Page 50 - Southern Oregon Magazine Spring 2018

neck of the woods | in the biz

and a personal award for Lifetime Achievement for Dr. Kim.
Acknowledging the honors the many awards represent, Kim
adds, “When I can make a difference in people’s lives, that is
my reward. I think we can make a tremendous contribution to
society.”

Kim is excited about bringing the company headquarters to Southern
Oregon and also plans to be actively involved in supporting education
and providing new work options to students here in Oregon. “I want to
make the state of Oregon the healthiest place, and the most interesting
place,” she says. While the timeline for completing the move is still in
process, Kim laughs in her characteristic fashion, “My way? I want it
done yesterday.”

ae Yun Kim was born in South Korea in 1946 under a triple
curse: She was the firstborn, it was a Lunar New Moon, and
Tshe was a girl. In the culture of the time, those three together
were considered catastrophic for her family.

The Korean War began when she was five years old and her family
abandoned her as they fled the war zone. She eventually reunited
with her family, and then defied tradition by begging her uncles to
train her in Tae Kwon Do.

Despite her family’s active attempts to squelch such shocking behav-
ior, young Tae Yun continued to train. In frustration, her family
turned her over at age eight to an equally unconventional Buddhist
In the early 80s in a rural Vermont garage monk who saw her potential and himself broke over 5,000 years tra-
(L-R: Michael F., Dr. Kim, Scott S. and
Thomas S.), they faced many challenges dition by training her as his pupil and helping her become a teacher
before moving the company to Silicon Valley. of martial arts. Kim went on to become the first woman in recorded
Korean history to achieve the rank of black belt in a martial art.

With current South Korean President,
Jae In Moon. Dr. Kim travels often to S. Moving to the U.S. in 1969, Kim’s list of firsts has continued to
Korea to share her life story of inspiration expand as she refuses to be limited by conventions—the first
to people of all ages. woman knighted as a Chevalier, the first woman invited to speak
at the Korean Military Academy, founder of the martial art of Jung
SuWon—and she continuously steps out to face the challenges of
culture and business.

Her own story as a warrior fuels both her personal life and her com-
pany. “I like to create things,” says Kim. Author, fashion designer, TV
personality, cooking enthusiast, avid gardener, and technology CEO,
Kim approaches each day as an adventure. “Rejoice in the lesson of
the pain and hurt. It gives you strength, it gives you courage. You
have the power to change,” she says.

Her latest book, titled Seven Steps to Inner Power, is based on the
lessons she has learned over her lifetime and the concepts she still
uses to run her company today. It releases May 1, 2018.

Lighthouse Worldwide Solutions
www.golighthouse.com

48 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | spring 2018