Starter Girlz Podcast
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Each episode features inspiring success stories from trailblazing women and extraordinary men, offering practical advice, mindset strategies, and real-world insight into the startup journey and beyond.
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Starter Girlz Podcast
She Was Stuck at $35K - Now She Runs a 7-Figure Business
Do you feel stuck living paycheck to paycheck—and dream of building lasting financial freedom? In this episode, Sun Yong Kim-Manzellini shares how she went from earning $35,000 a year as a single mom to building a seven-figure business by learning to trade, shifting her mindset, and taking bold action.
Raised in South Korean orphanages and adopted to the U.S. at 14, Sun Yong overcame adversity most can’t imagine. After working over three decades in the medical field and still struggling financially, she realized her “dream job” wouldn’t create her dream life. So she made a change—and transformed her future in just one year.
This inspiring conversation is packed with powerful insights to help you break free from financial limitations and start designing a life of freedom—on your terms.
What You’ll Learn:
✅ How to escape the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle
✅ Strategies for creating financial freedom through investing
✅ The mindset shifts that open doors to wealth
✅ How small actions lead to massive transformation
✅ Why your past doesn’t define your potential
👉 Connect with Sun Yong: https://linktr.ee/tripleincome
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That's the moment, jennifer, I realized my life fell apart, like I didn't want to live anymore, I didn't want to exist. I mean, I wanted to crawl back into my mother's dead womb, you know, and I wanted to tell her. I wanted to tell my mom. I said, mom, guess what happened After you died. Dad left, Now my sister left, Now I'm all alone. What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to?
Jennifer Loehding:survive. Welcome to the Starter Girlz podcast, your ultimate source of inspiration and empowerment. We're here to help women succeed in every area of their lives career, money, relationships, and health and well-being while celebrating the remarkable journeys of individuals from all walks of life who've achieved amazing things. Whether you're looking to supercharge your career, build financial independence, nurture meaningful relationships or enhance your overall well-being, the Starter Girlz podcast is here to guide you. Join us as we explore the journeys of those who dare to dream big and achieve greatness. I'm your host, jennifer Loehding, and welcome to this episode.
Jennifer Loehding:Welcome to another episode of the Starter Girlz podcast. Wherever you are tuning in today, we are so glad to have you. I'm your host, jennifer Loehding. All right, we're going to get things officially started here today. So, from orphanages in South Korea to building a seven-figure business, this is more than a success story. It's a blueprint for anyone who's ever been underestimated, overlooked or told they weren't enough. It's a reminder that your past doesn't define your potential. Your mindset does. And so you are going to hear from an incredible guest today. I'm so excited to chat with her. This is the first time we're actually getting to meet. This is going to be so much fun. But before I bring her on, I do need to do a quick shout out to our sponsor.
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Jennifer Loehding:And with that, we do want to also tell you to head on over to startergirlz. com. And why do you want to go over there? For a few reasons. One, if you have missed an episode or want to catch up with any of those early day episodes, you can find them there. You can also sign up for our community newsletter and keep up with all the information and episodes that are going out. And then, of course, if you are an entrepreneur, maybe you're starting out, or maybe you've been here for a while and you want to figure out what may be something that could be holding you back. Right now, we have a fun quiz over there. It's a two-minute quiz and it will tell you what subconscious block or pattern may be hindering your success. So, again, head on over to startergirlz. com and do your thing.
Jennifer Loehding:All right, with that, we do want to welcome our guest onto the show. So today we are talking to Sun Yong Kim- Manzolini, a powerhouse entrepreneur, author and mindset mentor, born in South Korea and raised in orphanages. Due to a physical disability, she overcame incredible odds After being adopted at 14, she went on to work in the medical field for over three decades, but knew deep down she was meant for more. As a single mom, tired of living paycheck to paycheck, she taught herself option trading and investing, turning a $35,000 salary into a $178,000 income in just one year. Today, she runs Lush Enterprises and helps others, especially single parents, break financial barriers through her miracle system. She's proof that, no matter where you start, you can design a life of wealth, freedom and purpose when you choose to believe in your own transformation. So, Sun Yong, welcome to Starter Girlz. I am so excited to have you here today.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:I am so excited to be here on your podcast and the way you introduced me, I think just said it beautifully. I don't know if I need to say anything more. No, I'm just kidding.
Jennifer Loehding:This is. Hey, listen, you don't know me and I'm going to tell you this really quick. So I spent 22 years in Mary Kay, with many of those years in leadership, and so obviously in that world we do a lot of accolades, and so it was very normal for us to be introduced with accolades or introduce our team with accolades, and so for me, this is just normal part of my day, but it's probably one of my most favorite parts of doing the creation of this, because I get to sort of kind of paint the picture of who the person is that we're going to chat, you know, with. But also I think it's fun because you guys sort of get to hear that about yourself, and I think it's fun when somebody sort of kind of tells us who we are like, reads back all the things we've done. You know what I mean. So it's fun for me as much as it is for you too.
