April 14, 2025 • 47 mins
In this episode of the 'Investor Evolution' podcast, we dive deep into the inspirational journey of Aaron Kim, a father, husband, real estate investor, business owner, and speaker. From his immigrant roots and ventures in the restaurant industry to his successful transition into real estate and funding strategies, Aaron's story is one of grit, growth, and gratitude. He shares compelling insights on overcoming challenges, maintaining cultural heritage, teaching valuable life lessons to his children, and his business philosophy of creating systems to ensure success. Whether you're interested in real estate, entrepreneurial mindset, or personal development, this episode is packed with wisdom and practical advice. Join us as we uncover the mindset and mission behind the man, Aaron Kim.
00:00 Introduction to Investor Evolution
00:26 Meet Aaron Kim: A Story of Grit and Growth
02:20 Aaron's Immigrant Roots and Family Business
05:36 Lessons from the Restaurant Industry
08:26 Transition to Real Estate and Entrepreneurship
11:42 Navigating Risks and Marketing in Real Estate
15:11 Personal Insights and Overcoming Challenges
18:39 Balancing Life: Family, Hobbies, and More
23:58 Understanding the Fermentation Process
24:42 Embracing Korean Roots and Identity
25:15 Mastering the Art of Brewing
27:34 Teaching Heritage to the Next Generation
28:37 Navigating Identity and Self-Discovery
34:06 Building a Business with Excellence
37:16 Future Plans and Personal Insights
43:13 Final Thoughts and Advice
You can find Aaron Kim on Social Media:
Facebook @ Aaron Kim
Instagram @ Doublecloseking
Aaron's Blinq: https://blinq.me/bGfYf9NRwCqF
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Mindvalley
Need a CRM: Check out Social Connector
Disclaimer: I am not a CPA, attorney, insurance/real estate agent, contractor, lender, or financial advisor. The content in these videos shall not be construed as tax, legal, financial advice, or other and may be outdated or inaccurate; it is your responsibility to verify all information yourself. This is a podcast for entertainment purposes ONLY.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to investor evolution,elevate.
Whether you're looking to createfinancial freedom, reclaim your
time, or find harmony whileyou're thriving in your career,
this show is for you.
Join me each week.
As we uncover strategies to growyour wealth, nurture your
personal development, andelevate your life to new
heights.
So you can live with purpose,joy, and confidence.
Investor Evolution (00:23):
Hey everyone.
Welcome to the podcast today.
I cannot wait to share with youmy special guest today.
Aaron Kim is the kind of guestwho reminds us that there is no
limit to where you can go.
He is a father, a husband, areal estate investor, business
owner and speaker.
But beyond all the titles is astory of grit and growth and
(00:46):
gratitude.
From his immigrant roots, to histime in the restaurant world, to
stepping into this crazy worldof entrepreneurship.
Aaron calls himself a"recoveringunderachiever," but now he is
thriving as a leader in realestate and funding strategies.
When he is not structuringdeals, you can find him
(01:07):
practicing martial arts, makinghomemade wine and exploring the
outdoors with his kiddos.
Today we are going beyondbusiness to uncover the mindset
and mission behind the man.
Aaron, welcome to the show.
Aaron Kim (01:22):
Thank you.
Thanks for having me.
What a great intro.
Yes.
Investor Evolution (01:26):
I've been looking forward to this for
quite a while and I, I've, I'veknown you for the past year and
we are in a group together.
We get to talk about all thethings in this entrepreneurship
world, the good, the bad, theugly.
And I love that you come in andgive this real world
(01:48):
perspective.
And so I wanna take this time toreally dive into you a little
bit more.
I want to share you with theworld in maybe a little bit
different light.
We'll talk about business, but Iwanna talk about you.
I was on, a Zoom the other dayand this lady kept saying, I'm
not a one cell amoeba.
I have all these otherinterests.
(02:10):
So we'll focus on business alittle bit, but I wanna know
like the, the breadth and thedepth that is your life.
So let's start with yourbackground.
Tell, tell us a little bit moreabout where you came from.
So you're the son of, immigrantswho came to this country.
I wanna hear that story becauseit's so powerful.
(02:31):
We were talking earlier and justhearing that story is
fascinating.
Aaron Kim (02:37):
Yeah, so my parents, I'm Korean and my father was a
surveyor for Hyundai for a longperiod of time, so he would work
overseas a lot.
And so he would, be involved inbuilding, constructing bridges,
in different, areas for Hyundaiand And what had happened was he
wanted to build a diff, youknow, a new life for us.
And so he decided to immigrateto, the States in the mid
(03:01):
seventies.
Then he actually, couldn't finda job as a surveyor here.
So he decided that he was going,to go into carpentry.
And so he worked for a companycalled Shelter System.
And so, you know, as a youngchild, I would watch my dad
build things and, it was a goodlearning experience for me.
And then, when I got into, likearound elementary school, he
(03:24):
kind of graduated to startinghis own business, opening up
restaurants, having grocerystores, and you know, that kind
of like.
Almost typical Asian kind ofbackground, right?
It's, it's like, uh,laundromats, dry cleaners,
groceries, delis, or, or you'relike a real scholar.
Yeah.
You're into like the academia,right?
(03:45):
My father was, always liked theAmerican dream.
And my mother, my mothersupported him the whole way.
Right?
And they thought that, you know,owning a business and having
that like white pick and fence.
Owning your own home and wantedto provide like an easier
lifestyle for my sister and I.
Investor Evolution (04:02):
And as I was sharing with you earlier, the
thing that I find so fascinatingabout that is he, he had this
profession in Korea and he wastraveling the world doing this
surveying and then came to theUS and had to essentially
restart.
What lessons have you taken fromthat for your own
(04:23):
entrepreneurial journey?
Aaron Kim (04:26):
So it really taught me that there are zero excuses
for me to give up.
And I think that's where a lotof my grit came from.
If you were to ask anybody,especially my wife, my wife
always gets, gets on me forthis.
It's how come you never give up,give up on anything?
Sometimes you gotta let stuffgo.
But for me, I'm, I stick throughit and I always wanna make sure
(04:48):
that either I learn something,Or I fix the problem or solve
whatever issue that I'm havingBefore I move on.
And that's heavily, heavilybased on what my parents, you
know, the values of my parentskind of branded into us as, as
children that, you know, life istough.
No one cares if it's hard.
And so you always have to doyour best and work, put in the
(05:10):
extra work.
And, there's a saying that, thatwe have in our family, like
Kim's, we don't, we don't giveup.
And so I always tell mychildren, Hey, you're a Kim.
You do not give up.
It's okay to fail, but it's notokay to quit.
Investor Evolution (05:25):
I'm gonna adopt that for me.
Kim's don't give up.
I'm gonna adopt that.
That's awesome.
And what, what a good lessonthat your dad taught you.
Now you're turning around andteaching your children.
Now were you working in thesebusinesses with your family as
well growing up.
So you're going to school andworking in these businesses?
Aaron Kim (05:46):
Yeah, so define working,'cause I call it child
labor.
Investor Evolution (05:49):
I was gonna say, were you paid?
Probably not.
Yeah.
Aaron Kim (05:52):
So, yeah, as far as I can remember, I was always like,
stocking shelves or, or youknow, at the register.
And so I was, I was really,forced to learn what that felt
like?
So I was always helping withlike paperwork.
I was always helping on theweekends I, you know, I didn't
have the luxury of, going anddoing a sleepover or playing
(06:13):
outside.
I did some of the times, but alot of the times it was.
Okay.
If you finished all your work,
Investor Evolution (06:19):
let,
Aaron Kim (06:19):
let's go.
Let's come with me and I'll showyou what we do and kind of, you
know, learn from the bottom up.
Investor Evolution (06:25):
Yeah.
And I know you were in therestaurant industry for a while
as well.
Did you own restaurants inaddition to also working in your
families?
Aaron Kim (06:35):
Yeah, so we had the opportunity op open up multiple
restaurants, from scratch and,and we sold some.
And so in the process, yes,I've, I've worked front of
house, back of house, prep line,you name it, I did it because
one of the other things that,you know, and my, I, I have an
older sister and, She and Ialways knew that, you know, we
(06:57):
had one big role is we have tobe really good at everything in,
in the restaurant businessbecause we weren't gonna let,
employees like take us hostagebecause that can happen very
easily if you depend too much onyour, your employees.
So what we did was we, wecreated systems and We made sure
(07:18):
we took all the, um, brain workout of it.
If, if you know what I mean?
We like took all that out of itand so it, it was a system where
it could be replicated and canbe retaught really quick.
And so I was always better atlike, you know, the point of
sale at the cash register thananybody else.
I was always better than other,any, line cook or prep cook.
(07:38):
Because I would be there, youknow, in the back training or,
or teaching them how to organizeand labeling things and, and,
uh, learning how to do first in,first out, if you're in the, you
know, restaurant business,that's like a cardinal rule,
right?
Um, so yeah, it, it was a lot ofthat.
So, yes.
Investor Evolution (07:56):
Man, and what I see is this parallel,
right between growing up,working in the businesses,
starting your own stuff with therestaurants, all that learning
that you were doing, and thatexperience gaining along the
way, obviously translated intoincredible skills for
entrepreneurship now, did youwork in any other capacity?
(08:21):
Did you ever have a W2 or has italways been owning businesses?
Tell me about that.
Aaron Kim (08:26):
Yeah, so I worked with the federal government for
a little bit, and then I had acouple, startups, that I sold.
And then I actually came back tothe restaurant business, after
college.
Just to help my family out.
They needed help.
Um, and then, along the way, mysister and I, we, we started to
acquire some rental properties.
(08:47):
And, and we've always knew thatthe next step for us is, okay,
now you ran a business, whereare you gonna park your capital?
Right?
So, uh, our next, you know,vision was to own properties and
so it kind of naturally wentthat way.
And about 18 months beforeCOVID, my parents kind of sold
everything and we were able toretire them.
(09:07):
So it, it, it was a, it was agood time for us.
Investor Evolution (09:10):
Oh, that's, that's incredible because
obviously we know what happenedwith the pandemic for
restaurants particularly, andhow devastating that was.
So fantastic that you were ableto retire them and or they were
able to retire, however that isworded.
And take care of them in thatway.
That's, that's powerful.
So when you came into realestate, you, you said you had
(09:35):
some rentals.
Did you feel like you were justgonna stay on the passive side,
or how did you jump into thismore active side of real estate?
Aaron Kim (09:44):
That's a great question.
I'm still like, on my journey tokind of figure that out.
I'm not gonna lie to you, but,um, my first kind of rental fell
into my lap like 2008, 2009 whenthe first crash happened.
Investor Evolution (09:57):
Yeah.
Aaron Kim (09:57):
And I was super blessed.
