515: Unconditional Love With Alice Yoo

Alice Yoo is a UCLA graduate that majored in Economics. Ever since she was 10 years old, she knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. She decided to start a website called My Modern Met, where they would showcase modern art, design and photography. With the help of her brother, they grew the audience to about 3 million visitors a month and worked with large brands creating content for them from Cadillac and Honda to Intel. Alice wrote a book called For Love, which is sold on Amazon and in bookstores. Along the way, she discovered hand lettering and knew right then that she would create a brand that sold art, apparel and accessories to the modern feminist. That is when Skylar Yoo was born and she sells statement tees like “Girls to the Front”, “Yes, She Can” and “Fearless Girl” all made in this beautiful hand lettering style.

Alice used to feel like she was never good enough to go out for what she deserve but having kids helped her realize that love is unconditional no matter what she does in life. Check out her episode to listen to her story.

Bio

Alice Yoo is an author and entrepreneur.

Cultural Background

Alice Yoo is of Korean descent

Favorite Self Confidence Quote

Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.

Definition of Self Confidence

Self confidence is believing in yourself, knowing that you are worthy just because you were born into this world.

Her Life Before the Discovery of Self Confidence

Alice never really started feeling self confident until My Modern Met became successful, so it was well into her thirties. She still struggles with confidence now but the worst was when she was in her twenties. One of her husband’s friends told her that she didn’t deserve him and that cut her deep. It took her ten years of therapy to really understand that that comment was haunting her but it was something she was doing to herself. That voice inside your head that tells you you aren’t good enough, smart enough it can eat you alive. She also suffered from social anxiety in her teens and twenties, she hated social situations and she was afraid people would be judge her so she just kept quiet. Looking back, she wished she could tell her younger self to be secure in herself, to not let others determine her self worth.

The “AHA” Moment

Alice’s AHA moment came after she had kids. Growing up, she never felt she was good enough even though she got good grades, was the swim team captain, etc but her mom never said “Good job!” or “I’m proud of you!”, it was “Why can’t you do better”? She still remembers the day, during her junior year in high school when she was awarded MVP of her team and her parents were not there, it was just her grandma and brother. So no congratulations, the trophy was just thrown in a corner of a room. That never ending desire to achieve drove Alice to want to be successful but she also realize that it’s a never ending road. When she finally had kids, especially her first son Parker, she realized that a person is deserving of love and is worthy just by the mere fact that he or she is born. You don’t have to do anything to deserve love, love should be unconditional, especially from your parents.

Her Life After the Discovery of Self Confidence

Alice has come a long way but she still has problems with self confidence. Will her second company, Skylar Yoo, be successful? Is she headed down the right road? She can say that she has to look back at her past accomplishments and give herself small pats on my back to make her feel like she can take on new challenges. Sometimes she even asks her husband for pep talks. (He’s great at them.)

Being bipolar, Alice has learned to see it as a blessing over a curse. She has to manage her stress and sleep well but that’s a part of self care.

Also, she likes to give herself small challenges, like finishing up a 40 minute cycling class, cooking a delicious meal for the kids or completing a book to give herself a small boost of self confidence. It’s the little things that all add up.

The One Self Confidence Tip For the Listener

First, that self confidence can come from achievements or from people telling you how great you are but ultimately, you need to have a paradigm shift in your own head to know that you are worthy, that you are strong, and that you are capable of whatever challenges come your way. Take risks, get outside of your comfort zone and be open to letting the universe (or God) help you. Then, sit back and watch the magic that ensues.