*** this is a retro blog from 3/21/2005 – i didn’t really keep a blog back then but kept a brief digital diary in my phone which i just recently discovered.

i just broke the news to my parents that i’m going to leave a secure job at Accenture to start up a tea company. let’s put it this way, my dad thinks i’m nuts and my mom thinks that my dad is correct. Here’s a brief rundown for those of you who are not Korean… Korean parents, for the most part, want their children to be doctors, lawyers, etc… my dad is the ultimate Korean and really wanted me to pursue a career in the medical field. well, he had to settle for a son in the consulting field and just now as he was getting “fully settled” he found out my little secret to leave. he thinks i’m too young to start up a business and wants me to wait until i get more experience. i gotta say i beg to differ and i’m moving forward. here’s the thing… i’m 25 years old and if i start a business now and succeed then great and if i fail i’m still 26. it’ll be a really expensive grad school
i truly believe that it will only get harder to pursue my entrepreneurial ambitions as i get older with more responsibilities. i don’t think that i’ll have the guts to do what i’m about to do once wife and kids get into the mix. i don’t ever want to look back on my life someday when i’m 50 years old and find myself playing the “what if” game… you’ll never know until you do it. my dad is furious but i think he’ll get over it. my mom on the other hand is angry but understands… she actually started her entrepreneurial endeavors at a much earlier age. my mom was never the academic and did not want to go college after graduating from high school. my grandmother placed a heavy emphasis on education and obviously had college in mind for my mother. my mom had a proposition for my grandmother when she turned 17. she basically asked my grandmother to give her the cash that would have funded her college education so she can start up a clothing business. my grandmother wasn’t having it, my mom starved herself for a week in protest and finally received the funds to open her first business. basically she knows what i’m going through but just wants me to think through it a bit more. its not going to be easy getting these two completely on board but the ship is moving and i’m sure they’ll jump on shortly.  for now i need to go find a buyer for my condo so i can get some funds to start up this baby up…