Kimberly Hoyt: Investor Evolution- Elevate

The Mindset Behind the Money: Real Estate Lessons with Aaron Kim

• Kimberly Hoyt • Episode 51

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In this episode of the 'Investor Evolution' podcast, we dive deep into the inspirational journey of Aaron Kim, a father, husband, real estate investor, business owner, and speaker. From his immigrant roots and ventures in the restaurant industry to his successful transition into real estate and funding strategies, Aaron's story is one of grit, growth, and gratitude. He shares compelling insights on overcoming challenges, maintaining cultural heritage, teaching valuable life lessons to his children, and his business philosophy of creating systems to ensure success. Whether you're interested in real estate, entrepreneurial mindset, or personal development, this episode is packed with wisdom and practical advice. Join us as we uncover the mindset and mission behind the man, Aaron Kim.


00:00 Introduction to Investor Evolution
00:26 Meet Aaron Kim: A Story of Grit and Growth
02:20 Aaron's Immigrant Roots and Family Business
05:36 Lessons from the Restaurant Industry
08:26 Transition to Real Estate and Entrepreneurship
11:42 Navigating Risks and Marketing in Real Estate
15:11 Personal Insights and Overcoming Challenges
18:39 Balancing Life: Family, Hobbies, and More
23:58 Understanding the Fermentation Process
24:42 Embracing Korean Roots and Identity
25:15 Mastering the Art of Brewing
27:34 Teaching Heritage to the Next Generation
28:37 Navigating Identity and Self-Discovery
34:06 Building a Business with Excellence
37:16 Future Plans and Personal Insights
43:13 Final Thoughts and Advice


You can find Aaron Kim on Social Media:
Facebook @ Aaron Kim
Instagram @ Doublecloseking

Aaron's Blinq:  https://blinq.me/bGfYf9NRwCqF

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thekimberlyhoyt

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KimberlyHoyt22

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekimberlyhoyt/

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kimberly-hoyt

Gator Method Affiliate Link: Join Gator Now

Need a CRM: Check out Social Connector

Disclaimer: I am not a CPA, attorney, insurance/real estate agent, contractor, lender, or financial advisor. The content in these videos shall not be construed as tax, legal, financial advice, or other and may be outdated or inaccurate; it is your responsibility to verify all information yourself. This is a podcast for entertainment purposes ONLY.

Welcome to investor evolution, elevate. Whether you're looking to create financial freedom, reclaim your time, or find harmony while you're thriving in your career, this show is for you. Join me each week. As we uncover strategies to grow your wealth, nurture your personal development, and elevate your life to new heights. So you can live with purpose, joy, and confidence.

Investor Evolution:

Hey everyone. Welcome to the podcast today. I cannot wait to share with you my special guest today. Aaron Kim is the kind of guest who reminds us that there is no limit to where you can go. He is a father, a husband, a real estate investor, business owner and speaker. But beyond all the titles is a story of grit and growth and gratitude. From his immigrant roots, to his time in the restaurant world, to stepping into this crazy world of entrepreneurship. Aaron calls himself a"recovering underachiever," but now he is thriving as a leader in real estate and funding strategies. When he is not structuring deals, you can find him practicing martial arts, making homemade wine and exploring the outdoors with his kiddos. Today we are going beyond business to uncover the mindset and mission behind the man. Aaron, welcome to the show.

Aaron Kim:

Thank you. Thanks for having me. What a great intro. Yes.

Investor Evolution:

I've been looking forward to this for quite a while and I, I've, I've known you for the past year and we are in a group together. We get to talk about all the things in this entrepreneurship world, the good, the bad, the ugly. And I love that you come in and give this real world perspective. And so I wanna take this time to really dive into you a little bit more. I want to share you with the world in maybe a little bit different light. We'll talk about business, but I wanna talk about you. I was on, a Zoom the other day and this lady kept saying, I'm not a one cell amoeba. I have all these other interests. So we'll focus on business a little bit, but I wanna know like the, the breadth and the depth that is your life. So let's start with your background. Tell, tell us a little bit more about where you came from. So you're the son of, immigrants who came to this country. I wanna hear that story because it's so powerful. We were talking earlier and just hearing that story is fascinating.

Aaron Kim:

Yeah, so my parents, I'm Korean and my father was a surveyor for Hyundai for a long period of time, so he would work overseas a lot. And so he would, be involved in building, constructing bridges, in different, areas for Hyundai and And what had happened was he wanted to build a diff, you know, a new life for us. And so he decided to immigrate to, the States in the mid seventies. Then he actually, couldn't find a job as a surveyor here. So he decided that he was going, to go into carpentry. And so he worked for a company called Shelter System. And so, you know, as a young child, I would watch my dad build things and, it was a good learning experience for me. And then, when I got into, like around elementary school, he kind of graduated to starting his own business, opening up restaurants, having grocery stores, and you know, that kind of like. Almost typical Asian kind of background, right? It's, it's like, uh, laundromats, dry cleaners, groceries, delis, or, or you're like a real scholar. Yeah. You're into like the academia, right? My father was, always liked the American dream. And my mother, my mother supported him the whole way. Right? And they thought that, you know, owning a business and having that like white pick and fence. Owning your own home and wanted to provide like an easier lifestyle for my sister and I.

