The country has long attracted people in search of a better life

Among them are Cambodian migrants...

...who fled war and genocide at home...

...and have found an unlikely route to prosperity...

...donuts

It's 4.40am...

...and most people in the city are still fast asleep

And here we are

But when Los Angeles wakes up...

...Teresa Ngo needs to be ready

She's the co-owner of Blinkie's Donut Emporium

As soon as I get in I throw all my stuff aside...

...and I start packing up boxes

I feel like it's a contest every day

I'm just trying to beat myself

So every day is very different

There's days when we sell a few hundred...

...there's days when we sell a few hundred boxes...

...there's days when we sell thousands of donuts

Teresa and her dad Hugh bought Blinkie's...

...in 2003

Dad is very delicate with his donuts...

...he treats them like they are his babies

I don't think that he was that gentle with me growing up...

...but he definitely puts a lot of TLC in his donuts

Working with my dad, there's pros and cons...

...I mean he's going to be my boss regardless...

...even though I think I'm the boss...

...he still thinks he's the boss

But we do have a great relationship...

...and I'm blessed to be able to work with my dad every day

You like working with me?

No comment

Making donuts is a long way from where Hugh started out his life

So my parents escaped Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge...

...in 1979, early 1980s

It was a genocide, it was a total genocide...

...where we lost a lot of family members

They were lucky enough to be able to emigrate to France...

...and they were there for 20 years

But in a cruel twist of fate...

...Teresa's family were subjected to a violent attack

We had to leave unfortunately because...

...my parents were again victims of an attack...

...where we were robbed at gunpoint and my parents were beaten

They didn't feel safe living in France anymore...

...so they moved to LA

Arriving in the USA...

...was another huge change for the Ngo family

LA was the third new start for my parents...

...that was the third country in their life...

...and for me it was my second one

It was so different, we didn't speak the language...

...we didn't know how to drive here...

...so everything was new

Between 1975 and 1994...

...nearly 160,000 Cambodians were admitted to America...

...as refugees

One of them was Ted Ngoy...

...who became known as the “Donut King”

The entrepreneur made his fortune through a chain of stores

By the mid 90s, inspired by Mr Ngoy's success...

...there were as many as 2,400 Cambodian-owned donut shops...

...in southern California

LA was everything, California was everything...

...so it was just like a dream come true...

...just to be able to be here

So I never thought I would be owning a donut shop...

...and I thought it was just going to be a stepping stone for me...

...but because of the connection we've made with our customers...

...and the community, now it just makes it home

Really? –Yeah

Oh you're so sweet

I love that it's a total neighbourhood-community donut shop

I know the owners, the owners know my kids

Los Angeles has a reputation for healthy eating...

...but that hasn't slowed the steady stream of patrons at Blinkie's

Donuts are bulletproof

They are what makes you happy...

...they're the little go-to snack...

...that you, you know, can have on cheat day

We have a lot of bodybuilders that come in

We have a lot of mums that are super healthy...

...but they still bring their kids for that little touch of sugar

It doesn't matter how healthy the craze is...

...you're still going to want a donut at the end of the day

Thank you

Blinkie's is now one of the top-rated donut shops...

...in Los Angeles

For me Blinkie's is everything about the American dream...

...it's not a big dream, I'm not...

...you know, driving Rolls-Royces or anything like that...

...but I'm living the dream. I'm here, I'm safe

I'm selling an American product, I'm making an American product...

...for the Americans

Thank you doc

So yeah it's a blessing...

...it's a privilege for me