Ji Hye Kim
Miss Kim
Ann Arbor, MI USA
"Life doesn’t stop with one failure, one mistake, or one change of mind."
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Ji Hye's work combines: Food, Entrepreneurship, and Accomplishing Goals
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
When I left my healthcare job at 27 years old and started trying to figure out what I really want to do, I felt like I had already missed the boat. I felt like maybe I should have already had it figured out. Now, at 45 years old, I know that was a silly mindset. You're never too late to change careers and do what you love.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Political Science
University of Michigan
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
I was born in Seoul, South Korea, and emigrated with my family to New Jersey when I was 13 years old.
2.
I moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for college and earned my bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from the University of Michigan.
3.
I graduated after the September 11 attacks into a bad job market—my options were to go to grad school and continue my student visa, which I couldn’t afford, or find a job to sponsor my green card.
4.
I ended up getting an administrative job for a small hospital.
5.
I eventually decided that the healthcare industry wasn’t for me, so I quit and really started to think about what I actually wanted to do.
6.
I took a job at Zingerman's Delicatessen in the speciality foods department—I took a 90 percent pay cut but I truly enjoyed the work.
7.
I found a passion for the food industry and set myself on that route—I sold homemade dumplings to local restaurants, took part in Zingerman’s Path to Partnership program, and ran my own food cart.
8.
In 2016, I opened Miss Kim, a Korean restaurant rooted in ancient Korean tradition that also showcases Michigan’s local produce.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Myself:
It's late to be changing careers and figuring out what I want to do. I've missed the boat.
How I responded:
When I left my healthcare job at 27 years old and started trying to figure out what I really want to do, I felt like I had already missed the boat. I felt like maybe I should have already had it figured out. Now, at 45 years old, I know that was a silly mindset. You're never too late to change careers and do what you love.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
There were a couple of times that I felt very alone and disconnected from my community. When I started finding opportunities to make and share Korean food, I think I was inadvertently trying to create that community for myself.