Time to meet another Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Joyce Kim, CEO of Soompi.com.
Who are you?
Joyce Kim - Recovering attorney, tech enthusiast, and CEO of Soompi.com. And I'm trying to take over the entire first page of Google search results for that name. Sorry to all the other Joyce Kims out there.
What are you?
2nd Gen Korean American, dual Canadian citizen.
Where are you?
In my office in SOMA, San Francisco which is a space shared with 2 other APA-founded tech startups (an I-Phone app company and a viral web analytics company). We consume a lot of sriracha up in here.
Where are you from?
I grew up in New York City in Manhattan, went to public high school (no, not Stuyvesant or Bronx Science) and some how made my way to university although no one else from high school did. I also lived for a few years in Seoul after college during the Asian financial crisis, did graduate studies in Korean history and worked for the largest citizen's watchdog group in Korea. Eventually, I went to law school, practiced law and made my way to Silicon Valley about 4 years ago.
What do you do?
I am spreading the Asian pop gospel around the world. Soompi.com is one of the biggest Asian entertainment community and fan sites online. As CEO of a start-up, I do whatever the coders need me to do! So I fetch coffee, take out the trash and make sure the server bills get paid. Soompi is focused primarily on Korean pop content at the moment, and we have grown into the largest Asian American community site - woot! Through most of my life, I was active in the political APA community, but interestingly, Soompi.com, with all its sugary pop goodness, has opened my eyes to a different kind of diversity in our community.
What are you all about?
Work, politics, my family and rock climbing take up most of my days and nights these days. Work is not work for me - it is an incredible creative outlet. I've always been a tech fan girl, so working in Silicon Valley is exciting since we tend to get exposed to new tech trends here first. Working on Soompi is always entertaining because our members never cease to amaze me with their creativity and passion. Don't stereotype k-pop fans as airheads - then you are underestimating a huge portion of our APA community. Politics is a given - how else do I end up on this site reading all this angry news! I come from a large family of five siblings and we are all very close. When I was younger, my father would call "family meetings" obsessively and all the kids would groan as soon as my dad started to walk around the apartment harping "Family meeting time!" But now as we get older, I miss those days! And last, I don't know why I climb so much. Its just so much damn fun.
What makes you angry?
Unproductive members of society. People need to stop whining and start doing something. I see amazing people making an impact on their surroundings every day, but I see many more people complaining while doing nothing. If folks would STFU and start taking care of business, the impact would be phenomenal.