We were lucky to catch up with Rath Sy recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Rath, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
1978 my parents was in the killing fields in a camp with Khmer Rouge. 1980 my parents decided to take a limp of faith and ran towards the American military for help. From that decision my family was able migrate to San Diego Ca. They alway showed me to never give up. Nothing is given to you. Hard work will always make big differences for you. They never told me we was poor or broke. Looking back on my child hood we didn’t have much. 9 people in a small 2 bedroom apartment. When I was a kid me and 3 of my siblings sleeping in the living floor was normal. My mom scrap burnt rice and balled it up and rolled it in sugar and told me it’s candy. I was always excited for that treat. They taught me to cherish everything we have and be kind to everyone we meet in life. My parents flight to live; gives me purpose to want more in life.
Rath, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m a high school graduate. Right after high school I worked as a courier for iron mountain record management for 8years. Then I work for LabCorp of America for 10 years as a supervisor of Their logistics department. My last salary job was being the supervisor of a very large and known non profit organization in San Diego. I was proud to be part of Rady’s Children Hospital. Managing the Homecare pharmacy supply chain team over seeing thousands of pediatric patients from San Diego up to Orange County, riverside county and El Centro.During the pandemic I’ve attached my first kobey’s swap meet sneaker event. I was super surprised how much sneakers where selling for. I’ve talked to my wife aka boss lady and we both agree to vend at the next kobey’s swap meet. With are first sneaker event we sold nearly 80 pairs of are own snakers and we was hooked! Dec 20th 2020 was the day we decided we are gonna do this resell sneaker thing every weekend. For 1 year we vend every weekend at kobey’s swap meet while still both working. Full time jobs. I was managing parents and my staff at the hospital. While managing my social media pages. The best part of vending was we made so meet so many walks of life. So many happy people in the sneaker community. It’s not always about sells for me. It was the way folks where truly happy with there purchase and it was a reflection of who they are. Being able to provide and share that moment with adults and especially kids was the highlight we enjoy. February 11th 2022 we open are store front. A few days later I’d resign from my great salary full benefits management job to sell sneakers and vintage full time. Here we are staying blessed and staying happy.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of my day is that I’m able to see the smiles on folks when they find the shoe they always wanted. To be able to have that moment with them is amazing.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My mission is to provide happiness one pair of shoes at a time. I’ve grew up sharing my cloths and shoes with my siblings. To be able to be in the position to give things to family that come in and are short $40-$60 bucks I’ll more then likely still sell the shoes to them and take the lost.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Rath’s corner
- Yelp: Rath’s corner
- Other: Rath’s Corner 2417 E Plaza Blvd National City Ca 91950