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About Me
My name is CK Chung, and I’m a Functional Systems Integrator. If you’re wondering what I mean by that and want to know what I’m all about, you won’t find many better ways to get a more thorough depiction than to continue on reading.
If you’re here because you’re interested in a functional SEO consulting engagement with me, it would benefit you to get to know all about me and why I’m the best consultant for your business. So, I advise you to read on!
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Let’s take a trip down memory lane…
In the beginning…
I was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 12, 1979 to Korean immigrants, and we settled in the suburbs. My younger brother was born two years and three days after me.
On three? Or after three?
You may think you know all about the “hustle” (and maybe you do), but I can’t begin to fathom tackling all the challenges my parents had to overcome. In South Korea, my dad was a civil engineer and my mom was a nurse. They left their careers and immigrated to a country where they knew just a handful of people and barely spoke the language. My dad found work as a welder, and my mom started out as a fast-food cashier.
Let’s think about that for a second. Imagine leaving everything you know to move to another country where you don’t know anyone and can’t speak the language. And it’s all up to you to find a way to make a living and make things work. You essentially have to start over!
How crazy is that?! My parents are my heroes.
Okay, but this is about me. So, let’s skip ahead a little bit…
The childhood years…
As a first generation Asian-American, I grew up differently from my peers. The most developmental distinction may have been how my parents didn’t buy me more than a few toys, but they got me just about anything educational that I wanted.
Sure, I was jealous of my friends’ plethora of toys and video games, but I had my very own bookcases that overflowed with hundreds of books that I treasured. Hardcovers and paperbacks, fiction and non-fiction, abridged and unabridged; I read them all. I even read encyclopedias for fun.
I was the only student who was able to read aloud to my kindergarten class, and I shattered reading records throughout grade school. I won a lot of pizza.
I became super-interested in the physical and biological sciences at an early age. If I wasn’t reading or doing homework that my parents assigned to me outside of school, I filled my time with exploratory activities like collecting rocks, examining bugs under a microscope, blowing up my chemistry set, and shocking myself (accidentally!) on circuit boards.
Yeah science, bitch!
My favorite television show back then was MacGyver, and my favorite movie character was Indiana Jones. I wanted to grow up to be a combination of the two. For a stretch of time in grade school, I carried around a swiss army knife and duct tape in my jacket every day. (Yes, those were different times.)
It was during those early years when my penchant for learning and self-education was formed. The slow wit and dull humor would come about much later.
My introduction to computers…
I’ve had a fascination with computers for as long as I can remember. In the first grade, I was selected to be in an advanced learning program where we could choose any subject we were keen to learn more about. With the desire to create the video games my parents wouldn’t buy for me, I chose computer programming.
I don’t recall the programming language I messed around with, but information was limited and there was no one around who had the knowledge to guide me along. So, I was handed whatever material was available and then left alone to teach myself on one of the school’s few Apple II machines.
I remember my first accomplishment: coding a stick figure to jump rope. Watching my creation come to life on that monochromatic green screen was the coolest thing ever! It wasn’t too long after that when my parents bought me my first machine – a sweet-ass Blue Chip PC.
I was cool, I swear…
Nerdliness wasn’t my only trait. I was also into athletics and the arts. I was always sketching, drumming on my desk, or throwing/kicking around a ball (or other objects I shouldn’t have been launching).
Cub Scouts was an amazing outlet for me. There, I was able to flex my science muscles as well as my athletic talents to collect badges, awards, and other achievements. I was a perennial medal-winner at the regional Cub Scout Jamboree, and I got to visit cool places from the likes of state parks to the state capitol.
The Last Cub Scout.
Okay, so Cub Scouts may still be nerdy (but not as nerdy as Boy Scouts!). Among cooler pursuits, I also began to explore my athleticism more by playing a lot of neighborhood football. As my interest in sports grew, I got into organized baseball and basketball. The sport I ended up falling in love with was soccer. I began playing in the third grade and started kicking ass quickly. I got recruited into the select club system and moved up two age groups my rookie year.
Winning!
As for my introduction to music performance, my mom made me take piano lessons from her every day of the summer… and I hated it. However, I was excited to select an instrument of my choice to learn in fifth grade. I chose the flute, which I quickly learned was not a clarinet – what I actually wanted to play.
After I mastered the beginner method book significantly faster than my peers, I made a big switch to the tenor saxophone midway through the school year. That thing was almost as big as I was at the time… but it was way cool.
The adolescent years…
When I was in middle school, my dad randomly brought home an Apple Macintosh Color Classic. Cool! A new toy!
Wait a second. This thing is weird. The CPU and monitor are all one piece? Where’s the other mouse button? Ooh… that display, though! And what is this modem thing all about?
My friends were also intrigued, and we messed around with the Mac quite a bit.
During my high school years in the mid-1990s my interest in computers got kicked up another notch (though I never really got too into the Mac). I began messing around with modems and opened up my then-outdated Blue Chip PC to see what was going on inside. It wasn’t too long before I caused it to burst into flames. Literally.
Oops! Time for a brand new computer!
My parents bought me the best Packard Bell PC we could find in the stores at the time.
Then the whole internet thing really began to take off. I rocked out the AOL dial-up and stayed up way too late surfing all corners of the web with AltaVista. Still being very much into science, the female anatomy was of particular interest.
