Momofuku’s CEO turned down the job ‘a million times’: Inside her daily routine

“I think anyone who grows up wanting to be a CEO is crazy,” the 34-year-old CEO of Momofuku recently told Fortune. “It’s a very difficult job.”

Reaching the C-suite of the culinary brand may not have been a childhood dream for Mariscal, who grew up on New York’s Upper West Side. But her love affair with Momofuku—comprised of a restaurant group and a line of home-cooking products—goes way back.

A teenaged Mariscal first ate at Momofuku’s Noodle Bar with her father back in 2005, after reading a review of the restaurant in The New York Times. She later celebrated her 18th birthday at Momofuku Ko, the group’s two-Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurant in the East Village. She was drawn to Momofuku’s food, of course, but also chef David Chang’s ethos of shattering cultural barriers in gastronomy.

“It felt like not so much a restaurant, as much as a brand trying to tackle how food and culture intersect,” Mariscal said.

In 2011, after graduating from Bowdoin College with a bachelor’s degree in English, Mariscal spotted an online listing for a public-relations internship at Momofuku. She applied, got the gig, and two months later, was hired full-time. She held other positions at the company over the years, including social media manager and VP of brand and design. In 2018, Mariscal was promoted to chief of staff and creative director.

In 2019, after operating as Momofuku’s de facto chief since its inception, founder and chef Chang wanted to shift his focus to the culinary and media sides of the business—as well as his TV-hosting duties. When it came time to appoint Momofuku’s first-ever CEO, Chang turned to Mariscal, who was 29 years old at the time.

Mariscal had her reservations. “I did not feel ready to be a CEO,” she told Fortune. But she couldn’t shake the feeling of responsibility and ownership she felt towards the brand.

“I didn’t want someone else dictating the future of the company,” she…