Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Kim.
Hi Julie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a Korean American born and raised in the Bay Area. Growing up I had a lot of ups and downs, but what kept me going was dance. I have been dancing pretty much my whole life, competing and performing all throughout high school in California. Being a performer and artist was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life, but knew I wouldn’t be able to truly pursue it. Growing up in a predominately Asian city didn’t allow much hope in pursuing the arts. So, I gave in and decided to do the next best thing- work with performers instead! I had a knack for anatomy and was even a part of a Sports Medicine Outreach Program in high school. It just made sense to go that route and that is when I found Athletic Training. It was the perfect mixture of learning and healing the human body for athletes and in my case, dancers. And that’s exactly what I did. I graduated from the University of Miami with a BS in Sports Medicine – Athletic Training.
Of course, I still continued to dance and even coordinated and choreographed for a competitive dance crew. The year I graduated college was the same year COVID hit and that changed everything. I moved back home and worked at a grocery store for 6 months to finally move out to Atlanta with a job that agreed to hire me while I was studying to become a Certified Athletic Trainer. Unfortunately, I did not pass the Boards exam and made the very hard decision to not retake it and rethink my whole career. Luckily, my job was kind enough to give me an administration role to help me stay afloat to stay in Atlanta. This was when I realized that this was my chance to finally pursue on becoming an artist and performer! Fast forward to now, I am proud to say that I am signed with an amazing talent agency as a Dancer, Actor, and Model.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has not been smooth at all. I actually graduated from the University of Miami with a BS in Sports Medicine – Athletic Training. My ultimate career goal was to become an Athletic Trainer(ATC) for dancers and other performers. I even had a job right out of college to be an ATC for Broadway! Unfortunately, I couldn’t live that dream because COVID hit the year I graduated. Broadway closed down, my Boards exam got pushed, and I had to move back to my mom’s after I graduated. About 6 months later, I was lucky enough to be hired by a hospital in Atlanta as a potential ATC while I was studying for my Boards. That’s when I moved out here! Another unfortunate event later, I did not pass my Boards….three times! After all of that, I made the very hard decision to not retake the exam and look elsewhere in my career. That was when I truly decided to pursue the Artist career. The mental toll of this career change took so much out of me and I truly had no idea what to do. I was always someone who knew what the next steps were or someone who knew what they wanted to do from the get-go. But, having to let go of something I worked on for more than 4 years…. it. was. brutal. So, no. It was not a smooth road to get to where I am now. But, it was definitely a road I appreciate and will cherish forever.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an Artist through and through. An Actor, Dancer, Model, Yogi and Influencer. Being an artist to me means that you have the ability to create art to help yourself and others to release or feel any emotions needed at the time. Being able to create a conversation with music that can really speak with your soul. What sets me apart from others is that I try my best to advocate the importance of taking care of your Mental Health. “My love language is to remind YOU of your power” is a message I spread as much as I can. Life is already hard enough so why commit to being hard on yourself? I want to be that person who can remind you that you are still enough and you deserve to be here to not just survive but to really LIVE. To find enough love in yourself that you can confidently go out and spread love to others as well.
How do you think about luck?
I worked pretty hard to get to where I am at right now, but I also definitely believe that good luck has been on my side. I actively started to take social media and my portfolios seriously back in May 2021. I would post on all my platforms daily, DM a bunch of people/brands to get more exposure, and I would constantly be thinking about concepts and getting random inspirations when I was out and about. Your brain never stops thinking of ideas and concepts for the next potential project. It wasn’t until a whole year later when I got scouted by my current talent agent. I got lucky in the sense that my agent reached out to me through Instagram because he loved my look rather than me actively looking for an agent. But once I got signed… the rest is history!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/juliekimster?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@juliekimster
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@juliekimster?_t=8ZDdYrjHarS&_r=1
Image Credits:
1. jade yi 1. jade yi 2. jade yi 3. darius ollison 4. brenda lopez 5. devin gourdine 6. tony guerrero 7. jade yi 8. jade yi