Really, I was cool…
To be clear, I wasn’t one to hole myself up in the basement and spend all my time glued to the computer. For one, my machine was upstairs in my bedroom, and I took a break every few days.
For real, though, I may have been in math club, but I was also an extremely active teen. I continued to excel in soccer and music.
I also became obsessively interested in fitness and nutrition. The great thing was that in addition to educational materials, my parents got me just about anything I wanted in order to improve my health. I always had some light dumbbells and barbells around the house to exercise with. I got my first home gym for my birthday when I was in 8th grade – a 3-station Weider cable machine.
It went in my bedroom.
My training obsession…
I was really skinny back then, so I wanted to pack on some muscle to impress the girls. I also wanted to do everything I could to be the best soccer player I could be.
My reading preferences shifted toward muscle magazines and other texts based around bodybuilding science. Yet, my metabolism was through the roof, and I couldn’t pack on any weight no matter how much I stuffed myself. I got ripped, though, and my washboard abs became popular in high school.
The dungeon.
I trained more than anyone I knew. There were stretches of time when I’d wake up early to run a few miles before going to school and then work out every single day after school. In the summers, my mom would drop me off at my summer classes and I’d run the three miles back home.
When the first fitness center opened up in town, I got a membership and rode my bike there several times a week. When we moved to a larger house, I set up my home gym in the basement and added more equipment. When I got my driver’s license, I got a membership to the new YMCA in the next town over to use its pool. I would drive over there to swim and workout right after school.
I couldn’t wait to experiment with what I was learning from my research.
The payoff…
I was never able to pack on much muscle, but I became one of the best soccer players in the Chicagoland area. I received several honors and awards, leading to dozens of scholarship offers from colleges all around the Midwest.
Concurrently, I became the first chair saxophonist in one of the top high school concert bands in the country. I also excelled in jazz bands and various ensembles. Our groups were always in high demand at assorted events around the region. I received as much interest from colleges for my musical abilities as I did for soccer, if not even more so.
The original Sexy Sax Man!
My classmates voted me as the best musician, and I was recognized by a county organization as the top scholar-athlete at my high school. I was on top of the world.
Total culture shock…
Upon graduating from high school, I accepted a scholarship to attend Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa on the basis of my academic and soccer achievements. They also pushed hard for me to continue with music, but I didn’t see how I could fit everything in… and being an NCAA Division 1 soccer player was way cooler.
I was eager to escape to a new setting, but this was the first time I would be out of the strict, watchful eye of my parents. Everything was going to be new, and I was going to be completely on my own.
Maybe that wasn’t the best idea, because things didn’t pan out quite as anticipated.
Between my interests in computers and science, and my fascination with European soccer, I was torn between majoring in Information Science and International Business. 12 credit hours was the minimum to be a full-time student and 15 credits was the norm to graduate in four years. So, I thought I’d study both and 18 credits my first semester would be no big deal.
Doh…
Drake is often considered to be an Ivy League-caliber school (mostly by alumni). Every single one of my classes turned out to be significantly harder than any AP class I took in high school. Who knew that the time you had to spend on homework and studying totaled even more than the time you spent in class? Who knew you actually had to do homework and study??
Plus, three to four hours were dedicated to soccer every day with workouts at 6:00 a.m. and practice after classes. Not to mention, the games and the traveling.
I worked harder than ever, but I struggled to keep up. It seemed like everybody in the classroom was smarter than me, and everybody on the soccer field was stronger and faster.
On top of that, my coaches didn’t seem to get me, and I definitely didn’t get them. At one point, I played my way into the starting lineup in practice (top 11), but didn’t even make the traveling roster (top 18) that weekend.
I was at a loss, and my psyche was crushed.
Soccer was no longer fun for me anymore, and I ended up suffering a few injuries. I also didn’t make my grades, so I was placed on academic probation for my scholarship.
I was in a downward spiral, and I really missed my family and friends back home.
Ch-ch-changes…
Fortunately, the winter break did me good. I was able to get my grades back up my second semester at Drake. I also came to enjoy soccer again during the offseason; probably because it wasn’t nearly as demanding, which allowed me to play more freely. Plus, I was able to revitalize my obsession with training, as there was more of a focus on strength and conditioning. It was also the first time I got to work with a bona fide physical trainer.
Nevertheless, I didn’t feel like Drake was a good fit for me, so I set my sights elsewhere for the next school year. I planned on transferring to a school where a few of my friends were attending, and where I felt like I would fit better into their soccer program.
Unfortunately, plans changed abruptly after I suffered my second major lower-back injury while playing in a soccer tournament over the summer. The first time occurred in high school, and I had to sit out my entire sophomore season. This second time felt worse.
I wasn’t going to be able to play soccer at a high level any time soon, if ever again. So, I had to scramble and figure out what I was going to do about school that fall.
It’s party time…
Fortunately, I was able to get into Northern Illinois University two weeks before the semester began. It ended up being one of the best things that could have happened.
The campus was less than an hour away from home, my courses turned out to be easier than my classes in high school, and I didn’t have to deal with the pressures of playing soccer. Thus, I was able to fully experience the college social life.
Yeah… we actually have a temple.
As much as I tried to avoid it as first, the Greek system fascinated me. I quickly became engrossed as a True Gentleman of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
I still recite the creed from memory every day. As corny as this may seem, read over “The True Gentleman” yourself and then tell me It’s not absolutely magnanimous.
