My Perfect Path

2. Jiyoon Kang (Founder of JYKDoodles), Building a brand and small business

• Daniel Koo • Season 1 • Episode 2

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My Unexpected Path. Building JYKDoodles from the ground up.

This episode is your chance to uncover Jiyoon's unique journey from artist to thriving small business owner. Discover how her passion for art and a serendipitous purchase of an iPad during the COVID-19 pandemic transformed into a thriving sticker business. Learn about the pivotal moments, including the importance of community support and overcoming practical challenges, that have defined Jiyoon's entrepreneurial path.

We dive deep into the complexities of expanding a small business, from leveraging TikTok to the unexpected challenges of launching new products like keychains. Jiyoon shares candid reflections on consumer behavior, managing finances, and balancing inconsistent income—all crucial learnings for anyone looking to navigate the early stages of a creative career. Gain practical advice on effective marketing strategies and the importance of financial education for entrepreneurs, all through Jiyoon's real-life experiences.

Struggling with imposter syndrome or social anxiety? Jiyoon's story is a testament to the power of a supportive community and the right mindset. Get inspired by her journey to overcome self-doubt and maintain a positive outlook. We also touch on the value of flexibility, self-discipline, and the ability to work independently. Whether you're starting a new venture or seeking motivation to keep going, this episode offers a wealth of wisdom and actionable insights.

Feel free to leave comments here!

Daniel Koo:

Welcome to my Perfect Path. Today's episode, my Unexpected Path, features a very special guest, ji-yoon. Ji-yoon's career journey is nothing short of inspiring. She has lived in various countries and cities, including Chicago, new Jersey, korea, the Philippines and now New York. During the COVID-19 pandemic, ji-yoon turned a simple hobby of making stickers into a thriving small business. Her unexpected career path started with a refunded college meal plan turned into an iPad purchase, leading her to create and sell her first items. Despite initial challenges like dealing with taxes, learning to market effectively and overcoming imposter syndrome, ji-yoon demonstrated the importance of self-discipline, flexibility and not overthinking the process. In this episode, you will gain practical lessons on managing finances, especially the unexpected aspects of taxes for small businesses and the significance of marketing in creative fields. Ji-yoon also shares insights on how to remain consistent and motivated by treating a business as a hobby initially and the necessity of abandoning perfectionism. Additionally, she discusses the value of community support, both offline and online, and how to remain adaptable in a fluctuating market. Even more special, ji-yoon and I went to the same elementary school in South Korea, adding a personal touch to our conversation.

Daniel Koo:

Whether you're curious about starting your own venture or looking for inspiration to keep pushing forward, this episode is a treasure trove of wisdom and real-life experience. I'm really excited to share today's episode to learn how we can make our own career decisions after listening to Ji-yoon's stories on the twists and turns in her career. I hope you enjoy the episode. Hey, ji-yoon, thanks for coming. I really appreciate your time joining us here at my Perfect Path, a podcast to explore the motivations and decisions behind the career paths to inspire people early in their career. Thanks for having me. Yeah, we're really trying to show what kind of decisions you've made, what kinds of paths you've had, and in order to help people in their 20s or even 30s struggling to find their path and finding their version of success. Kind of going into the questions. Can you share a little bit about where you grew up and what your childhood was like?

Jiyoon Kang:

Yeah, I think my childhood was a bit of everywhere. I was born in Chicago, but I moved to New Jersey for a bit. Then I was in Korea for a good nine years. Then I moved to the Philippines for the end of my high school so like two years and then after that I was like I want to go back to the US. So then ever since then, I've been in Missouri for WashU for around like seven years and now I'm in New York since August of 2023.

Daniel Koo:

I see To give the listeners a little bit of context. I know right after college it was COVID, right? And I think in your previous podcast you've mentioned that you've started this because of COVID.

Jiyoon Kang:

Yeah, it was definitely like an unexpected path that I took. So I feel like I started it because I mainly wanted just like stickers from an Etsy shop or Animal Crossing, and then I didn't find anything that I specifically was looking for. So I was like, oh, why not just make it myself? And then, because of COVID, my meal points got refunded and somehow that was enough money for me to get an iPad, because I was saving my meal points up for this really nice restaurant at the school. But that just never happened. But I have an iPad now. So that's how it all went down.

Daniel Koo:

Yeah, we can get into kind of how you decided to go into this small business, but before that, were you always passionate about this field. Were you always passionate about art?

