We met with CEO Park Jae-hyun, an individual who has made a name for himself for turning every brand he launches into a megahit in Sinyongsan. He works as the owner chef of MIMIOK, a Seoul-style pho place, Burger Boy, an American-style burger joint, and Shawnino, an Italian restaurant, all while running a YouTube Channel as Camping Man and leading Seoul Morning Coffee Club. Here is a sneak peek at his food-inspired life.

Yes, I was diagnosed with leukemia when I was twenty and underwent medical treatment for about four years. The experience was life changing. Before, I wanted to become rich and famous, so I was obsessed with the idea of ‘working 24/7 while I was still young.’ But a so-called ‘near-death experience’ changed my mindset. Later, I wanted to live a happy, fulfilling life. I no longer wanted to wait for the right moment to come. So, as soon as I got better, I left for New York.

It was a hobby at first. Cooking helps me concentrate, which I’m pretty bad at. I had always wanted to learn to cook professionally. New York’s rent is ridiculously high, so I had to make ends meet one way or another. I came up with the idea of turning my living room into a one-table restaurant. I would serve Korean dishes to Korean students studying in New York, who were always craving some good Korean food. However, I had never learned to cook professionally, and going to a culinary school wasn’t an option because it was too costly. So, I went to a fusion Korean restaurant, where I was a regular, and asked if I could work in the kitchen. That’s how it started. I learned to cook from the chef, and I served the menus I learned there in my living-room-turned-one-table restaurant.

They loved it so much that my living room was always packed. I had to quit running my living-room restaurant after 4 years when I decided to move to Italy. Back then, I was in love with Italy and its culture, so I ended up living in Florence for about three and a half years. There, I made money by running a guest house and working as a tour guide, since there were always so many Korean tourists in Florence. The people I worked with back then still work with me now.

After running a few businesses, I realized that the restaurant business was the only one that could attract so many people in such a short amount of time. If you think about it, a must-eat restaurant serves hundreds of people every day. It was fascinating to think that ‘food’ alone could attract that much traffic. I also had the idea that ‘I could do something interesting and exciting with all the people who came to my restaurant.’

I first opened MIMIOK in Ulsan. It didn’t work out but I was still confident that it would thrive in Seoul, where there were more people. I was sure about the taste. I was lucky enough to take over a space that my friend’s relative used to run, which happened to be in Sinyongsan. Back then, Sinyongsan was much quieter and less populated. It wasn’t the most commercial district, but I liked the vibe of the streets, given how difficult it is now in Seoul to find towns that still maintain the mood that existed 10, 20 years ago. Not to mention you are just a few steps away from its more modern counterpart, which includes architecture like the Amorepacific building.

Most of the town’s residents were born and raised here. Opening MIMIOK here probably had an impact on their daily lives or businesses, either directly or indirectly. In particular, it was natural for the owners of restaurants in the area to think that they had lost some of their customers to MIMIOK. I wanted to win their hearts and minds. So, I delivered them pho from MIMIOK and hamburgers from Burger Boy, and I even gave the elders free massages. Once, I bought a new stroller for this old lady who carried around a worn-out stroller to collect discarded boxes. I tried what I could to fit into the local community.

And I believe my efforts paid off. Even before I launched Burger Boy and Shawnino, real estate agents from the area let me in on ideal spaces available for rent. Thanks to them, I was able to open Burger Boy and Shawnino nearby MIMIOK.

Every month, I sponsor pho and hamburgers for preschool and underprivileged children. Making financial donations is nice, but I wanted to share food. It’s not just because I run restaurants; I believe there is something heart-warming about sharing food.

I want to help leukemia patients one day. Sometimes, people come to the restaurants after hearing about how I was once a leukemia patient myself. They ask me how I was able to recover completely. Some of them are young, just like I was when I was first diagnosed. It hurts me to think how desperate they must be. It’s my dream to one day contribute to people outside of the local community and help leukemia patients.

For MIMIOK, the secret was in reinterpreting pho with a taste of Seoul. We use Korean mint in our pho instead of cilantro, which has a stronger scent, and we use rice noodles made with Icheon rice. Burger Boy is an outdoor hamburger brand. If you ask regular campers what food they enjoy the most while camping, many of them will pick hamburgers, which is where I got the idea to make an American-style hamburger you eat while camping. With Shawnino, I recreated some hearty Italian dishes I used to enjoy in Italy to suit the palate of Korean customers. All three brands have a story and features that make them special.