The True Gentleman
The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe.
~ John Walter Wayland
The fraternity filled a void in my life I didn’t know I had. My obsessions turned to becoming a productive member of the Greek system.
And partying.
Hard.
The young adulthood years…
I went a bit crazy with the partying, so I struggled with balancing the fraternity life and my school work for a few semesters. But once I got my footing right, everything started to come together.
Partying with Victor E. Huskie!
I began playing soccer again. It was far from D-1, but the intramural program at NIU was huge and quite competitive. Most importantly, it was fun. Winning all the time surely helped.
I also quenched my musical thirsts by dabbling as the heroic guitarist in a local alt-rock band. Our extensive touring history included many of the biggest festivals… at our friends’ apartments.
The original Guitar Hero!
I became heavily involved in philanthropy, which is how I discovered my knack for planning charity events. I came to be known for throwing benefit concerts. One semester, I even threw together a bigger concert than any that the university put on.
My claim to fame may be the fact that I rejected Rise Against from being the opening act in that concert because I didn’t care for the demo they sent me.
Oops.
I’ll take credit for providing the adversity they needed to break through.
All this led me to find my passion for philanthropy and my calling in marketing and promotions. I took up leadership positions in school organizations like:
- Communications Student Advisory Council (Comm-SAC)
- Colleges Against Cancer (CAC)
I was also involved in other communications and service organizations like:
- Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA)
- Red Cross Disaster Services
Both of my fraternities won awards for our philanthropy services during my tenure. Not to mention, APO was awarded as the university’s most outstanding organization, and my SAE chapter was recognized as one of the best chapters in the nation.
My studies and involvement in various organizations earned me an Outstanding Major in Communications award. I graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Corporate & Organizational Communication.
That’s all I get?
Where’s the beach?
My favorite TV show as I was finishing up college was The OC, so a month after I graduated, I moved to Orange County, California.
Actually, I have relatives in Los Angeles that I visited almost every year since I was young. I always had it in the back of my mind that I would live in SoCal at some point. So, when the opportunity to move to the OC presented itself, I jumped on it. While it wasn’t an easy decision to leave all my friends and my immediate family again, it wasn’t as big of a leap to take.
Unfortunately, this all happened while the job market bottomed out after the dot-com crash. I was lucky to find work as a construction crewman for a few months.
While I was the only one in the crew with a college degree, I was at the bottom of the barrel and did all the grunt work. Later, I found out it was the most grueling job the crew had ever worked up to that point.
It was the hardest work I had ever done. It was extremely demanding physically, which made it severely taxing mentally. At least the weather was gorgeous every day, and I had a beautiful view of the hills and the Pacific Ocean while I worked.
In the end, it was a tremendous growing experience, and I also made a breakthrough with something I’d been chasing for over a decade…
I packed on some muscle!
It all comes together…
After a few months, I found a job in sales at a leading real estate website firm called Advanced Access (which was later acquired by Dominion Enterprises – a large media and information services conglomerate).
It sucked, at first.
I basically cold-called real estate agents and brokers all day long in an attempt to sell them a website package. While I did okay, I hated selling. Probably more so because of the cold-calling part. It made me feel dirty. I was basically a telemarketer.
Most of the management were handed their positions through nepotism. No one appeared to have a college degree. Yet, once again, I found myself at the bottom of the totem pole.
Nevertheless, I began to learn a lot about websites and started to build my own during my spare time. After a few months, I couldn’t bear to continue telemarketing anymore. So, I went into the president’s office and told him there has to be a better spot for me in the company.
As a result, instead of cold-calling realtors all day, he switched me over to receiving calls all day from realtors who needed tech support for their website. It was a little better, but not by much.
Fortunately, a position opened up in the company’s esteemed website marketing department. This was soon after the Google Florida Update came into play – the update that put SEO on the map.
I didn’t know much at all about SEO at the time – only the tidbits of marketing jargon that we were trained to recite in tech support. But I was going to get that job.
Interviews were to be in a a few days, so I stayed up all hours of the night to learn everything I could. It didn’t take me very long to find out that the best practices the new Florida algorithm computed for were things I had considered intuitively when I promoted my events online in college!
Was this my calling?
I got the job, and I was hooked.
Bursting onto the SEO scene…
My time at Advanced Access was the perfect introduction to SEO for me. I was able to work on 100+ websites that were essentially identical in structure, but spread across different geographical markets all around the country. This gave me the valuable opportunity to test some tweaks on one set of websites, other tweaks on another set, and then analyze the results.
The process was the perfect symphony of art and science for me.
A few weeks into my stint, the company sent me to the biggest SEO conference at the time. Come to find out, I learned nothing new. I already knew everything people paid a lot of money to see the “experts” present!
My superiors were slow to realize my potential, so I cast my feelers out for other opportunities. Thanks to the Florida Update, SEO was a scorching hot market. Advanced Access eventually made an effort to keep me on board, but it was too little too late.
I got offers for every job I applied to (except for one, but that’s another story), and started a bidding war between a few. I eagerly signed a contract at a firm that offered me twice what I was making at the time and put in my two-week notice at Advanced Access.
And then Experian – the worldwide information conglomerate best known for credit reporting – came into the picture. By this time, I had a better idea of my value, so I wasn’t shy about laying down my salary demands.