Jennifer Loehding:Yes, it is a lot of fun. It's just great, awesome when you've done some awesome things. So I want to talk about you. I want to talk about this journey, what you've learned, because I know people listening to this today are going to be like, wow, this is just incredible. So tell us a little bit about. Let's start with what you're doing now. I want to start there, with where you're at right now in your life, and then we're going to back this up just a tad after that.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Okay, sure Boy, right now, at this moment, I'm just literally like living my dream life, Seriously being retired and just teaching people how to make money, the skills that they need to learn, because we all need the money right, and being able to travel and if things are like needs to be replaced appliances, the broken appliances, anything. It's not like I have to wait 30 days for the next paycheck. I could just go and get it now. It's like, okay, something's broken, let's replace it now. If we don't want any like a carpet and into like a wood floor, let's just do it now.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Where my life before I was living like paycheck to paycheck, it's like I can't even do that. It's like I got gotta wait two or three years. I have to wait till I save up money. So, having living this dream life, having that peacefulness and feeling content and being stay home and being able to travel and you know, being able to, uh, fly first class, which I never got to do when I was working for a company at my dream job, but being able to fly uh, you fly first class and just having that extra TLC care level when you travel and once you're there, I remember once in a while when I would go on vacations before I became a seven figure entrepreneur, was that, once I got there, it took all of my money to get here, with airline tickets and place to stay, but I had no money to go do anything when. Now it's like dream life, is like wow, we're here on a first class and we're able to travel, we're able to go out to eat, we could, you know, go on a vacation for like a month at a time, not just one week or two weeks, right, and it's just unbelievable.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:And it is just a way how the things that I have learned, that I'm able to, you know, live it daily basis, continue to practice and continue to teach people. You know paying forward and being glad, you know, having that gratitude of like, everything that I have accomplished, because obviously I didn't do this all by myself, I didn't do it with all easiness. You know it's just like willing to tackle, willing to face the obstacles. It's not like, you know, okay, I think I'm going to do that and it was just breeze. No, it didn't happen like that.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:It was just a long journey, but it was just fun and the the funnest part of the journey is that the lessons that I have learned and the curvings you know what I mean Like the, the failures that I've been through, and using that as like my stepping stone. Instead of going, oh I'm scared, you know, like I don't think I'm going to do that anymore, no, like you just keep going, it's like, oh, there's another path I got to go through, let's do it. It's just amazing. And people that are around you, that we surround ourselves, is just so different too, just because already automatically your mindset is just like elevated than your normal life. You know, I just can't explain it. It's just wonderful. Well, and listening to you, you know, I just can't explain it, it's just wonderful.
Jennifer Loehding:Well, and listening to you, you know it's interesting because in all the years that I was in Mary Kay, you know we had these different levels right we had on the top were these emeriti, and the national emeriti were obviously the retired ones, and then we had the national sales directors, which are where kind of the epitome of where all of the Mary Kay, most of Mary Kay, they wanted to live, because it's not lifestyle, that's what you're talking about Basically, it's that freedom to, to travel. And so it's interesting because I talked to these people and I heard this for years from then. What you're kind of essentially talking about right now is just this freedom, right, freedom to choose, and we used to always talk about, you know, mary Kay, like money. Money didn't doesn't buy happiness, but it buys you freedom to choose Right.
Jennifer Loehding:And so when you don't have it, it's like not breathing Right, like when you don't, and you know because you've been on that side and you've been on this side, and so it's so interesting when you say you know like it's, it's justsee it right, like you can't unsee this other side. So it's so great and refreshing, you know, to hear this from you, but also I think what's remarkable about your story is to show people that where you came from and how you work to this place right Now to have it, because it wasn't something where you just woke up and you're like, oh my goodness, you know, I dream a genie, bleak, whatever you know, wiggle your nose and you're there. No, you had to put in all the work to get to this place and I think that's what's so neat, is that you're you're talking about this and showing people that, hey, this was the process or this is what I had to go through and and to get to this, this place, so I commend you for that.
Jennifer Loehding:It's awesome, thank you. Thank you, I love it, I love it and I and I'm with you. I feel like it's sort of like when I talk about like wisdom, you cannot see what you see, right, like it's like, once you learn something, you can't unsee it and you're like how did I not ever see that before? But you, you weren't supposed to see it, that was not your place to see it at that time. Right, you know when you, when you see it is when you see it yeah, yeah, and you, you were right on spot too.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Just because, as we're journeying through, you know, we just think about just uh, why me or I can't handle this anymore. We don't think about anything else, but just on mom, and it's like, oh, this is just terrible and I don't know if I could take another step. I don't know if I could go on like this for another month or a year. You know, we just think about how bad that is, instead of if we were to focus on you know what this could turn into. We don't know.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:But a lot of things that I've done as I was growing up that I didn't think about, like, if I do this, this is what I'm going to get, because I didn't have anybody around me to let me know.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:That's what the result is. It's just when you find yourself like, okay, enough is enough, my life has to be different than what I'm living now, yeah, then you have to do something about it, right? And so little teeny steps that you take, like today, like we could look at ourselves and say, okay, what do I have right now that I could do to be successful? And a lot of times we think, well, I've got to have money, I've got to have a successful business and I've got to be successful. And a lot of times we think, well, I've got to have money, I've got to have a successful business and I've got to have a team that you know. No, especially when you don't have those things, what can you do within your you know, within your circle, within your surroundings, like what can you find that is going to change and shift your life?
Jennifer Loehding:Yeah, that's good. It's good. No, I agree with you totally. And it's starting. I always say start where you are right, like start where you are with what you have in that moment, because we always like to look at something and go compare ourselves to somebody else's journey and we don't even have all the resources or the things that they've got in that place right. So we have to really just start with where we are. But it's so good that you say that, because it compounds over time the little things that we do just keep compounding. And it's like this in everything. It doesn't matter whether you're setting out a business or you're adopting a new lifestyle plan, whatever it is, or you're going to take on a new educational course, whatever it's all these compounding effects that we do step by step along the way. So so good. I love it, want to back it up.
Jennifer Loehding:I want to talk a little bit about your journey, because you've had a remarkable journey and I just I love these stories Like I am a sucker for these stories because I think they really show you that anything is possible.