Investor Evolution:

And as I was sharing with you earlier, the thing that I find so fascinating about that is he, he had this profession in Korea and he was traveling the world doing this surveying and then came to the US and had to essentially restart. What lessons have you taken from that for your own entrepreneurial journey?

Aaron Kim:

So it really taught me that there are zero excuses for me to give up. And I think that's where a lot of my grit came from. If you were to ask anybody, especially my wife, my wife always gets, gets on me for this. It's how come you never give up, give up on anything? Sometimes you gotta let stuff go. But for me, I'm, I stick through it and I always wanna make sure that either I learn something, Or I fix the problem or solve whatever issue that I'm having Before I move on. And that's heavily, heavily based on what my parents, you know, the values of my parents kind of branded into us as, as children that, you know, life is tough. No one cares if it's hard. And so you always have to do your best and work, put in the extra work. And, there's a saying that, that we have in our family, like Kim's, we don't, we don't give up. And so I always tell my children, Hey, you're a Kim. You do not give up. It's okay to fail, but it's not okay to quit.

Investor Evolution:

I'm gonna adopt that for me. Kim's don't give up. I'm gonna adopt that. That's awesome. And what, what a good lesson that your dad taught you. Now you're turning around and teaching your children. Now were you working in these businesses with your family as well growing up. So you're going to school and working in these businesses?

Aaron Kim:

Yeah, so define working,'cause I call it child labor.

Investor Evolution:

I was gonna say, were you paid? Probably not. Yeah.

Aaron Kim:

So, yeah, as far as I can remember, I was always like, stocking shelves or, or you know, at the register. And so I was, I was really, forced to learn what that felt like? So I was always helping with like paperwork. I was always helping on the weekends I, you know, I didn't have the luxury of, going and doing a sleepover or playing outside. I did some of the times, but a lot of the times it was. Okay. If you finished all your work,

Investor Evolution:

let,

Aaron Kim:

let's go. Let's come with me and I'll show you what we do and kind of, you know, learn from the bottom up.

Investor Evolution:

Yeah. And I know you were in the restaurant industry for a while as well. Did you own restaurants in addition to also working in your families?

Aaron Kim:

Yeah, so we had the opportunity op open up multiple restaurants, from scratch and, and we sold some. And so in the process, yes, I've, I've worked front of house, back of house, prep line, you name it, I did it because one of the other things that, you know, and my, I, I have an older sister and, She and I always knew that, you know, we had one big role is we have to be really good at everything in, in the restaurant business because we weren't gonna let, employees like take us hostage because that can happen very easily if you depend too much on your, your employees. So what we did was we, we created systems and We made sure we took all the, um, brain work out of it. If, if you know what I mean? We like took all that out of it and so it, it was a system where it could be replicated and can be retaught really quick. And so I was always better at like, you know, the point of sale at the cash register than anybody else. I was always better than other, any, line cook or prep cook. Because I would be there, you know, in the back training or, or teaching them how to organize and labeling things and, and, uh, learning how to do first in, first out, if you're in the, you know, restaurant business, that's like a cardinal rule, right? Um, so yeah, it, it was a lot of that. So, yes.

Investor Evolution:

Man, and what I see is this parallel, right between growing up, working in the businesses, starting your own stuff with the restaurants, all that learning that you were doing, and that experience gaining along the way, obviously translated into incredible skills for entrepreneurship now, did you work in any other capacity? Did you ever have a W2 or has it always been owning businesses? Tell me about that.

Aaron Kim:

Yeah, so I worked with the federal government for a little bit, and then I had a couple, startups, that I sold. And then I actually came back to the restaurant business, after college. Just to help my family out. They needed help. Um, and then, along the way, my sister and I, we, we started to acquire some rental properties. And, and we've always knew that the next step for us is, okay, now you ran a business, where are you gonna park your capital? Right? So, uh, our next, you know, vision was to own properties and so it kind of naturally went that way. And about 18 months before COVID, my parents kind of sold everything and we were able to retire them. So it, it, it was a, it was a good time for us.

Investor Evolution:

Oh, that's, that's incredible because obviously we know what happened with the pandemic for restaurants particularly, and how devastating that was. So fantastic that you were able to retire them and or they were able to retire, however that is worded. And take care of them in that way. That's, that's powerful. So when you came into real estate, you, you said you had some rentals. Did you feel like you were just gonna stay on the passive side, or how did you jump into this more active side of real estate?