Well, that was until they actually scoffed at my asking price…
Because they thought it was too low!
The choice was obvious. So, I apologetically reneged on the contract I had prematurely signed, and just a few months after I began teaching myself SEO, I became the inaugural SEO employee at Experian.
Boondoggles galore…
Working at a gigantic company like Experian was quite a shift – not unlike my experience going from high school to Drake.
At Experian, everyone I worked with had a college degree from a top university. In fact, most were working on their master’s or already had at least one. But this time, I didn’t feel out of place. I was finally in my element. My talents were recognized, and my expertise was valued… even more than I thought it was worth.
There was money being tossed around everywhere. It seemed like every other week, my group was being schmoozed by one of the four major search engines we were spending millions of dollars with. (Yeah, there were four! Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask – you forgot about the Jeeves, didn’t you?)
Frequent lunch outings, ballgames in suites with gourmet buffets, limo-chauffered scavenger hunts throughout the beach cities, obstacle courses, dodge ball, private movie screenings, lavish dinners…
It was awesome.
Between that and redundant meetings in conference rooms named after wine varietals, I felt like I barely had to do any work.
But, there were also other reasons I felt that way. For one, I went from working with 100+ websites, to maybe a dozen. Of course, it was a different beast altogether. The websites were far more complex, and also governed by the heavily regulated financial industry.
I primarily worked on the consumer facing websites like FreeCreditReport.com, CreditExpert.co.uk, and other similar ones that are now defunct.
I also worked with the parent website at Experian.com and consulted on other Experian properties like:
- LendingTree.com
- LowerMyBills.com
- PriceGrabber.com
It was really interesting to navigate the inner workings of a corporation like Experian. There were so many departments and processes for my recommendations to go through before they could be launched. Where I had gotten used to making most changes instantly and on my own at Advanced Access, the production cycle took several months at Experian.
Hitting SEO rock stardom…
Experian sent me to the biggest search marketing conferences all around the country, and I continued to learn nothing at them. However, I partied.
Hard.
The 6-pack + Tito!
The parties were ridiculous. The search engines booked the biggest clubs, and there was the infamous Google Dance at the Googleplex. And of course I would take full advantage of the open bars while rubbing elbows with the search elite.
Many business cards were collected, and just as many drunk dials were made. Veterans of SEO conferences know that the juiciest info gets passed not during convention hours, but during happy hour and after hours. I made a ton of connections – many of whom I still have today, and some of whom have become the closest of friends.
Around that time, I had also begun digging into WordPress – which has since become the most popular content management system on the web. I started my own SEO blog at SEOdisco.com, writing under an alias: Kid Disco. There weren’t even 100 SEO blogs at the time. So, with Kid Disco tapping into my party boy alter ego, I gained traction really fast.
Hiding behind my pseudonym, I wrote brazenly. I was also researching, testing, and optimizing around the clock, so I was able to scoop various search engine updates.
In the first year I started SEOdisco, my blog got nominated for Best SEO Blog of the Year. My posts also got picked up regularly by the Daily SearchCap in Search Engine Land – the search marketing industry’s leading online publication.
I was also known for defining “holistic SEO.”
Even Oatmeal was writing about my SEO prowress. Yes, The Oatmeal.
Creatives: you’re doing it for the EXPOSURE. pic.twitter.com/paTlqvHPKb
— Matthew Inman (@Oatmeal) October 26, 2017
Hyperactive SEO…
I had an awesome time at Experian, but the corporate environment was too slow, inefficient, and unchallenging for me. There wasn’t any opportunity for me to grow in what I wanted to do.
I was getting multiple job offers every week at the time, so it wasn’t difficult to find new employment. I received many enticing offers from all around the country, but I had recently purchased a home and had no desire to leave the splendors of the OC.
I ended up back on the agency side with Argus Interactive – an award-winning search marketing and web development firm (which was later bought by DGWB – the top ad agency in the OC, now rebranded as… Amusement Park…??). There, I was able to work on high profile websites across different industries.
I worked with websites for small and medium enterprises to global brands in the following industries:
- Automotive
- Beauty
- Finance
- Healthcare
- Real Estate
As I was responsible for directing, managing, and implementing all the SEO campaigns from top to bottom, I became intimately familiar with the entire agency process. The experience also solidified that client work was far more satisfying for me than in-house work.
Shove this jay-oh-bee…
During my time at Argus, I continued writing at SEOdisco and bolstering my status in the industry on my own time.
Considering my prominence in the SEO world at the time, it was the perfect opportunity to utilize my stature to boost the visibility of the agency. I was more than ready and fully willing to do just that, but the firm failed to see the value of having me represent them at conferences, let alone attend. They were stingy with expenses and averse to innovation.
Once again, I found myself in a position where my potential wasn’t being realized and my output wasn’t being valued appropriately. What the firm charged clients for the work I provided broke down to about five times what they were paying me. Of course, there was overhead and business development to consider, but I was performing all the actionable work.
Half a year was all I needed to observe the inner-workings of the agency and see that I could do a far better job and be compensated more deservingly on my own.
I took the leap to becoming my own boss in the Summer of 2007.
And I never looked back.
The perfect job…
It took me four years of life in the real world to realize that I couldn’t fit into the box of supervised employment. Everywhere I went to work, my potential wasn’t realized.