Jiyoon Kang:

I think so. When I was a kid I was like, oh, I want to be a mangaka when I grow up. I drew a lot of illustrations and I was really into drawing, painting. But I think as time went by I found my interest shifting into different places and one of them was photography. So my concentration is actually like fine arts, in photography. So I only ever imagined myself throughout college oh, like I know people say you don't do what you actually study outside of college. But that's not going to be me. I'm going to only do photography for the rest of my life. And then I was proved wrong and now I'm doing illustration almost full time. But I feel like it's a very different thing than I imagined as a kid. So I think as a kid I think I imagined myself being like a mangaka, like a story writer, but I think soon I realized that I'm not really good at writing stories. I liked the drawing part a little bit more and I think exploring that throughout my childhood was important to where I came now. I think.

Daniel Koo:

Did you ever explore that option of writing stories or trying to publish something, or trying to write a manga?

Jiyoon Kang:

I wrote mangas when I was a kid, but I was like fifth grade so they like made no sense. I wasn't like the biggest fan of reading books to begin with, so I don't think writing was my path. So I was kind of like, oh, I think I just really liked the drawing parts. So it was almost like I was drawing a manga so that I could draw rather than write a story. So I knew that mangaka was not the path I wanted to take.

Daniel Koo:

Were there any particular experiences or individuals that have influenced your direction earlier, maybe in elementary school or middle school?

Jiyoon Kang:

I think I've always had peers that I randomly met describing how difficult it is to take that path, and I think I had some people actively be like, oh, there are a lot of other things you can do, like even my tutors were like, oh, you could do something else. That is more like realistic. I think at the time it didn't really affect me, but looking back at it, towards like when I had to apply for college, I think I thought about that a lot. At that point I wasn't really thinking about mangaka anymore. I think I was just kind of like oh, do I want to be a photographer, illustrator, do I even have passion for graphic design? Because art can divide up into so many sections? So I think, rather than like a significant person, it was tutors I had, or like teachers I've had. That influenced me and my thoughts throughout my time.

Daniel Koo:

It's interesting that you mentioned that people ask you to be more realistic. For context, we both grew up in South Korea and you know the culture there is very. You know you got to be realistic. You got to choose something that makes money. I know a lot of parents kind of steer their children away from the arts, music and things like that because it may be difficult to get a job afterwards. Would you say it was more possible because you moved to the States?

Jiyoon Kang:

I don't necessarily think so. Actually, I don't know if I would say in the Korean working culture, just because I've never really actually experienced it. But when I was interning in Korea I did feel like age was a very big impact and I think as a freshman at the time in college I hated that concept and I think I didn't want that to affect me. I don't know how much that is. I mean, that place was only one internship out of so many places, so then I don't really know the general gist of what the work culture there is like, but I think it was definitely more free to do a small business here. I think there was more freedom in it and people are a little bit more supportive here about a small business here, and I think there was more freedom in it and it's people are a little bit more supportive here about it, I think.

Daniel Koo:

Yeah, I agree, I think people around me here are more encouraging and maybe to by detriment, maybe they do encourage me to try out anything I want to, because it's sometimes important to kind of feel fast, um, if it's not a career for you, right? Just something that I've noticed as well. Uh, let's talk about kind of earlier in your career, in your small business, like I know we talked about covid just a little bit earlier. Yeah, like, how was the process of making your first item and selling it online?

Jiyoon Kang:

yeah, my god, if I look back to it it was so unplanned and very abrupt. It was very like oh, I want this as a hobby vibe and it was like I don't know what else to do kind of vibe. I remember buying a printer and at the time I didn't know what an EcoTank was. So for context, an EcoTank is a printer that you can use a lot more of the ink efficiently and the ink won't run out as much as regular printers do. I don't know if it has quality differences necessarily not that I've noticed it, but I've been using it recently.

Jiyoon Kang:

But back then I had no idea about that, so I didn't do any research.

Jiyoon Kang:

I just kind of was like I want to make stickers and I literally just went to Michaels, bought a printer that I saw in my first site and then I was like, okay, this is the printer I want, I bought it. And then I got paper like sticker paper. I didn't even research, like now I would, but like back then I was like, oh, I don't even care what kind of sticker paper I want, I just want sticker paper. So I bought that and then I just brought it all together, drew my thing on my iPad and then I printed it out and I even hand cut it. There was like no laminate or anything and I thought that was fine at the time because it was literally a hobby for me and it was meant to be literally for myself at the time. So initially when it started I kind of sold it like that because I really didn't think that deeply about how far this would go. I think it felt like a oh, like a side hobby, like I didn't really see myself doing this full time.

