Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Robin Byun. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Robin , appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Just a general thought that I had living in America was that Asian food is so expensive. And when I was a college student, I earned $7.25 as I was doing a modeling job in an art class. In order for me to eat a bowl of pho was about $20. I was kind of disturbed by the price because first of all me, myself as an Asian knows that a bowl of noodle doesn’t cost of much to make. Secondly $20 was almost three hours of what I get paid. When I was starting Kups, I was hoping that a lot of people can enjoy Asian food without that much of pressure. Kups’s goal is to give happiness to people in one bowl.

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

After I graduated, I was working as a full-time elementary teacher. After school, I was doing food delivery with Uber eats and DoorDash. It was just an ordinary night when I was doing Uber eats. I was in Wendy’s and the store was closed so I had to contact my client. I opened up the Uber eats chat and recognized Korean name. I asked the guy if he’s Korean because I was so bored doing Uber eats and Doordash every night. And why not? The guy answered me back in Korean that he is Korean. I told the guy that Wendy’s is closed and the guy asked me back if I go to this Korean church. I was really surprised and thought “how does this random Korean knows where I go to church?” The next Sunday, I went to church. This guy introduced himself to me that he was the guy who ordered Uber Uber eats order. We became friends and few weeks later. He asked me if I am looking for a roommate. After then we became roommate. He offered me if I wanted to do a business with him and I thought it was really good idea because I was always interested in food industry. So him and I thought about Kups so that we can represent Korea and give satisfaction to people with a delicious and affordable food.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

My life has pivoted multiple times without me wanting it. When I was in high school I was in a Korean international school. After I graduated my international school in Korea, I decided to go to college in America as a premed major. I’ve wanted to be a veterinarian all my life while I was growing up. But things didn’t go that well and I was failing classes. I got recommended to move major to another major because my grades weren’t good enough. I was really disappointed because that was a path I’ve always dreamed and always wanted. I went out thinking “what major should I do?” I saw my friend who was in elementary education major going to downtown to spend good time. And then I thought that’s a major I want. After that decision, I graduated college as a elementary education, major and taught for a year. I really enjoyed teaching and one of the thing that I learned while teaching was that I enjoy making people happy. After teaching for a year, I met my former business partner and started Kups because I believed that Kups could bring happiness to people and not only bringing happiness, but also introducing Korea to people in Greenville.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Kups currently has Little bit over 900 followers, which is not a huge huge amount of followers, but I personally think within a couple month it was a rapid growth. I personally think that having good connections with other people helps building audience on social media. I also think having one solid concept helps the social media and the business. I constantly think about what can grab people’s attention for example color that we use for designs, ways of giving discounts to our customers, and trends that people like these days.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kupsofficial.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kupsofficial?igsh=MjE5ZW9vcThhbm9h&utm_source=qr