That’s right, Lee!
I met some great people, and I’m still friends with some of my former co-workers. My bosses were good to me too, but none of them were particularly good at talent identification and development.
I’ve been an autodidactic self-starter my entire life. It was obvious that entrepreneurship is where I belonged.
I gained the freedom to do whatever I wanted to. While that was awesome, it also required a lot of discipline. It wasn’t all rainbow-farting unicorns.
Anyone who is an entrepreneur knows the roller-coaster ride very well. The ups are great, and you figure out how to make the downs manageable. And then there are those times when you get thrown off the tracks and you have to hold on with all your might and catch a bit of luck if you want to survive.
The middle adulthood years…
There was something about turning 30 that made me feel really old. So, that’s when I decided to age backwards.
While I had been maintaining my fitness through my 20s for the most part, I was nowhere near the condition I was in when I had my sights set on becoming a pro soccer player. Instead, I had become focused primarily on advancing my career. When I dove into SEO, I was on the computer all day and night. When I wasn’t on company time, I was performing research and working on my own websites. Analyzing, tweaking, testing, checking, reviewing, washing, rinsing, and repeating. However many years of experience I have at this point could easily be doubled for the amount of actual hours I have spent.
Even so, I still carved out some time to run a few miles around the park and do some push-ups and crunches a few times a week. I was satisfied with where my health was at and had no problems with simply maintaining my fitness at an adequate level. However, when I turned 30, I had been away from training and competition for a good seven years or so. Career wise, I had already accomplished more than I could have imagined, but something was missing.
It all comes full circle…
A few years prior to my 30s, my dad suffered a heart attack and underwent a quintuple bypass (yeah, that’s five coronary arteries!). That really opened my eyes to my family history of heart disease.
In 2009, the book Born to Run led me to become utterly fascinated with how we’ve discarded our natural biological abilities for the comforts of the modern lifestyle. In light of all this, turning 30 was my catalyst for getting back into health, fitness, and nutrition. While I continued to ride the entrepreneurial roller coaster, I began to reintroduce my research, self-experimentation, and training habits. The obsession kicked back in very quickly.
As I tore through the latest studies and began to implement various training methods, I started to feel whole. My health and fitness shot through the roof, and I approached levels of performance close to that of my college soccer days – even better, in some respects.
After being away from the game for a decade, I thought I’d try stepping back onto the pitch. I began playing in recreational leagues, and it didn’t take me long to get back into the groove of being an athlete. I couldn’t believe I had been away from something I loved for so long, but I found my way back.
Reclaiming evolution…
Since turning 30, I’ve been spending an average of 20 hours a week studying and researching functional health. I read 2-3 books at a time and listen to 50+ different podcasts in the health and sciences realm. I also enjoy taking advantage of various online courses made available by notable universities.
It’s disheartening to think about how much wrong information and irrelevant training methods I incorporated in the past. It’s even more painful for me to think about how the general public continues to be misled and still adheres to this misinformation. But instead of dwelling in my sorrows, I have taken it upon myself to make up for lost time. I have also become very passionate about spreading awareness of functional health practices to others.
The time is now…
Today, I enjoy the majority of my time with my girlfriend of over nine years. She is my best friend and intellectual equal, if not superior. She is also very graciously adaptable and flexible, especially toward my interests. I’m so fortunate to have a significant other who I can bounce my idiosyncratic ideas off of and savor a variety of adventures with.
She just so happens to be an online marketing mastermind who specializes in pay-per-click (PPC) and e-commerce advertising. She also utilizes her knowledge and experiences to teach others how to be present, joyful, and purposeful in their lives.
My parents and brother eventually ended up following me to Southern California. So, now we’re all less than an hour apart from each other (when there’s not too much traffic). My dad retired as a nuclear technician, and my mom retired as a registered nurse. My brother manages a law office and operates an ice cream consortium. I also play soccer with him from time to time. It’s a blessing to have them nearby and to be able to hang out with them often.
Many of my closest friends, however, still live in Chicagoland, so I visit as much as I can. I’m pretty sure it’s the best city in the world… during certain times of the year.
Doin' that LA thang!
Family trip to the motherland!
GO CUBS GO!
I play semi-pro level soccer for a club in Orange County called Buena Park FC. I started out on the reserve team when I was 34, and made my way up to becoming a regular starter for the first team. At 39 years of age, I’m the oldest player on the team by 8 years and exceed the average age by 13 years. Yet, over the past three seasons, I’ve been the most consistent player, I’ve recorded the most games played, and I’m among the top five goalscorers.
I have also trialed and earned an invitation to train with FC Golden State – arguably the best club system in Southern California. Their top team, Golden State Force, is one of the best amateur teams in the country. They were the best Open Division finishers in the 2018 U.S. Open Cup, bowing out of the tournament after defeating two professional teams and displaying an impressive showing against Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy.
After reading Born to Run, I left the concrete jungle and took to the trails to do most of my running. I now run competitively in trail races during my soccer offseason.
Run, Forrest, Run!
I found quick success, grabbing a podium finish in just my second race. I now regularly win my age group and finish within the top 10 overall.
In addition to my work with WEBOSIS, I am utilizing my experience in marketing and my knowledge of functional health to start up Evothrive under which I am developing #NETT90 – a program based on a synthesis of evolutionary biology, positive psychology, and behavioral economics that is intended to spread awareness of our innate physiological capabilities and allow people to easily realize their health potential.