Jennifer Loehding:You know, and you strike me as the type of person you said this because you didn't really know different. That you know, I firmly believe, unless somebody tells me something can't be done, there's always a part of me that's like I'm going to test that water, like I'm just going to, and maybe that's why my kids are this way when we were talking about them doing things that sometimes I just have to, like, pause for a moment. Apple meat tree, right, because I am one of those that if somebody tells me something can't be done and if they haven't shown me that it really can't be done, then I'm going to want to maybe check that out. So you strike me as a type of person that's like I'm going to keep pushing. So let's back up and tell us a little bit about the beginning stages of how we got to where we are Sure.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:So just to make it really quick here, so basically I was born in South Korea and when I was a little girl my mother passed away and then right after that my dad decided to just kind of leave, you know, didn't tell us where he was going or nothing. I don't ever remember having a communications with him at all, although when before my mother passed away he would bring me a pretty dress to wear, but I could never enjoy it just because I could stand up to wear it and then show it off. I was just always on the floor, just not able to walk. So just basically. So my dad passed, I mean took off, without telling us where he was going. He did tell my sister and say you know, I want you to take care of Sanyoung. So my sister and I we became an instant orphan after my dad left us. So we were in an orphanage in Mokpo, lived there for a couple of years.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:At there, that orphanage, there was a couple of things I realized as a little girl. Sometimes we watch things or listen to people, the grownups, and then we realize, aha, you know, or okay. And so at that orphanage I realized that my family, I thought that my family was normal. When my dad left us, I was like, how could you do that to us? Like that's mean, like we need a mother and a father to take care of us. But here we are, but that orphanage. I would hear babies crying, and then the orphanage workers would go open the front door and pick up a newborn baby uh, to like two or three months old even, and wrapped in a thin blanket and the baby would just cry, cry, cry until someone would pick them up, and so they would open the door and pick up the baby and they would just talk door and pick up the baby and they would just talk about oh, we've got another baby today to take care of. You know, it's an orphanage. So, right, those moments I realized, aha, my family is normal. It's normal for family to drop their kids off or leave and go somewhere else.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Another thing that I realized living in that orphanage was that I want to be able to do the things other kids were doing, which was they were playing outside, they were walking and I could not walk and I thought, why can I not walk? And so I want that, right, I want that. Then, just a few months later, my sister, out of the blue. She showed me a picture and she says I want to take you to this new place. And I'm like what is this place? She says this is a place that you're going to learn to walk. But in the back of my mind, watching other kids playing outside, I wanted to learn to walk because I wanted to play outside. But when it came to an opportunity where my sister says here, I'm going to take you to this place and this is where you're going to learn to walk, and I said wait a minute, I don't want that. How many times do we do that? We look at the equipment, that's what we want, but then what we have to go through, we're like uh-uh, no, thank you, right. And so when my sister gave me an opportunity and said I'm going to take you to this place where they're going to teach you how to walk, and I said uh, no, thanks, no, I just want to live with you. That's all I want. I lost my mom and dad. You're the only person that I have. No, I'm good, I don't want it. And as her older than me, she had a responsibility to take care of me. You know, remember, she lost her mom too. We're sisters right. And so she says so she took me there.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:And that second orphanage and it was just a full of handicapped kids. It was like rehab center. And when I went into that orphanage I was so scared because I have never seen so many kids in my life. Every corner that you turn around, everybody was walking with the wheelchair, I mean walking with the crutches, walking with the limp and getting around with the wheelchairs, and I have never seen anybody all at one time. I was just scared.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Well, in that orphanage my sister and I we kind of fought back and forth, leaning like saying I don't want to leave you, you know, I don't want you to go, I want you to stay with me, and all that back and forth. And finally, like I don't know, it took like more than an hour, I would say like it was all morning long just going back and forth and she was talking to the orphanage workers there and finally she says I have to go to the bathroom. And I said okay, no problem, I'll go with you. You know, like she's used to taking me to the bathroom because I can walk Right, and so it was just normal thing. And I said no problem, I'll go with you and she said this time I don't trust you.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Somehow I have this instinct, even as a little girl. It's like something is off. Something is off a little bit. So I said, no, I'll go, we'll hold hands, we'll go. She says, no, I'll be right back. She even pinky promised. She says I'll be right back. Let's promise each other, and in Korea when we pinky promise means it's like literally like promise, promise. So I let her go because she said she had to go to the bathroom, so bad. And I let her go and I waited all day. When the dinner time came, I didn't want to eat dinner. I was still waiting for her to come back to me, never came back. That's the moment, jennifer, I realized my life fell apart. I didn't want to live anymore. I didn't want to exist. I mean, I wanted to crawl back into my mother's dead womb. I wanted to tell her.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:I wanted to tell my mom I, mom, mom, guess what happened After you died? Dad left, now my sister left, now I'm all alone. What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to survive? I wanted to tell those things to my mother. I was just aching in my heart. And that day, when I decided for me how my life is going to be, I'm never going to talk to anybody, I'm never going to trust anybody, I never will smile at anybody period. I decided that for me that day.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Yeah, so I was left there. There didn't have a choice, and I was just watching people getting around and one of the staff worker told me so I think that you need to learn to walk. That's where your sister dropped here. And I didn't talk to her or anything, I was just really mad. And she showed me what to do. We didn't have any physical therapists or anybody, you know, not like America Life, you know. So she told me there's a long hallways, everywhere there's long hallways and that's a rehab center. So everybody was hanging on to things, getting around, wheelchairs and everything. So she showed me hang on to the rail, stand up and sit down, stand up and sit down, stand up and sit down. She said that's all you do. You do that until you feel comfortable. Once you feel comfortable, then you hang on to the rail and you take a step. And I thought to myself I can't do that. Nobody's here to help me. But I didn't have a choice. As I was watching other kids getting around, I couldn't even get around. I was just squinting myself on the floor with my buttock and my hands and my right knee getting around this way. Wow, I wanted to be able to at least get around in a wheelchair and so, okay, I'll do that.