Rumi Spice: Interview with Kimberly Jung

Rumi Spice: Interview with Kimberly Jung Will Deeks

My phone rings on a cold day in February. The number that shows on my screen is unfamiliar and has a Los Angeles area code. I know I have a call scheduled to interview Kimberly Jung. It is her, she still holds the area code from the city she grew up. I am not aware at that moment, but the fact that even after all the places she has been in this world, she still holds that area code speaks volumes to what she learned there, and how some of that early learing has informed her life since. When I spoke to Kim that day, coronavirus was just a headline buried under the digital fold. It was nothing that the majority of people, even regular news consumers, were spending more than a brief moment raising their internal eyebrows at. It was still to many a problem created by a country many miles away, with consequences that couldn’t possibly reach the shores of the United States. Now, to be clear, this is not an article, profile, or interview about coronavirus. What follows here is conversation and reflection about one person’s journey to find a place of productivity, and purpose. In recording the conversation, and adding some reflections, I cannot imagine a more important time for people to be informed by someone like Kim’s story and philosophy. Leadership is in the news right now. The idea of it, the question of what makes a strong leader. The question of what makes people feel safe in terms of who they trust to steer the ship, and work in a global community for the common good. — Our conversation takes place while she is on a bike. The weather outside is cold and blistering New England. Boston at its most windy. On the tail end of a mild winter, this is without a doubt an outlier of a frigid day. Still, her voice comes through clear and focused. If she had not told me she was on a bike, I would have assumed the traffic sounds were the result of an open window in her office.

I have met Kim but I don’t know her well so we begin with Kim’s initial connection to the Juliet + Co. Universe, Rumi Spice. Rumi spice is a company that connects saffron farmers in Afghanistan to the proper channels to sell their saffron to chefs. Kim first became exposed to the situation in Afghanistan while she was serving in the Army, after graduating from West Point. While earning a Business degree from Harvard she met her business partners and started Rumi. Not too long after that, Josh Lewin emailed her wanting to utilize the saffron from Rumi, and she told the story.

KJ: I got an email from Josh, and I am like who is this guy? A Marine turned chef that wants to work with me? So we meet up, and share stories about Afghanistan. It’s rare to find that kind of an environment to speak about those situations. He invited me to come to the James Beard House with him for a dinner he was cooking there. He wanted to feature Rumi Spice. I was amazed that he would be willing to share his spotlight with me like that. It changed a lot for us, and Josh was just amazing about the whole process.

WD: But how did it start, where did the idea for Rumi come from?

KJ: I was at harvard business school and I heard about a farmer named Hadjif who couldn’t find the proper channels to sell his saffron. I bought a plane ticket to Afghanistan and went back as a civilian. I bought the ticket on a whim. We met with farmers and it started from there.

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Kim continues on to speak about what became so important to Rumi, is that farmers and employees were not viewed as the benefactors of some type of charity, but instead viewed as equals in true business exchange.

Here was Kim leading the way in something vitally important, but still not viewing herself as any more important than anyone else who was a part of the process. Showcasing an ability to lead, and take the role of leadership seriously, without viewing the status that comes with leadership as a symbol of a greater worth than anyone else.

Or as some would view it, good leadership in its true form.

WD: Now what is interesting to me is that you start this company, based so heavily on your experience, and still you do end up walking away. Moving on to something new. Can you talk about that?

KJ: There are a couple of factors there. I work well in a white space. I want to start from nothing. Just be in a room and start from nothing. Now I remember being on my third or fourth trip to Afghanistan and seeing people working in Rumi Uniforms and using Rumi machinery. We had made something happen from nothing. That is what I really love.

WD: So you enjoy the beginning?

KJ: I am someone who likes to start fires. Building discipline and structure. Stepping back and looking at the beauty of watching something grow. Sometimes I feel like I was born to be the captain, but I mean that in a sense of my job being helping people to be the absolute best that they can be. Part of helping people like that is having a vision and a mission and believing in myself. Leading isn’t about it being a cult of Kim Jung, but about everyone helping each other. And maybe at a certain point I am not needed. As the cars flew by Kim that day, she went on to tell me about her parents. Immigrants who settled in Los Angeles. Her father, a man, who with English as his second language, became an engineer and financial analyst. On top of that he worked in the construction business, and was involved in California politics. Her mother works in real estate.

What I pull from Kim telling me her parents’ story is a sense of drive that comes not from drive for the sake of it; instead it is a drive drawn from having a strong vision for oneself. A drive drawn from a strong vision of how to make the world a better place; both for oneself and those close to them, and for society at large.

She says her parents are “The definition of resilient and were ok with failing in the beginning.” That notion of her parents ties in with her reflections of her time at West Point. Where she describes herself as “spazzy” and the experience as being one in which she “got her ass kicked.” Still she views her time there as positive. It seems that could only be handled as positive if someone is successful in maintaining that strong vision of self, and that acceptance of early failure leading to future progress.

The conversation turns to Kim’s current educational pursuit, a Masters in mechanical engineering from MIT.

WD: What led you to mechanical engineering?

KJ: I am fascinated by business. Business is knowing how the world works. Mechanical engineering is very similar.

WD: I have never heard that kind of comparison before, but as someone who doesn’t know anything about engineering, that appeals to me.

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KJ: (Laughs) To be honest I am not someone who is very mechanical. It’s a real challenge.

WD: Not mechanical, but drawn to engineering?

KJ: Well engineering was one of my first interests, but as I said it is hard. It’s all connected in that I feel strongly about working with people and engineering teams. It’s also just that engineering is what in some ways makes the world work. Leading people and learning how they work best together, and taking a mechanical approach to that. It’s hard to know where it will lead, but it’s exciting to me that what I am learning could go in many directions.

— In speaking with Kim about some of the significant events in her life, I gather a sense of reflection and also a sense of connectedness. She is someone who can remind us that A+B doesn’t always equal C. It is an ability to maintain a sense of curiosity while having the strength work through uncertain and less than ideal circumstances. At West Point she volunteered to recite Schofield’s definition of discipline in front of a large group of enrollees. She tripped over the words several times before landing on something that made sense. When she tells me this story, it sounds as if she knows it wasn’t her finest moment on paper, but as she is laughing and reflecting, she tells me that she is “glad that she did it.” That type of drive, moving through the world and working at a challenge until one gets it right speaks to a level of grit that requires strength. It has become somewhat of a common narrative in our culture to recite these attitudes and simply grant people who embody them an emotional trophy. While there is nothing wrong with this, I do look at Kim as someone that moves outside of the category of simply ‘having grit.’ As she has said in her own words, “None of this would have been possible if I didn’t lean in, but more importantly, get a whole bunch of people to lean in with me.” Kim Jung speaks to something that is quite rare with this sentiment. Determination, not solely for personal gain, but instead with the notion of inspiring an entire team of people to drive forward. — Kim eventually reaches the end of her bike ride, and before she lets me off the phone, she makes a point to interview me about my own life. About my own drives, and about what brought me to the place that I have found myself. She points out that we have in common that Josh took a chance on both of us, and have a good laugh about that. My story is not important here, but I bring this up because it continues to illustrate how I felt after speaking with Kim about her journey. There will always be challenges, personal, interpersonal, in a community, and globally. None of these challenges however are impossible, if we are willing to know ourselves, know those around us, and work together. I also recommend, as Kim has reminded me to do, to think about who you are, who others are, and how that knowledge can help each of us work together on what is important. Helping each other be, with just a little support and leadership, the person we are capable of being.

Further reading: kimberly-jung.com . rumispice.com

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dessert

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