Daniel Koo:

I see I do want to get back to how you mentioned. You don't want to think about it too deeply. I do remember you mentioning that a lot in your previous podcast and it seems like a mantra that you kind of carry on, just as the business there's like many challenges and things like that, you know, may cause you to be a little bit more self-conscious or, you know, maybe it affects your confidence, but I really like that concept and we kind of go back to it a little bit later, would you say, treating it as a hobby and not something that you have to make money on. Do you think that really helped you be consistent with it and prolong it? Because I feel like if you were to jump into something like this full time, or if you had that pressure to make money, it would be more difficult.

Jiyoon Kang:

Yeah, I definitely think that was the case, because a lot of the other friends that I know that are starting their businesses now like have a lot of prep ahead of time and they have like funds beforehand and like they really have thought this through and like scheduled everything out. Well, I think, because mine was just like literally a hobby. I was like, oh, I don't really care how much money is going into this, I just want to make this a hobby of mine because I have nothing else to do. So. And even then I didn't even call it a business. I was just like, oh, this is a hobby, I'm not doing much, and I think that really lifted a lot of pressure off of me that could have potentially been very heavy, because I feel like there's a lot of pressure starting a business and I feel like there's a lot of pressure starting a business, and I feel like the word business just sounds so legit that if you express that to others, there's also pressure. And oh, I told others that I'm starting a business and there's like that peer pressure too. So I feel like I didn't start with that luckily, because it was literally just a hobby.

Jiyoon Kang:

But looking back to it, if I were to seriously consider it from the start, then I think things would have looked a lot different. I don't even know if I would have had the courage to just jump right in. So, honestly, that's probably why I tell everyone to just start, because a lot of people are like scared to start. I think that's like the biggest thing. But for me, I think after that, my biggest lesson from having that hobby was, like, if you're interested in something like, obviously some prep and events can be very helpful, but, however, like if there's something you want to do, just start and see how it goes. I think my model changed into like I'd rather regret doing it than not doing it.

Daniel Koo:

I really, I really liked that quote. I actually remember you saying that before and I've been applying it in my life. I really even this podcast. You know I'm trying to regret doing it rather than, you know, regret not doing it. I'm really like that, oh. I'm so honored yeah.

Jiyoon Kang:

That is too kind.

Daniel Koo:

You know, learning every day. I do want to go over. Were there any major risks? Or maybe there are smaller risks, since you consider it as a hobby? But in the very beginning were there any risks for you or did you try to minimize a lot of the risk when you're starting?

Jiyoon Kang:

I think I minimized a lot of risks, though I made a lot of stupid mistakes because I didn't do much research. I think I wasn't branching out to more than stickers because I was like, oh, that's just too much for me. Even spending $500 to get some keychains was so much pressure at the time. I remember when I finally decided to make that jump, I was shaking, making that payment. I was like, oh, I can't believe I just made a $500 payment to get keychains and I was so nervous that I was not finding the right manufacturer or something because I was spending so much money. I was like, oh, I hope it's not a scam and I was very much going back and forth on whether this was right or not. So I would say that I definitely was careful in making that big jump.

Daniel Koo:

Were there any data points that supported your decision to move on to keychains, or how did you manage that uncertainty and fear?

Jiyoon Kang:

I like posted a lot on TikTok like my stickers, and then they started getting a lot of views, like starting from 10k to like 50k, 100,000. And then I was like, oh, like a lot of people are seeing these, maybe I could do something. Or then stickers, maybe I can make keychains. So then keychains are definitely like the cheaper items that you can get, and smaller in size too in the realm of this like business. So then I was I was like, oh, it's like doesn't seem like a terrible risk, and obviously it isn't. Like 500 is not in the terms of business, it's not the biggest risk you can take. So I was like, okay, let's do it. So then I think that's where I decided to take the risk.

Jiyoon Kang:

Uh, the funny story is my keychain first launch actually didn't do that well oh yeah, I literally was so ready I had a countdown and everything and I was like, oh my god, it's gonna blow up, everyone's gonna buy it, I'm gonna have no keychains left. Obviously I hyped myself a little bit too much, but I needed that energy because it was such a big investment at the time. But I remember I only got six orders, like five to six, and even then I was very grateful.

Daniel Koo:

But how many keychains did you have? I guess how many did you order?