Aaron Kim:

That's a great question. I'm still like, on my journey to kind of figure that out. I'm not gonna lie to you, but, um, my first kind of rental fell into my lap like 2008, 2009 when the first crash happened.

Investor Evolution:

Yeah.

Aaron Kim:

And I was super blessed. I was able to like, grow out a portfolio. And it's been just really great. The rates were really low. Mm-hmm. You know, people were doing ninja loans and I was like, nah, I'm not gonna go that way. And I was able to kind of acquire these properties, um, leveraging the first property and kind of, um, putting more money down and using the capital that I had. So, and about, I don't know, four or five years ago, um. I knew I wanted to get into some sort of like transactional funding because I knew it was a quick turnaround and it was pretty safe. But I didn't know how to do that. Right. I didn't know if there was like, legal requirements. I didn't know if I had to do, get licenses and, and all that kind of thing. So, I stumbled upon, the gator method with, with pace, and once you start looking that stuff up, everybody starts popping up. Right,

Investor Evolution:

right. The

Aaron Kim:

deans, you know, Chris Crone like. All those folks. And the Gator method kinda appealed to me because it was a good framework, and it had some of the paperwork I was looking for, so it kind of pointed me in the right direction and it was a good platform for me to kind of mold it. So, it kind of fit my personality a little bit better.

Investor Evolution:

So let's talk about that because hearing your story, you. You have done a lot. You've learned a lot. You've grown a lot. You've tried different businesses. You got into real estate, and then you, you said transactional lending fits you because you know, as as I know, you are low risk person why? Tell me why, why that is. I feel like you have so much knowledge and you've done so much, and tell me where that comes from.

Aaron Kim:

So I'm really risk averse for a couple different reasons, because I guess it's cultural for me.

Investor Evolution:

Okay.

Aaron Kim:

It's, a lot of it's is, you know, get good grades, go to a good college, have a, have a steady job, so everything's stable, right? On the other hand, you know, I saw my father move to a different country. There, there's a language barrier and, and he overcame it. So I knew if I wanted to be successful, financially successful in any sort of capacity, I was gonna need to, take risks, right? And I didn't know how to take those kind of risks and, and still be successful. So it was, it was lots of learning and trying different things. And real estate, I could wrap my brain around. And so I figured if I can like fund these transactions and, and if I can kind of secure it in a way, way that I can sleep at night, then this is what I want to do. Um, and uh, it was interesting because. Mar marketing myself was the hardest thing. And so I, I had to really understand what marketing was versus advertising. Um, and in, in the real estate business, there's a saying, right? You, you do business with people you like, you know, and you trust, right? And you have to be able to sell yourself. For me, it was the total opposite. And so, I don't know if you know this about me, but you know, we've talked about me being an ambivert, right? And I'm, I'm very introverted. And why I say that is because I. I get drained if I do too much. Like if I socialize a lot, I need to go recharge right now. I would kind of describe that as an introvert as as opposed to an extrovert where they get recharged because they're socializing and interacting with people. But I figured out that. I figured out while I was in the restaurant business that I had the gift of gab. And so when I'm like in my element and I'm around people that I like, like I can talk my way into or out of almost anything. Um, and, and that really helped that confidence, that inner confidence really helped because what I learned to do was I was a thousand percent confident in the product and services. That I was, that I was, able to provide. And so I could lead with that and it was, you know, these are my services. This is how I can help, these are the problems that I can solve for you. And, um, I was so confident in that, that I could just turn around and walk away. And so it was very organic. It, it was really genuine and I think that resonated with a lot of folks.

Investor Evolution:

Well, and it's interesting'cause you said you, you had a, a gift for being, uh, the cashier, the sales, whatever, what did you call it for at the point of sale? Yeah, the point of sale, I guess. Yes. Thank you. That you had, you had this ability to, to do well in that spot, which from when I, when you said that I was thinking. You know, I know that you talk about being an ambivert, and so it was kind of interesting to hear that, and I think there's this scale of. Ambivert, uh, because I, I can do the extrovert for a while also, but I can, I can do it probably longer than you can, and then I'm like, okay, I'm people out. I'm, I'm good. I always say that my love language is quality alone time. Like I just need, need that time. Another thing you've talked about is, and, and tell me if it's okay to go here, but you've talked about some of that social anxiety that you've had. How do you feel like you've overcome that, especially in this, this place where you do have to put yourself out there and lead with with you?

