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MIRYOUNG SUH
Owner, Choice Records
Miryoung Suh is the owner of Choice Music LA, a music store located in the Koreatown Galleria mall. She and her husband immigrated from Korea and have been small business owners since 1998, first starting off with one of the first Korean-owned clothing stores in Koreatown. Since then, Miryoung has branched out, gaining experience as a reporter and also as a florist.
Can you tell us what kind of work you do?
We own a business, so I guess you could say we’re small business owners. I know you and your family now own Choice Records in LA. What other kinds of businesses did you have in the past? We started with clothing manufacturing and wholesale and did that for about 15, 16 years. After that we started our music business. I also opened a flower shop on my own, but a fire burned down the building. Oh no, that’s so unfortunate! It’s fine, my husband always said he regretted letting me start that business anyways. (laughs) Owning a record store is pretty rare in terms of the typical Korean small business. Do you think growing up Korean American influenced the kind of business that you started? I came here in 1997 when I was 20 years old, and after meeting my husband, I started our business in 1998. During that time the options for us were a bit better. Back in the ‘70s, Korean people mostly owned markets or liquor stores or dry cleaning services, but in the ‘80s, there was a little more choice and variation. My husband and I started one of the first Korean-owned clothing stores. Back then there were less than a hundred Korean-owned clothing stores, but now it's closer to a thousand. We had to downsize due to multiple hardships, and after that we had the opportunity to have our record store. Of all the different types of businesses you could’ve started, what made you choose music? Well, we love music. But you know, once again, it wasn’t exactly our choice to start the business. The shop we have used to be owned by a famous Korean DJ named Choi Dong Wook, better known as Se7en. He’s a famous old-timer. So we took over from him. You said it was hard for 10 years, but I’m assuming it started getting better recently because everyone’s obsessed with K-pop now. Can you talk a little bit about that? My husband has been doing the business for 10 years. 2010 was when K-pop started to boom. Nowadays, I don’t know if you’re familiar with this, but BTS? They’re so popular, and before BTS there was the first generation groups like Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, Big Bang. Now, it’s BTS. Have you noticed more non-Koreans visiting and getting interested in K-pop? Yeah, that’s for sure. You know, nowadays, I would even say that about 97 percent of customers are non-Korean. How do you feel about that? I feel proud. Like I said, I came here in 1977. That’s 42 years ago. That's an incredible change. Back then, I listened to English pop songs, but now everyone listens to K-pop. Before K-pop, it was Korean dramas, but now its K-pop and it's amazing. I feel so proud because they know all the lyrics, and at first I was shocked watching non-Korean customers dance and sing, but now I’m getting used to it. If I didn't have a chance to run this business, I wouldn't have known, but being at the center of this business I feel very proud. |
"Many things happened, including robberies, people who didn’t pay us back, and even a fire, but through all those experiences I learned that not everything goes according to plan."
Why did you decide to pass on the business to your son?
My husband and I cannot come up with new ideas on social media. My first son, Steven, has a special sense for communicating with people, especially on social media. That’s actually where we started to build up our reputation. @choicemusicla has 58.9K followers on Instagram. What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received? Well, the best compliment I can think of was when I was back in college, when I was a graphic design major 45 years ago. In Korea, we didn’t have computers yet so we did everything by hand. By hand! So the biggest compliment I can think of was when my professor said, “You have a hand like a computer.” And I can never forget that. I could do things better freehand than with a ruler. You said you used to be a reporter, no? Yeah, reporting was my dream since I was very little. My father used to have me record things even before I could speak, back when I was maybe a year old. He would always record me and make me talk or sing. In one of the recordings you can hear me say, “I’m tired”. I’ve recently been thinking that maybe that was the influence that made me want to pursue reporting as a job. But when I came here, I had just turned 20 and with my language barrier, I couldn’t do a major like that. My major ended up being graphic and interior design, but unfortunately I couldn’t use my major, as I married and had my first child right away. When my husband started the clothing business I couldn’t work either. I just stayed home to take care of my kids...That’s how it is. But I did get to do a bit of reporting when I was 48! Lastly, on the topic of success again -- what is your definition of success, and has it changed as you grow older? Have you reached that success yet? I think, since I’m a Christian, I want my life to be purposeful for God and be honored to live my life even though I didn’t live the dream I’ve always wanted to live. This includes coming to America and everything we’ve done in America. In the beginning we did a clothing business, but many things happened, including robberies, people who didn’t pay us back, and even a fire, but through all those experiences I learned that not everything goes according to plan. Even my kids didn’t turn out to be the kids I’ve always wanted them to turn out. I learned that there are plans set out by God. So from now on, I just want to live a hard-working, Christian life and bring glory to God. That’s my goal from here on out. |