But for me, what makes a restaurant popular isn’t just its taste. When it comes to restaurants, not all our ‘personal favorites’ made it to the list because of their amazing food. Most consumers these days have a high bar in terms of food, service, interior, atmosphere, and even . Of those, what I pay the most attention to is ‘service.’ My goal is to make customers leave our restaurants feeling delighted. We all have that experience where a pleasant dining experience was ruined by a rude server, right? Then there is that place where the food is mediocre but the service is impeccable, making you want to come back.

Offering hair ties to customers with long hair, saying things in a more considerate way… small things like that are what I tell my employees to pay attention to. In that regard, I consider HR to be one of the most critical aspects of my business.

Many of our employees in their 20s, including part-timers, have been working with us for quite a while now. I believe creating a well-defined boundary is the secret to working with young employees. An inclusive yet flexible culture can make even the most individual and independent employees blend in smoothly.

For example, we have different workplace social clubs. There is the ‘Running Crew’ whose members meet on a regular basis to run, and there is the ‘Art Dining Event’ where we invite employees to talk about art over food. All these social clubs began not with the purpose of making money or promoting our businesses, but solely of motivating our employees because giving the right motivation to the employees is very important. I post photos of employees hosting the event on social media, putting them in the spotlight. You would think they would shy away, but on the contrary, they work harder because they feel a strong sense of responsibility. When one event ends in a success, they try even harder on the next event. In the end, customers benefit from happy employees.

Another perk is the ‘1:1 interview,’ which is, yes, something you can find at most companies. However, in the restaurant business, interviewing employees on a one-on-one basis is not easy because I have to be present at the restaurants I run. Nonetheless, I wanted to make sure that our employees get a chance to vent. So, I make time to conduct 1:1 interviews, despite my packed schedule.

When you ask an employee, ‘Is there anything that’s bothering you at work these days?’ many of them will say, ‘No, there isn’t.’ But if you ask the same question on paper, they will go on and on about it. I prepare a questionnaire on personal concerns, work-related relationships, or even health, and do a 1:1 interview based on the responses written on the questionnaire. It’s a good way to start a heart-to-heart conversation, and the employees get a chance to vent. They may end up reconsidering quitting and working for a few more years in the end. It really depends on how you build the corporate culture.

I’m thinking about opening a cafe that opens very early in the morning. There is already a community, named SMCC, the Seoul Morning Coffee Club. It’s a get-together of people who meet between 7 and 8 in the morning to drink coffee. I had an SMCC meet this morning as well.

I’ve been waking up early in the morning for about 10 years now, ever since I realized that getting important chores out of the way early in the morning makes your life so much easier. For me, those important chores were working out, reading, and learning a second language. I wake up at 5 to exercise and study a second language for about two hours, then at 7, I grab a cup of coffee from a cafe that opens early and read or organize my thoughts. I posted Instagram stories about going to a cafe early in the morning, and people started asking what I was up to. Some of them even wanted to join. So, I made a community where people would gather at a cafe early in the morning for a quick coffee chat. It’s been about 6 months now, and the community already has more than 3,000 followers on Instagram. Now, the community is being run in more than 10 regions.

You see so many cafes that open early in the morning when you travel abroad. Even in European countries that are known for their laid-back culture, cafes open at 6 or 7 in the morning. In Korea, most cafes open around 10, which is a little too late for a cup of true ‘morning’ coffee. So, I wanted to change this morning coffee culture. The order got mixed up, so I somehow ended up building a community before I opened a cafe. I want people to see an ‘SMCC’ cup and think, ‘Oh, he/she must be a morning person.’

I’m really into Yoga and meditation these days. I’ve been doing Yoga for quite a while, but never have I appreciated Yoga’s benefits on my mental health as much as I do these days. Those minutes, hours you spend focusing on your body and mind help build muscles not only in your body, but also in your mind. A strong, muscular mind is the best remedy for stress.

Strangely enough, not really. I’m neither too afraid of failure nor too excited about success. I know from experience that success comes at a cost. Once you reach the top, there is only coming down. My restaurants and my YouTube channel are gaining publicity at the moment, but they will die out one day. ‘Don’t be overly exhilarated about good things, but don’t be overly sad about bad things either’ — it’s a saying by Pomnyun that I always tell myself.

Many of us are after ‘small but certain moments of happiness’ these days. For me, it’s about heading towards your big dream in the long run, while not missing out on the small delights that life offers you. The secret to my happiness is giving my fullest each day and never letting go of that big dream.

CEO Park Jae-hyun tells us that he was able to come this far because he followed his heart, not wanting to leave any regrets behind, after completely recovering from leukemia. We look forward to witnessing the small moments of happiness he will collect on his way to his big dream.