Aaron Kim:

So a couple things. I'm not naturally really detail oriented, and so being in the restaurant industry, really taught me that I had to develop skills that I didn't, wasn't naturally like gifted with. Right? And so being detail oriented, I learned that in the restaurant business. and that really helped me in, growing my business in a way that. I felt comfortable because I, it really eased my anxiety. So by being more detail oriented and making checklists and making sure I did my research, that really helped and I, I really believe in being good at one thing. And so I decided if I'm, if I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna be really good at it. I'm gonna do it on my terms. And that really helped me get over that kind of anxiety part. And, um, anxiety, it is like, it never really goes away. You can always work on it. You can always like control it. Hopefully, but it's not something that just disappears. So I'm always working on it. And so it's how do I cope, you know, how, how do I ease into this? So there's a lot of strategies be behind what I do, um, before I do, you know, big events or, or I try not to do big events or if I come onto, you know, a podcast with a friend, you know, I, I know I wanna bring good energy and, and, I do preparation beforehand.

Investor Evolution:

Gotcha. Well, and I know for, for Squad up, you helped our group really prepare and get our pitch, our, you know, our elevator pitch ready. So it just shows that, it's funny that you say you are not naturally detail oriented. You keep giving me these conundrums of you because you are very detail oriented now. But I see what you're saying is you've put these systems into place, these checks and balances. As, as a, a method. Right. And following that just makes it simpler and easier. Um, okay. So do I, one of the things that I think is so cool about you, it feels as though, okay, we were on this natural path to become an entrepreneur, but is that really true? Is that the path that you were on when you went to, to college? Is that what you wanted to do? Or was this a little bit of a curve ball?

Aaron Kim:

It was a curve ball. So when I finished high school, it was my parents said listen. You can either start a business, continue on to college or go into the military. I. They said, pick one. I was like, okay, I'm gonna go to school since you're willing to pay for it.

Investor Evolution:

Right?

Aaron Kim:

And so I studied psychology and legal studies and had a minor in music. And so I was kind of just all over the place. So no, it wasn't, it wasn't always my plan. Um, I wanted to be a lots of different things and I'm still trying to figure it out. What, um, you know, is this a means to an end or, or an end to a means? You know, I just, I, I don't know yet, but. I'm really happy with the lifestyle that I have now because it gives me tremendous amount of flexibility to spend with my children, and with my family. And so that's number one on my priority list is how much quality time can I spend with my family and still maintain this quality of life that, that I have.

Investor Evolution:

I love that. So psychology, legal studies, and then a minor in music. Is that correct? Okay. Tell me, tell me about the minor in music. Were you a singer? Was it. Instruments. What, what does that mean? I don't even know.

Aaron Kim:

Yeah. I was an opera singer for a long time. Oh

Investor Evolution:

yes. No opera that so amazing.

Aaron Kim:

No,

Investor Evolution:

come on.

Aaron Kim:

No. Um, no. I played saxophone. Um, and, uh, I did, um, some production stuff. So a lot of like producing music. Understanding theory and, um, and lots of like jazz. So that, that was kind of like my, my area that I really kind of dug my feet into.

Investor Evolution:

Okay. So we can find you in a jazz bar. Okay. I like it. I like it. Yeah. Okay. And then tell us, tell us about psychology. So psychology and legal studies. Uh, I assume there's definitely a connection with that. Why did you choose psychology?

Aaron Kim:

It was something I was always interested in. Um, I, I, I always, in the back of my head, I always would play these games. I'm like, I wonder what makes this person tick.

Investor Evolution:

Mm-hmm.

Aaron Kim:

I wonder what makes that person act, behave in this kind of way? Because I've always had the personality of how do I control the situation? Like how do I build wisdom with each experience, right? And so I thought that was the most powerful thing. It's knowing what to do in any situation and that's really hard to build. And so I kind of tried to reverse engineer it. And so if I know how people, like what makes people tick, you can kind of figure out or predict how people are going to behave. And based on that, I can kind of. You know, choose, choose my, you know, my behaviors in a way that I can kind of coast through that situation.

Investor Evolution:

Interesting. Do you think growing up you, you know, you were probably in the restaurant when you were little and, do you think that's where you started watching people and seeing how adults interacted and, and that.

Aaron Kim:

Yeah, so I was a people, people watcher, right? Like, I love to see like what I could sit at an airport and just watch people, right? Like how they speak, what they were doing, how they interact, what they're eating. And like I would make up little stories. I'm like, oh, I know what kind of person that is. Right? It's, it's like, it's fun to people watch.

Investor Evolution:

Yeah. Well, and like you said, you get a sense of, of the person you. Have a way to interact with them before you've even talked with them because you've been observant. So you say you're not detail oriented, but I am going to, uh, object to that. Okay. So this is, this is why I was so excited to chat with you because you have just this diversity within your life, which we all do, and sometimes we forget that. We do so many things and we are so many things, and we're not just a one lane. Now you're great at transactional lending, and that is your one thing that you focus on, which is awesome, and you are amazing at that. But you also make wine. You have a yard full of chickens. You, and do remind me, you coach baseball for your son or no.

Aaron Kim:

I used to, not anymore. He's at an age where he needs professionals coaching him.

