소연엄 So Yun Um's 'Liquor Store Dreams' Breaks Down the Complexities of Succession Planning for Immigrant Founders - Inc. Australia
So Yun Um's 'Liquor Store Dreams' Breaks Down the Complexities of Succession Planning for Immigrant Founders - Inc. Australia
So Yun Um | 소연엄
Diverse in Business
So Yun Um’s ‘Liquor Store Dreams’ Breaks Down the Complexities of Succession Planning for Immigrant Founders
BY Alyssa Khan
July 1, 2023
So Yun Um and her father, Hae Sup Um, in their Los Angeles liquor store. Photo: Courtesy Tribeca.
As Immigrant Heritage Month comes to a close, don’t miss Um’s firsthand glimpse into the tensions immigrant families face every day.
How do you repay parents who have given you everything? You refuse to take over their business.
At least, that’s what second-generation Korean Americans and stars of the 2022 documentary Liquor Store Dreams Danny Park and So Yun Um were told by their parents. Both Park and Um’s parents started liquor stores in Los Angeles after immigrating to the United States. Both Park and Um were told, in no uncertain terms, to not take the businesses over.
“My dad would flip over in his grave if he knew I was doing this,” Park said in the film, which was recently shown as the centerpiece documentary at CAAMFest 2023.
Many second-generation Korean Americans like Park and Um are “liquor store babies,” as they put it. In fact, the number of Korean American-owned grocery and liquor stores in Los Angeles County increased by 750 percent between 1977 and 1991. The children of those entrepreneurs watched their parents struggle and hustle every day to give them a shot at the American dream — but, for many, witnessing their parents’ hardships resulted in guilt, worry, and anxiety for their own dreams and safety.
Park’s dream — which he achieved — was to become a graphic designer at Nike. His parents were long-time business owners: They opened their first liquor store in 1993, and in 1995, they opened a store now known as the Skid Row People’s Market. When his father passed away, Park began flying back to California twice a month to help his mother manage the store. But seeing her struggle to maintain the business, Park decided to leave his job at Nike and take over.
Despite how his father might have felt, Park has never second-guessed his decision. As he sees it, the store represents more than just his parents’ legacy: It’s a means to support and heal the community. Since taking over his family’s store, Park has grown the business from a corner convenience store into an oasis for affordable, healthy food in the Southen Los Angeles food desert. “I am happily doing this,” he said in the film.
Um, who also directed the documentary, asks her father in the film what he would want her to do with the family’s store if he suddenly passed away. He responds that she should “absolutely” sell it, despite the 20 years he had worked — with no days off — to build the business.
Um’s father immigrated to the U.S. in 1981. During the 1992 LA riots, he watched as six of his family members had their businesses burned to ash. Um’s father opened his first liquor store in 2000 and regularly worked 15-hour work days to keep the business afloat. Um’s parents also faced racism — Um explains in the film that Spike Lee’s prominent use of the “angry Korean liquor store owner” came to define how society viewed her parents — as well as aggressive physical attacks, including robbery and assault.
Having endured all this, Um’s father encourages her to abandon the business when he’s gone and pursue work she will actually enjoy — even if that means directing films, which he is less than excited about.
And yet, Um still sometimes struggles with her decision to not take over the store. “I feel like immigrant guilt is real. We are naturally in a sense better off than our parents. We have access to language. We grew up here,” she said in an interview with CAAM.
So Yun Um | 소연엄
Diverse in Business
So Yun Um’s ‘Liquor Store Dreams’ Breaks Down the Complexities of Succession Planning for Immigrant Founders
BY Alyssa Khan
July 1, 2023
So Yun Um and her father, Hae Sup Um, in their Los Angeles liquor store. Photo: Courtesy Tribeca.
As Immigrant Heritage Month comes to a close, don’t miss Um’s firsthand glimpse into the tensions immigrant families face every day.
How do you repay parents who have given you everything? You refuse to take over their business.
At least, that’s what second-generation Korean Americans and stars of the 2022 documentary Liquor Store Dreams Danny Park and So Yun Um were told by their parents. Both Park and Um’s parents started liquor stores in Los Angeles after immigrating to the United States. Both Park and Um were told, in no uncertain terms, to not take the businesses over.
“My dad would flip over in his grave if he knew I was doing this,” Park said in the film, which was recently shown as the centerpiece documentary at CAAMFest 2023.
Many second-generation Korean Americans like Park and Um are “liquor store babies,” as they put it. In fact, the number of Korean American-owned grocery and liquor stores in Los Angeles County increased by 750 percent between 1977 and 1991. The children of those entrepreneurs watched their parents struggle and hustle every day to give them a shot at the American dream — but, for many, witnessing their parents’ hardships resulted in guilt, worry, and anxiety for their own dreams and safety.
Park’s dream — which he achieved — was to become a graphic designer at Nike. His parents were long-time business owners: They opened their first liquor store in 1993, and in 1995, they opened a store now known as the Skid Row People’s Market. When his father passed away, Park began flying back to California twice a month to help his mother manage the store. But seeing her struggle to maintain the business, Park decided to leave his job at Nike and take over.
Despite how his father might have felt, Park has never second-guessed his decision. As he sees it, the store represents more than just his parents’ legacy: It’s a means to support and heal the community. Since taking over his family’s store, Park has grown the business from a corner convenience store into an oasis for affordable, healthy food in the Southen Los Angeles food desert. “I am happily doing this,” he said in the film.
Um, who also directed the documentary, asks her father in the film what he would want her to do with the family’s store if he suddenly passed away. He responds that she should “absolutely” sell it, despite the 20 years he had worked — with no days off — to build the business.
Um’s father immigrated to the U.S. in 1981. During the 1992 LA riots, he watched as six of his family members had their businesses burned to ash. Um’s father opened his first liquor store in 2000 and regularly worked 15-hour work days to keep the business afloat. Um’s parents also faced racism — Um explains in the film that Spike Lee’s prominent use of the “angry Korean liquor store owner” came to define how society viewed her parents — as well as aggressive physical attacks, including robbery and assault.
Having endured all this, Um’s father encourages her to abandon the business when he’s gone and pursue work she will actually enjoy — even if that means directing films, which he is less than excited about.
And yet, Um still sometimes struggles with her decision to not take over the store. “I feel like immigrant guilt is real. We are naturally in a sense better off than our parents. We have access to language. We grew up here,” she said in an interview with CAAM.
“But what do you do with the guilt? Because, sure, I can feel guilty all I want partying it up while my parents are working, but at the same time, they sacrificed all this so you could not do something that they’re doing. I think parents also acknowledge that they’re also suffering so you don’t have to, and you kind of have to do them justice by living your life the way that you want to. And that’s not so tied to work.”
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