I was able to like, grow out aportfolio.
And it's been just really great.
The rates were really low.
Mm-hmm.
You know, people were doingninja loans and I was like, nah,
I'm not gonna go that way.
And I was able to kind ofacquire these properties, um,
leveraging the first propertyand kind of, um, putting more
(10:18):
money down and using the capitalthat I had.
So, and about, I don't know,four or five years ago, um.
I knew I wanted to get into somesort of like transactional
funding because I knew it was aquick turnaround and it was
pretty safe.
But I didn't know how to dothat.
Right.
I didn't know if there was like,legal requirements.
I didn't know if I had to do,get licenses and, and all that
(10:40):
kind of thing.
So, I stumbled upon, the gatormethod with, with pace, and once
you start looking that stuff up,everybody starts popping up.
Right,
Investor Evolution (10:48):
right.
The
Aaron Kim (10:49):
deans, you know, Chris Crone like.
All those folks.
And the Gator method kindaappealed to me because it was a
good framework, and it had someof the paperwork I was looking
for, so it kind of pointed me inthe right direction and it was a
good platform for me to kind ofmold it.
So, it kind of fit mypersonality a little bit better.
Investor Evolution (11:10):
So let's talk about that because hearing
your story, you.
You have done a lot.
You've learned a lot.
You've grown a lot.
You've tried differentbusinesses.
You got into real estate, andthen you, you said transactional
lending fits you because youknow, as as I know, you are low
(11:30):
risk person why?
Tell me why, why that is.
I feel like you have so muchknowledge and you've done so
much, and tell me where thatcomes from.
Aaron Kim (11:42):
So I'm really risk averse for a couple different
reasons, because I guess it'scultural for me.
Investor Evolution (11:48):
Okay.
Aaron Kim (11:48):
It's, a lot of it's is, you know, get good grades,
go to a good college, have a,have a steady job, so
everything's stable, right?
On the other hand, you know, Isaw my father move to a
different country.
There, there's a languagebarrier and, and he overcame it.
So I knew if I wanted to besuccessful, financially
(12:11):
successful in any sort ofcapacity, I was gonna need to,
take risks, right?
And I didn't know how to takethose kind of risks and, and
still be successful.
So it was, it was lots oflearning and trying different
things.
And real estate, I could wrap mybrain around.
And so I figured if I can likefund these transactions and, and
(12:31):
if I can kind of secure it in away, way that I can sleep at
night, then this is what I wantto do.
Um, and uh, it was interestingbecause.
Mar marketing myself was thehardest thing.
And so I, I had to reallyunderstand what marketing was
versus advertising.
Um, and in, in the real estatebusiness, there's a saying,
(12:54):
right?
You, you do business with peopleyou like, you know, and you
trust, right?
And you have to be able to sellyourself.
For me, it was the totalopposite.
And so, I don't know if you knowthis about me, but you know,
we've talked about me being anambivert, right?
And I'm, I'm very introverted.
And why I say that is because I.
(13:16):
I get drained if I do too much.
Like if I socialize a lot, Ineed to go recharge right now.
I would kind of describe that asan introvert as as opposed to an
extrovert where they getrecharged because they're
socializing and interacting withpeople.
But I figured out that.
(13:36):
I figured out while I was in therestaurant business that I had
the gift of gab.
And so when I'm like in myelement and I'm around people
that I like, like I can talk myway into or out of almost
anything.
Um, and, and that really helpedthat confidence, that inner
confidence really helped becausewhat I learned to do was I was a
(13:57):
thousand percent confident inthe product and services.
That I was, that I was, able toprovide.
And so I could lead with thatand it was, you know, these are
my services.
This is how I can help, theseare the problems that I can
solve for you.
And, um, I was so confident inthat, that I could just turn
around and walk away.
And so it was very organic.
It, it was really genuine and Ithink that resonated with a lot
(14:20):
of folks.
Investor Evolution (14:21):
Well, and it's interesting'cause you said
you, you had a, a gift forbeing, uh, the cashier, the
sales, whatever, what did youcall it for at the point of
sale?
Yeah, the point of sale, Iguess.
Yes.
Thank you.
That you had, you had thisability to, to do well in that
spot, which from when I, whenyou said that I was thinking.
(14:41):
You know, I know that you talkabout being an ambivert, and so
it was kind of interesting tohear that, and I think there's
this scale of.
Ambivert, uh, because I, I cando the extrovert for a while
also, but I can, I can do itprobably longer than you can,
(15:02):
and then I'm like, okay, I'mpeople out.
I'm, I'm good.
I always say that my lovelanguage is quality alone time.
Like I just need, need thattime.
Another thing you've talkedabout is, and, and tell me if
it's okay to go here, but you'vetalked about some of that social
anxiety that you've had.
How do you feel like you'veovercome that, especially in
(15:23):
this, this place where you dohave to put yourself out there
and lead with with you?
Aaron Kim (15:32):
So a couple things.
I'm not naturally really detailoriented, and so being in the
restaurant industry, reallytaught me that I had to develop
skills that I didn't, wasn'tnaturally like gifted with.
Right?
And so being detail oriented, Ilearned that in the restaurant
business.
and that really helped me in,growing my business in a way
(15:54):
that.
I felt comfortable because I, itreally eased my anxiety.
So by being more detail orientedand making checklists and making
sure I did my research, thatreally helped and I, I really
believe in being good at onething.
And so I decided if I'm, if I'mgonna do this, I'm gonna be
(16:15):
really good at it.
I'm gonna do it on my terms.
And that really helped me getover that kind of anxiety part.
And, um, anxiety, it is like, itnever really goes away.
You can always work on it.
You can always like control it.
Hopefully, but it's notsomething that just disappears.
(16:37):
So I'm always working on it.
And so it's how do I cope, youknow, how, how do I ease into
this?
So there's a lot of strategiesbe behind what I do, um, before
I do, you know, big events or,or I try not to do big events or
if I come onto, you know, apodcast with a friend, you know,
I, I know I wanna bring goodenergy and, and, I do
(16:59):
preparation beforehand.
Investor Evolution (17:01):
Gotcha.
Well, and I know for, for Squadup, you helped our group really
prepare and get our pitch, our,you know, our elevator pitch
ready.
So it just shows that, it'sfunny that you say you are not
naturally detail oriented.
You keep giving me theseconundrums of you because you
are very detail oriented now.
(17:23):
But I see what you're saying isyou've put these systems into
place, these checks andbalances.
As, as a, a method.
Right.
And following that just makes itsimpler and easier.
Um, okay.
So do I, one of the things thatI think is so cool about you, it
(17:43):
feels as though, okay, we wereon this natural path to become
an entrepreneur, but is thatreally true?
Is that the path that you wereon when you went to, to college?
Is that what you wanted to do?
Or was this a little bit of acurve ball?
Aaron Kim (17:58):
It was a curve ball.
So when I finished high school,it was my parents said listen.
You can either start a business,continue on to college or go
into the military.
I.
They said, pick one.
I was like, okay, I'm gonna goto school since you're willing
to pay for it.
Investor Evolution (18:16):
Right?
Aaron Kim (18:16):
And so I studied psychology and legal studies and
had a minor in music.
And so I was kind of just allover the place.
So no, it wasn't, it wasn'talways my plan.
Um, I wanted to be a lots ofdifferent things and I'm still
trying to figure it out.
What, um, you know, is this ameans to an end or, or an end to
a means?
(18:36):
You know, I just, I, I don'tknow yet, but.
I'm really happy with thelifestyle that I have now
because it gives me tremendousamount of flexibility to spend
with my children, and with myfamily.
And so that's number one on mypriority list is how much
quality time can I spend with myfamily and still maintain this
quality of life that, that Ihave.
Investor Evolution (18:58):
I love that.
So psychology, legal studies,and then a minor in music.
Is that correct?
Okay.
Tell me, tell me about the minorin music.
Were you a singer?
Was it.
Instruments.
What, what does that mean?
I don't even know.
Aaron Kim (19:14):
Yeah.
I was an opera singer for a longtime.
Oh
Investor Evolution (19:17):
yes.
No opera that so amazing.
Aaron Kim (19:19):
No,
Investor Evolution (19:20):
come on.
Aaron Kim (19:22):
No.
Um, no.
I played saxophone.
Um, and, uh, I did, um, someproduction stuff.
So a lot of like producingmusic.
Understanding theory and, um,and lots of like jazz.
So that, that was kind of likemy, my area that I really kind
of dug my feet into.
Investor Evolution (19:42):
Okay.
So we can find you in a jazzbar.
Okay.
I like it.
I like it.
Yeah.
Okay.
And then tell us, tell us aboutpsychology.
So psychology and legal studies.
Uh, I assume there's definitelya connection with that.
Why did you choose psychology?
Aaron Kim (19:59):
It was something I was always interested in.
Um, I, I, I always, in the backof my head, I always would play
these games.
I'm like, I wonder what makesthis person tick.
Investor Evolution (20:09):
Mm-hmm.
Aaron Kim (20:09):
I wonder what makes that person act, behave in this
kind of way?
Because I've always had thepersonality of how do I control
the situation?
Like how do I build wisdom witheach experience, right?
And so I thought that was themost powerful thing.
It's knowing what to do in anysituation and that's really hard
(20:30):
to build.
And so I kind of tried toreverse engineer it.
And so if I know how people,like what makes people tick, you
can kind of figure out orpredict how people are going to
behave.
And based on that, I can kindof.
You know, choose, choose my, youknow, my behaviors in a way that
I can kind of coast through thatsituation.
Investor Evolution (20:53):
Interesting.
Do you think growing up you, youknow, you were probably in the
restaurant when you were littleand, do you think that's where
you started watching people andseeing how adults interacted
and, and that.
Aaron Kim (21:06):
Yeah, so I was a people, people watcher, right?
Like, I love to see like what Icould sit at an airport and just
watch people, right?
Like how they speak, what theywere doing, how they interact,
what they're eating.
And like I would make up littlestories.
I'm like, oh, I know what kindof person that is.
Right?
It's, it's like, it's fun topeople watch.
Investor Evolution (21:24):
Yeah.
Well, and like you said, you geta sense of, of the person you.
Have a way to interact with thembefore you've even talked with
them because you've beenobservant.
So you say you're not detailoriented, but I am going to, uh,
object to that.
Okay.
So this is, this is why I was soexcited to chat with you because
(21:45):
you have just this diversitywithin your life, which we all
do, and sometimes we forgetthat.
We do so many things and we areso many things, and we're not
just a one lane.
Now you're great attransactional lending, and that
is your one thing that you focuson, which is awesome, and you
are amazing at that.
(22:07):
But you also make wine.
You have a yard full ofchickens.
You, and do remind me, you coachbaseball for your son or no.