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:So my main thing in that orphanage was just doing that. That's all I did Eat my meals and just did that. I didn't talk to anybody. I had nothing to do, live for that. I didn't want to associate with anybody, I didn't care to make friends. That's all I did because I wanted to get around like other kids.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:And when I was about six or seven years old. So I was put in that orphanage about age five and it took me about a year or two to learn to walk on my own, just by doing that process for years. And when I was about six, seven years old, I remember all the staffs were sitting on a chair. They put me in the middle of the floor and they says okay, now I want you to take a second. They watched me, what I could do, right? Obviously I didn't know they were watching me, but obviously they were watching me. They put me in the middle of the room and everybody was around away from me and they said stand up. And so I stood up in the middle of the room and everybody was around away from me and they said stand up. And so I stood up in the middle of the floor like this right, and they said now take a step. There's nothing next to me for me to hang on to. There was no chair, there was nobody, no rails. I was just me and the floor middle of the room. And they told me to take a step and I was just so scared that was the scariest moment in my life at age six or seven. And they said take a step. And I said uh-uh. They said take a step, we know you can do it. I said uh-uh. I said I got to have something, I got to hang on to something. She goes nope, you don't need it. They were just watching me.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:So after, about, it took me probably like an hour going back and forth and I was shaking, I was just so scared and finally took a step with my right foot, like this, and I was watching the floor, make sure the floor did not move, because they didn't tell me the floor was not going to move.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:They just said just take a step. So I look at the floor, nothing's near me. And I just took a one step with my right foot and I was smiling because the floor didn't move. It stayed. So then I thought, okay, they said, now take another step with the left foot, and I was like they're just crazy, I can't take another step, I'm going to fall. Anyway, it took me a long time to take my second step. I'll tell you when that happened, at the moment my life turned around 360 degrees where I was like I hate the world, I don't trust anything. That process I learned to trust those people because they told me to take a step but I did. But then I also learned to trust myself because I was going to say bam.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Yes, I did those process of practicing every single day and put to test and then took a step and I thought I could do this. I cannot believe it and the first thing that I wanted to do is to do running around, being a gopher, running errands for everybody, for the whole orphanage, because they cannot walk normal. I can't now.
Jennifer Loehding:Yes, it lit a fire in you.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:I was just so happy so I would do errands for everybody, like what do you need? What do you need? What do you mean to take? You know, carry younger kids on my back and just carry them to one place. I was just so happy. That was just so happy. That was like my new life and I realized that moment that I could also pay back and I could also give to the world. I didn't learn to walk to help people, help my friends. I just wanted to be like them. I want to be able to get around from place a to place b. That's all. But when you accomplish those goals, then you think about something bigger. You know it's like what, what, what else can I do with my walking legs? How can I contribute? How can I make a difference in other people's life? Contribute? How can I make a difference in other people's?
Jennifer Loehding:life. Yeah, that's a good story. Wow, well, and it's. You know, it's so interesting about your story is so in one of the um, the coaching programs that I'm certified, we use the example of a baby walking, like how when babies fall down, they get right back up and they don't really make excuses, they just get right back up and start walking. And how we like you kind of portrayed very vividly and expressively we make, we start to have fear and start to doubt ourselves, and so we just pause and we don't move. And so you literally had to learn to walk. You basically had to learn to do that, and I think there's so much about this I mean you're talking about, in the beginning, this whole abandonment thing and how that creeped in and really blocked you from seeing your potential.
Jennifer Loehding:But then you had this moment where you realize you know now I can do something different for myself and I have the power to do that. And people believed in me and when they believed in me, it gave me the courage and the strength to actually do something. So there's so many great messages in this and then giving it back when now you conquered something, and it gives you the ability now to share that story and help other people with your new gift, and you know what I mean. There's so many great things in that story, so I love it. And you know what I mean. There's so many, so many great things in that story, so I love it.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:You know, and yeah, and I just think that if I wasn't a mother, I would not realize all the things that I realize now. Like you pointed out a few things was that you know? It clicked into my mind. So it's interesting. Life teaches us so many lessons, you know, no matter what age, only if your mind is open to listen, because if you're going to have a closed mind, they will not hear a thing, they will not hear us all, right. But when you are willing to listen and you're willing to tap into, it's like you know what. There are so many lessons that I want to learn, that I can learn to benefit me and benefit those around me and to the world. You know, and so, but everything that you learn, you have to have to do it yourself first. You have to get the results. You have to enjoy the results from what you're going through to be able to share that with others. Right, and so when I was a mother I have four kids and, like you just talked about, as kids were learning to crawl I remember putting the toys in front of the kids and you know, my babes, when they're learning to crawl at age three months or something, it goes oh good, and we clap, and then we put our toys a little bit further so they could reach. You know it's like, okay, you came this far, let's see if you could go for a toy a little bit further. And so they crawl and they look for that.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:I have missed all those processes. I have never gotten those things as an abandoned child, as an orphan, and so, again as a mother, I realized like, aha, I was missing all these things. And when I was learning to walk, like you said, when my kids were learning to walk and they hang on to things and they fall down, and then we help them and say, come on, you can do it, take another step, come on, come on, come on. You know we increase them, right, right. And as a child, all those things were never been through. I was ignored. Yeah, you know. In fact, when I came to America, when I went to my doctorate, family took me to many different specialists and trying to figure out why I did not learn to walk. When human being as a child is being neglected, not being attention to pay attention to or being held loved. None of those were there for me.
Jennifer Loehding:So how am I supposed to get that early bonding and stuff?
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Yeah you didn't get anything mentally, physically any, you know, bonding or love, caring, right. And so I have learned like every time I became a mother, it's like wow, wow, wow, it's like okay, okay, okay. And so, instead of feeling sorry for myself, I thought I am so glad that I'm a mother because I learned things that nobody explained to me, that what I've been through, but what I was missing, right, right, it's interesting. Life is just so interesting.