Investor Evolution:

Right, right. Yeah. You know, you, you're involved in martial arts you have all this diverse background like again, as we all do, but we forget that all of that comes together to make us who we are. So on a Saturday in the summer, where can we find you? What are the things that you're doing with your family, around the house? What does, what does a day in the life of Aaron Kim look like?

Aaron Kim:

I. Um, waking up bright and early. Mm-hmm. Feed the chickens, make sure they have food and water. Right. Then I'd probably go out to the pool with the kids'cause they probably have like a swim team thing going on. Maybe I'll be, you know, at a baseball tournament with, with my son. Um, and uh, you know, like food is, is, is really big. It's like the Korean culture and the Italian culture, like very similar. Like. The first thing my mom asked me, like if when I walk into her house, she's like, did you eat not hi, hello? She was like, did you eat? And I'll say, not yet. And the first thing she does is shove food in my face. Right? So it's like maybe a barbecue sitting outside, you know, just talking to friends and, and catching up. Um. Yeah, that's kind of like an ideal situation. Or maybe at the beach, if I could spend my day at the beach and be a beach bum, like, that's great.

Investor Evolution:

You're there. You're there. How did you get into wine making? Where did, where did that come from? Was it from the restaurant?

Aaron Kim:

No, so the, the story with, with wine making, so I make traditional Korean rice wine.

Investor Evolution:

Okay. And,

Aaron Kim:

uh, so it's, it's, it's strange because technically if you start with a grain and, and you make alcohol, it's considered a beer. But this is the fermentation process. It, it's, it's a little bit different. And so there's, it's a simultaneous multi-level like fermentation process, and so it's considered a wine. Okay. Even though you start with a grain. Um, I was never really into it until I was an adult, like an adult. And I would hear, you know, my, my parents talk about it. Um, talk about their, their, you know, friends trying to making and, and failing.

Investor Evolution:

Yeah. And I'm

Aaron Kim:

like, I bet I can, I can make this.

Investor Evolution:

Challenge Accepted!

Aaron Kim:

Yeah, exactly. Um, on top of that, as I got older, like I clung closer to my Korean roots, so the food was more important. Like my identity kind of really solidified. I. Um, because I learned to embrace my Korean culture a little bit more. And so it, it was part of, it's like the food, the language, you know, the, the, um, endearments, it's, it's all of it like was so I. It's a legacy that I want to leave to my children. And so I said, you know what? I'm gonna try making this. And I lots of YouTube videos later in a trip to Korea to to check out all the wineries and breweries and distill distilleries and such. Um, I started experimenting with it and because I learned to be detail oriented, I was able to figure out where other people failed. Got

Investor Evolution:

it.

Aaron Kim:

I was able to figure out like the humidity, the temperature, you know, learning how to ferment it in a proper way and all the little things that comes with brewery. And so yeah, that's how that came to life. And I've been making it for like, what, five or six years now.

Investor Evolution:

Okay. How long was it in that process of learning from when you first started to where you were like, okay, I've got, I've got my process, I can repeat it. How long was that?

Aaron Kim:

It took me probably six months.

Investor Evolution:

Okay.

Aaron Kim:

Yeah. About six months or so. Okay. Because it's a quick brew. Okay. But you let it, you can ferment it for as long as you want. And so it just, the, the flavor just gets more and more complex. Okay. And so it's, it's however how you wanna kind of, you know. Make the flavor profile. Yeah.

Investor Evolution:

And how, how long for you is like the, the perfect fermentation time?

Aaron Kim:

So it's about 10 to 12 days. Because what, what it does is you have a little, a slight bit of, um, carbonation. And it's, it's, it still has a little bit of residual sweetness

Investor Evolution:

from,

Aaron Kim:

from, from when it turns to sugar. Yeah. Uh, and so that timeframe is really good. And then, you know, you have to, there's a, there's three different versions, uh, of it. You can have it totally unfiltered. Um, you can have it. Completely clarified, or you can have the really thick part, right? The, the, the, almost the, the, everything that settles to the, the sediment that kind of settles to the bottom. And so I really like the clarified bit because it's, it tastes really clean. It tastes fresh, almost lemony, almost like pear- like. And so, and, and the yeast that I use kind of lends to those, that floral. Fruity flavor, so that, that's kind of the sweet spot for me.

Investor Evolution:

All right. Next year, let's squad up. You're bringing, bringing the wine?

Aaron Kim:

Yeah. Okay.

Investor Evolution:

So do you feel like, do you feel like, how old are your kiddos?

Aaron Kim:

12 and eight.

Investor Evolution:

12 and eight, okay. Um, mine, mine are right. Above yours. I'm 10 and 14 is where mine are. Mm-hmm. So we still got that four year span. But do you feel like, as they're growing up, that's why you wanna make sure you're, really bringing in your Korean roots so that they know their heritage. Do you feel like that really contributed to it?

