We recently connected with Chong Kim and have shared our conversation below.

Chong, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Bringing Awareness and educating the public about the harms of my lived experience in Human Trafficking.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Chong Kim, I’m a survivor of Human Trafficking that happened back in the mid 90’s. The only way for me to escape was to rank up and be a Madame aka (Bottom Girl). I became homeless after my escape and had to find alternative ways to survive. Through my journey in discovering myself, learning about my trauma and how to find ways to cope and overcome my triggers, I now educate others of what to be aware of. My story was inspired by the film, Eden starring Beau Bridges and Jamie Chung in 2013. Since then I’ve been teaching Law Enforcement, FBI and even law firms on how to ‘think like a trafficker’ in order to assist in their ability to investigate these trafficking crimes. I’ve been working on a scripted TV series called, “Every 40 Seconds” which is a non-linear story line. I’ve been doing public speaking for over 15 years and have assisted in helping other survivors escape, find healing and resources in the aftermath.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

While I was trafficked, most of the girls I was trafficked with where minority ethnic girls, some caucasian girls were from Europe, Ukraine and Russia. One thing they all taught me is how we take simple holidays for granted. None of them had heard about ‘Christmas’. They didn’t know what a birthday was and how to braid their hair. Something so simple like that we aren’t aware how priviledged we are in this country. Even in the aftermath of my escape, I was angry and filled with bitterness and hate. When I was homeless, I met so many people who impacted my life. I befriended a boy who was dying of AIDS in the late 90’s while I was trying to commit suicide. He was fighting for his life inspite of his parents abandoning him and he still had dreams, he inspired me so much. Another time I met a young girl who’s mother tattooed on her body of words of toxicity; they were words of ‘fat, ugly, pathetic, loser and so on. She was overweight, but her heart and spirit was so amazing. When she committed suicide it changed my perspective of how people are treated and it also helped me realize that I was not alone in this battle to overcome trauma or pain.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

In June 2014, I was in San Diego for an Art Exhibit and I was one of the Honorees for the ‘Women who changed the World” Exhibit hosted by ‘Notes from our sons and daughters’. I had received ongoing notification of messages, texts and so forth of hate mail, cyber bullying and ongoing harassment. There was a fake article about me calling me a ‘fraud’ by a man who claim to have investigated me, what many aren’t aware of he and a former Las Vegas Madame who I knew when I was a Madame had collaborated to discredit me and post false accusations about me. What I had learned from this experience is who you’re real friends are, who your allies are and who are cowardly enough to share the slander behind your back. If any of these allegations were true then I wouldn’t be here continuing to assist Law Enforcement and to help others in identifying the signs of Human Trafficking. I trusted the person who accused me, he manipulated me to believe he was a friend and to find out he offered to compensate the Madame to destroy my reputation, but regardless I am standing in my truth and I refuse to be silent. When you are fighting for something that involves corruption, you’re going to be talked about, discredited and ignored, but your voice is your biggest weapon. For so long we as women who’ve spoken out against rape, sexual assault have been victim shamed, victim blamed and largely ignored especially those of us who are Minorities: Blacks, Latinas, Asians and most of all Native or Indigenous Women and girls, so when I was falsely accused of something I did not do, it pivot the way I educate the public and how I do business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.iamchongkim.com
• Instagram: @iamchongkim
• Facebook: @iamchongkim
• Linkedin: @iamchongkim
• Twitter: @iamchongkim
• Other: I’m also on Tik Tok @iamchongkim

Image Credits
I got to promote my book at DJ Scorpio’s event, ”Smooth Jazz”, I was also speaking in Miami, FL on behalf of Embrace Our Girls Organization, and spoke at my friend’s church to bring awareness.