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Local Entrepreneurs
F5 Hair Room An Interview with Its Owners
COMMUNITY
Interview by Melline Galani
Living in Korea as an expat implies a lot of challenges. Sometimes even the basic aspects of life are hard to fulfill, even such things as having a basic haircut. We know how important this is, especially for ladies. We here present an interview with the owners of F5 Hair Room, which has lately captured the interest of foreigners and received many good reviews. Gwangju News hopes to give a little help to those in need of such a place.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
November 2020
Gwangju News (GN): Hello and thank you for taking time to do this interview. For starters, where are you from and how did you meet each other? Kim Miyeon & Kim Jian: We would first like to thank the Gwangju News for this opportunity. We both come from the countryside, precisely the town of Jeongeup in the Namwon area of North Jeolla Province. We came to Gwangju for university, and after graduation got jobs at a beauty salon here. That is where we met for the first time. GN: How did you start working together? We know you have some work experience abroad. Please describe that experience and any hardships that you may have faced there. Kim Jian: When I first thought about opening a hair salon, I had a lot of concerns and frequently asked myself whether I would be able to do it well on my own. Honestly, my friend and I had been talking a lot at the time. I wanted to start the business together with Kim Miyeon because I have always had faith in her. It has been ten years since I first met her and five years since we have lived together as roommates. Spending so much time together, we have come to know each other very well, and the idea of opening a business with my close friend came up almost naturally. Moreover, Miyeon has always had good ideas, and I am very grateful for that. Working at a hair salon abroad was the best experience of my life. I honestly do not remember how we ended up
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going abroad together. When we first got a job at a beauty salon, the hair-stylist teacher who worked with us had been abroad to gain more experience. At that time, I also realized that if I wanted to be a stylist, I needed to go abroad. Miyeon and I talked a lot about it before deciding to go and, even if we had different points of view, we went to work in Australia together. Living in Australia was challenging but also a unique experience. I was not good at English, so the language barrier was my main concern. I usually chat a lot with our customers to get closer, but there it was difficult to do so. This is how I realized that communication is more than just spoken words since I had to use so many gestures and facial expressions to be understood. People I met overseas gave me a lot of gifts, listened to me patiently when I tried to communicate in poor English, helped me with the language, and made me feel welcomed. I made good friends there. Kim Miyeon: Like my friend has already said, we started this business together. When she asked me, I felt both grateful and concerned, thinking, “What if I would not be able to do it well?” For me, too, the hardest part of living in Australia was the communication. Therefore, I went to free English classes with Jian on our day off, and when I finished work, I went to an academy to study. I got a lot of help from my teachers. I am also grateful that our customers were caring and understanding.
10/28/2020 10:49:53 AM