Aaron Kim:

Yeah. Because you know, like my culture's foreign, you know what I mean? They have the rest of their lives to kind of build, you know, I certainly want them to have my wife's, you know, culture as well. Right. Um, her family's like Pennsylvania, Dutch, so you know, that's. I want them to experience that, but at the same time, I want them to have the eastern part. Right.

Investor Evolution:

Yeah.

Aaron Kim:

And, um, learn with that. And it's important to know both parts. I think it's in, it's important for you to know, where you come from and what it means.

Investor Evolution:

Yeah. Well, one of the things you said when we were talking before we started recording was that it took you a while to figure out. You. And so tell us that journey. What, what do you think has helped you really harness your true essence and how do, how do you feel like you are helping your kids with that?

Aaron Kim:

Um, good question. So it was, it's a long process and it's still going on for me, so like. The identity crisis for young Asian males is really difficult, so I know there's a high suicide rate with Asian males because. Especially here in America because number one, they have certain stereotypes and stigmas to them, and so they have a hard time socializing, finding partners, and finding their place in, in the American culture and society. Um, and so as a young child, like I grew up in the, like eighties and nineties, right? I'm, I'm that old. But, um, I felt like it's easier for me. It was easier for me. Because it was, it was a bit more harsh. And so those lessons that I learned early on helped me kind of find my identity, a little bit easier. So it was lots of learn relearning.

Investor Evolution:

Mm-hmm.

Aaron Kim:

That who I wasn't before I got to, oh, this is who I am. So kind of. Understanding where my culturally Korean morals and values aligned with my American values and how that, you know, how I existed within that realm. What, was just lots of time, lots, lots of like self-reflection. And just learning who I wasn't over and over and over again. And to getting to a point where I got super comfortable in my own skin. And that's when I really developed and polished, like my gift of gab. Like I can, once I get into a certain thing and I'm in my element, yeah. That it's, it's really easy for me.

Investor Evolution:

Did you feel like there were a lot of shoulds? I should do this, I should do that? And was that part of the things that you had to take off maybe to really come into your own skin?

Aaron Kim:

Yeah. Yeah. That, I mean, I, I think about that. I had those moments today, you know, oh, I should have did this, I should have did that. Yeah. Um, if you, if you live in the should could or would've like. You know, in that realm, you're missing opportunities in front of you. and that's easier said than done. I get it right. But, um, really leaning into, okay, so this is who I am today. Where do I wanna, where do I want to go? What you know? How do I conduct myself in a way that I feel proud and my, my children and my family, you know, are proud of me? It is kind of like where my thought is and um, yeah, it's a tough thing. So lots of like, I should have did this, I should have did that. I stopped doing that because it just, it. That monster of, of anxiety and self-doubt grows and that just feeds it. So it was learning to kind of detach.

Investor Evolution:

Yeah.

Aaron Kim:

That was a lot of it growing up.

Investor Evolution:

Absolutely. What are, what are some of the things, so your kids are eight and 12, what are some of the, the lessons, the morals, the, like, what do you want them to catch from you? When, when I think those lessons are caught not taught. I mean, there's definitely a lot of things that are taught, but you caught a lot from your parents. You caught this entrepreneurship, you caught this hard, hard work of digging in and not giving up. What are those things that you want to make sure when your kids leave for college or leave for a business or the military, um, what, what do you want them to, to get from you? Yeah.

Aaron Kim:

Number one, I wanna teach them how to find happiness. Yeah. That's, and, and to stay healthy, right? And so I think that number one, I had a hard time with, like learning that happiness is more of an attitude and an approach than, than anything else. So I, I wanna teach my children that. I don't want to teach'em, you know, all of the anxiety and the baggage that I had growing up. I want them to be prepared. I want them to know that hard work is okay and usually things that you know are, that are rewarding is, is hard. I. But there's nothing you can't ever figure out, you know, nothing's ever not figureoutable. Right, exactly.

Investor Evolution:

You know,

Aaron Kim:

um, that and, and then not to give up, you know,'cause, you know, failing is okay. Certain mistakes you just can't make, but it's okay to make all those other mistakes, and I'd rather have them make those smaller mistakes now and, learn from it than make, you know, bigger mistakes later where it has more effect on you. And so I think. I think that's where I wanna, you know, kind of, those are the lessons other than, you know, where you came from and, and you know, being kind, all the normal things. Right. We course everybody has those, you know, that average, you know, you know, those morals and values, but really teaching them to be like, take care of themselves and, and like learning how to be happy is important for me.

Investor Evolution:

Yeah. I love that. Let's switch gears and let's, let's talk about your business. One of the things I truly appreciate about you, and you said it the other day on our call, is that you have a high standard of excellence, and I see it in all that you do, and I appreciate that. Um, you've, you've started this business. When did you get into gator?