Jiyoon Kang:

I had like a good 500, 400. Yeah, so after six orders of two keychains each, I was like great. Now I'm sitting here with like 500 and like 88 keychains left. I was like that's great. So then that was like a very like interesting experience.

Daniel Koo:

So obviously you've continued to sell keychains. So what kind of pushed you to try out different versions of keychains and different designs when the first one was not as successful as you hope?

Jiyoon Kang:

I think I delved into different products, and keychains actually are still not my best seller in my online shop at least, surprisingly, they sell well and in person. Because I feel like people don't like paying shipping for keychains because it's so small, like they think it's like wasteful and they're like, oh, I want to pay shipping for something more useful. So then when I moved on to sticky notes, actually people started adding on one or two keychains while ordering like abundance of post-its, because post-its are so useful, like you can use it like every day and you're not just going to sit on it and like stare at it.

Daniel Koo:

Well, some people do, but I do think for post-its you're able to buy multiple and kind of store them, whereas keychains I feel like you would only buy one, or something like that.

Jiyoon Kang:

Yeah, I think it's like pressuring to buy more than one and because there's a pressure of like, oh, should I start collecting these and then, or where do I put these? And there's like that mixture of response and practicality, while, as in post-its, it's like when you're done with it, you'll buy a new one. So that just gets me to return customers and also people like it to give it to others because it is useful. So I think I started thinking about practicality more of my products once I started making post-its and saw how much better it was selling compared to my key chains.

Daniel Koo:

Let's talk about kind of like the challenges and how you overcame them. It kind of segues in because I think you already told us about your first challenge what were some of the significant challenges you faced on your path, and I think we can kind of focus on maybe the finance side and, you know, working alone and things like that I think you've mentioned before in your podcast that I think would be useful to people listening.

Jiyoon Kang:

Yeah, definitely. Tax was my very first challenge that I faced, mainly because I started as a hobby, didn't really think much about business, hence didn't do research about how business is supposed to work as a sole proprietor. So then I had nothing saved for tax. I literally just was straight up using it for something else.

Daniel Koo:

And I had nothing saved aside.

Jiyoon Kang:

So then when my first tax season came around, I was bombarded because obviously I don't get tax separated, as if you would get paid in corporate. So then I don't get the return, if anything, I'm just always paying. So then when I got that first payment due, I was like wait, that doesn't make sense. I was like, oh, my God, I don't have this kind of money. Or like, oh, I don't have money at all saved. So then any amount that they gave me was too shocking to me.

Jiyoon Kang:

So ever since then I've been trying to get into a habit to either do quarterly payments or to save up on the side. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. For example, I was doing really well until this tax year because I didn't know my Kickstarter was also getting taxed and that really hit me. So then I had to move around some of my finances. So I think that's something that I still struggle with, because your income is not consistent, so you can't guess how much you're going to get per month, and then that makes it very difficult to allocate your funds.

Jiyoon Kang:

It's your decision and your responsibility entirely to decide what goes where and the consequences that come from your decision For example, my taxes this year is solely yours, and I think that's something that I'm still struggling with and something that I really don't really know how to give advice either. My biggest advice is always oh, save 30% aside. But life doesn't always go like that. Like, sometimes you have bills to pay immediately, sometimes you have big inventory prices to pay up front and you might just need more funds than you usually do. So that's something I think I still struggle with.

Daniel Koo:

That's a big part of what we really need, but we don't learn earlier in high school and college, I think you know to those who haven't kind of gotten to that point yet, usually on your first job you work as a contractor or something like that. Even as an intern, you're a contractor and a lot of people make the mistake of not saving for taxes. I have made that mistake myself. I worked for a startup for about a year and I did not save for taxes.

Daniel Koo:

Well, I did save a little bit, I did not know I had to save that much and you end up with like a huge tax bill on your TurboTax or something like that. You get surprised. So that's a good tip for anyone starting, especially unless you kind of jump into like a W-2, right, like a corporate employee. I think everyone kind of goes through this phase of like figuring out how to do taxes and saving for taxes, and I'm sure it's much more important in business to kind of handle that.

Jiyoon Kang:

Yeah.

Daniel Koo:

How was your process for learning? Was it mostly internet research, or do you have a CPA or anything like that?

Jiyoon Kang:

Initially it was just TurboTax because I didn't really earn that much. My first year, second year, I had a CPA through like a family friend, and then now here I have another family friend CPA. So, I feel like I kind of learned as I go, because I have to do a lot of out of state cons too, so then I have to register for a sales tax business for each of those states.