Aaron Kim (22:17):
I used to, not anymore.
He's at an age where he needsprofessionals coaching him.
Investor Evolution (22:22):
Right, right.
Yeah.
You know, you, you're involvedin martial arts you have all
this diverse background likeagain, as we all do, but we
forget that all of that comestogether to make us who we are.
So on a Saturday in the summer,where can we find you?
What are the things that you'redoing with your family, around
(22:43):
the house?
What does, what does a day inthe life of Aaron Kim look like?
Aaron Kim (22:47):
I.
Um, waking up bright and early.
Mm-hmm.
Feed the chickens, make surethey have food and water.
Right.
Then I'd probably go out to thepool with the kids'cause they
probably have like a swim teamthing going on.
Maybe I'll be, you know, at abaseball tournament with, with
my son.
Um, and uh, you know, like foodis, is, is really big.
(23:10):
It's like the Korean culture andthe Italian culture, like very
similar.
Like.
The first thing my mom asked me,like if when I walk into her
house, she's like, did you eatnot hi, hello?
She was like, did you eat?
And I'll say, not yet.
And the first thing she does isshove food in my face.
Right?
So it's like maybe a barbecuesitting outside, you know, just
(23:34):
talking to friends and, andcatching up.
Um.
Yeah, that's kind of like anideal situation.
Or maybe at the beach, if Icould spend my day at the beach
and be a beach bum, like, that'sgreat.
Investor Evolution (23:45):
You're there.
You're there.
How did you get into winemaking?
Where did, where did that comefrom?
Was it from the restaurant?
Aaron Kim (23:52):
No, so the, the story with, with wine making, so I
make traditional Korean ricewine.
Investor Evolution (23:57):
Okay.
And,
Aaron Kim (23:58):
uh, so it's, it's, it's strange because technically
if you start with a grain and,and you make alcohol, it's
considered a beer.
But this is the fermentationprocess.
It, it's, it's a little bitdifferent.
And so there's, it's asimultaneous multi-level like
fermentation process, and soit's considered a wine.
(24:20):
Okay.
Even though you start with agrain.
Um, I was never really into ituntil I was an adult, like an
adult.
And I would hear, you know, my,my parents talk about it.
Um, talk about their, their, youknow, friends trying to making
and, and failing.
Investor Evolution (24:36):
Yeah.
And I'm
Aaron Kim (24:37):
like, I bet I can, I can make this.
Investor Evolution (24:39):
Challenge Accepted!
Aaron Kim (24:41):
Yeah, exactly.
Um, on top of that, as I gotolder, like I clung closer to my
Korean roots, so the food wasmore important.
Like my identity kind of reallysolidified.
I.
Um, because I learned to embracemy Korean culture a little bit
more.
And so it, it was part of, it'slike the food, the language, you
(25:03):
know, the, the, um, endearments,it's, it's all of it like was so
I.
It's a legacy that I want toleave to my children.
And so I said, you know what?
I'm gonna try making this.
And I lots of YouTube videoslater in a trip to Korea to to
check out all the wineries andbreweries and distill
(25:23):
distilleries and such.
Um, I started experimenting withit and because I learned to be
detail oriented, I was able tofigure out where other people
failed.
Got
Investor Evolution (25:34):
it.
Aaron Kim (25:35):
I was able to figure out like the humidity, the
temperature, you know, learninghow to ferment it in a proper
way and all the little thingsthat comes with brewery.
And so yeah, that's how thatcame to life.
And I've been making it forlike, what, five or six years
now.
Investor Evolution (25:49):
Okay.
How long was it in that processof learning from when you first
started to where you were like,okay, I've got, I've got my
process, I can repeat it.
How long was that?
Aaron Kim (26:01):
It took me probably six months.
Investor Evolution (26:03):
Okay.
Aaron Kim (26:04):
Yeah.
About six months or so.
Okay.
Because it's a quick brew.
Okay.
But you let it, you can fermentit for as long as you want.
And so it just, the, the flavorjust gets more and more complex.
Okay.
And so it's, it's however howyou wanna kind of, you know.
Make the flavor profile.
Yeah.
Investor Evolution (26:23):
And how, how long for you is like the, the
perfect fermentation time?
Aaron Kim (26:30):
So it's about 10 to 12 days.
Because what, what it does isyou have a little, a slight bit
of, um, carbonation.
And it's, it's, it still has alittle bit of residual sweetness
Investor Evolution (26:43):
from,
Aaron Kim (26:43):
from, from when it turns to sugar.
Yeah.
Uh, and so that timeframe isreally good.
And then, you know, you have to,there's a, there's three
different versions, uh, of it.
You can have it totallyunfiltered.
Um, you can have it.
Completely clarified, or you canhave the really thick part,
right?
The, the, the, almost the, the,everything that settles to the,
(27:06):
the sediment that kind ofsettles to the bottom.
And so I really like theclarified bit because it's, it
tastes really clean.
It tastes fresh, almost lemony,almost like pear- like.
And so, and, and the yeast thatI use kind of lends to those,
that floral.
Fruity flavor, so that, that'skind of the sweet spot for me.
Investor Evolution (27:26):
All right.
Next year, let's squad up.
You're bringing, bringing thewine?
Aaron Kim (27:32):
Yeah.
Okay.
Investor Evolution (27:34):
So do you feel like, do you feel like, how
old are your kiddos?
Aaron Kim (27:39):
12 and eight.
Investor Evolution (27:40):
12 and eight, okay.
Um, mine, mine are right.
Above yours.
I'm 10 and 14 is where mine are.
Mm-hmm.
So we still got that four yearspan.
But do you feel like, as they'regrowing up, that's why you wanna
make sure you're, reallybringing in your Korean roots so
that they know their heritage.
Do you feel like that reallycontributed to it?
Aaron Kim (28:03):
Yeah.
Because you know, like myculture's foreign, you know what
I mean?
They have the rest of theirlives to kind of build, you
know, I certainly want them tohave my wife's, you know,
culture as well.
Right.
Um, her family's likePennsylvania, Dutch, so you
know, that's.
I want them to experience that,but at the same time, I want
(28:25):
them to have the eastern part.
Right.
Investor Evolution (28:27):
Yeah.
Aaron Kim (28:27):
And, um, learn with that.
And it's important to know bothparts.
I think it's in, it's importantfor you to know, where you come
from and what it means.
Investor Evolution (28:36):
Yeah.
Well, one of the things you saidwhen we were talking before we
started recording was that ittook you a while to figure out.
You.
And so tell us that journey.
What, what do you think hashelped you really harness your
true essence and how do, how doyou feel like you are helping
your kids with that?
Aaron Kim (28:58):
Um, good question.
So it was, it's a long processand it's still going on for me,
so like.
The identity crisis for youngAsian males is really difficult,
so I know there's a high suiciderate with Asian males because.
Especially here in Americabecause number one, they have
(29:20):
certain stereotypes and stigmasto them, and so they have a hard
time socializing, findingpartners, and finding their
place in, in the Americanculture and society.
Um, and so as a young child,like I grew up in the, like
eighties and nineties, right?
I'm, I'm that old.
But, um, I felt like it's easierfor me.
(29:41):
It was easier for me.
Because it was, it was a bitmore harsh.
And so those lessons that Ilearned early on helped me kind
of find my identity, a littlebit easier.
So it was lots of learnrelearning.
Investor Evolution (29:54):
Mm-hmm.
Aaron Kim (29:55):
That who I wasn't before I got to, oh, this is who
I am.
So kind of.
Understanding where myculturally Korean morals and
values aligned with my Americanvalues and how that, you know,
how I existed within that realm.
What, was just lots of time,lots, lots of like
(30:16):
self-reflection.
And just learning who I wasn'tover and over and over again.
And to getting to a point whereI got super comfortable in my
own skin.
And that's when I reallydeveloped and polished, like my
gift of gab.
Like I can, once I get into acertain thing and I'm in my
element, yeah.
That it's, it's really easy forme.
Investor Evolution (30:37):
Did you feel like there were a lot of
shoulds?
I should do this, I should dothat?
And was that part of the thingsthat you had to take off maybe
to really come into your ownskin?
Aaron Kim (30:51):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That, I mean, I, I think aboutthat.
I had those moments today, youknow, oh, I should have did
this, I should have did that.
Yeah.
Um, if you, if you live in theshould could or would've like.
You know, in that realm, you'remissing opportunities in front
of you.
and that's easier said thandone.
(31:13):
I get it right.
But, um, really leaning into,okay, so this is who I am today.
Where do I wanna, where do Iwant to go?
What you know?
How do I conduct myself in a waythat I feel proud and my, my
children and my family, youknow, are proud of me?
It is kind of like where mythought is and um, yeah, it's a
(31:37):
tough thing.
So lots of like, I should havedid this, I should have did
that.
I stopped doing that because itjust, it.
That monster of, of anxiety andself-doubt grows and that just
feeds it.
So it was learning to kind ofdetach.
Investor Evolution (31:55):
Yeah.
Aaron Kim (31:55):
That was a lot of it growing up.
Investor Evolution (31:58):
Absolutely.
What are, what are some of thethings, so your kids are eight
and 12, what are some of the,the lessons, the morals, the,
like, what do you want them tocatch from you?
When, when I think those lessonsare caught not taught.
I mean, there's definitely a lotof things that are taught, but
you caught a lot from yourparents.
(32:18):
You caught thisentrepreneurship, you caught
this hard, hard work of diggingin and not giving up.
What are those things that youwant to make sure when your kids
leave for college or leave for abusiness or the military, um,
what, what do you want them to,to get from you?
Yeah.
Aaron Kim (32:36):
Number one, I wanna teach them how to find
happiness.
Yeah.
That's, and, and to stayhealthy, right?
And so I think that number one,I had a hard time with, like
learning that happiness is moreof an attitude and an approach
than, than anything else.
So I, I wanna teach my childrenthat.
I don't want to teach'em, youknow, all of the anxiety and the
(32:59):
baggage that I had growing up.
I want them to be prepared.
I want them to know that hardwork is okay and usually things
that you know are, that arerewarding is, is hard.
I.
But there's nothing you can'tever figure out, you know,
nothing's ever notfigureoutable.
Right, exactly.
Investor Evolution (33:19):
You know,
Aaron Kim (33:20):
um, that and, and then not to give up, you know,
'cause, you know, failing isokay.
Certain mistakes you just can'tmake, but it's okay to make all
those other mistakes, and I'drather have them make those
smaller mistakes now and, learnfrom it than make, you know,
bigger mistakes later where ithas more effect on you.
And so I think.
(33:41):
I think that's where I wanna,you know, kind of, those are the
lessons other than, you know,where you came from and, and you
know, being kind, all the normalthings.
Right.
