My story

I was seven when my family moved from Korea to Canada, and I didn't know the alphabet. I learned English one small, embarrassing mistake at a time, until one day it was simply mine.

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That experience stayed with me. At the University of Calgary's Haskayne School of Business, the professors I learned the most from were executives who ran companies by day and taught by night. They didn't need the work, yet they were practical, direct and generous, and clearly happiest in the classroom. I didn't understand why. I was too busy building: I became one of the youngest Financial Service Representatives in my district at TD Canada Trust, and led the Korean Canadian Students Association to record-breaking milestones.

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Building is also what led me to teaching. After graduating, I co-founded an international fashion label. While looking for strategic investors in Asia, I took a friend's advice and began teaching English to adult professionals in China, a way into the rooms I hoped to be in. I came for the network. I stayed for the students.

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Since then I have taught learners of every age, from young children to C-suite executives, including more than 2,500 hours one to one with adult professionals. What people need most is rarely more grammar. It is confidence, cultural context and a teacher who has stood where they are standing. The same lessons carried me through my own career in sales, from Business Development Representative to Account Executive in my first year, and into my work with founders today.

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Somewhere along the way, I came to understand those professors. Few things are as rewarding as sharing what you have learned with someone you can genuinely help.

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I believe people are many things at once. Working as an engineer shouldn't stop anyone from also being an artist or a singer. That range is what gives knowledge its depth and advice its practical value, and it creates more value for everyone. Like those professors, I am a practitioner first. I keep learning, building and investing, and I bring all of it back to the classroom.