Monterrey, Nuevo León.- What do you do when you don’t get what you fought for for 12 years? You reinvent yourself with the goal of being happy. That seems to be the maxim of Sujin Kimbetter known as Chinguamigathe Korean influencer who has fascinated Mexicans with her videos of shock cultural.
The life of this content creator is a moving example of how digital entrepreneurship can be a lifeline in life’s most difficult moments. Born on April 4, 1991 in South Korea, Sujin had a dream of becoming a flight attendant and traveling the world. However, the beauty culture of her native country defined that she was not beautiful and thin enough to be.
“At the academy they told me that I had to weigh less than 40 kilos and I was 50. And about my face that I had to change almost everything to be able to be a stewardess. Then I wanted to be an ambassador, but they told me I had to be a man,” Chinguamiga spoke during her conference at incMTY 2023.
The failure that led Sujin to depression
She had traveled to learn languages and at that time she met some Latin classmates who showed her that life was not just about preparing.
Sujin had dedicated the last 12 years of her life to studying for 18 hours a day for the university entrance exam, something that in South Korea practically defines your future. However, she did not manage to stay in the most prestigious school as she wanted to work in a large company.
Then she had a breakdown due to burnout and depression that kept her in the hospital for a year. Sujin was battling deep depression, she felt lost and disconnected from the world around her. Her life seemed to be at a dead end, without a clear purpose or sense of direction.
“I said ‘My life was worth it. I’m depressed, in debt from the hospital, I’m ugly, I didn’t have the good university I dreamed of and I was already half old for Korea,’” the influencer recalled. “So he decided that if my life had already been wasted, then at least I would live what I wanted.”
It was with that dream that the young woman moved to Mexico in 2018 and surprisingly, her move marked a radical change in her mental health. As she recounted in an interview, she overcame her depression by starting to live in Mexico, a change she described as “very strange” and almost immediate.
Mexico healing hearts
However, his arrival in the Aztec country was not so easy because Chinguamiga did not speak Spanish and in the Korean company in Monterrey for which he began working he was harassed at work. She then decided to be a Korean teacher and after working in small academies, she had the opportunity to work at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León.
“There began another life. Here I was already very happy because I had found my vocation and my country. I was still taking sleeping pills because of the depression, but here I was cured; “I was happy, happy, happy,” the influencer recalled.
However, fate had a setback that would take her out of her dream job and force her to reinvent herself like she never dreamed of: the pandemic.
The 2020 health crisis left Sujin unemployed, who, in order not to lose income, first began uploading videos of Korean classes. She started her YouTube channel in February 2020, however, over time, he shifted his focus to vlogs and comedy videos, originally created for TikTok and later uploaded to YouTube. Although at first it was difficult for her to gain followers, she soon became one of the most famous influencers on the platform.
Today Chinguamiga has more than 10.8 million followers on Instagram, 9.16 million on YouTube and almost 26 million on TikTok.
“Those foreign eyes with humor pleased the public and then I became Chinguamiga, content creator. I don’t want to say I’m successful. Maybe I had the success of searching and searching to be happy. “I never gave up on that dream,” said the TikToker.
Chinguamiga, the entrepreneur
One of the keys to this influencer’s success was her honesty. Chinguamiga never hid her personal struggles, which made her even closer and loved among her community. Over time, Chinguamiga became a symbol of improvement and hope.
With her fame consolidated in Mexico, Sujin began to collaborate with brands and other creators, expanding her reach and exploring new horizons in the digital world.
Finally, it opened three lines of e-commerce business that it manages from its website:
Chingutienda
A service that started with Google Forms that has become more professional to import Korean books at more affordable prices.
Chinguescuela
A Korean school in Spanish that has given online classes to more than a thousand students in 20 countries.
Nadaun
An export and sale service for products k-beauty that she uses herself.
@chinguamiga HAHAHAHAHaHa 😎. #korea #tacos ♬ 오리지널 사운드 – Chingu Amiga
“Create your product thinking about content that can be viral: ingenious, innovative, technological, etc. and that it is really good in quality,” Chinguamiga recommended for internet promotion.
Finally, Chinguamiga explained that his path through the world of digital business has left him important lessons:
- Do things with love.
- Opening a business is not everything. The most important thing is to maintain it.
- You can’t succeed on the first try.
- You have to seek to be different.
- Try to be realistic with your goals.
- Take care of your brand image for the long term.
“Do what you like, because as they say, you will never work if you do what you love. And don’t give up easily, because if you insist on what you’re passionate about, eventually something good will happen.”
March Violante Martha Elena Violante (March Violante) is editor-in-chief and co-founder of Emprendedor.com and has more than 10 years of career in digital journalism. She has interviewed figures such as Randi Zuckerberg, Daniele Lamarre, Zoe Saldana, among others. She has worked in media such as Entrepreneur in Spanish and English, Alto Nivel, Cine PREMIERE, México Desconocido, among others. “We are entrepreneur.com”