Jiyoon Kang:

So then I ended up having to do some research. There's a lot of communities out there that I can ask these informations to like. Now I'm on a discord where a lot of us like it's called the artist valley network and we're all just there. We're all like sharing business advice to each other and providing help. If we know so, then I ask a lot of questions there and a lot of people give me advice, but it's all under the like for legal reasons, like we're not sure how accurate this info is Like you should do your own research.

Daniel Koo:

We can kind of go over it a little bit more later, but we can also talk about whether someone is going to cut out for this field or if that even matters. Maybe I'll come back to it. Could you actually share if there was a particularly tough period of time that was difficult and how you overcame that? I think you've mentioned there's. You know things about confidence and comparing yourself to other businesses that are that may be doing you know way better than you are in a similar kind of field.

Jiyoon Kang:

Yeah, I think the hard thing about this realm is that everything is so subjective, like, even if you're doing the same merchandise selling, your art skills are different, your artistic style is different and therefore your audience is going to be very different for each of you. Some might have some overlap, some might not. So, as a result, I think I had a period of time where I was very much struggling to understand that and when I saw others that were doing significantly well in terms of follower numbers or sales numbers Sometimes people will share how excited they are to have hundreds and hundreds of sales in their launch and then I at the time had my sixth order of keychain launch. So I was like I worked really hard for this keychain launch. So then how come mine's not doing as well? And I think I had moments of spiraling where I was like, oh, it's because I'm not artistically good enough or I'm just not smart enough All those like negative reasons you could think of.

Jiyoon Kang:

I was basically spiraling and I think imposter syndrome was very real, where I was like, oh, I feel like I don't have enough skills to be in this realm.

Jiyoon Kang:

Like, at certain points, you just feel like you don't deserve the money either because you're so deep into your imposter syndrome like, oh, I don't think I deserve the money that people are giving me. But I think eventually I learned that people love my art for my art, and the fact that they pass through and then they choose to take out their wallet for me it's actually incredible. So I try to focus on the ones who do try to spend money on me or who do try to support my art, instead of like, why didn't this person spend money? Try to focus on the positives and then I think eventually it took a long time probably like a year or two to like get over my imposter syndrome a little bit better than before, to understand that your skills or your worth is not valued by your numbers and that if you're struggling to sell is probably that you're not doing a good job in advertising, rather than your skills are lacking or anything like that.

Daniel Koo:

Yeah, I do see that what you said before, like you think it's not that deep, it's not that serious that kind of mindset is kind of coming back here. When did you feel like you started developing that skill of not taking it too seriously and not taking it personally?

Jiyoon Kang:

I still do it I feel like it's still like.

Jiyoon Kang:

I definitely still do it. I think it's something that I try to keep in the back of my head because I struggled a lot with anxiety through college, like social anxiety specifically. I was very hyper aware of what others were thinking about me and if somebody responded a slight negative or a reaction that I didn't expect, I would spiral down and think like, oh, I did something wrong. I think that's not the response I wanted or thought would come out. Did I do something Like are they going to hate me? And I said I think it didn't even start with my business. It's definitely stemming from my personality. So my advisor at the time was telling me that at the end of the day, you have to remember that it's not that deep and that you have to just move on. And I think that was very, very helpful for me at the time and it was definitely something I had to hear. So I try to apply it to my business. Imposter syndrome too.

Jiyoon Kang:

Like, obviously there comes a point where you have to face tough aspects of it. If you're actually seeing serious decline in sales or a serious decline in following, then I think there is a time where you can't just be like, oh, it's all that deep Because it's a survival thing, so you just kind of have to face that. But if it's losing one follower, or like somebody said, like I hate your work Not that I've heard that before but if someone was to like criticize my work, I try not to think that everyone is thinking that way anymore. Now I'm trying to not take that so personally, where I'm like, oh, everyone is secretly thinking that, when there's clearly a lot of people that also love my work and follow it. To those who are kind of considering this field and potentially going to have to face these challenges, what do you thinkined?

Jiyoon Kang:

So therapy helped me a lot to get out of this, but also remembering your surroundings, remembering the peers that can support you, the community that's out there and it doesn't have to be career related community either, like even just your friends, like your significant other. They can help you so much emotionally to overcome challenges, and I also think it's really important to remember that you have come so far by just starting. So I think starting itself is like an incredible courage and I don't know if I could do this all over again, if it were to flash forward I don't know like 2023. And I was suddenly thinking I want to start a new business. I don't know if I have that kind of courage in me anymore to start something completely new. So I think it's really amazing that somebody is trying to start something and is starting something. So I think you should give yourself a little bit more credit sometimes and that will help you through the tough times.