We course everybody has those,you know, that average, you
know, you know, those morals andvalues, but really teaching them
to be like, take care ofthemselves and, and like
(34:01):
learning how to be happy isimportant for me.
Investor Evolution (34:03):
Yeah.
I love that.
Let's switch gears and let's,let's talk about your business.
One of the things I trulyappreciate about you, and you
said it the other day on ourcall, is that you have a high
standard of excellence, and Isee it in all that you do, and I
appreciate that.
Um, you've, you've started thisbusiness.
(34:27):
When did you get into gator?
Aaron Kim (34:29):
Like 22 or 23.
Yeah.
Investor Evolution (34:31):
Okay.
Okay.
And you came into it wanting todo transactional lending.
And you have done an incrediblejob of getting that business
started.
Tell us what that process hasbeen like.
Um, I'm sure it was like supereasy for you and you just like
clicked right away, you know?
Tell, tell us a little bit aboutthat process.
(34:51):
I.
Aaron Kim (34:52):
I wish that's how it happened.
Like that would be, yeah.
No, it, it was difficult.
It was, I got into, that spaceand I realized that I sucked at
it, and I sucked at it because Ihated the, almost.
Fake interaction you needed tohave to kind of grow out your
clientele.
(35:12):
And so I had to figure out howto market, I had to figure out
what I was gonna do and how Iwas gonna do it.
Investor Evolution (35:18):
Mm-hmm.
Aaron Kim (35:18):
And so it was six or seven months of like really
understanding how to marketmyself, like building those
relationships and building thoselists of different people and
spending some money and talkingto a lot of attorneys like, this
is what I'm trying to do.
And, and here's what I have,like how do I, can you help me?
(35:39):
Can you, you know, revise and,and review these documents for
me?
Yeah.
And so there was a lot of thatthat happened.
And because of my like highanxious like tendencies it
really helped me do like thepreventative stuff.
Investor Evolution (35:56):
Yeah.
Aaron Kim (35:56):
So it was, I had to do, if you wanna do the things
that you really wanna do, yougotta do the stuff you don't
want to do first.
It's just the fact of life,right?
You gotta do all the homeworkfirst before you can go play,
right?
So the, I think that what, that,what that took about six or
seven months to really do allthe homework and get some sort
(36:17):
of system down so I, I couldreplicate it and just have less
holes because I knew that thingswere gonna come up.
But if you don't have some sortof plan going in, that it, I
would just crumble, you know,with my anxiety.
So,
Investor Evolution (36:33):
What I hear is all of these values and
things that you've been taught,right?
You gotta do the hard work.
You gotta do the hard workbefore you get to play.
You have to create those systemsand that structure first.
Building those relationships,understanding people, it's huge.
Having those systems in placeand then making it repeatable,
(36:55):
scalable, and that.
Where would you, when you thinkabout moving forward and as
you're growing your business.
Where do you see yourself in thenext 12 months, 24 months?
Are you building this machineto, to grow it?
Are you branching out intodifferent areas?
Aaron Kim (37:15):
Great question.
So I'm probably gonna continueto do a certain number of like
transactional funding deals, butI'm going to start branching out
and doing, more workshops forfolks.
More speaking engagements, maybesome coaching, and some
trainings.
So, you know, I define coachingas like asking more questions
(37:37):
and figuring out, you know, youknow where people want to be.
And then training is like moretactical, right?
It's like you need to use thisstrategy and this strategy.
This is how you get to where youwant to go.
So I might do a little bit ofboth, but I really do think that
in the real estate world rightnow, in the community that we're
(37:57):
in, there's a lot of shinyobject syndrome.
There's a lot of, holes in likethe education.
And if I can help.
Really give people like a cheatcode, you know, like a game
genie like thing that, they cankind of, elevate their game a
little bit, you know, faster.
I think I would love to do that.
And although like I'm anintrovert, like interacting with
(38:22):
people in, in person and doinglike these live workshops, that
really makes me feel good.
I, I get immediate feedback.
I, I can have like.
Banter back and forth.
I can have, you know, just funmoments and just the genuine
like connection with people andthat, which I really enjoy.
And so I think if I can help andhave that at the same time,
(38:45):
it's, it's a win-win.
Investor Evolution (38:46):
Right.
Well, and it's helpful becauseyou've walked that path before.
You know those pitfalls thatpeople are gonna come across.
You know what those stumblingblocks are.
And when you can help them seeit, see it ahead, have a plan
for it, and, and help them movetheir business forward.
(39:07):
That's amazing.
And I, I'm excited to see howthat grows for you because I
think it'll be quite powerful.
Everyone that I've talked to inthe community who knows your
name, I was telling, a friendtoday, I was like, oh, I got a
interview today with Aaron Kim.
He's like, oh my gosh, thisguy's amazing.
And I know you may not thinkthat, but you are making an
(39:27):
impact in this community, in, inways that I think you don't see.
And I just want to reflect thatback to you, that.
It, it's, it's not this bigboisterous thing that some
people have.
It is this quiet consistency ofgrowth that you have put in the
work, and it just continues tomove forward.
(39:49):
And that's, I think, what issuper attractive about what you
offer and the things that you'reworking on.
Um, because it's.
It's proven right, it's provenpractices, it's put in the work,
and I, I think what you're doingis amazing and I'm excited for
the, for the impact that you'regonna make in this community.
(40:10):
So thank you so much for that.
Aaron Kim (40:12):
Oh my goodness.
That's so kind of you.
I'm gonna, this is recorded,right?
I'm gonna record, I'm gonnakeep, keep you in my pocket.
So every time I feel not sogreat, I'm just gonna play it.
Investor Evolution (40:22):
Yeah.
If you're like, I should, you'relike, Nope, I'm listening.
I'm listening to that.
As we kind of are coming, comingto a close, I know we can talk
about a lot of different thingsand you, you mentioned like
these little tidbits of thingsthat I'm like, oh, I wanna go
down that rabbit trail.
Like focus.
Uh, you know, you talked alittle bit about nutrition.
You talked, that's one of thethings that you wanna make sure
(40:44):
being healthy and happy withyour kids is something you want
to instill with them.
You know, we talked a little bitabout the wine making.
You have this whole other realmof martial arts.
I guess what is, what is a funfact?
We've talked a lot about a lotof fun facts, but what is
another fun fact about Aaron Kimthat none of us would ever guess
or know about you?
(41:04):
Maybe something you've done orsomething that you do now?
Aaron Kim (41:09):
Let me see.
I.
Is it a surprise that I'm sixfoot tall?
So for, for everyone who doesn'tknow, I'm six foot tall and yes,
I'm Korean, so you know, may,maybe me and me and ya Meg.
Right.
That's right.
Investor Evolution (41:23):
That's a good one.
And it was definitely it's sofantastic when we do get
together as a community and weget to meet all these people
that we've met on Zoom andcompare our like, mental image
with the actual image.
So that, that, that always is afun, a fun thing as well.
Is there any special projectsthat you're working on?
(41:44):
Obviously with, with buildingout some, um, curriculum and
some workshops is one of thethings that you're working on in
the community.
Is there anything else thatyou're working on right now
that's just for you?
That's just for fun?
I.
Aaron Kim (42:01):
Ooh, that's a really good question.
I don't know if I've, if I havea good answer for that.
Um, I've always wanted to goback into, into music, so, um,
maybe, maybe I might dive backinto that as the children get
older.
But the other thing I wanted todo is, and, and kind of involve
the, you know, the business is Iwant to travel more.
(42:24):
And so, as.
Hopefully I can kind of build,you know, this machine out where
I can travel and do speakingengagements.
And if I can travel with mywife, um, and do these like
speaking engagements, I thinkthat would be so much fun.
And I think that's kind of whatI'm going towards.
Investor Evolution (42:44):
Okay.
I I love that.
All right, everyone, if you needa speaker, Aaron Kim is, is the
man.
I think that's a fantastic wayto share your knowledge.
And you have such a presenceabout you, uh, to be able to
take complicated things andbreak'em down into manageable
(43:04):
steps, right?
Those bite-sized steps to, toput into practice.
So I, I think you will do wellwith that.
Anything else
Aaron Kim (43:13):
I have two bits of advice for, you know, for
someone who wants to maybe arein business or starting a
business.
How's that?
Investor Evolution (43:20):
Let's do it.
Let's do it.
Let's end with that.
Aaron Kim (43:23):
So I would say don't ever run your business to win
over someone else's approval.
Investor Evolution (43:30):
Once
Aaron Kim (43:30):
you start.
Kind of stretching out to winother people's approval.
That's when your processes and,and the people that are around
you, that's when you're gonnastart to, you know, hurt
yourself.
So that's one.
Okay.
Um, so here's the other otherthing, like I am a super, super
(43:52):
loyal person.
And so like, I like to have likejust the quality relationship
with and long term like friends,friendships and stuff.
But I've learned in businessthat you need to be loyal to
your own values, not to people.
Because I'm so loyal that I'vebeen loyal to people that maybe
(44:13):
I shouldn't have been and I'vebeen burned.
Investor Evolution (44:15):
And
Aaron Kim (44:16):
so that, that was a tough lesson that I, I need to
learn.
So being more loyal to my valuesand my morals than in to some
people.
Investor Evolution (44:24):
Yeah.
And is there a way that you,like, do you have a gauge?
A monitor, a.
A reflection that you do to makesure you're staying in check
with that.
Aaron Kim (44:36):
Ooh, it's, it's mostly like a gut feeling.
Okay.
Investor Evolution (44:40):
Yeah,
Aaron Kim (44:41):
like I always trust my gut.
If I, if I think something'soff, then I really think about,
you know, all the things thathappen and all the things that
could happen.
And then I kind of sit there andkind of assess how I'm gonna go
about doing things or, um, how Ifeel about someone or a
situation.
Investor Evolution (44:57):
Yeah, and I think probably going to your
coaching, it's asking thosequestions, why do I feel that
way?
What, what about this make ismaking me feel uncomfortable?
And actually taking the time toassess that.
I think a lot of us, especially,I know I did all, all I'll say
for me.
I will not say a lot of us.
For me, I know when I got intothis community, I felt like I
(45:19):
had to do stuff and I just hadto do it.
I had no idea what I was doing.
And there, there was a time Iwas wiring money and I told my
husband, I was like, I don'tthink I should be doing this.
But I did because I feltobligated, because I'm like you,
I felt like I already promisedthis money.
I'm very loyal, you know, Idon't wanna go back on my word.
(45:40):
But I didn't listen to my gut.
And those are powerful things,and I love that you said that.
And I think taking that secondto just ask yourself why, why do
I feel that way?
That is a game changer and willhelp you stay true to who you
are and what you're about.
Aaron Kim (46:00):
Yeah, absolutely.
