From Donuts to Billions: The Unlikely Success Story of a Tiger Mom

By Hannah Kim ‘15

The SoGal summit was the first of its kind- a day-long conference for female entrepreneurs!

The day was packed with everything from free snacks to a selfie booth to a pitch competition. It was an opportunity for hundreds of women entrepreneurs/wannabe entrepreneurs to learn from and talk to investors and incubators. It was an incredible event but I was struggling with a bit of a hangover and found that all of the panels and speeches filled me with panic as I realized how much work it takes to create a start-up. What have I been doing with my life? Why have I wasted so much time? How will I ever be an entrepreneur? These despairing questions filled my throbbing head.

It was midday, and time for the keynote speaker, Sabrina Kay, to come on. Truth be told, I wasn’t expecting much. Perhaps a few life tips from a moderately successful female entrepreneur that ranged from “be persistent” to “make a business plan”. I almost left early to take a nap.

I’m so glad I didn’t. Sabrina Kay was by far the best part of this day-long event. Far from reminding me of my inadequacies, she filled me with energy and inspiration. Sabrina Kay isn’t just a successful female entrepreneur- she is a force of nature.

There are many people I’m jealous of in my daily life. Some for their perfect skin, some for their ability to never drop food on their clothes and some for their professional achievements. Sabrina Kay is one of those people that you can’t even be jealous of – what she’s accomplished during her life is impossible for most of us to even fathom doing. Awe completely overwhelms any petty sense of jealousy.

She moved to the States from South Korea at the age of 18; you can still hear a hint of an accent in her voice.  Her 1st marriage fell apart and she was left alone with her daughter. Her main goal was to make enough money to buy her daughter a box of donuts (her daughter was apparently a donut lover).

Fast forward to the present.

Sabrina Kay holds 2 Ph.Ds, 2 Master degrees and an MBA. She has served on over 30 philanthropic boards. She sold her first project, a fashion college, to Goldman Sachs for billions of dollars. She has been able to retire several times, but fortunately for all of us, she hasn’t. And she has obviously been able to buy her daughter that box of donuts - probably gold-encrusted ones baked by Kanye.

She’s currently the founder and CEO of Fremont College, where she is working to revolutionize the education system.

“The only thing Abraham Lincoln would recognize now is the education system,” she quips, expressing her view that our education system hasn’t evolved from its 18th century model. She mentions that our education system is on par with third world nations (!!). Fremont College is focused on three verticals, Technology, Healthcare and Entrepreneurship, because she believes that these 3 fields will change our lives forever.  

Students at Fremont College benefit from several changes:

1. When they enter school, they also begin work at a digital marketing agency. Upon graduating, they not only have a 4 year degree but also 4 years of agency experience. Gone is the paradox: “I need work experience to get a job but how am I supposed to get work experience if I can’t get a job?!”
   
2. They can pay for what they take with unbundled courses! They don’t have to pay a flat rate of tuition to take general education courses and classes they don’t need. It’s learning on an as-needed basis.
3. They can take advantage of “smart classrooms” that flexibly become a fitness room or a spa, depending on the need.

Sabrina ended with her 4 tenets to success:

1. Passion - Sleep + Work + Eating = 75% of our lives (a truly depressing statistic). Making our work more meaningful will make our life more meaningful. We already spend so much time at work, it’s much more efficient to be passionate about it. Ask yourself: what were you put on this earth to do?
2. Talent - What are your core competencies? Not just things that you are good at– things you are the BEST at. Your gifts. Now, combine your passion and talent to get..
3. Money- “You should do what you love and your job won’t feel like a job, right?” She asks. We all nod obediently, we’ve heard it all before. “Wrong! Your career is where you make money, your hobbies are where you spend money. If you do the right thing, money will be a byproduct.” Spoken like a true tiger mom. *Slow clap*.
4. Purpose - Once you find your career, find your purpose.

We’ve heard variations of these tenets throughout our lives. On rainbow-festooned posters in our elementary school classrooms and from shiny self-help books. It can be easy to let these inspirational words go in one ear and out the other. But, when someone like Sabrina Kay gets up there and tells you these things, you sit up and listen. Sabrina is a woman who commands respect. Not because she is loud (in volume) or because she is gruff (like Ron Swanson). She is someone who has truly walked the walk. Someone who went from being an immigrant single mom who didn’t speak a word of English, to a CEO, philanthropist and educational reformer. The concept of the American Dream has been watered down through the years, and the cynical among us would go so far as to say that “the dream is over.” But when you look at women like Sabrina Kay, it is hard to not be filled with hope for what the future will bring.

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