Daniel Koo:

Yeah, maybe something we can say to our listeners is something like you know it will get better, you know it will stabilize at some point, though it can be a little bit rocky.

Jiyoon Kang:

Yeah, all you can do is try hard, because I mean, what else are you really gonna do? That's true that's true.

Daniel Koo:

What else are we here in life for? You know?

Daniel Koo:

you can do your best and see what happens yeah, live to our fullest yeah, I do want to talk about, uh, what are kind of like the specific skills or talents that have been crucial to your success in this field? And obviously success is, you know, it's kind of like the specific skills or talents that have been crucial to your success in this field, and obviously success is, you know, it's kind of a loaded term, but I guess for this context I'm kind of pointing to the fact that you've stabilized to a certain point. You kind of have a workflow and things like that. So what are some skills or talents that you would say are very important in your small business?

Jiyoon Kang:

I guess nobody's asking you to do anything and it's really being on your own. I think having some sort of self-discipline is very significant and self-control. Your time's very flexible but at the same time, because your time's so flexible, it's so easy to just waste the time that is going. I think I learned over time that you really have to direct yourself properly, and the best way I do this is to write to-do lists and have a weekly planner. I have so many planners. I have monthly planners, weekly planners, I have a Google calendar. So I think just constantly planning life for yourself is very important, because otherwise you find yourself just wasting hours and days wondering what should I even do today or tomorrow?

Daniel Koo:

Would you say that that's a skill that you've always had or something that you had to develop?

Jiyoon Kang:

I think elementary school, as you know, really probably grinded us into having a routine. Korean elementary schools are a little more intense than regular elementary schools.

Jiyoon Kang:

So, then, I think that definitely was one thing Also accepting that your life is definitely going to look a little different than a standard nine to five, that sometimes you will need to work overnight, sometimes you might not be working at all some days, and your days off might not be the weekends anymore. Your days off could be a Monday and Tuesday instead of the weekend and you're working full time weekend, which is what I'm doing sometimes instead of the weekend, and you're working full-time weekend, which is what I'm doing sometimes. So I think accepting that would be better, increasing your flexibility and also planning ahead, knowing that your schedule is flexible and therefore there's a lot more you can do with your time too.

Daniel Koo:

It also seemed like you were already kind of comfortable with social media before you started obviously being in photography and having those technical skills, Would you say having those skills was very important for your marketing and advertising.

Jiyoon Kang:

Yeah, my hot take is that your marketing skills are way more important than your artistic skill in this field, almost because your ability to be able to make things into products, things into tangible things and then to be able to market that to a specific audience and finding your audience into the field took a lot more effort than just simply designing. You have to consider trends that are going around on social media, audios, on reels and TikToks, like learning to read the trends and the paths, and even for animes, you have to keep up with what's coming out, that's new, what are people interested in. And then you have to follow the seasons. Oh, it's Christmas. Are you coming out with Christmas items? Are you coming out with Halloween items?

Jiyoon Kang:

So being able to read the flow of the market, I think, is a very crucial skill to have more than your creative skill personally is my thought, because you couldn't have creative skills and you can make the most beautiful thing out there, but no one's going to buy it if nobody knows it's out there, you know. So I think it's very important that, at least in the business realm, like marketing is like number one priority, and then after that we can take care of the finance and after that we can take of the arts and parts that you feel like you want to improve.

Daniel Koo:

I have a question that I feel like we know the answer to, but do you feel like some of these skills are innate or do you think everyone can develop them over time if they tried?

Jiyoon Kang:

I think some parts are innate, like personality is very innate. You learn some personality, but also some things are just. You can't prevent yourself from having your personality, you know. So then I think social skills can be a skill that is innate, like if you're more introverted. I know some of my friends who are more introverted avoid conventions and they focus more on consignments, where they place a lot of their items in like a retail store and they like do a wholesale vibe there so that they don't have to necessarily like connect with people directly. But they're still connecting with people by selling at other retail stores, connecting with people by selling at other retail stores. But for conventions a lot more extroverts, I think, are there, because unless you have a proxy, you're the one directly communicating with your customers. So I think some skills are definitely innate in that sense, but it doesn't mean that it's bad or good. Obviously, my introverted friends are going to consignments and other options and my extroverted friends are doing all those cons and directly communicating with their customers.