Jennifer Loehding:It is, it is. And I tell you, if we talk about the topic of motherhood, I'm like man, there is no manual in life that could tell you how to be a mother right, or what you're going to go through. Because I tell you, I learned my kids are all adults now and I learn every day. And it's so funny because I remember them being little humans and thinking man, toddlers are just hard because they're mouthy and they're stubborn. And then then we got to like young adult, you know, like the 18 and up mark, and I'm like, oh my gosh, it's like that all over again. But now they're legal age, and now they can let you know they're legal age. And so now you got that going on and then threatening that they can take care of themselves. But they really can't take care of themselves, you know. So I'm like there is no manual that tells you any of this stuff. And you're right, I think the wisdom comes in just the doing. You know, and you said something earlier I wanted to come back to because, funny enough, I'm going through a previous episode that I had last week with a doctor she's a former doctor that now is kind of gone into maybe a little bit more of what you're doing, more mentorship or more giving back that kind of thing, and we were talking about a lot about the difference between, like satisfaction and success.
Jennifer Loehding:But one of the things I brought up was narrow minded people. We were talking about being curious, right, like how you need to be curious in life in order to find the things you need to find and to learn, and all that, and I said there's nothing more, like I don't know what I exactly said, but really in my mind, there's nothing more that's a turnoff. Dealing with somebody. It's a narrow minded person, a person that says this is the way it is, it's the way it's always been, and we're just stuck in this, right, like she was really emphasizing this whole thing about we need to be curious.
Jennifer Loehding:And so I think to your point, yes, that's exactly why you've been able to do the things you've been able to do, because you led with curiosity and in a mindset I'm willing to learn, I'm willing to be better, I'm willing to improve, do things differently, right, and I feel like that's sort of kind of the way I live my life too. I'm not going to lie, there's not time. Sometimes I get stuck in my moment, in a pattern, I'm like, no, we're not doing that. But I always try to be of the mindset that if there's a better way of doing something, or if I can improve and be better, show up differently, learn more, then I'm going to choose to try to do that. So the lessons are there if you're curious and open.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:There's so many like valuable lessons that we could learn each day too, you know. But it's just amazing. And I and so, going back to where, so you know, I was adopted by American family at age 14. And then, as a teenager you know, like I said, I'm talking about my teenage kids. It's like they got to be a teenager, you know. They got to go out with friends, go to the movies and, you know, hang out. My teenage life was like okay, I have to learn new language, I have to learn to trust people all over again and I have to learn to be a part of the family where which I was not part of for first dynamics.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Yeah, yeah, I need to learn that Right. And besides, like, I have to learn the whole new culture, like how to eat different foods that I have never seen or tasted, or, like you know, like different food and rice, and then I have to wear a clothes that wear, clothes that I'm not feeling comfortable wearing. It's like. So there's that moment of like being 14. But at the same time I was scared because I thought I have to prove to these people that adopted me that it's worth their time and their money to adopt me. Otherwise I'm going to be a big failure and they're going to be disappointed. And to the point where I thought they were going to send me back to Korea, because they adopted me as a special needs child because I was born with a hair lip. I could not walk, but by then I did walk, but my legs were really crooked, so they had to spend all kinds of money on surgeries, fixing my lips up, my legs up and everything. So they adopted me, knowing that I had all these problems, you know. But so here they are giving me an opportunity. But so here they are giving me an opportunity, and I just wanted to make sure that nobody's disappointed, that I'm not a failure to anybody. You know, when somebody gives you an opportunity for a new life, like I, have to admit that. But it was hard work. It wasn't easy. It was hard work, but something that made me realize when they adopted me, when they brought me to Utah. They picked me up from their private plane from San Francisco. They came to Utah and the first day they let me sleep. Obviously the hours are different night and day, so everybody was asleep and I was right awake, and then I was bored because everybody was asleep. And then everybody was awake and I was asleep and I was right awake. And then I was bored because everybody was asleep. And then everybody was awake and I was asleep, and they would be hot around my bed and waiting for me to wake up because it was just the summer just began.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:I came on May 27. And so kids just got into a summer and they were just waiting for me to wake up and I would just sleep all day. But the day that I woke up, all day and the very next day, they knew that I had nothing. I didn't bring anything other than just a few pictures from my orphanage, my friends, pictures of my friends from orphanage. That's all I have and the clothes that I wore. They send the money to orphanage for them to buy it, so that I wore something decent, for them to buy it, so that I wore something decent.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:But they showered me with your basic necessity, like underwear, bra, shoes and purse, and I mean, like you name it, like clothes and dress. And I was just like I cannot believe this, like this is enough for the rest of my life. I don't need anything anymore. This is just unreal. Like not only they gave me a family, like they adopted me, they gave me, they showered me with all these things that is going to last me for the rest of my life. I just could not believe it.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:So the moment when I was showered with those gifts to them, it was just basic necessity for just a human being to have. But for me it was just like unbelievable. Like just to have one pair of shoes, enough. Just one pair of underwear is enough for me, one bra is enough, but having more than one pair of socks, more than one pair of shoes, one tennis shoes, one school shoes, one for church, three pair of shoes, oh my gosh. You know, I was just so excited, I was just like my jaw just dropped. I didn't know what to do. I just broke down with tears because I just thought I cannot believe that someone wanted me and took me in their arms, took me into their family and they showered me with all these gifts that I could just I have to have. It was just amazing. So I just feel like every hour, every minute, I have to prove to them that I am really worth the money that they spend on me to get me here to United States. I was worth their time for them to buy me all the things that they bought me based necessity days. I was just so grateful. So here I am, just so I did exactly what they told me to do Study hard, get a good paint job. And you know. So I did exactly what they told me to do study hard, get a good paying job. So I did that.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:So I landed myself a dream job as a certified medical assistant, working for doctors, side-by-side with them, working with the patients, for 33 years, and my parents were proud. I was really happy. I was just so happy because anybody could get a job in America if you really, you know, willing to. But to land in a dream job. That's because you know I wanted to do something that I feel really happy doing and I didn't care about the money at the time, I just wanted to be. You know they says job. You know like money doesn't make you happiness or buy you happiness and it's more important to have a you know, happy job versus making money. And I was stuck in that mindset Like sure I love it. I was so excited to go to bed the night before, just so excited to get up in the morning, just to go to work. I was just that excited. Every single day it was just like a Christmas every day in America, christmas in America, because I got to taste of that. But then I thought to myself like wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I made my dream job.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:I love what I was doing, but why am I struggling, living paycheck to paycheck, like something's wrong with this picture? Yes, yes, and not only that, but I was having to work on my days off. I worked four 10-hour days and then my only day off I was picking. I was doing side jobs. I was cleaning houses. There were some years where I was doing catering business and there's some years I sold vacuums at night. It's like why am I doing all these extra jobs on my days off, on the weekends, at my dream job? Because I was not making my dream income.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:It clicked and I thought I don't care, no matter how much I love my job. But and I thought I don't care, no matter how much I love my job, but I've got to make enough money to make ends meet. Not living paycheck to paycheck, not struggling to pay bills. So again, the things that I have done as a younger age, like I want that. I see somebody doing that. I see somebody's walking. I see somebody saying why not me?