I also volunteer my web skills and business experience to several non-profits, including:
- Buena Park FC
- Orange County Mensa
- Sigma Alpha Epsilon
I also advise businesses and individuals in the realm of functional health and soccer, including:
- Human Movement Lab
- TheCup.us
I am also an innovation consultant for a think tank called ProdigyWorks where I contribute in select innovation brainstorming projects with other Prodigies to help bring outside thinking to companies, brands, and organizations looking to tap into a diverse global network of high-level outside thinkers. We solve complex problems, create disruptive innovation and name new products for some of the world’s best-loved brands and a range of leading CPG, food & beverage, tech, healthcare, and financial services companies.
If I’m not doing any of the above, you’ll likely find me doing one of the following:
Chillin’ at the beach.
I love going to the beach year-round. There are so many health benefits of ocean exposure, and I also like to bodysurf and take dips in the winter months to induce cold thermogenesis. I’m also slowly getting into kitesurfing.
Enjoying a sporting event.
While I’m conflicted about some of the inner workings of professional sports, I can’t help being fascinated with elite athletes in action. The social atmosphere is also a blast to observe and experience.
Taking in a concert.
I have a little studio with guitars, a keyboard, and an electronic drumset in the corner of my home office. While I don’t play as much as I’d like to, I certainly appreciate the vibrations of an epic concert from time to time.
Indulging in cuisine.
When I’m not being spoiled with gourmet meals cooked by my girlfriend at home, we tend to hit up well-regarded establishments on occasional nights out. We’ve had the fortune of being served by some of the best chefs in the world.
Exploring new frontiers.
I’m enamored with the country I have lived in my entire life. I love traveling around the States and experiencing the local fare and attractions. This usually consists of hiking, sporting events, food, beer, and trespassing.
Doggysitting for friends.
I wasn’t much of a dog person until I came to parent two precious dogs that got me through some rough times. These days, I have the absolute pleasure of watching my friends’ awesome pups.
Last updated on December 23, 2018.
Cool story… but why did I need to read all that?
First off, if you made it this far, then we’re much more likely to enjoy a constructive working relationship together. Consider that 26% of Americans haven’t read any part of any book in any form over the past year.1 Even worse, 6 out of 10 of people don’t even read the articles they share on social media.2 As fundamental reading is for humans to gain knowledge and flourish, most people don’t spend much time doing it these days.
On the contrary, you’re obviously someone who reads thoroughly (unless you just skipped to this part, you slacker!). So, you must either be (1) principled about the work you do, (2) diligent with your intentions of improving your business, or (3) my writing is totally captivating. Or some combination of the three! Whatever the case, you will be rewarded by your perseverance, one way or another.3
What else do we need for a fruitful working relationship?
Emotional connection.
How well do you know the people you work with? How well do you really know them? How many of them do you know as well as you know me now?
Business, and even life in general, has become so impersonal. Social connection is a crucial element of living healthfully. Your business depends on people, so why wouldn’t it also be an important element in running your business successfully?
Rapid trust building.
The money you spend for my services may be a significant commitment for you, so it would be prudent for you to make sure that I can deliver.
I designed this page to present my range of experiences, skills, and talents in a thorough, yet digestible, manner. I’m certain I can help you in one way or another. Hopefully, the information on this page conveys that.
Acquaintance optimization.
Okay, so while it may be beneficial to connect on a social level, I’m on the clock, and you probably don’t want to be paying me for us to socialize.
It’s our shared values and experiences that allow us to connect and understand each other on a meaningful level. I hope the information I’ve provided here is useful enough for you to gather what you need to know about me so that we can get on with enhancing your business.
Consultant-client coherence.
I have accumulated a wide variety of life experiences, as well as a history of working with many different types of businesses. Thus, I feel like I can relate to just about anyone at some level – not just socially, but also professionally.
Hopefully, you have already connected with me on some level from the information on this page, and you can see how I can be empathetic to your business needs.
Radical humility.
My main intention with providing all this information is to convey my legitimacy and trustworthiness. While most of my clients tend to come from referrals, even those of you who already want to work with me should benefit from getting to know my story.
Of course, I’m a marketer. Sure, the information on this page is probably biased toward making myself look good. That’s the whole point after all, isn’t it?
That being said, I believe the most important human quality is humility. While I have enjoyed many amazing experiences and take pride in my accomplishments, I continuously cultivate my self-awareness and perpetually advance my own understanding of my abilities.
Not only that, in developing my self-awareness, I’ve also been able to gain a better understanding of my weaknesses. With that said, these insights and my efforts didn’t come without struggle – including the creation of this page.
Overcoming
Capitalizing on my weaknesses.
If you remember all the way back to my “Early Years,” my parents are U.S. immigrants from South Korea. If we weren’t the first East-Asian family to reside in the Chicago suburb where my family settled, we were the second. My parents spoke very little English and didn’t know much about the culture. Inevitably, we had to endure more than our fair share of discrimination. I was also the only Asian (and often the only minority) in my classes throughout most of my K-12 schooling, which made me an easy target for bullying.
Please don’t take this as a cry for pity, but rather as an attempt to explain how I got to where I am today. My origin story, if you will.
