Make Something Wonderful
There’s lots of ways to be, as a person. And some people express their deep appreciation in different ways. But one of the ways that I believe people express their appreciation to the rest of humanity is to make something wonderful and put it out there. - Steve Jobs
When I was looking for a job, I never thought I was capable of creating my own product. I could only imagine becoming a product manager at a fast-growing startup in Seoul.
It’s only been three years, but my life’s totally different from what I envisioned. I run a restaurant with my wife and serve sandwiches for a living. This change could sound like a downgrade from an office job, but we always tell each other we’re the happiest couple on earth.
Every day, customers from all over the world visit our restaurant. Not because we have Michelin stars but because everything we serve is vegan. Many of them express how hard it was to follow a vegan/vegetarian diet in Jeju and tell us their appreciation for what we’re doing. When we hear this kind of customer feedback, we realize our business is creating a positive impact on our community.
In addition to running a restaurant, we also write a weekly newsletter on our website. Here, we share our thoughts, recipes, and tips for free. The website is not just a hobby. As much as we care about serving great food, we care about creating high-quality content. That’s why we’ve published more than 80 posts in a year.
We’ve seen people using our recipes for their restaurants or parties. We’ve read heartfelt comments saying our writings inspired them to be more authentic to themselves. Through our website, we’ve also met small business owners from all over the country. Even though these people have never visited our restaurant, we’ve built meaningful relationships with them.
I’m doing my part for humanity by making something wonderful.