I couldn't set it better myself.
Oh, I, I thought of a fun factthat people, some people don't
know about me.
Okay.
My love language is sarcasm.
And so the sarcasm, it's, it'sso,
Investor Evolution (46:18):
okay
Aaron Kim (46:18):
if, if you find me being sarcastic with you or I'm
roasting you, or that means thatI, I really am I liking your
energy and that, you know, thatthat's my way of, you know,
growing a friendship.
Investor Evolution (46:31):
Okay.
Okay.
Good to know.
All right, Aaron, this has beenfantastic.
I couldn't have asked for abetter interview a better
evening for myself.
Thank you so much for takingtime out of your busy schedule
to spend time with us here.
I appreciate you and we've gotlots more to talk about.
So I think we will bring youback on sometime in the future
(46:53):
and do part two.
Does that sound good?
Aaron Kim (46:56):
That sounds great.
Thanks for having me.
Investor Evolution (46:59):
Amazing.
Alright everyone, until nexttime, have a great one.
Welcome to investor evolution,elevate.
Whether you're looking to createfinancial freedom, reclaim your
time, or find harmony whileyou're thriving in your career,
this show is for you.
Join me each week.
As we uncover strategies to growyour wealth, nurture your
personal development, andelevate your life to new
heights.
So you can live with purpose,joy, and confidence.
Investor Evolution (00:23):
Hey everyone.
Welcome to the podcast today.
I cannot wait to share with youmy special guest today.
Aaron Kim is the kind of guestwho reminds us that there is no
limit to where you can go.
He is a father, a husband, areal estate investor, business
owner and speaker.
But beyond all the titles is astory of grit and growth and
(00:46):
gratitude.
From his immigrant roots, to histime in the restaurant world, to
stepping into this crazy worldof entrepreneurship.
Aaron calls himself a"recoveringunderachiever," but now he is
thriving as a leader in realestate and funding strategies.
When he is not structuringdeals, you can find him
(01:07):
practicing martial arts, makinghomemade wine and exploring the
outdoors with his kiddos.
Today we are going beyondbusiness to uncover the mindset
and mission behind the man.
Aaron, welcome to the show.
Aaron Kim (01:22):
Thank you.
Thanks for having me.
What a great intro.
Yes.
Investor Evolution (01:26):
I've been looking forward to this for
quite a while and I, I've, I'veknown you for the past year and
we are in a group together.
We get to talk about all thethings in this entrepreneurship
world, the good, the bad, theugly.
And I love that you come in andgive this real world
(01:48):
perspective.
And so I wanna take this time toreally dive into you a little
bit more.
I want to share you with theworld in maybe a little bit
different light.
We'll talk about business, but Iwanna talk about you.
I was on, a Zoom the other dayand this lady kept saying, I'm
not a one cell amoeba.
I have all these otherinterests.
(02:10):
So we'll focus on business alittle bit, but I wanna know
like the, the breadth and thedepth that is your life.
So let's start with yourbackground.
Tell, tell us a little bit moreabout where you came from.
So you're the son of, immigrantswho came to this country.
I wanna hear that story becauseit's so powerful.
(02:31):
We were talking earlier and justhearing that story is
fascinating.
Aaron Kim (02:37):
Yeah, so my parents, I'm Korean and my father was a
surveyor for Hyundai for a longperiod of time, so he would work
overseas a lot.
And so he would, be involved inbuilding, constructing bridges,
in different, areas for Hyundaiand And what had happened was he
wanted to build a diff, youknow, a new life for us.
And so he decided to immigrateto, the States in the mid
(03:01):
seventies.
Then he actually, couldn't finda job as a surveyor here.
So he decided that he was going,to go into carpentry.
And so he worked for a companycalled Shelter System.
And so, you know, as a youngchild, I would watch my dad
build things and, it was a goodlearning experience for me.
And then, when I got into, likearound elementary school, he
(03:24):
kind of graduated to startinghis own business, opening up
restaurants, having grocerystores, and you know, that kind
of like.
Almost typical Asian kind ofbackground, right?
It's, it's like, uh,laundromats, dry cleaners,
groceries, delis, or, or you'relike a real scholar.
Yeah.
You're into like the academia,right?
(03:45):
My father was, always liked theAmerican dream.
And my mother, my mothersupported him the whole way.
Right?
And they thought that, you know,owning a business and having
that like white pick and fence.
Owning your own home and wantedto provide like an easier
lifestyle for my sister and I.
Investor Evolution (04:02):
And as I was sharing with you earlier, the
thing that I find so fascinatingabout that is he, he had this
profession in Korea and he wastraveling the world doing this
surveying and then came to theUS and had to essentially
restart.
What lessons have you taken fromthat for your own
(04:23):
entrepreneurial journey?
Aaron Kim (04:26):
So it really taught me that there are zero excuses
for me to give up.
And I think that's where a lotof my grit came from.
If you were to ask anybody,especially my wife, my wife
always gets, gets on me forthis.
It's how come you never give up,give up on anything?
Sometimes you gotta let stuffgo.
But for me, I'm, I stick throughit and I always wanna make sure
(04:48):
that either I learn something,Or I fix the problem or solve
whatever issue that I'm havingBefore I move on.
And that's heavily, heavilybased on what my parents, you
know, the values of my parentskind of branded into us as, as
children that, you know, life istough.
No one cares if it's hard.
And so you always have to doyour best and work, put in the
(05:10):
extra work.
And, there's a saying that, thatwe have in our family, like
Kim's, we don't, we don't giveup.
And so I always tell mychildren, Hey, you're a Kim.
You do not give up.
It's okay to fail, but it's notokay to quit.
Investor Evolution (05:25):
I'm gonna adopt that for me.
Kim's don't give up.
I'm gonna adopt that.
That's awesome.
And what, what a good lessonthat your dad taught you.
Now you're turning around andteaching your children.
Now were you working in thesebusinesses with your family as
well growing up.
So you're going to school andworking in these businesses?
Aaron Kim (05:46):
Yeah, so define working,'cause I call it child
labor.
Investor Evolution (05:49):
I was gonna say, were you paid?
Probably not.
Yeah.
Aaron Kim (05:52):
So, yeah, as far as I can remember, I was always like,
stocking shelves or, or youknow, at the register.
And so I was, I was really,forced to learn what that felt
like?
So I was always helping withlike paperwork.
I was always helping on theweekends I, you know, I didn't
have the luxury of, going anddoing a sleepover or playing
(06:13):
outside.
I did some of the times, but alot of the times it was.
Okay.
If you finished all your work,
Investor Evolution (06:19):
let,
Aaron Kim (06:19):
let's go.
Let's come with me and I'll showyou what we do and kind of, you
know, learn from the bottom up.
Investor Evolution (06:25):
Yeah.
And I know you were in therestaurant industry for a while
as well.
Did you own restaurants inaddition to also working in your
families?
Aaron Kim (06:35):
Yeah, so we had the opportunity op open up multiple
restaurants, from scratch and,and we sold some.
And so in the process, yes,I've, I've worked front of
house, back of house, prep line,you name it, I did it because
one of the other things that,you know, and my, I, I have an
older sister and, She and Ialways knew that, you know, we
(06:57):
had one big role is we have tobe really good at everything in,
in the restaurant businessbecause we weren't gonna let,
employees like take us hostagebecause that can happen very
easily if you depend too much onyour, your employees.
So what we did was we, wecreated systems and We made sure
(07:18):
we took all the, um, brain workout of it.
If, if you know what I mean?
We like took all that out of itand so it, it was a system where
it could be replicated and canbe retaught really quick.
And so I was always better atlike, you know, the point of
sale at the cash register thananybody else.
I was always better than other,any, line cook or prep cook.
(07:38):
Because I would be there, youknow, in the back training or,
or teaching them how to organizeand labeling things and, and,
uh, learning how to do first in,first out, if you're in the, you
know, restaurant business,that's like a cardinal rule,
right?
Um, so yeah, it, it was a lot ofthat.
So, yes.
Investor Evolution (07:56):
Man, and what I see is this parallel,
right between growing up,working in the businesses,
starting your own stuff with therestaurants, all that learning
that you were doing, and thatexperience gaining along the
way, obviously translated intoincredible skills for
entrepreneurship now, did youwork in any other capacity?
(08:21):
Did you ever have a W2 or has italways been owning businesses?
Tell me about that.
Aaron Kim (08:26):
Yeah, so I worked with the federal government for
a little bit, and then I had acouple, startups, that I sold.
And then I actually came back tothe restaurant business, after
college.
Just to help my family out.
They needed help.
Um, and then, along the way, mysister and I, we, we started to
acquire some rental properties.
(08:47):
And, and we've always knew thatthe next step for us is, okay,
now you ran a business, whereare you gonna park your capital?
Right?
So, uh, our next, you know,vision was to own properties and
so it kind of naturally wentthat way.
And about 18 months beforeCOVID, my parents kind of sold
everything and we were able toretire them.
(09:07):
So it, it, it was a, it was agood time for us.
Investor Evolution (09:10):
Oh, that's, that's incredible because
obviously we know what happenedwith the pandemic for
restaurants particularly, andhow devastating that was.
So fantastic that you were ableto retire them and or they were
able to retire, however that isworded.
And take care of them in thatway.
That's, that's powerful.
So when you came into realestate, you, you said you had
(09:35):
some rentals.
Did you feel like you were justgonna stay on the passive side,
or how did you jump into thismore active side of real estate?
Aaron Kim (09:44):
That's a great question.
I'm still like, on my journey tokind of figure that out.
I'm not gonna lie to you, but,um, my first kind of rental fell
into my lap like 2008, 2009 whenthe first crash happened.
Investor Evolution (09:57):
Yeah.
Aaron Kim (09:57):
And I was super blessed.
I was able to like, grow out aportfolio.
And it's been just really great.
The rates were really low.
Mm-hmm.
You know, people were doingninja loans and I was like, nah,
I'm not gonna go that way.
And I was able to kind ofacquire these properties, um,
leveraging the first propertyand kind of, um, putting more
(10:18):
money down and using the capitalthat I had.
So, and about, I don't know,four or five years ago, um.
I knew I wanted to get into somesort of like transactional
funding because I knew it was aquick turnaround and it was
pretty safe.
But I didn't know how to dothat.
Right.
I didn't know if there was like,legal requirements.
I didn't know if I had to do,get licenses and, and all that
(10:40):
kind of thing.
So, I stumbled upon, the gatormethod with, with pace, and once
you start looking that stuff up,everybody starts popping up.
Right,
Investor Evolution (10:48):
right.
The
Aaron Kim (10:49):
deans, you know, Chris Crone like.
All those folks.