Unlike other kids who benefited from the support of parents (and their parents’ parents) who experienced much of the same culture throughout their youth, I had to figure out a lot of stuff on my own while being clearly different from everyone else. I wanted to fit in, and I tried to blend in as much as possible. However, my parents were very strict and demanding; and my academic achievements and athletic performances never seemed to be good enough for them.
Pursuing excellence inconspicuously was an impossible task.
Today, it’s still challenging for me to take a compliment without a sympathetic nervous system (“fight or flight”) response. I typically freeze, then smile and nod, and then mentally minimize any role I may have had in being the recipient of such praise.
Here comes the self-psychoanalysis…
I understand my autobiography here may make it seem like I love to talk about myself, but it actually takes a lot for me to reveal information like this. I’m certainly proud of my achievements when I recognize them, but I also get very anxious when it comes to disclosing them to others. Not only that, my default mode is set at a point where everyone new I encounter is initially superior to me. While a number of them actually may be better in some aspects, it’s not until some interaction is had that I’m able to realize my irrational predictions.
Why?
It’s not much of a stretch to point to my upbringing as the main factor in my struggle with psychological concepts like the inferiority complex and impostor syndrome, as well as cognitive biases like the illusory inferiority corollary of the Dunning-Kruger effect.
Whut?
In other words, my unrealistic feelings of inadequacy, my troubles with internalizing my accomplishments, and my devaluations of my relative competence are deeply rooted in the environment in which I grew up. I felt like I was never good enough, and that feeling has stuck with me.
Surely, trying to navigate the culture shock I experienced through my first year of college contributed to my feelings of inadequacy. Going from the top scholar-athlete in the area to riding the bench and being placed on academic probation while living hundreds of miles away from friends and family could be the perfect recipe for this psychology.
Even through adulthood, America’s allergy to intellect has affected my self-confidence in other manners. For instance, I don’t know if I’ll ever live down my membership in Mensa among some of my peers. It tends to be a default jab whenever I happen to know something they don’t. Or, even worse, when I don’t know something.
Trying to explain all of this here surely has some basis in my desire to prove myself.
Understanding cognitive biases.
It’s not easy for me to admit all this, but as I’ve been studying and working on my own psychology and mindfulness over the years, I’m realizing more and more that this type of mindset holds me back from reaching my full potential. I can’t allow my own perception of how others perceive me encompass my behavior.
Like I’ve been alluding to, it’s more of a reflection of myself than anything else. I had been letting my feelings that are based on manufactured thoughts drive my actions. And those misinformed actions have contributed to the shaping of my identity.
I imagine this notion will connect with many of you who have read this far. Studies even show that around 70% of us will experience the Impostor Phenomenon during our lifetimes.4
On the other hand, if you’re reading through this page thinking something like “This asshole is so full of himself!” then you should try taking a few seconds to pause, reason, and evolve your perspective. Why would that be your reaction when all I’m trying to do is present myself as sincerely and constructively as possible? (Hint: It may be a reflection of yourself.)
Let me work it…
On the flip side, as I continue to work through my negativity biases, I am realizing how my feelings of inferiority and underestimations of my relative competence have actually garnered a positive side-effect: I constantly push myself to learn more and work harder. Not to mention, my feelings of inadequacy allow me to be more mindful of the feelings of others.
I don’t want to lose these aspects of my identity, but I know that I must not let my feelings drive my actions. Instead, I must let my identity drive my actions. That way, my feelings can be born out of my identity as opposed to my identity being shaped by irrational perceptions.
Rising up against false values.
While I’ve gone through some frivolous and materialistic phases in the past – probably due in large part to a boomerang effect from childhood parental restrictions – I’ve always regressed to being detached from superficial things. Thanks to those same parental restrictions, I’ve grown to become concerned with my own development and well-being more than anything.
This would also go to explain why I’m so interested in functional optimization. I want to do genuine work, focusing on things that actually matter.
In the same vein, I don’t care to market myself in the conventional sense – like shilling myself as a conference speaker, plugging myself shamelessly via social media, or circle-jerking around the blogosphere. I’ve been there and done some of that, and it was offensive to my psyche. Sales isn’t my thing, remember?
WTF?
I can’t even wrap my head around how people blatantly misappropriate quotes via social media without proper attribution on the daily. Or, parade around self-proclaimed executive job titles of their one-person business. At the least, these examples are of behaviors rooted in incompetence and/or are manifestations of flawed principles to distract from inadequacies.
Deceptive schemes just don’t jive with my sense of self. It’s not an easy stance to take in today’s culture of lying where shady tactics are rampant and easy to sell, but I prefer to do genuine work. Honesty has always been much easier for me versus taking a hit to my integrity.
I know I’m not perfect…
Don’t get me wrong. There are professionals who utilize the above-mentioned channels virtuously. But they are very few and far between. Not to mention, conferences can indeed be a great way to gain a bolus of knowledge for the uninformed. For me, I exercise so much due diligence that finding new information at these type of events is rare. This just goes to exemplify what I put into my work.
Of course, I have my faults too, but my habit of self-evaluation makes me very aware of them. I know that I can only be as competent as the knowledge I have at my disposal. My humility allows me to understand that I could be applying the wrong tools or inaccurate information in any given situation. In effect, I am always open to opportunities to pursue better options and improve myself .