Aaron Kim:

Like 22 or 23. Yeah.

Investor Evolution:

Okay. Okay. And you came into it wanting to do transactional lending. And you have done an incredible job of getting that business started. Tell us what that process has been like. Um, I'm sure it was like super easy for you and you just like clicked right away, you know? Tell, tell us a little bit about that process. I.

Aaron Kim:

I wish that's how it happened. Like that would be, yeah. No, it, it was difficult. It was, I got into, that space and I realized that I sucked at it, and I sucked at it because I hated the, almost. Fake interaction you needed to have to kind of grow out your clientele. And so I had to figure out how to market, I had to figure out what I was gonna do and how I was gonna do it.

Investor Evolution:

Mm-hmm.

Aaron Kim:

And so it was six or seven months of like really understanding how to market myself, like building those relationships and building those lists of different people and spending some money and talking to a lot of attorneys like, this is what I'm trying to do. And, and here's what I have, like how do I, can you help me? Can you, you know, revise and, and review these documents for me? Yeah. And so there was a lot of that that happened. And because of my like high anxious like tendencies it really helped me do like the preventative stuff.

Investor Evolution:

Yeah.

Aaron Kim:

So it was, I had to do, if you wanna do the things that you really wanna do, you gotta do the stuff you don't want to do first. It's just the fact of life, right? You gotta do all the homework first before you can go play, right? So the, I think that what, that, what that took about six or seven months to really do all the homework and get some sort of system down so I, I could replicate it and just have less holes because I knew that things were gonna come up. But if you don't have some sort of plan going in, that it, I would just crumble, you know, with my anxiety. So,

Investor Evolution:

What I hear is all of these values and things that you've been taught, right? You gotta do the hard work. You gotta do the hard work before you get to play. You have to create those systems and that structure first. Building those relationships, understanding people, it's huge. Having those systems in place and then making it repeatable, scalable, and that. Where would you, when you think about moving forward and as you're growing your business. Where do you see yourself in the next 12 months, 24 months? Are you building this machine to, to grow it? Are you branching out into different areas?

Aaron Kim:

Great question. So I'm probably gonna continue to do a certain number of like transactional funding deals, but I'm going to start branching out and doing, more workshops for folks. More speaking engagements, maybe some coaching, and some trainings. So, you know, I define coaching as like asking more questions and figuring out, you know, you know where people want to be. And then training is like more tactical, right? It's like you need to use this strategy and this strategy. This is how you get to where you want to go. So I might do a little bit of both, but I really do think that in the real estate world right now, in the community that we're in, there's a lot of shiny object syndrome. There's a lot of, holes in like the education. And if I can help. Really give people like a cheat code, you know, like a game genie like thing that, they can kind of, elevate their game a little bit, you know, faster. I think I would love to do that. And although like I'm an introvert, like interacting with people in, in person and doing like these live workshops, that really makes me feel good. I, I get immediate feedback. I, I can have like. Banter back and forth. I can have, you know, just fun moments and just the genuine like connection with people and that, which I really enjoy. And so I think if I can help and have that at the same time, it's, it's a win-win.

Investor Evolution:

Right. Well, and it's helpful because you've walked that path before. You know those pitfalls that people are gonna come across. You know what those stumbling blocks are. And when you can help them see it, see it ahead, have a plan for it, and, and help them move their business forward. That's amazing. And I, I'm excited to see how that grows for you because I think it'll be quite powerful. Everyone that I've talked to in the community who knows your name, I was telling, a friend today, I was like, oh, I got a interview today with Aaron Kim. He's like, oh my gosh, this guy's amazing. And I know you may not think that, but you are making an impact in this community, in, in ways that I think you don't see. And I just want to reflect that back to you, that. It, it's, it's not this big boisterous thing that some people have. It is this quiet consistency of growth that you have put in the work, and it just continues to move forward. And that's, I think, what is super attractive about what you offer and the things that you're working on. Um, because it's. It's proven right, it's proven practices, it's put in the work, and I, I think what you're doing is amazing and I'm excited for the, for the impact that you're gonna make in this community. So thank you so much for that.

Aaron Kim:

Oh my goodness. That's so kind of you. I'm gonna, this is recorded, right? I'm gonna record, I'm gonna keep, keep you in my pocket. So every time I feel not so great, I'm just gonna play it.

Investor Evolution:

Yeah. If you're like, I should, you're like, Nope, I'm listening. I'm listening to that. As we kind of are coming, coming to a close, I know we can talk about a lot of different things and you, you mentioned like these little tidbits of things that I'm like, oh, I wanna go down that rabbit trail. Like focus. Uh, you know, you talked a little bit about nutrition. You talked, that's one of the things that you wanna make sure being healthy and happy with your kids is something you want to instill with them. You know, we talked a little bit about the wine making. You have this whole other realm of martial arts. I guess what is, what is a fun fact? We've talked a lot about a lot of fun facts, but what is another fun fact about Aaron Kim that none of us would ever guess or know about you? Maybe something you've done or something that you do now?