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:So I took on exactly the same scenario. Approach, approach and say there's people out there making money, they're working at their dream job and they're making their dream income. Why not me? Yes, it was like the biggest turn on in my mind is like nobody in my family. I mean everybody was happy. My kids were happy because they knew that I was good at what I was doing and they don't know all the struggles that I went through.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:I mean there's times where I would get a notice on my door. I mean I was married for 14 years with my first husband and then I divorced him and then I was a single mother raising kids for 14 years on my own. There's times where I would get a notice on my door. And then, you know, I was a single mother raising kids for 14 years on my own. There's times where I would get a notice on my door and say you know what? You're just going to get turned up within 24 hours. I would hide that before kids got home.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:I didn't want my kids to see, right, you know, and a lot of things that we go through because you know we don't want to worry kids. Right, when they saw that they would worry, it's like mom, that are we go through because you know we don't want to worry kids. Right when they saw that they would worry, it's like mom, what are we going to do? It was just my right worry, I want to take on.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:But so I thought I'm gonna have to do something different and I thought, if I'm gonna stay at my dream job that I love so much, I won't be able to retire until they kick me out. I'm so old and I start shrinking and I can't perform my job. They're going to force me to retire. I don't want to be that place and I was staying at that job because I loved it, but then also feeling guilt because everybody was happy. I was making everybody happy, you were taking care of yourself. Feeling guilt because everybody was happy, I was making everybody happy, I was making my doctor, you were taking care of yourself, yeah, my patients happy and my parents were happy because they knew that I, how much I love my job, and they thought that I have made right and don't get me wrong.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:I was grateful for you know, the job that I got you know through educations and went to you know, going to school as a certified medical assistant and everything. It wasn't easy either, but at the end it was my dream job and so I thought, nope, I'm going to have to retire. I have no choice. I have to retire. And so I start getting myself, you know, going to seminars for real estate investors, financial investors, and I got myself trying to put it on myself before I actually retired, just like getting on your job. And you have to, you know, make sure that you have a new job lined up before you quit your old job. So say, when you're ready to retire, you have to prepare yourself something to keep yourself busy, keep yourself motivated, keep yourself, you know, so you don't turn into a couch potatoes or be sluggish with your life and things like that. And so that's what I was interested in.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:So I decided to take on a new hobby and happened to be this option trading, that I was so afraid because I thought, what is option trading? You know, and you know, when you learn, when you become a real estate investor, you're going to make so much money. There's so many people make a lot of money with doing real estate and you need to learn to make, to invest and make your money work for you. And the strategies that we have is option trading. And I said, well, I never heard about it, but what is it? Tell me about it.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:They says, well, it's going to cost this much money. And I said, okay, I don't have money. And then they said you're going to have to learn about this computer. You have to do all this with computer. And I was like, okay, count me out. Not only I don't have any money, but the computer, no, right. And I said, no, thank you. So I just basically shut my you know vision out and said, no thanks, I don't want it. So then I just kind of you, start doing whatever I need to do, and I retired in 2015, exactly one year from the time that I was talking to my doctor.
