Conversations with Na Eun Yoon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Na Eun Yoon.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started? 
I was born in Seoul, South Korea where I was raised in a very traditional Korean family. As expressing thoughts and speaking up were frowned upon in the culture, I was always forced to focus solely on my studies. I could never have the opportunity to experience my emotions or explore the root causes. When my emotions didn’t have a place to go, they’d simply burst into what was labeled “anger” and “tantrum,” and my family would often say, “There she goes again! Let’s wait til she’s done.” Because of this, I often felt neglected, abandoned, unheard, unseen. As a result, I lacked an immense level of emotional intelligence and self-awareness growing up, leading me to battle depression, rage, and s*icidal ideations all throughout life. 

I moved to the States when I was 10 years old without knowing any English. I actually learned a lot of English through watching ‘Friends’ and writing rap lyrics. Throughout this chapter, learning this new language helped me finally discover an identity that I could connect with, as “gay” was not a part of the vocabulary in Korea at the time. I ‘came out’ at 13 years old, which is also when I began to experience the challenges of homophobia from friends, family, and society. 

During my high school senior year, I had to live alone in my Queens apartment for some time due to family-related circumstances. This is when I learned how to take care of myself, all the while trying to excel at the rest of my school endeavors. I discovered later that, during this time, my mother suffered a heart attack during her travels and had gone through an emergency surgery. Just when my mom had moved back to New York, and I was confident in being able to take care of her, a five-alarm fire ruined our entire apartment building, and we lost ALL of our possessions within one hour. Since then, I had lived in two shelters, a Days Inn room, a studio apartment in Brooklyn (and we’re not talking “cute” gentrified Brooklyn), and strangers’ basements with no windows. My college dorm rooms became my new home. 

A couple of months after the fire incident was when my college life began, and I never took the time to grieve the loss my home because I didn’t know what “trauma” was at the time. Not only that, but my freshman year was also when I was diagnosed with my chronic illness — Type 1 Diabetes. Shortly. Shortly after that was when I found out my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Well, you can only imagine, once again, my emotions didn’t know where to go, and with my depression and ideations, I ended up silently attempting s*icide in my dorm room my sophomore year. A story I never told anyone until about 5 years later. I didn’t want to be a burden to anyone. 

I attended Penn State University, where I “accidentally”/”coincidentally” began my journey exploring the power of vulnerability, self-awareness, and empathy through a gen-ed class called BiSci003 with Dr. Christopher Uhl. I only took the class because I heard there were no tests, and I needed to raise my GPA. But this class taught me how to journal, meditate, feel, connect, hold space for compassion for myself and others, to facilitate dialogues, and guide truth-speaking. This class changed my life. I was a student quickly turned Teacher’s Assistant turned Course Coordinator. This class was truly the beginning of it all. Self-development is a forever work, but this class is what ignited my journey. If it wasn’t for this class and for Doc, I really wouldn’t be where I’m at today. I’m so thankful for him. 

In 2013, my mother passed away from cancer. Once again, my emotions didn’t know where to go. On the day of the funeral in New York, I attended the service, then hopped on the Megabus to make my way right back to Penn State. Taking time off of school was not even a thought that came to my mind. My mom taught me to focus on my studies — no matter what — all of my life. Perseverance. “Graduating would be the best way to honor my mother,” I thought. At this time, I was numb and didn’t know how to ask for help, where to look for help, or what kind of help I even needed. Therapy wasn’t landing for me at the time, but boyyyy was alcohol and blacking out. 

In the coming few years, with no home to go back to and without mom around, I was back to living in strangers’ basements with no windows, grocery shopping at the Dollar Store, working day jobs and graveyard shifts, and having only just a microwave to make food. If I could give you a piece of advice right now, don’t ever live in a basement with no windows. 

After graduating college, I did what everyone else did and got a full-time job. The issue was that a perfect resume and the office life never seemed very appealing to me. It wasn’t long before I started searching for something that would align with my passion for helping people by sharing my story. After working full-time for two and a half years, I decided to quit and pursue motivational speaking. 

As time went by, though, I realized that speaking was just one of the many other things I’d be doing under a bigger umbrella. The ultimate mission is to inspire as many people as possible to embrace their own vulnerability and also to create a space for others to share compassion; that life is a long journey and, in order to be great, we must practice sustainable high performance, we must prioritize healing and grieving, we must be able to speak up and set boundaries, we must seek community and be able to ask for help. Not just “hustle and grind”, not just “beast mode”, not just be “self-made”. 

In 2017, I loaded up my Honda Fit and drove across the country to start a new chapter in San Diego. 

Late 2019, I felt God pulling me towards LA — a place I’d never, ever thought I’d live in. Then came the Pandemic. 

In 2022, I moved to Koreatown where I got a chance to get connected with the Asian American community for the first time ever since I moved to America. That was also the year when my dad passed away, and I went back to Korea to lay him to rest and start yet another chapter of grieving. This time, I promised myself I’d learn from my experiences when Mom passed. First thing first — no alcohol. 

