We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mike Kim. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mike below.
Mike, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?
During SXSW a couple of years ago, I was at a unique stage of creating Some Neat Place and at a concert featuring a friend and Talib Kweli. As we stood in line, I asked my friend, Raasin, who runs a beautiful non-profit in Austin, Texas, called Raasin in the Sun (raasininthesun.org). She was tired from doing the SXSW events all day, and I asked her who she was excited to see at the event as we were in line. She said that she could go home because she saw the artist she needed to see. In excitement, I asked, “Who did you see!?”
Quick break and backstory: I was bullied early on in my life and never got the belief that I was “good enough,” so I continued to chase degrees, job titles, and more to validate myself. From imposter syndrome to not believing that I’m not enough, this was a pivotal point in my life as a startup owner, where I was at an impasse with Some Neat Place—going back to the story.
She then turned to me, and without hesitation, she said, “You.” With one word, and at a pivotal point, as mentioned, it was everything I always needed and wanted to hear. That moment allowed me to turn towards the creative side and believe I belonged in any space I wanted.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
ABOUT ME
This is likely one of the hardest questions to answer, but if readers are inclined, I call a part of my life “Mi Vida Loca,” which you can read here: someneatplace.com/our-story. However, to answer the question and not make people go to another link, I’m a dreamer who believes we all have a special gift to give to the world, and mine is kindness. I grew up shying away from my creative side because it was different, and some may call it “odd.” It’s the sad part of my life because, in hindsight, that’s the last time I felt alive in being authentically who I was and who I was called to become. Fast forward, I’m starting to live as that childhood version of myself, seeking greater joy, laughter, and happiness. I’ve climbed the corporate ladder, like Drake said, “I started from the bottom,” but getting to the C-suite was only a means to an end. That true “end” was allowing that child who was highly creative, painted outside the lines, and dreamed into another universe to confirm that I could be all that I wanted to be without societal pressures or walls.
Let’s wake up being kind, and my dream is to help the world achieve that through Some Neat Place. Beyond work, I build sincere relationships based not on algorithms or transactional quid pro quo engagements but on lasting connections established on the “Golden Rule.” I’m no longer living on what people view as “cool” or what makes them comfortable. We all have a place in life and gifts that we can all explore through being kind. By doing the things I love, I’m finally starting to step into the light I’ve avoided my entire life because of how much I was consciously and subconsciously trying to fit in. I was already loved, no matter what, by someone called God. That’s all that matters now.
MY JOURNEY HERE
My journey to become who I am today has been a rough one. I mention it in the story above (someneatplace.com/our-story), but it was the deep trauma that I experienced with close loved ones getting cancer, back to back, from my mom, father, grandfather, sister-in-law, and a couple of good friends within months of one another. Alongside the racial slurs during the pandemic and losing my business because of how unpredictable COVID-19 made our economy, there were what felt, at the time, unsurmountable changes that hit all at once.
One incident that hit the hardest was witnessing my father attempt suicide in real-time before the S4 cancer took his life two weeks later – without rehashing the experience my friends wrote about in an article mentioned on our website for Some Neat Place, that moment changed everything for me. It made me realize that what made me feel so alone as a kid was what I needed to create to help the present and future generations. We all go through things; some have harder challenges than most, but through a little loving kindness each day, I believe we’ll all get through it. Have grace for yourself, as moments will come and go, and surround yourself with people that show empathy that you might not be perfect and can piss them off because it’s a journey. However, use kinder words to describe what you are going through and who you are becoming, and know all it takes is one kind act a day (what we believe in at Some Neat Place).
WHAT DO WE PROVIDE
At Some Neat Place, we do everything from storytelling on the kindness of random strangers, now considered family, to collaborations with brands we love and admire to events on kindness to make people feel truly connected. We are inspired by the creative aspects of life, from fashion, food, music, and art. We move in that way to help kindness reach the world in a way that people will feel.
Our focus is to continue to tell stories, but we are heads down on building a kindness app that will change the world. The Some Neat Place vision is to reach 8B people to help themselves learn to be kind. If you know someone who wants to share a kindness story or wants to collaborate, we’re always willing if it’s creative!