Jennifer Loehding:And you started.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Wow, I started, I said I was having a conversation I have to let my co-workers know that when I was going to retire. So I told my doctor. I said I'm going to retire. He says when? This was in 2014. And he says, when I said, oh, within a year or two.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:He says do you have any money? And I said no and he says, you know, because we were like two weeks apart in age, so we're pretty close in age, wise, and so we could talk about life, you know. He says, oh, I cannot retire. You know, things are going to be so expensive. We have to have at least a million or more. And I only had $10 into my checking account. I didn't have any money in my savings because, again, I was struggling. Yeah, and I did have my 401k, my pension plan, but I could not touch it when I retire because I was planning on retiring much earlier than the age required.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:And so I just took a bold action, basically, and says I'm going to retire within a year. I did not give myself an excuse and say I don't have any money, blah, blah, blah. But when I was looking into what I was going to do, the things that they told me and the things that is going to cost me money, and I thought, okay, I don't have any of those things, I don't want to. I'm too scared to learn about this new skill about computer. No, thank you. And so I just went on with, you know, focused on being a real estate investors and became a real estate ambassador for a real estate company and I would give like a speaking engagement to a front of people for the company and I would get paid like three hundred dollars for speaking for 10 minutes and I thought, oh, I like this, I like what you know I could do, yeah, you know, but that was just my part-time job.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:But then I was also looking at properties and investing into properties and things and I would go to like a what is it? Auctions and things. But then also it took me away from home and so I thought, wait a minute. I retired to stay home and now this is taking me away from home and they wanted to start traveling to different states to give speeches and things like that, being an ambassador. So then I said, no, I don't want to.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:So that's the thing when we want to do something, we set a goal and said we want to do this, and then while you're journeying that your new journey, if it does not align with your mission or your goal, then you can change your mind. You're not being a failure. That's one thing that I had to learn too. It's like, man, I told people that I was going to do this. I was going to tell myself I was going to do this, but it doesn't align with my goal, what I wanted to do. So then you have to quickly rethink and say, no, that's not failure, you change your mind. We could change your mind anytime. We don't have to explain to other people why we're changing our mind either Right, right, right, especially when it does not involve other people. It only involves you, right? So when you're in a relationship, in a marriage and things like that, yeah, you have to tell them whatever. But when you're doing your own business or whatever, it's on your own. You don't have to explain to anybody's working under you, right?
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:yeah, no, I agree, I agree yeah, what I have really learned was this is like I didn't have to explain, it's not a failure if I change my mind.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:If I change my mind, that's.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:The biggest thing that I really took away as an entrepreneur was that I've done so many different things and I could say to myself like, oh man, I fail, it's like so.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:For example, like, um, I've been wanting working with the internal medicine doctor for the last 20 years of my life, you know, because I was working with the elderly people and every day they come in and I would engage with them and I would want to say, if I retire, if I ever retire, I want to have a adult daycare to serve patients with the restorative therapy, so that seniors could gain their memory and their physical muscles back, so that they could live normal life, and so when they want to be able to go out with their families, they could go out not having to say, no, you cannot walk, I cannot go, because I can't get in and out of the car and too hard for me to put jacket on and all that. So I was going to solve their issues and so what happened was after I retired actually, you know, doing an option trading and that became how I made like a million dollars. You know, became a seven figure option trader.
Jennifer Loehding:Yeah.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:But I was able to create a daycare and I okay, my husband and I we opened it for nine months and then the COVID hit, oh yes, and then we had to shut it down. So let's kind of think about this step by step. If I would have known, just like all of us, whatever we want to do something, if we have a what is it? A ball crystal, whatever we could see what's going to happen in front of us in the future, we could decide and say, oh, I don't want to do that, no matter how much I want to do it, but I don't want to do it, right.
Jennifer Loehding:We don't have that.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:My phone doesn't give us that does it. Yeah, you're going to open your passion, your passion of all daycare, to help seniors with this restorative therapy. But guess what? There's going to be a worldwide, you know, a pandemic. It's going to happen. You have to shut it down. Are you still willing to pay $200,000 to, you know, buy the building and remodel and then still wanting to open? I would say, heck, no, I work too hard for my money. I don't want to waste my dime. Right, right, but we don't know right. And now, unfortunately, helping seniors, you know helping, you know, people from wheelchair to learn to walk with the holding on to, you know, the, the walkers and things. We made a huge difference in seniors and things like that. For a short time that we were open and the pandemic and it closed and again my life just went, oh, not again.
Jennifer Loehding:Here I am, yes, another pivot.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Again, when we're journeying what we want to do, there's a lot of things can happen to you by your decision, by your other people's decisions. With the worldwide pandemics, there's so many things that happen to all of us. The people make decisions Like we're little, like my dad made a decision, my sister made a decision. I don't want them to make a decision, but I have no problem, don't do that Right, and we make a decision. You know, and it affects us. But the best part of the whole thing is is like you know what. You have to be grateful for the journeys that you have, journey that, the opportunities that you got to have right, yeah, enjoy it. You have to have that gratitude. Every things that we think that is a failure because you know public eyes.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:It was hard for me to put them on google and say you, you know what? Our business is closed now, right, right, the whole world is searched. You know adult daycare, intermountain Health Daycare. You know adult daycare. You know those things, and so it's really interesting. It's been fascinating. So now what I do is all the things that I have learned. Every time I go through things and then it has not worked out due to failures and things like that. I put that into my gold bag learning lessons and say I'm using this as a tool. You know it's like this is us having a stronger person, stronger entrepreneur, a stronger mentor and a stronger coach for me to teach others, because I literally learned the biggest gold nugget lessons that I didn't even expect. But the reason that I learned because I was willing. I have open vision, open mind, open ears, open heart. But bring it on, I have a lot.
Jennifer Loehding:Yeah, I didn't even have anything to ask you because you said it all. It was so good, like that's why I didn't like this episode. You know it's so funny every now and then. I love all the episodes, but every now and then I get one where I just let the person just have it because it's like your story is so good that there's not really anything for me.
Jennifer Loehding:Some of us are chosen in life to be messengers and I've had people say, like light seekers, whatever you want to call them. I think some of us are chosen in life to have experiences and you know, when I'm listening to you, our journeys are completely different. I never like to diminish anyone's story, but I hear parallels when I hear people talk about overcoming things. And there have been times, you know, like when I've gone through my life and I've, you know I've been diagnosed with two rare diseases that are just very like you go into the doctors and they don't a lot of them do not know what they are. I've had to school emergency people about these disorders. But I say all this to say is that in the course of my life I've had a lot of different things. That if you were to look at all of these things, you would go oh my gosh. It's like a lot of things that I've had to deal with, you know, over time. But I truly believe two things One, that I put myself in those positions to learn and that I've been curious enough to find the message in those things so that I could take away something. And so that's why I say like when I work with entrepreneurs on different scopes, it's like I can talk and speak into these different things, because I've had to navigate to chronic conditions, I've been in an abusive relationship, I've been through, I've ran a business for 20 something years, I've walked in these shoes, and so do I have all the answers?
