15 FACTS ABOUT ME
Ava is not my real name. Banging start right?? My real name is Joowon, my Korean name. My parents (and by that my English teacher told my parents to) chose Emily as my English name and because it’s SO not me, I decided not to use it after a few years and after years of going by just Joowon, I picked Ava and made that my English name. I’m much more of an Ava, right??
I am your typical third-culture kid. I was born in Korea, both my parents are Korean, but I only spent 4 years of my life in Korea. I grew up in China up until college but attended an international school where I was taught western values. So my value system is an amalgam of all different cultural values, I don’t really know how to answer “where are you from?” without a long winded answer because just that I am Korean doesn’t do justice.
My birthday is on September 11. Yes I know, it’s tragic but I was born before the incident. And no one ever forgets my birthday. I also share my birthday with my Dad so we always say I was the best birthday gift he ever got. How cool would it be if I had a child on my birthday too?!
I used to work in Finance. My first job was in Investment Banking at JP Morgan and I have since worked at a hedge fund as well as private equity fund. I’ve seen and worked in many different functions within finance and while I learned so much (and worked a ton), I knew this wasn’t where I ultimately saw devoting my career to. If I had to go back, I would still do it all over again because it gave me such a good, fundamental skill set that can yes, even be applied to my so- called life as an ~influencer~
I am scared of a lot of things. I’m scared of most animals - never been an animal person. I like dogs now but I used to have dog-phobia my whole life!! Biggest fears in life ranked in this order: birds, mice, freezing to death.
I like weird food combinations. I love mixing different kinds of cereal then eating it soggy. Love an egg sandwich with jam (ok this is a common thing in Korea but my fiancé thinks it’s the weirdest thing in the world). I could eat spaghetti with ketchup. Heck, I could eat salads with ketchup. I swear Im not a serial killer.
I’m engaged. You guys see him pretty often in my stories - he’s the one always cleaning in the background while I film. I found a boy who is willing to clean and cook for me forever, so I’d say I did pretty good. Jokes aside, he has been my biggest supporter and was the one who encouraged me to start @glowwithava when we were dating!
Im the oldest in the family and among my cousins. My childhood dream was to have an older brother or sister but I was always the oldest one. Apparently I always asked my parents for an older brother… This gave me a lot of pressure to always be the exemplary one but I think it’s ultimately what gave me my leadership skills and responsibility.
I love babies. But I am terrified of pregnancy and the thought of having a baby. I wish there was technology to help with that. Technology seems to defy all human nature these days so why not giving birth???
I have a big sweet tooth. My goal is to slowly cut down on my sugar intake but my favorite food is ice cream and cake. During high school, I would use my lunch allowance on cake and brownies instead of getting real food and my friends always used to make fun of me for that. I can still easily do that. But when I overdo it, not only do I have trouble buttoning up my jeans, but it shows on my skin. I definitely got my sweet tooth from my dad - it must be genetic.
I can run really fast. Like really fast. Makes up for the fact that I have zero hand eye coordination. I literally got recruited to join the rugby team in high school to just run as fast as I could with the ball and score points. Problem was, I could never catch the ball… let me know if you ever need to chase someone down.
I have been to 23 countries. I went to 20 of them with my family. Countries next on my list, and frankly very surprised that I still have not been are: Japan, Taiwan, Greece, Malaysia, Spain, Thailand, and Indonesia. One or two of these will be for our honeymoon!
My favorite flavor is black sesame. If there is anything related to black sesame on a menu, I will 1000% order it. I make my own healthy black sesame smoothies at home and they are not only delicious, but have amazing antioxidants and good for the skin.
People I do not trust: people who don’t like Asian food (but she is marrying one, oops). People who claim they never drink coffee. People who don’t like sweets (not choosing to eat vs. not liking them is very different). People who are late to everything and think thats ok. People who have their toilet paper hanging the wrong way (there is clearly only one way). People who don’t enjoy the act of eating.
My motto: “Everything happens for a reason.” I’m an optimist through and through. I get through hardships and challenges very easily. I cry for about 30 minutes then I move on. It can be both a good and bad quality but I’d rather be an optimist than a pessimist.
That’s it for now but I hope to get to know each of you more! Talk to you guys soon xx