Aaron Kim:

Let me see. I. Is it a surprise that I'm six foot tall? So for, for everyone who doesn't know, I'm six foot tall and yes, I'm Korean, so you know, may, maybe me and me and ya Meg. Right. That's right.

Investor Evolution:

That's a good one. And it was definitely it's so fantastic when we do get together as a community and we get to meet all these people that we've met on Zoom and compare our like, mental image with the actual image. So that, that, that always is a fun, a fun thing as well. Is there any special projects that you're working on? Obviously with, with building out some, um, curriculum and some workshops is one of the things that you're working on in the community. Is there anything else that you're working on right now that's just for you? That's just for fun? I.

Aaron Kim:

Ooh, that's a really good question. I don't know if I've, if I have a good answer for that. Um, I've always wanted to go back into, into music, so, um, maybe, maybe I might dive back into that as the children get older. But the other thing I wanted to do is, and, and kind of involve the, you know, the business is I want to travel more. And so, as. Hopefully I can kind of build, you know, this machine out where I can travel and do speaking engagements. And if I can travel with my wife, um, and do these like speaking engagements, I think that would be so much fun. And I think that's kind of what I'm going towards.

Investor Evolution:

Okay. I I love that. All right, everyone, if you need a speaker, Aaron Kim is, is the man. I think that's a fantastic way to share your knowledge. And you have such a presence about you, uh, to be able to take complicated things and break'em down into manageable steps, right? Those bite-sized steps to, to put into practice. So I, I think you will do well with that. Anything else

Aaron Kim:

I have two bits of advice for, you know, for someone who wants to maybe are in business or starting a business. How's that?

Investor Evolution:

Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's end with that.

Aaron Kim:

So I would say don't ever run your business to win over someone else's approval.

Investor Evolution:

Once

Aaron Kim:

you start. Kind of stretching out to win other people's approval. That's when your processes and, and the people that are around you, that's when you're gonna start to, you know, hurt yourself. So that's one. Okay. Um, so here's the other other thing, like I am a super, super loyal person. And so like, I like to have like just the quality relationship with and long term like friends, friendships and stuff. But I've learned in business that you need to be loyal to your own values, not to people. Because I'm so loyal that I've been loyal to people that maybe I shouldn't have been and I've been burned.

Investor Evolution:

And

Aaron Kim:

so that, that was a tough lesson that I, I need to learn. So being more loyal to my values and my morals than in to some people.

Investor Evolution:

Yeah. And is there a way that you, like, do you have a gauge? A monitor, a. A reflection that you do to make sure you're staying in check with that.

Aaron Kim:

Ooh, it's, it's mostly like a gut feeling. Okay.

Investor Evolution:

Yeah,

Aaron Kim:

like I always trust my gut. If I, if I think something's off, then I really think about, you know, all the things that happen and all the things that could happen. And then I kind of sit there and kind of assess how I'm gonna go about doing things or, um, how I feel about someone or a situation.

Investor Evolution:

Yeah, and I think probably going to your coaching, it's asking those questions, why do I feel that way? What, what about this make is making me feel uncomfortable? And actually taking the time to assess that. I think a lot of us, especially, I know I did all, all I'll say for me. I will not say a lot of us. For me, I know when I got into this community, I felt like I had to do stuff and I just had to do it. I had no idea what I was doing. And there, there was a time I was wiring money and I told my husband, I was like, I don't think I should be doing this. But I did because I felt obligated, because I'm like you, I felt like I already promised this money. I'm very loyal, you know, I don't wanna go back on my word. But I didn't listen to my gut. And those are powerful things, and I love that you said that. And I think taking that second to just ask yourself why, why do I feel that way? That is a game changer and will help you stay true to who you are and what you're about.

Aaron Kim:

Yeah, absolutely. I couldn't set it better myself. Oh, I, I thought of a fun fact that people, some people don't know about me. Okay. My love language is sarcasm. And so the sarcasm, it's, it's so,

Investor Evolution:

okay

Aaron Kim:

if, if you find me being sarcastic with you or I'm roasting you, or that means that I, I really am I liking your energy and that, you know, that that's my way of, you know, growing a friendship.

Investor Evolution:

Okay. Okay. Good to know. All right, Aaron, this has been fantastic. I couldn't have asked for a better interview a better evening for myself. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to spend time with us here. I appreciate you and we've got lots more to talk about. So I think we will bring you back on sometime in the future and do part two. Does that sound good?

Aaron Kim:

That sounds great. Thanks for having me.

Investor Evolution:

Amazing. Alright everyone, until next time, have a great one.