Jennifer Loehding:No, but I feel like we've been given, we've been chosen to, to have these experiences so that we can lend, lean into somebody else and share those with people, so they can learn from them. You know and I joke about it all the time, cause I always think like I'm, like hopefully nobody ever has to do all of them, like has to go through all of those things, like maybe I can help them shave off some of that. But you know, like you in the time, that when these bad things happen, we can sit in them and think, gosh, they're really bad. But when we go forward and look back, we have a different feeling about them because we go yeah, that was hard. But man, look at what I learned in that moment.
Jennifer Loehding:Look what came in the aftermath of that awful experience. You've had so many hard things and I'm like wow, you taught yourself to walk, taught yourself how to speak English, you embraced a new culture at a young age, learned how to adapt and learn how to go from a 33-year career into a different space, because you realize, hey, look, I got a cool job, but I ain't necessarily fulfilled. There's got to be more life than this. I just think this all stems back to your resilience, your grit, your curiosity and your unrelenting, your willingness to just keep going forward and doing better. So I commend you, lady, awesome.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Thank you. Well, you know, I think that the podcast space that you have created for the world, for people, the listeners, you know, and you know, just, I can't say enough gratefulness of the gratitude that you, you know, pour out to people, because I think, as your audience listens, with your own stories, right, and the people that you bring on as a guest too, it's like we want to. Really, it's not our story, it's like the story of like for me, it's like the creator, like for me, it's like the creator, right, but we happen to be in it, you know, right, and we all have a different journey, but in a way we're all similar. But, like I wouldn't, there's times where I would say I would give anything, not having to go through what I've been through, I would trade with you, but, you know, but but those moments, those journeys, those hardships, those unthinkable thoughts and the experience that we go through, that's what shapes us, that's what makes you unique and that's what makes me unique and that's what makes your listeners unique individually. Yeah, you know, there's only one you. There's only one me. There's nobody, just like. So, very, very, I mean like there's only just one person, like we may find somebody like, look like us, even from same country, same agency, but the journey is just so different. That's what makes us so unique and just just we just need to really embrace like who we are and just really be like grateful that opportunities that we have gotten.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:And that's another thing. Like we have to put ourselves where there's an opportunity, because nobody's gonna come. Nobody knocked at my door I'm sure is to you and for your listeners so nobody's gonna come and knocking at your door and say, knock, knock. Sun Young, guess what? I understand? I heard that you had a horrible life as a child and I think that it's about time that you deserve. And so here it is Nobody does Not going to happen. No, we have to go where there's an opportunity. But then also there's so many opportunities that we could take right. But then what are we going to do about it? We listen to motivational. There's times where I've listened to motivational speakers right Through different places that I've been to, and then I'm so excited, I'm psyched up. I'm going to be a different person. Yeah, I'm going to do it. I get home, I'm going to be a different person. They're like yeah, I'm going to do it, I get home.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:I walked into the door and guess what that wife happens. Same house, same rules, same everything. Nothing has changed, even me. You got to take that step. The only thing that's going to change is I have to change. I have to take actions now, not tomorrow or next week or next month or next year, because sometimes the next year that we talked about that is 20, 30 years later, or some people have never taken the action. They spoke about it 50 years ago, someday, someday.
Jennifer Loehding:What's that saying? There's so many right, yeah, yeah, oh, my gosh, so good. Well, sonia, I, I so appreciate you and I appreciate you sharing your story. This is wonderful and I know somebody listening to this is going to hear this and it's going to inspire them. But yes, we've said so many great things and you said so many great things and you got to take action. You can't just listen to this episode and go, okay, well, that's great for Sun Young and that's great for Jennifer. No, you have to take action today and that's why we always that's why we keep putting this out there is to hopefully inspire somebody, and somebody will hear a story and go. That was the thing that helped me make the next step. So we appreciate you. If our audience wants to get in touch with you. There may be somebody listening to this and they want to reach out and connect with you or follow you or find out what you got going on. Where do you want us to send them?
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Sure they could connect with me through Instagram. I have a link tree and the link tree has everything that I do. Even the books that I wrote, actually excuses that I have used over my lifetime.
Jennifer Loehding:Okay, I see it. Okay, and is it the Instagram? Is it in your name? It's under your name, or?
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:And then I have everything that my YouTube channel, all the links that they could connect with me. I would love journey. You know my journey with them and just I know the results and results. So it just brings me. It's like unrealistic, it's just I'm building, I know you're so happy.
Jennifer Loehding:I can see it, I can, I can hear it in your, in your voice, and I I I pick up on people's energy so I can tell when people are like I don't know. I can see that you're happy and you love what you get to do.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:It's evident.
Jennifer Loehding:And you wouldn't be sharing the story the way, I wouldn't come across like this. So I love it. We'll make sure when the show notes go out, we'll get something in there that and put something on here so they know how to find you, and hopefully somebody will. You know I'm going to fall. I'm going to connect with you so I can keep up with what you're doing too. So appreciate everything you shared today. It's been fun. I'm so glad I got to know you Fun stuff.
Sun Yong Kim-Manzolini:Thank you.
Jennifer Loehding:And, of course, to our audience. We appreciate you and are grateful for everything that you do to support the show, and you know what to do. We hope you found this episode inspiring and informative, and so go out there and share, comment, like, subscribe, do all the things so we can continue to share all this fabulous content. And, as I always say, in order to live the extraordinary, you must start, and a restart begins with a decision. You guys, take care, be safe, be kind to one another and we will see you next time.