A lot has changed, yet consistent and similar, since my last VoyageLA interview in 2020. 

Today, I’m a grieving daughter, a little sister, a girlfriend working on gentleness, still an overprotective best friend, a Type 1 Diabetic, an athlete, a motivational speaker certified by Dr. Eric Thomas, a Youth Mental Health Champion, a Mindset + Performance coach for competitive athletes and professional fighters, and the Founder of Vulnerability Is Dope™. 

I’ve spoken at numerous events, workshops, classrooms, organization meetings, and panels. Some of the most honorable and memorable ones have been when I got to speak at my high school back in Queens, where my old coaches got to watch me speak and cry. Another one was for MBC America, where I got to speak to the Korean audience about the mental health crisis of South Korea. A full-circle opportunity was for a school called Butte College where the entire county had experienced a tragic fire that ended up being one of the most deadly fires in U.S. history. I don’t believe in coincidences. 

I’m also now partnered with Active Minds — one of the nation’s largest youth mental health non-profit organizations, recently seen on MTV. I’m extremely excited and honored to represent their Speakers Bureau as one of their mental health speakers. This will help me reach even more middle schools, high schools, colleges, and corporate opportunities to speak on mental health. 

No matter what’s happened, I’m just really thankful. I’m extremely clear and certain about what my purpose is in this life; there is no doubt about this journey I’m on. God truly has been directing me in so many directions that seem random to me but probably make sense to Him lol. Every day, I’m honored to receive the trust that these schools and organizations have in me to serve their students and teams. I’m in love with the gift of speaking, storytelling, and motivating that God’s given me, and I’m just excited for the future, too. I’ve been really obsessed with this thought about finally going to Disney World one day lol. Whenever that is, I’m excited for Disney World! 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
On top of everything I’ve already shared!!! lol. This journey of entrepreneurship… Ok, I want to clarify that I’m not one of those entrepreneurs who kept their 9-5, had steady income, AND had my business going. For me, my pursuit really required 100% of me and my faith. That came with a lot of consequences, risks, sacrifices, and heartbreaks. 

Realistically and honestly speaking, I do wish that I’ve had the bandwidth to work a job with a steady income with full benefits so that I could’ve had some peace of mind and psychological safety. Maybe life wouldn’t have been as hard. Who knows? I really do encourage anyone thinking about starting their own business to quite seriously think about these things. 

At the same time, “thanks” to all the trauma and grieving my brain… just… can’t. It can’t do the whole 9-5 and then #teamnosleep. I’ve done it for 3 years. It’s not sustainable. That’s just the truth. It’s not an excuse; I know what excuses are, and this ain’t it for me. When I was 24 years old, I had a panic attack because I was so overworked, underpaid, and eventually so burned out that I had to quit my job, and I couldn’t do anything for a whole year. 

While this journey truly has built me to be extremely resourceful, humble, and also appreciative of my friends and support system, I also recognize that these “skills” are also survival tactics I’ve honed since I was 17. It’s great for business decision-making but not sustainable for enjoying life. 

How I became a motivational speaker and a mental health champion is because of everything I’ve learned through being a member of hustle culture. I’ve done everything and followed everyone faithfully. The self-made, lone wolf, working hard because nobody cares — I used to LOVE that world because it made so much sense with what my mom taught me. 

But then I watched the hardest worker I know (my mom) pass away. Then, I watched my own health deteriorate. Then I saw my dad die, and it’s like. Yall. Money isn’t gonna show up to your funeral. The people who love you and the people you’ve impacted are the ones showing up. 

It’s also not lonely at the top? It’s not that no one cares. It seems lonely because these lone-wolf, so-called influencers are telling you to stay alone because 1) it’s vulnerable/scary to ask for help and 2) they usually have some unhealed story of abandonment and betrayal and they’re projecting it into their “motivational speeches”. 

Life is hard, but what if it didn’t have to be AS hard? And it all starts with… Community. Vulnerability. Advocacy. Compassion. You have to trust yourself first before you trust others, for sure. AND… It takes a village. Especially business. 

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risk is necessary. Good counsel is a necessity. 

Greatness is on the other side of fear, and it takes courage, work, and faith to take that first step. Anything great and becoming greater — in life or in business — will always take risks. 

Especially in business, I think sometimes that risk can look…. Stupid? Scary? Irresponsible? Doesn’t make sense to other people? But I think this is where also having good counsel and a trusted mentorship is important. Second, opinions and soundboard from people who get it, who have been through it, who are in it. 

Sometimes, it does take trusting self and your own gut because, at the end of the day, it’s YOUR story. 

I personally don’t see my business as just a business. It’s my life, it’s my calling, it’s my purpose, it’s my passion. It’s not just a business decision navigated by revenue. I determine all decisions by my core values and integrity first. That helps me be clear on whether a risk is worth it or not, whether it makes sense or not, or if it’s just a shiny-object distraction. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jiggyyoon.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jiggy_yoon
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naeunjiggyyoon/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jiggyyoon
• Other: https://jiggyyoon.bigcartel.com/