Daniel Koo:

So, looking back into your own career, do you feel like you played more to your strengths or did you feel like you kind of went through the grain and try to learn a lot of these?

Jiyoon Kang:

things. I think with the start of conventions, I was able to tackle my strengths a lot better. So I think it takes a few opportunities, like big opportunities, to be able to tackle my strengths a lot better. So I think it takes a few opportunities, like big opportunities, to be able to tackle it. So then I think courage is needed, yeah, rather than skills. I think you need courage, because I feel like skills can be learned, but I think what it takes to learn those skills is always courage. So if you don't have courage, you're not going to be able to go to a con. If you don't have courage like you're not gonna be able to go to a con, you don't have courage, you're not gonna start your business.

Daniel Koo:

so I feel like it always takes up like one step I guess uh to those listening, you just have to take the leap and you just yeah yeah, you just try it out, see how it goes, just do it yeah you just learn on the way.

Daniel Koo:

I think that actually reminds me of me working at a startup as well. There were definitely skills that I promised that I had and I did learn a ton on the job. Like I obviously knew how to do a lot of the programming out of college, but I promised to my employer that I knew how to do this iOS app development. I had taken a class and I had a little bit of skill, but I definitely learned 90% of what I know now in that job, just kind of like figuring out how it goes and kind of throwing myself into it, and I think that's kind of how we constantly kind of progress in our respective careers as well.

Daniel Koo:

What advice would you give to someone looking to develop these skills, kind of focusing in the small business realm?

Jiyoon Kang:

kind of focusing in the small business realm To not be afraid to develop skills and to not feel small because you're just starting. I feel like you're never really late if you're starting now so that and also learning how to throw away perfectionism. You're just starting to learn new skills. You're not going to be perfect on the start. Everyone who launches a business actually around me not everyone, but I've had a few people who really desire the start of their business to be picture perfect, Like everything is ready to go, Everything is the way they want and it has to look like exactly what they're imagining. But my thought is that it's never going to look that way and even if you believe that in a few years, few months of working, you're going to look back and be like that wasn't the picture perfect that I would define now. So I feel like throwing that away not only lessens your pressure but also just will help you move forward and developing, Because I feel like pressuring yourself with perfectionism can deter you.

Daniel Koo:

That actually reminds me of a quote life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all, so there's only one option, you know there's something in your mind that you want to follow and you kind of have to try it out To those who are kind of interested in this field. I think they already know they want to do it right.

Daniel Koo:

So I kind of want to jump in. So I want to kind of go over to whom would you not recommend this career and to whom would you recommend this career? I think there's tons of insight to be gained from what you see in different small business owners. I'm sure you talked about the introvert, extrovert aspects, but what's kind of like a single characteristic you would say that is required if you want to be in this field.

Jiyoon Kang:

I think you don't need to enjoy working alone, but you have to be ready to work alone. And whether that's working for yourself or for an LLC entirely that you're making on your own, there are going to be times where you feel like you're just doing this on your own and you're just going to have to accept that because you're the one starting everything. So some kind of loneliness needs to be prepared in advance and will eventually find community. It just takes some time. But in the beginning I feel like I felt a lot of that like, oh, I have no one to talk to about this, I don't know where to reach out, I don't know where to find my community and now I do, but it really took me some time to find one.

Jiyoon Kang:

And also, like I said earlier, you shouldn't let your time go to waste. Obviously, if you're doing something, you're not wasting your time go to waste. Obviously, if you're doing something, you're not wasting your time. But because your schedule is so flexible, if you, for example, quit your job and now this is all you have, you can't just let that time go, you know.

Jiyoon Kang:

So if you are not ready, for that or you're not the type that can guide yourself like that. I wouldn't say you're really ready for this. But other than that, I feel like if you have determination and effort and a plan, I don't really see why I shouldn't recommend this path for you. Like you should try it, unless there are some realistic obstacles, like you're in debt or like you're like there's like some other things going on in your life or realistically it's not the timing for it. But otherwise I don't really see why.

Jiyoon Kang:

But I think I see a lot of friends who jump into this area that are often telling me that they were just sick of their nine to five. They were sick of working for others. They wanted something that was entirely theirs and they wanted to present something that is entirely like oh, this is my idea, this is my brand. So I think that's something to consider if you have that at all in your head, and also someone who has flexibility in their time, also in their mind, because things will keep changing, things that you don't expect will keep happening. So I think flexibility is definitely key.