And the Gator method kindaappealed to me because it was a
good framework, and it had someof the paperwork I was looking
for, so it kind of pointed me inthe right direction and it was a
good platform for me to kind ofmold it.
So, it kind of fit mypersonality a little bit better.
Investor Evolution (11:10):
So let's talk about that because hearing
your story, you.
You have done a lot.
You've learned a lot.
You've grown a lot.
You've tried differentbusinesses.
You got into real estate, andthen you, you said transactional
lending fits you because youknow, as as I know, you are low
(11:30):
risk person why?
Tell me why, why that is.
I feel like you have so muchknowledge and you've done so
much, and tell me where thatcomes from.
Aaron Kim (11:42):
So I'm really risk averse for a couple different
reasons, because I guess it'scultural for me.
Investor Evolution (11:48):
Okay.
Aaron Kim (11:48):
It's, a lot of it's is, you know, get good grades,
go to a good college, have a,have a steady job, so
everything's stable, right?
On the other hand, you know, Isaw my father move to a
different country.
There, there's a languagebarrier and, and he overcame it.
So I knew if I wanted to besuccessful, financially
(12:11):
successful in any sort ofcapacity, I was gonna need to,
take risks, right?
And I didn't know how to takethose kind of risks and, and
still be successful.
So it was, it was lots oflearning and trying different
things.
And real estate, I could wrap mybrain around.
And so I figured if I can likefund these transactions and, and
(12:31):
if I can kind of secure it in away, way that I can sleep at
night, then this is what I wantto do.
Um, and uh, it was interestingbecause.
Mar marketing myself was thehardest thing.
And so I, I had to reallyunderstand what marketing was
versus advertising.
Um, and in, in the real estatebusiness, there's a saying,
(12:54):
right?
You, you do business with peopleyou like, you know, and you
trust, right?
And you have to be able to sellyourself.
For me, it was the totalopposite.
And so, I don't know if you knowthis about me, but you know,
we've talked about me being anambivert, right?
And I'm, I'm very introverted.
And why I say that is because I.
(13:16):
I get drained if I do too much.
Like if I socialize a lot, Ineed to go recharge right now.
I would kind of describe that asan introvert as as opposed to an
extrovert where they getrecharged because they're
socializing and interacting withpeople.
But I figured out that.
(13:36):
I figured out while I was in therestaurant business that I had
the gift of gab.
And so when I'm like in myelement and I'm around people
that I like, like I can talk myway into or out of almost
anything.
Um, and, and that really helpedthat confidence, that inner
confidence really helped becausewhat I learned to do was I was a
(13:57):
thousand percent confident inthe product and services.
That I was, that I was, able toprovide.
And so I could lead with thatand it was, you know, these are
my services.
This is how I can help, theseare the problems that I can
solve for you.
And, um, I was so confident inthat, that I could just turn
around and walk away.
And so it was very organic.
It, it was really genuine and Ithink that resonated with a lot
(14:20):
of folks.
Investor Evolution (14:21):
Well, and it's interesting'cause you said
you, you had a, a gift forbeing, uh, the cashier, the
sales, whatever, what did youcall it for at the point of
sale?
Yeah, the point of sale, Iguess.
Yes.
Thank you.
That you had, you had thisability to, to do well in that
spot, which from when I, whenyou said that I was thinking.
(14:41):
You know, I know that you talkabout being an ambivert, and so
it was kind of interesting tohear that, and I think there's
this scale of.
Ambivert, uh, because I, I cando the extrovert for a while
also, but I can, I can do itprobably longer than you can,
(15:02):
and then I'm like, okay, I'mpeople out.
I'm, I'm good.
I always say that my lovelanguage is quality alone time.
Like I just need, need thattime.
Another thing you've talkedabout is, and, and tell me if
it's okay to go here, but you'vetalked about some of that social
anxiety that you've had.
How do you feel like you'veovercome that, especially in
(15:23):
this, this place where you dohave to put yourself out there
and lead with with you?
Aaron Kim (15:32):
So a couple things.
I'm not naturally really detailoriented, and so being in the
restaurant industry, reallytaught me that I had to develop
skills that I didn't, wasn'tnaturally like gifted with.
Right?
And so being detail oriented, Ilearned that in the restaurant
business.
and that really helped me in,growing my business in a way
(15:54):
that.
I felt comfortable because I, itreally eased my anxiety.
So by being more detail orientedand making checklists and making
sure I did my research, thatreally helped and I, I really
believe in being good at onething.
And so I decided if I'm, if I'mgonna do this, I'm gonna be
(16:15):
really good at it.
I'm gonna do it on my terms.
And that really helped me getover that kind of anxiety part.
And, um, anxiety, it is like, itnever really goes away.
You can always work on it.
You can always like control it.
Hopefully, but it's notsomething that just disappears.
(16:37):
So I'm always working on it.
And so it's how do I cope, youknow, how, how do I ease into
this?
So there's a lot of strategiesbe behind what I do, um, before
I do, you know, big events or,or I try not to do big events or
if I come onto, you know, apodcast with a friend, you know,
I, I know I wanna bring goodenergy and, and, I do
(16:59):
preparation beforehand.
Investor Evolution (17:01):
Gotcha.
Well, and I know for, for Squadup, you helped our group really
prepare and get our pitch, our,you know, our elevator pitch
ready.
So it just shows that, it'sfunny that you say you are not
naturally detail oriented.
You keep giving me theseconundrums of you because you
are very detail oriented now.
(17:23):
But I see what you're saying isyou've put these systems into
place, these checks andbalances.
As, as a, a method.
Right.
And following that just makes itsimpler and easier.
Um, okay.
So do I, one of the things thatI think is so cool about you, it
(17:43):
feels as though, okay, we wereon this natural path to become
an entrepreneur, but is thatreally true?
Is that the path that you wereon when you went to, to college?
Is that what you wanted to do?
Or was this a little bit of acurve ball?
Aaron Kim (17:58):
It was a curve ball.
So when I finished high school,it was my parents said listen.
You can either start a business,continue on to college or go
into the military.
I.
They said, pick one.
I was like, okay, I'm gonna goto school since you're willing
to pay for it.
Investor Evolution (18:16):
Right?
Aaron Kim (18:16):
And so I studied psychology and legal studies and
had a minor in music.
And so I was kind of just allover the place.
So no, it wasn't, it wasn'talways my plan.
Um, I wanted to be a lots ofdifferent things and I'm still
trying to figure it out.
What, um, you know, is this ameans to an end or, or an end to
a means?
(18:36):
You know, I just, I, I don'tknow yet, but.
I'm really happy with thelifestyle that I have now
because it gives me tremendousamount of flexibility to spend
with my children, and with myfamily.
And so that's number one on mypriority list is how much
quality time can I spend with myfamily and still maintain this
quality of life that, that Ihave.
Investor Evolution (18:58):
I love that.
So psychology, legal studies,and then a minor in music.
Is that correct?
Okay.
Tell me, tell me about the minorin music.
Were you a singer?
Was it.
Instruments.
What, what does that mean?
I don't even know.
Aaron Kim (19:14):
Yeah.
I was an opera singer for a longtime.
Oh
Investor Evolution (19:17):
yes.
No opera that so amazing.
Aaron Kim (19:19):
No,
Investor Evolution (19:20):
come on.
Aaron Kim (19:22):
No.
Um, no.
I played saxophone.
Um, and, uh, I did, um, someproduction stuff.
So a lot of like producingmusic.
Understanding theory and, um,and lots of like jazz.
So that, that was kind of likemy, my area that I really kind
of dug my feet into.
Investor Evolution (19:42):
Okay.
So we can find you in a jazzbar.
Okay.
I like it.
I like it.
Yeah.
Okay.
And then tell us, tell us aboutpsychology.
So psychology and legal studies.
Uh, I assume there's definitelya connection with that.
Why did you choose psychology?
Aaron Kim (19:59):
It was something I was always interested in.
Um, I, I, I always, in the backof my head, I always would play
these games.
I'm like, I wonder what makesthis person tick.
Investor Evolution (20:09):
Mm-hmm.
Aaron Kim (20:09):
I wonder what makes that person act, behave in this
kind of way?
Because I've always had thepersonality of how do I control
the situation?
Like how do I build wisdom witheach experience, right?
And so I thought that was themost powerful thing.
It's knowing what to do in anysituation and that's really hard
(20:30):
to build.
And so I kind of tried toreverse engineer it.
And so if I know how people,like what makes people tick, you
can kind of figure out orpredict how people are going to
behave.
And based on that, I can kindof.
You know, choose, choose my, youknow, my behaviors in a way that
I can kind of coast through thatsituation.
Investor Evolution (20:53):
Interesting.
Do you think growing up you, youknow, you were probably in the
restaurant when you were littleand, do you think that's where
you started watching people andseeing how adults interacted
and, and that.
Aaron Kim (21:06):
Yeah, so I was a people, people watcher, right?
Like, I love to see like what Icould sit at an airport and just
watch people, right?
Like how they speak, what theywere doing, how they interact,
what they're eating.
And like I would make up littlestories.
I'm like, oh, I know what kindof person that is.
Right?
It's, it's like, it's fun topeople watch.
Investor Evolution (21:24):
Yeah.
Well, and like you said, you geta sense of, of the person you.
Have a way to interact with thembefore you've even talked with
them because you've beenobservant.
So you say you're not detailoriented, but I am going to, uh,
object to that.
Okay.
So this is, this is why I was soexcited to chat with you because
(21:45):
you have just this diversitywithin your life, which we all
do, and sometimes we forgetthat.
We do so many things and we areso many things, and we're not
just a one lane.
Now you're great attransactional lending, and that
is your one thing that you focuson, which is awesome, and you
are amazing at that.
(22:07):
But you also make wine.
You have a yard full ofchickens.
You, and do remind me, you coachbaseball for your son or no.
Aaron Kim (22:17):
I used to, not anymore.
He's at an age where he needsprofessionals coaching him.
Investor Evolution (22:22):
Right, right.
Yeah.
You know, you, you're involvedin martial arts you have all
this diverse background likeagain, as we all do, but we
forget that all of that comestogether to make us who we are.
So on a Saturday in the summer,where can we find you?
What are the things that you'redoing with your family, around
(22:43):
the house?
What does, what does a day inthe life of Aaron Kim look like?
Aaron Kim (22:47):
I.
Um, waking up bright and early.
Mm-hmm.
Feed the chickens, make surethey have food and water.
Right.
Then I'd probably go out to thepool with the kids'cause they
probably have like a swim teamthing going on.
Maybe I'll be, you know, at abaseball tournament with, with
my son.
Um, and uh, you know, like foodis, is, is really big.
(23:10):
It's like the Korean culture andthe Italian culture, like very
similar.
Like.
The first thing my mom asked me,like if when I walk into her
house, she's like, did you eatnot hi, hello?
