uncle had passed away. Upon her return from the funeral in the Philippines, her father took her out for dinner at a white-linen seafood restaurant, which wasn’t their typical “just got home, let’s grab a bite” spot. He asked her, "What if something happens to me and nobody knows our family business?"
By the end of the meal, she agreed to work at Ramar for two years. Two years became twenty.
Ube, Avocado, and the Power of Ice Cream
Susie actually got her first job at Ramar at the age of eight. The job? Labeling ice cream tubs for a penny apiece. As soon as she was tall enough to peer over the freezer case, she was serving ube, macapuno, queso, avocado at local festivals. She’d even get her friends to help work the Magnolia booth.
Part of the job required Susie and her friends (Filipino or not) to know the flavors. “My dad would say, ‘Try it once. If you don’t like it, I’ll give you a dollar.’ I used that line on my friends. They ended up liking it, so I didn’t give away very many dollars.”
Ube was her favorite. "I love the color. I love the taste. I don't really have a sweet tooth, and it was a perfect flavor for me because it's not incredibly sweet." It reminded her of home, comfort, and coming back to her mom's cooking.
From AR to CEO
Susie’s very first adult role at Ramar was in accounts receivable. She did rotations in logistics, marketing, and operations. Often times, she was filling in for team members on maternity leave. "Being the child of the owner, you have to show up on time, if not early. You have to stay late. You really have to make sure—or I felt like I had to—show up in a different way and prove that I belonged."
She eventually found herself holding back—until her younger brother PJ came to the office one day and made her laugh. "Somebody else in the office said, 'Wow, Susie, I've never heard you laugh like that before.' And I realized that I was definitely holding back."
It took me a while to say, actually, my whole self is what I need to bring. And I think it's an important piece as a leader.
A Different Kind of Leadership
Today, Ramar has around 300 employees. With about 70% Asian and over 20% Latino employees, Susie is deeply focused on building an inclusive and trusting culture.
During the George Floyd protests, she brought in a facilitator to help explain the historical context to a largely immigrant Filipino workforce. "We did a training for all of our managers and leaders on what does this mean. . .when you have a company of mostly immigrants that didn't grow up here, first we needed to start it there."
She shared timelines, explained systems of discrimination, and offered resources for employees to safely get involved. “We created a safe space to have that conversation.”
Building Culture with Intention
Susie and her brothers developed a set of core values using the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) framework. Values like "Treat Everyone Like Family," "Collaborate," and "Embrace Change" now guide the company’s hiring and culture.
“We weren’t very intentional before,” she said. “But now we coach back to our values. It gives us a shared language.”
She’s also been an active leader in the Filipina Women’s Network, serving as president for six years. “One of our goals was to have a Filipina leader in every industry across all sectors. It was all about identifying and making sure that those voices were captured so we could inspire the next generation.”
A Future Rooted in Culture
One of Susie’s proudest initiatives is a Filipino cultural immersion camp she helped co-create with the University of the Philippines Alumni Association in San Francisco. “I helped write the curriculum. I actually taught it the first year.”
The camp serves kids between 8–12 years old and brings back older alumni as kuyas and ates. “It’s something I wish I had growing up,” she said. “To learn the language, the customs, the history.”
She also hopes Filipino food becomes as common in the American lexicon as sushi or tacos. “But more importantly,” she said, “I want Filipino Americans to feel proud. To see their food on shelves and feel seen.”
She’s not chasing trends. She’s building belonging.
One Scoop at a Time
Susie Quesada isn’t the loudest person in the room. Her leadership style isn’t flashy. But it’s steady, thoughtful, and deeply rooted in love. It’s the kind of love you find in stories passed between generations on in a scoop of purple ice cream.
Susie is doing what so many of our titas, lolas, and moms have done before us: she’s feeding us in every way that matters.
Quietly. Powerfully. One scoop at a time.