Daniel Koo:

To those listening I would say make sure to minimize your risk. You know, don't try to jump in. And it seems like from your career it's something that you can kind of start in parallel with your existing job to put some stability there. Thanks for the insight. Uh, let's kind of fast forward to the present. Where are you currently on your path and what does your day-to-day look like now?

Jiyoon Kang:

day-to-day looks quite different every day, but, um, I've been doing a lot of conventions so my weekends are mostly pretty booked out. I think twice a month I'm out for the weekends, and during the weekdays I either like if I just came back from a convention I'll take a few days off because it's just exhausting, or I'll spend April. I had no events. So then I spent a lot of time drawing, making new things, brainstorming, organizing my finances, going through bank statements, doing taxes, so a lot of admin work. So I think right now I'm prepping for my upcoming events, like making new products, making new things and trying to brainstorm new things that are upcoming. So I'm in like the sampling phases for a lot of items too.

Daniel Koo:

That are upcoming, so I'm in, like the sampling phases, for a lot of items too. Are there any lessons that we've mentioned before that you're actively thinking about these days and you actively feel like you're glad that you've learned those lessons before?

Jiyoon Kang:

Finance and my time. I think I spent a lot of time wasting away, mainly because I was so exhausted from March because I was doing a lot of events, so I spent a lot of days rotting, but I do think I needed that. So, taking it from there, I was trying to look through my finance, see how I can prepare better for next year's tax season, because this year was a mess, and it's hard because it's your thought process on what you should do better next year.

Jiyoon Kang:

Nobody's telling you what you should do better, so it is scary and it's a little anxiety inducing, but the best I can do, as I always say, is to try your best. So that's what I'm doing.

Daniel Koo:

What's one piece of advice to someone that wants to, you know, have the same business as you like, basically, who sees you as a role model. What would you say to them when they're just starting out?

Jiyoon Kang:

Oh, my God, that'd be so flattering. But I think the main thing is it is a risk, like starting a business. I don't know what kind of business you're starting, but think about what that risk will do to you financially for the next year. I think all this is a hobby. I think that's something that you should definitely seriously reflect on. If you're, for example, thinking about quitting your nine to five to do this, like, do you have enough savings?

Jiyoon Kang:

And just being prepared and making sure you have a plan, making sure you have a plan in advance to know how to get through these tough times, and also just mainly, having courage. Like don't be afraid to do something. Just like do it. If you hate it, don't do it, and then, if you want to do something else, all of a sudden just switch. It sounds easy and I know it's not as easy as it sounds, but I think you should just follow what you're thinking of, because otherwise you're gonna regret it forever yeah, I kind of have this quote that is always interesting and the reason why I kind of try to have these podcast episodes.

Daniel Koo:

Right you can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. So that's from Steve Jobs, and I think that's really important for any of us to kind of learn, and this is why I want to have guests on the show so that we look back and see what those dots were, so that people can kind of learn from this. Lastly, I kind of want to go over the adjective that you chose. So this episode is called my Unexpected Path. Why did you choose that unexpected?

Jiyoon Kang:

adjective. Well, mainly because I really didn't expect this to become my full-time job and I feel like throughout the whole time, I still get unexpected things, like my unexpected taxes, my unexpected finance decisions, my unexpected social media blowups. So a lot of things are about me not being able to predict what the future looks like. And even now, if you ask me what my five-year plan was, I don't know. I'm just like I want more money.

Daniel Koo:

So that's about my five-year plan, but that's about it, yeah.

Jiyoon Kang:

So I think that's literally what it is. Oh, but I will say, going back to the piece of advice I wanted to add, that timing is very important, so considering your timing is also something I would add.

Daniel Koo:

I see. Thanks so much, kyun. I think we've learned a lot here, and it certainly was an unexpected path. I do think a few things that we can kind of gain from this is you know, don't think about it too deeply, treat it as a hobby, just get started and also try not to be too perfect. Yeah, and having a growth mindset. Those are some of the things that I have taken away personally and I think people listening could also benefit from. Yeah, thank you so much.

Daniel Koo:

Thanks for having me. You have so many good quotes, oh no, no, I just I thought they would be kind of relevant here so I really appreciate your time.

Jiyoon Kang:

No, me too. Thank you for having me, and always a pleasure to talk to you. Thanks bye. Thanks for watching.