I know I don’t have all the answers, but I have developed a strong sense of how to access them. I may not always be right, but I’m confident in my ability to navigate toward the right direction.
I can also admit to making mistakes, and I have made many. While it may be tough for me to realize and admit those instances when I am wrong, it’s much better than the alternative: staying wrong.
Every experience can be a positive learning experience, and that is the route I prefer to take.
Let’s make the world a better place. Together.
I hope by now, it’s apparent that I function differently from most others. I don’t even know how to begin explaining all the intricacies of what makes me tick, but I’m trying my best to give you a peek here. Unfortunately, there’s no protocol for me to refer to, but this is par for the course as I have always blazed my own path.
I think the main points I want to get across are:
- I have lived through a wide range of experiences, which allows me to relate easily with others.
- Along with high intelligence, I have developed the grit to overcome disadvantages and setbacks, which has made me more resilient.
- Along with humility, I have developed the perspective to see the big picture, which allows me to determine what actually matters.
Above all, I want to work with people who believe in what I do and how I do it. At the same time, I want to work with those of you who believe in what you do.*
* Are you unmotivated with your work? Do you feel stuck where you’re at? Is your job just a means to an end that you have to tolerate? You don’t have to feel this way. You can redefine your work life through a process called “job crafting.”
References for this section
- “Who doesn’t read books in America?” Pew Research Center
- “59 Percent Of You Will Share This Article Without Even Reading It” Forbes
- “Five ways reading can improve health and well-being” Medical News Today
- “The Impostor Phenomenon” International Journal of Behavioral Science (Google Cache of PDF)
I’m a Functional Systems Integrator.
I don’t just optimize websites. I inherently optimize everything in my life.
So, what exactly is Functional Systems Integration?
Well, I made it up; and even I’m not sure exactly what it is. For starters, I pride myself in being a mindful observer, systems thinker, and strategic integrator. I suppose Functional Systems Integration is what I’m calling a philosophy that encompasses the complex systems of progressing toward ideal outcomes in any situation, in a practical and efficient manner.
In order to determine an ideal outcome, you must be aware of the best option. In order to progress with the best option, you must be able to implement the proper procedures. Thus, the aim of a Functional Systems Integrator is to cultivate the knowledge and abilities to know what to do and determine the best way to proceed toward optimal results.
I surmise the following to be the foundational qualities that make for a Functional Systems Integrator:
Exploratory Curiosity
Conceptual Proficiency
This quality has to do with having a theoretical mind that is able to see the big picture. This is a key factor in the process of developing a systematic plan in route to achieving a precise goal.
Contextual Relativity
This quality has to do with the understanding that a specific outcome hinges on the particular situation it is derived from. This is important in recognizing that all situations are different, and the same solution for one situation may or may not work for another similar, yet different, situation.
Experiential Diversity
This quality has to do with possessing a wide range of experiences, as well as a gamut of positive and negative outcomes within specific incidents. This is essential for cultivating perspective and awareness, and is a determinant factor of strong creative ideation.
Situational Variability
This quality has to do with having a presence of mind that offers behavioral flexibilty in any instance so that the matter may be responded to in the most effective manner. This is a key factor in curtailing impulsivity and biases.
Sustainable Adaptability
This quality has to do with maintaining an open mind that is responsive to the prospect of change in order to persevere and progress in a favorable manner. This is a key factor in processing complex signals in order to be sensibly proactive and to drive innovation.
Spectral Potentiality
The key principle:
The qualities listed above are all elements of Functional Systems Integration that thrive under an overarching principle that I am calling Spectral Potentiality.
Spectral Potentiality is the notion that in any instance, there is a spectrum of possibilities. As humans, it’s in our nature to construct mental boundaries around observations of phenomena that are actually indefinite. Where this mode of reasoning reduces occurences to a set of options, Spectral Potentiality postulates an unrestricted prospect of explanations.
For example, the analysis of many circumstances tend to get boiled down to a binary conclusion – yes or no, good or bad, black or white. A perspective of Spectral Potentiality requires the mental agility to consider not only the “maybes”, the “indifferents”, and the “grays”, but more importantly the entire continuum between the extremes, even going beyond the limits of our language and current understanding.
My hypothesis:
I believe Spectral Potentiality is a truly beneficial perspective to incorporate because we oftentimes reduce complex concepts to a predefined answer or a fixed conclusion. While these types of simplifications may be useful for creating a jumping-off point or even drilling down to first principles, they are unlikely to be effective for optimizing outside of a microsystem when they impose assumptions that do not acknowledge the intricacies and emergent properties of the whole system.
Work in progress…
I believe that a Functional Systems Integrator is a prime candidate from whom to seek practical advice.
With that said, this is no more than a working theory of mine at this time. It may even be more accurate to say that it’s just me trying to arrange all of the random information about human performance that is floating around in my head.
I’m not married to its current form, so if the schema can be improved upon in any way, I’m open to it. If some of the points seem familiar, there are definitely roots in a range of disciplines and concepts like:
- Bayesian probability
- Behavioral Economics
- Complexity Science
- Contrasting Cases
- Emergence
- Epistemology
- Kolmogorov Complexity
- Learning Transfer
- Mindfulness
- Network Neuroscience
- Positive Psychology
- Quantum Physics
- Relativism
- Socratic Questioning
- Theory of Mind
- Tao
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