She was like, did you eat?
And I'll say, not yet.
And the first thing she does isshove food in my face.
Right?
So it's like maybe a barbecuesitting outside, you know, just
(23:34):
talking to friends and, andcatching up.
Um.
Yeah, that's kind of like anideal situation.
Or maybe at the beach, if Icould spend my day at the beach
and be a beach bum, like, that'sgreat.
Investor Evolution (23:45):
You're there.
You're there.
How did you get into winemaking?
Where did, where did that comefrom?
Was it from the restaurant?
Aaron Kim (23:52):
No, so the, the story with, with wine making, so I
make traditional Korean ricewine.
Investor Evolution (23:57):
Okay.
And,
Aaron Kim (23:58):
uh, so it's, it's, it's strange because technically
if you start with a grain and,and you make alcohol, it's
considered a beer.
But this is the fermentationprocess.
It, it's, it's a little bitdifferent.
And so there's, it's asimultaneous multi-level like
fermentation process, and soit's considered a wine.
(24:20):
Okay.
Even though you start with agrain.
Um, I was never really into ituntil I was an adult, like an
adult.
And I would hear, you know, my,my parents talk about it.
Um, talk about their, their, youknow, friends trying to making
and, and failing.
Investor Evolution (24:36):
Yeah.
And I'm
Aaron Kim (24:37):
like, I bet I can, I can make this.
Investor Evolution (24:39):
Challenge Accepted!
Aaron Kim (24:41):
Yeah, exactly.
Um, on top of that, as I gotolder, like I clung closer to my
Korean roots, so the food wasmore important.
Like my identity kind of reallysolidified.
I.
Um, because I learned to embracemy Korean culture a little bit
more.
And so it, it was part of, it'slike the food, the language, you
(25:03):
know, the, the, um, endearments,it's, it's all of it like was so
I.
It's a legacy that I want toleave to my children.
And so I said, you know what?
I'm gonna try making this.
And I lots of YouTube videoslater in a trip to Korea to to
check out all the wineries andbreweries and distill
(25:23):
distilleries and such.
Um, I started experimenting withit and because I learned to be
detail oriented, I was able tofigure out where other people
failed.
Got
Investor Evolution (25:34):
it.
Aaron Kim (25:35):
I was able to figure out like the humidity, the
temperature, you know, learninghow to ferment it in a proper
way and all the little thingsthat comes with brewery.
And so yeah, that's how thatcame to life.
And I've been making it forlike, what, five or six years
now.
Investor Evolution (25:49):
Okay.
How long was it in that processof learning from when you first
started to where you were like,okay, I've got, I've got my
process, I can repeat it.
How long was that?
Aaron Kim (26:01):
It took me probably six months.
Investor Evolution (26:03):
Okay.
Aaron Kim (26:04):
Yeah.
About six months or so.
Okay.
Because it's a quick brew.
Okay.
But you let it, you can fermentit for as long as you want.
And so it just, the, the flavorjust gets more and more complex.
Okay.
And so it's, it's however howyou wanna kind of, you know.
Make the flavor profile.
Yeah.
Investor Evolution (26:23):
And how, how long for you is like the, the
perfect fermentation time?
Aaron Kim (26:30):
So it's about 10 to 12 days.
Because what, what it does isyou have a little, a slight bit
of, um, carbonation.
And it's, it's, it still has alittle bit of residual sweetness
Investor Evolution (26:43):
from,
Aaron Kim (26:43):
from, from when it turns to sugar.
Yeah.
Uh, and so that timeframe isreally good.
And then, you know, you have to,there's a, there's three
different versions, uh, of it.
You can have it totallyunfiltered.
Um, you can have it.
Completely clarified, or you canhave the really thick part,
right?
The, the, the, almost the, the,everything that settles to the,
(27:06):
the sediment that kind ofsettles to the bottom.
And so I really like theclarified bit because it's, it
tastes really clean.
It tastes fresh, almost lemony,almost like pear- like.
And so, and, and the yeast thatI use kind of lends to those,
that floral.
Fruity flavor, so that, that'skind of the sweet spot for me.
Investor Evolution (27:26):
All right.
Next year, let's squad up.
You're bringing, bringing thewine?
Aaron Kim (27:32):
Yeah.
Okay.
Investor Evolution (27:34):
So do you feel like, do you feel like, how
old are your kiddos?
Aaron Kim (27:39):
12 and eight.
Investor Evolution (27:40):
12 and eight, okay.
Um, mine, mine are right.
Above yours.
I'm 10 and 14 is where mine are.
Mm-hmm.
So we still got that four yearspan.
But do you feel like, as they'regrowing up, that's why you wanna
make sure you're, reallybringing in your Korean roots so
that they know their heritage.
Do you feel like that reallycontributed to it?
Aaron Kim (28:03):
Yeah.
Because you know, like myculture's foreign, you know what
I mean?
They have the rest of theirlives to kind of build, you
know, I certainly want them tohave my wife's, you know,
culture as well.
Right.
Um, her family's likePennsylvania, Dutch, so you
know, that's.
I want them to experience that,but at the same time, I want
(28:25):
them to have the eastern part.
Right.
Investor Evolution (28:27):
Yeah.
Aaron Kim (28:27):
And, um, learn with that.
And it's important to know bothparts.
I think it's in, it's importantfor you to know, where you come
from and what it means.
Investor Evolution (28:36):
Yeah.
Well, one of the things you saidwhen we were talking before we
started recording was that ittook you a while to figure out.
You.
And so tell us that journey.
What, what do you think hashelped you really harness your
true essence and how do, how doyou feel like you are helping
your kids with that?
Aaron Kim (28:58):
Um, good question.
So it was, it's a long processand it's still going on for me,
so like.
The identity crisis for youngAsian males is really difficult,
so I know there's a high suiciderate with Asian males because.
Especially here in Americabecause number one, they have
(29:20):
certain stereotypes and stigmasto them, and so they have a hard
time socializing, findingpartners, and finding their
place in, in the Americanculture and society.
Um, and so as a young child,like I grew up in the, like
eighties and nineties, right?
I'm, I'm that old.
But, um, I felt like it's easierfor me.
(29:41):
It was easier for me.
Because it was, it was a bitmore harsh.
And so those lessons that Ilearned early on helped me kind
of find my identity, a littlebit easier.
So it was lots of learnrelearning.
Investor Evolution (29:54):
Mm-hmm.
Aaron Kim (29:55):
That who I wasn't before I got to, oh, this is who
I am.
So kind of.
Understanding where myculturally Korean morals and
values aligned with my Americanvalues and how that, you know,
how I existed within that realm.
What, was just lots of time,lots, lots of like
(30:16):
self-reflection.
And just learning who I wasn'tover and over and over again.
And to getting to a point whereI got super comfortable in my
own skin.
And that's when I reallydeveloped and polished, like my
gift of gab.
Like I can, once I get into acertain thing and I'm in my
element, yeah.
That it's, it's really easy forme.
Investor Evolution (30:37):
Did you feel like there were a lot of
shoulds?
I should do this, I should dothat?
And was that part of the thingsthat you had to take off maybe
to really come into your ownskin?
Aaron Kim (30:51):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That, I mean, I, I think aboutthat.
I had those moments today, youknow, oh, I should have did
this, I should have did that.
Yeah.
Um, if you, if you live in theshould could or would've like.
You know, in that realm, you'remissing opportunities in front
of you.
and that's easier said thandone.
(31:13):
I get it right.
But, um, really leaning into,okay, so this is who I am today.
Where do I wanna, where do Iwant to go?
What you know?
How do I conduct myself in a waythat I feel proud and my, my
children and my family, youknow, are proud of me?
It is kind of like where mythought is and um, yeah, it's a
(31:37):
tough thing.
So lots of like, I should havedid this, I should have did
that.
I stopped doing that because itjust, it.
That monster of, of anxiety andself-doubt grows and that just
feeds it.
So it was learning to kind ofdetach.
Investor Evolution (31:55):
Yeah.
Aaron Kim (31:55):
That was a lot of it growing up.
Investor Evolution (31:58):
Absolutely.
What are, what are some of thethings, so your kids are eight
and 12, what are some of the,the lessons, the morals, the,
like, what do you want them tocatch from you?
When, when I think those lessonsare caught not taught.
I mean, there's definitely a lotof things that are taught, but
you caught a lot from yourparents.
(32:18):
You caught thisentrepreneurship, you caught
this hard, hard work of diggingin and not giving up.
What are those things that youwant to make sure when your kids
leave for college or leave for abusiness or the military, um,
what, what do you want them to,to get from you?
Yeah.
Aaron Kim (32:36):
Number one, I wanna teach them how to find
happiness.
Yeah.
That's, and, and to stayhealthy, right?
And so I think that number one,I had a hard time with, like
learning that happiness is moreof an attitude and an approach
than, than anything else.
So I, I wanna teach my childrenthat.
I don't want to teach'em, youknow, all of the anxiety and the
(32:59):
baggage that I had growing up.
I want them to be prepared.
I want them to know that hardwork is okay and usually things
that you know are, that arerewarding is, is hard.
I.
But there's nothing you can'tever figure out, you know,
nothing's ever notfigureoutable.
Right, exactly.
Investor Evolution (33:19):
You know,
Aaron Kim (33:20):
um, that and, and then not to give up, you know,
'cause, you know, failing isokay.
Certain mistakes you just can'tmake, but it's okay to make all
those other mistakes, and I'drather have them make those
smaller mistakes now and, learnfrom it than make, you know,
bigger mistakes later where ithas more effect on you.
And so I think.
(33:41):
I think that's where I wanna,you know, kind of, those are the
lessons other than, you know,where you came from and, and you
know, being kind, all the normalthings.
Right.
We course everybody has those,you know, that average, you
know, you know, those morals andvalues, but really teaching them
to be like, take care ofthemselves and, and like
(34:01):
learning how to be happy isimportant for me.
Investor Evolution (34:03):
Yeah.
I love that.
Let's switch gears and let's,let's talk about your business.
One of the things I trulyappreciate about you, and you
said it the other day on ourcall, is that you have a high
standard of excellence, and Isee it in all that you do, and I
appreciate that.
Um, you've, you've started thisbusiness.
(34:27):
When did you get into gator?
Aaron Kim (34:29):
Like 22 or 23.
Yeah.
Investor Evolution (34:31):
Okay.
Okay.
And you came into it wanting todo transactional lending.
And you have done an incrediblejob of getting that business
started.
Tell us what that process hasbeen like.
Um, I'm sure it was like supereasy for you and you just like
clicked right away, you know?
Tell, tell us a little bit aboutthat process.
(34:51):
I.
Aaron Kim (34:52):
I wish that's how it happened.
