Kang Yoon-sun, CEO of a hair salon ranked among the top 10 in the world with annual sales of 300 billion, revealed her life as a millionaire contributing to society through job creation.
On the 28th, in the jointly produced EBS and E Channel program ‘The Millionaire Next Door with Seo Jang-hoon’ (hereafter ‘The Millionaire Next Door’), Kang Yoon-sun, known as the ‘Sam☆ of the beauty industry’ and head of a hair franchise with 182 branches and 3,500 employees in Korea, appeared. Her hair salon, which has steadily grown over the past 40 years, was selected as one of the top 10 hair brands in the world in 2005, continuing to gain fame beyond Korea. The annual sales amount to 300 billion won.
Born in a poor neighborhood with nothing, Kang Yoon-sun started her career in beauty at the age of 17 to make a living and opened her first store in Donam-dong, known as the ‘holy land of fashion’, at the young age of 22. Due to starting with no money, she incurred a large debt from the beginning, but she revealed, “The debt was my turning point. I had to work.” The high interest rates became a strong motivation for her. By going out to spread the word and putting up banners filled with sincerity towards her customers, she passionately pursued her business, leading to rapid expansion of her salon branches.
After achieving success as a beautician, Kang Yoon-sun put down her scissors after 10 years and embarked on a full-fledged path as a manager. During a time when women driving was met with skepticism, she educated her employees on leadership and interpersonal relationships to enhance their competitiveness. In 1993, secretly selling her house for 200 million won, she took 19 employees to study in the UK. This became a turning point in her life and laid the foundation for establishing a beauty academy. Currently, she is training future hair designers through systematic education in an 8-story building academy located in the heart of Cheongdam-dong.
Kang Yoon-sun confessed her unique philosophy about money, saying, “I spend money on education or expanding stores.” Even now, she focuses on nurturing talent through education and creating jobs by increasing the number of stores. Seo Jang-hoon expressed his respect, stating, “Just by continuously increasing jobs, you are making a tremendous contribution to society.” Finally, Kang Yoon-sun expressed her dream of becoming a ‘500-year company’, saying, “I hope the hair salon continues to exist even when I’m gone.” In response, Seo Jang-hoon joked, “I’ve heard of the 500 years of the Joseon Dynasty...” adding laughter to the conversation.
Next week, the episode featuring ‘The Man Who Became a Millionaire from Trash’, Superbin (Kim Jeong-bin), will be broadcast. EBS and E Channel’s ‘The Millionaire Next Door with Seo Jang-hoon’ airs every Wednesday night at 9:55 PM.
[Lee Da-gyeom, Star Today Reporter]
