From Corporate to Culinary: An Entrepreneurial Journey & Detroit Success Story

Ping Ho is an entrepreneur and business owner with multiple food and wine establishments in Detroit. She grew up in Singapore, where she often accompanied her grandmother to the “wet market" and where the direct connection between customers and local food vendors left a lasting impression. That and her upbringing around good food inspired her to launch Marrow, a restaurant and butcher shop hybrid in Detroit. Ping is also the owner of downtown wine bar The Royce and a co-founder in seafood restaurant Mink. She is currently working on developing a two-story building in historic Eastern Market, which will house Marrow's meat processing arm Marrow Detroit Provisions, focused on value-added meat products sourced sustainably in the Great Lakes region. Prior to being an investor and business owner, Ping was Vice President of Digital Strategy and Business Development at Warner Music Group in New York City, specializing in business innovation and startups. Ping graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University and holds an M.B.A from Columbia Business School.

Chef Welch was raised between Jamaica and Michigan surrounded with culture, cooking, and eating. Sarah left Michigan to pursue culinary studies at New York’s French Culinary Institute. Though she has worked for recognized chefs like Brian Polcyn, most of her experience is gleaned working alongside talented peers. Her time in Detroit has yielded close connections with the local farming community which now serves as the muse for the food you can find at Marrow's restaurant.

Amy joined BDO almost four years ago with over 20 years of business development, marketing, event-planning, fundraising, recruiting and consulting experience. The chapters of Amy’s career journey are all connected by one common theme…she loves helping people and businesses thrive. 

In Amy’s role, she works closely with BDO clients and prospects to bring together the “One BDO” team to solve problems, bring forward proactive ideas, and to provide value to new and existing relationships. Amy enjoys serving as a connector and identifying BDO team members who are well positioned to serve clients based on industry, niche expertise, ownership or tax structure, challenges or goals. Amy enjoys learning about the many areas of expertise the firm has to offer including: 400+ areas of consulting service areas, technology transformation and specialty tax.  Amy thrives on “connecting the dots” and driving collaboration, strategy and aligning client needs with the firm’s expertise. Amy has worked closely with clients in all types of ownership structures including: privately-held, publicly traded, PE-backed and family-owned businesses.

Amy prides herself on building strong relationships and providing caring and trusting guidance to clients, peers and strategic partners.  She is passionate about positively impacting companies and truly loves being an integral player on a winning team.  Amy genuinely enjoys networking (she prefers the "NetGiving" approach), leading peer-to-peer groups, and attending events for professional development. She considers herself to be a lifelong and curious learner, which has proven beneficial in her role as a trusted advisor. 

Amy enjoys being part of the Southeast Michigan business community and also is passionate about the impact she is able to make on local non-profits.