WHAT PROBLEMS WE SOLVE
With 10M+ non-profits worldwide, global philanthropy exceeding $800B annually, and more digitally connected than we ever have been, why, in a world filled with good, are we faced with the same systemic challenges and disconnection? The solution requires an approach beyond the incredible initiatives already undertaken. It’s time to look inward to support and create the world we desperately need. Can kindness change the world? Yes, it can.
The world will be better if we start with kindness to ourselves and then to the world.
WHAT SETS US APART
At Some Neat Place, we don’t consider other competitors as “competition.” We love that others are helping to change the world with us, and we hope to partner with all the kindness troublemakers out in the world! However, what we believe no one is doing and why we are pushing so hard on it is an app that will gamify kindness like never before. We also understand that the next generation doesn’t listen and receive as we do, so we must speak their language. From fashion, food, music, to art, we will create a kindness that people will feel. The Some Neat Place Kindness App will lead with impact in mind first; then, the biz model will support it, and not vice versa.
WHAT AM I THE MOST PROUD OF
Doing what I believe in and not pushing a business idea around kindness first. It’s always been about what I would have wanted as a kid because being bullied and more, you want to belong. If we helped people learn to be kind, the world would start to change. I believe in the idea so much that I don’t care what people think about the concept (not in a wrong way). I’m trusting my gut, and it will be a success if we help one person’s life. That one person has a family, relatives, and a lot of colleagues and friends that love them. The ripple of helping one person, telling a story, and finding a creative way to express kindness has been one of the humblest journeys I’ve been on.
WHAT DO I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT US
We’re building a kindness app that will forever change the world, please reach out if you want to find more, if you have a story on kindness that you want to tell on our platform (IG – @someneatplace), or if you have a collaboration on kindness that you want to do with us! We’re always around!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I went through a divorce where infidelity was involved, lost my business and all clients from the pandemic, moved from my dream city in LA back home to Austin to take care of my family, had nearly ten people I knew in a couple of years that got cancer (a few passed away), witnessed my father attempt suicide in real time, got called racial slurs during the height of Asian Hate, and lost my purpose and identity as I became a caretaker for my family.
When people talk about resilience, it’s this next-level, Navy Seal-type energy. However, for those who have dealt with complex trauma or more than “average” trauma (not sure who designates what average is), getting up each day is a HUGE WIN. Being able to put one foot in front of the other, do one important task each morning to set the tone, and show up for yourself, then for others. I did that. I stumbled a lot but figured out how to create a perfectly imperfect, kindness company when I felt I was in a corner, with my back against the wall.
I still have hard days, but I know that God designed me on purpose and that I was designed to showcase my gifts to the world. I’m not great at math or science, nor can I architect a great house/building, but I am confident that I’m kind, show up authentically, and love as hard as my mom loved us as kids. I see things with kindness; perhaps many don’t have the time to think creatively, but I’d like to honor my childlike wonder and say to the little version of me that you have great ideas that can truly change the world.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
That being creative, smart, and standing out as a “nerd” was a good thing. As a young child, seeking identity, acceptance, and approval for who I was meant that the very thing people were making fun of, I knew I was, but I became someone that I was not.
I wore that skin for decades, trying to please the world, but never the person who was already accepted. I never knew it until now. I remember being damn good at spelling bees in the fourth grade, and just so that I fit in, I sabotaged several of them. I wanted to make people like me, stop the bullying, and find a way to feel worthy of having friends. I was already worthy, and I wish I could go back and unlearn that, but I have now, so that’s what matters.
I’d tell any kid to find themselves in God, that they were and are designed perfectly through Him. I sometimes think about what life would have been like if I had stayed the course, but I lived a life with purpose, and the doors are opening up a new chapter. This chapter, post-apocalyptic trauma (it felt that bad), was already designed for me, so I am trusting the journey and opening up my heart with kindness.
Contact Info:
- Website: someneatplace.com
- Instagram: @someneatplace
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/someneatplace/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/someneatplace
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/someneatplace
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@someneatplace
Image Credits
@someneatplace friends + family