Like that would be, yeah.
No, it, it was difficult.
It was, I got into, that spaceand I realized that I sucked at
it, and I sucked at it because Ihated the, almost.
Fake interaction you needed tohave to kind of grow out your
clientele.
(35:12):
And so I had to figure out howto market, I had to figure out
what I was gonna do and how Iwas gonna do it.
Investor Evolution (35:18):
Mm-hmm.
Aaron Kim (35:18):
And so it was six or seven months of like really
understanding how to marketmyself, like building those
relationships and building thoselists of different people and
spending some money and talkingto a lot of attorneys like, this
is what I'm trying to do.
And, and here's what I have,like how do I, can you help me?
(35:39):
Can you, you know, revise and,and review these documents for
me?
Yeah.
And so there was a lot of thatthat happened.
And because of my like highanxious like tendencies it
really helped me do like thepreventative stuff.
Investor Evolution (35:56):
Yeah.
Aaron Kim (35:56):
So it was, I had to do, if you wanna do the things
that you really wanna do, yougotta do the stuff you don't
want to do first.
It's just the fact of life,right?
You gotta do all the homeworkfirst before you can go play,
right?
So the, I think that what, that,what that took about six or
seven months to really do allthe homework and get some sort
(36:17):
of system down so I, I couldreplicate it and just have less
holes because I knew that thingswere gonna come up.
But if you don't have some sortof plan going in, that it, I
would just crumble, you know,with my anxiety.
So,
Investor Evolution (36:33):
What I hear is all of these values and
things that you've been taught,right?
You gotta do the hard work.
You gotta do the hard workbefore you get to play.
You have to create those systemsand that structure first.
Building those relationships,understanding people, it's huge.
Having those systems in placeand then making it repeatable,
(36:55):
scalable, and that.
Where would you, when you thinkabout moving forward and as
you're growing your business.
Where do you see yourself in thenext 12 months, 24 months?
Are you building this machineto, to grow it?
Are you branching out intodifferent areas?
Aaron Kim (37:15):
Great question.
So I'm probably gonna continueto do a certain number of like
transactional funding deals, butI'm going to start branching out
and doing, more workshops forfolks.
More speaking engagements, maybesome coaching, and some
trainings.
So, you know, I define coachingas like asking more questions
(37:37):
and figuring out, you know, youknow where people want to be.
And then training is like moretactical, right?
It's like you need to use thisstrategy and this strategy.
This is how you get to where youwant to go.
So I might do a little bit ofboth, but I really do think that
in the real estate world rightnow, in the community that we're
(37:57):
in, there's a lot of shinyobject syndrome.
There's a lot of, holes in likethe education.
And if I can help.
Really give people like a cheatcode, you know, like a game
genie like thing that, they cankind of, elevate their game a
little bit, you know, faster.
I think I would love to do that.
And although like I'm anintrovert, like interacting with
(38:22):
people in, in person and doinglike these live workshops, that
really makes me feel good.
I, I get immediate feedback.
I, I can have like.
Banter back and forth.
I can have, you know, just funmoments and just the genuine
like connection with people andthat, which I really enjoy.
And so I think if I can help andhave that at the same time,
(38:45):
it's, it's a win-win.
Investor Evolution (38:46):
Right.
Well, and it's helpful becauseyou've walked that path before.
You know those pitfalls thatpeople are gonna come across.
You know what those stumblingblocks are.
And when you can help them seeit, see it ahead, have a plan
for it, and, and help them movetheir business forward.
(39:07):
That's amazing.
And I, I'm excited to see howthat grows for you because I
think it'll be quite powerful.
Everyone that I've talked to inthe community who knows your
name, I was telling, a friendtoday, I was like, oh, I got a
interview today with Aaron Kim.
He's like, oh my gosh, thisguy's amazing.
And I know you may not thinkthat, but you are making an
(39:27):
impact in this community, in, inways that I think you don't see.
And I just want to reflect thatback to you, that.
It, it's, it's not this bigboisterous thing that some
people have.
It is this quiet consistency ofgrowth that you have put in the
work, and it just continues tomove forward.
(39:49):
And that's, I think, what issuper attractive about what you
offer and the things that you'reworking on.
Um, because it's.
It's proven right, it's provenpractices, it's put in the work,
and I, I think what you're doingis amazing and I'm excited for
the, for the impact that you'regonna make in this community.
(40:10):
So thank you so much for that.
Aaron Kim (40:12):
Oh my goodness.
That's so kind of you.
I'm gonna, this is recorded,right?
I'm gonna record, I'm gonnakeep, keep you in my pocket.
So every time I feel not sogreat, I'm just gonna play it.
Investor Evolution (40:22):
Yeah.
If you're like, I should, you'relike, Nope, I'm listening.
I'm listening to that.
As we kind of are coming, comingto a close, I know we can talk
about a lot of different thingsand you, you mentioned like
these little tidbits of thingsthat I'm like, oh, I wanna go
down that rabbit trail.
Like focus.
Uh, you know, you talked alittle bit about nutrition.
You talked, that's one of thethings that you wanna make sure
(40:44):
being healthy and happy withyour kids is something you want
to instill with them.
You know, we talked a little bitabout the wine making.
You have this whole other realmof martial arts.
I guess what is, what is a funfact?
We've talked a lot about a lotof fun facts, but what is
another fun fact about Aaron Kimthat none of us would ever guess
or know about you?
(41:04):
Maybe something you've done orsomething that you do now?
Aaron Kim (41:09):
Let me see.
I.
Is it a surprise that I'm sixfoot tall?
So for, for everyone who doesn'tknow, I'm six foot tall and yes,
I'm Korean, so you know, may,maybe me and me and ya Meg.
Right.
That's right.
Investor Evolution (41:23):
That's a good one.
And it was definitely it's sofantastic when we do get
together as a community and weget to meet all these people
that we've met on Zoom andcompare our like, mental image
with the actual image.
So that, that, that always is afun, a fun thing as well.
Is there any special projectsthat you're working on?
(41:44):
Obviously with, with buildingout some, um, curriculum and
some workshops is one of thethings that you're working on in
the community.
Is there anything else thatyou're working on right now
that's just for you?
That's just for fun?
I.
Aaron Kim (42:01):
Ooh, that's a really good question.
I don't know if I've, if I havea good answer for that.
Um, I've always wanted to goback into, into music, so, um,
maybe, maybe I might dive backinto that as the children get
older.
But the other thing I wanted todo is, and, and kind of involve
the, you know, the business is Iwant to travel more.
(42:24):
And so, as.
Hopefully I can kind of build,you know, this machine out where
I can travel and do speakingengagements.
And if I can travel with mywife, um, and do these like
speaking engagements, I thinkthat would be so much fun.
And I think that's kind of whatI'm going towards.
Investor Evolution (42:44):
Okay.
I I love that.
All right, everyone, if you needa speaker, Aaron Kim is, is the
man.
I think that's a fantastic wayto share your knowledge.
And you have such a presenceabout you, uh, to be able to
take complicated things andbreak'em down into manageable
(43:04):
steps, right?
Those bite-sized steps to, toput into practice.
So I, I think you will do wellwith that.
Anything else
Aaron Kim (43:13):
I have two bits of advice for, you know, for
someone who wants to maybe arein business or starting a
business.
How's that?
Investor Evolution (43:20):
Let's do it.
Let's do it.
Let's end with that.
Aaron Kim (43:23):
So I would say don't ever run your business to win
over someone else's approval.
Investor Evolution (43:30):
Once
Aaron Kim (43:30):
you start.
Kind of stretching out to winother people's approval.
That's when your processes and,and the people that are around
you, that's when you're gonnastart to, you know, hurt
yourself.
So that's one.
Okay.
Um, so here's the other otherthing, like I am a super, super
(43:52):
loyal person.
And so like, I like to have likejust the quality relationship
with and long term like friends,friendships and stuff.
But I've learned in businessthat you need to be loyal to
your own values, not to people.
Because I'm so loyal that I'vebeen loyal to people that maybe
(44:13):
I shouldn't have been and I'vebeen burned.
Investor Evolution (44:15):
And
Aaron Kim (44:16):
so that, that was a tough lesson that I, I need to
learn.
So being more loyal to my valuesand my morals than in to some
people.
Investor Evolution (44:24):
Yeah.
And is there a way that you,like, do you have a gauge?
A monitor, a.
A reflection that you do to makesure you're staying in check
with that.
Aaron Kim (44:36):
Ooh, it's, it's mostly like a gut feeling.
Okay.
Investor Evolution (44:40):
Yeah,
Aaron Kim (44:41):
like I always trust my gut.
If I, if I think something'soff, then I really think about,
you know, all the things thathappen and all the things that
could happen.
And then I kind of sit there andkind of assess how I'm gonna go
about doing things or, um, how Ifeel about someone or a
situation.
Investor Evolution (44:57):
Yeah, and I think probably going to your
coaching, it's asking thosequestions, why do I feel that
way?
What, what about this make ismaking me feel uncomfortable?
And actually taking the time toassess that.
I think a lot of us, especially,I know I did all, all I'll say
for me.
I will not say a lot of us.
For me, I know when I got intothis community, I felt like I
(45:19):
had to do stuff and I just hadto do it.
I had no idea what I was doing.
And there, there was a time Iwas wiring money and I told my
husband, I was like, I don'tthink I should be doing this.
But I did because I feltobligated, because I'm like you,
I felt like I already promisedthis money.
I'm very loyal, you know, Idon't wanna go back on my word.
(45:40):
But I didn't listen to my gut.
And those are powerful things,and I love that you said that.
And I think taking that secondto just ask yourself why, why do
I feel that way?
That is a game changer and willhelp you stay true to who you
are and what you're about.
Aaron Kim (46:00):
Yeah, absolutely.
I couldn't set it better myself.
Oh, I, I thought of a fun factthat people, some people don't
know about me.
Okay.
My love language is sarcasm.
And so the sarcasm, it's, it'sso,
Investor Evolution (46:18):
okay
Aaron Kim (46:18):
if, if you find me being sarcastic with you or I'm
roasting you, or that means thatI, I really am I liking your
energy and that, you know, thatthat's my way of, you know,
growing a friendship.
Investor Evolution (46:31):
Okay.
Okay.
Good to know.
All right, Aaron, this has beenfantastic.
I couldn't have asked for abetter interview a better
evening for myself.
Thank you so much for takingtime out of your busy schedule
to spend time with us here.
I appreciate you and we've gotlots more to talk about.
So I think we will bring youback on sometime in the future
(46:53):
and do part two.
Does that sound good?
Aaron Kim (46:56):
That sounds great.
Thanks for having me.
Investor Evolution (46:59):
Amazing.
Alright everyone, until nexttime, have a great one.
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