“Never stop dreaming”... Global CEO Talk by Chairman Kwon Ohseop

On April 6, the Global CEO Talk hosted by KUBS (Dean=Sang Yong Kim) was held in room 303 of Hyundai Motor Hall. The speaker of the special lecture was Mr. Kwon Ohseop, chairman of Mediheal. Kwon is also a fellow alumnus of the Korea University Department of Geology class of ‘76, a predecessor of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. His lecture was mainly focused on “Dreaming”, start-up failures, and the lesson learned from the process of re-entrepreneurship.

First, Chairman Kwon played a song called “My Dream,” by Ahn Chihwan. The lyrics of the song go: “Everything that flows has dreams of their own. Even a tree leaf that lies on the river carries a big dream to reach the ocean. Though life is but dust, I cherish my own path… Though torn and depleted, how one can be without a dream? What shall I take with me when I die, I wonder. It is life’s dream, my flaming dream.”

After playing the song, Chairman Kwon talked about his college life, saying “Although I continued studying geology in graduate school and studying abroad, I wanted to do business.” However, he met difficulties due to opposition from his parents. Nevertheless, with his wife’s support, he jumped into the cosmetic business in 1993. Introducing his entrepreneurship into the cosmetic business, which has no relation to geology, he said “It is never too late to venture boldly if you want to start a business or do anything else.”

Next, Chairman Kwon asked the students about their childhood dreams and current dreams. Each student had their own different answers, such as “getting a job in the finance field,” and “accumulating a lot of assets.” Listening to the students, Chairman Kwon said that childhood dreams and current dreams differ and that “Dreams should always change, and one must always dream.” Kwon’s childhood dream was to own a professional baseball team. However, now it changed to owning a professional golf club because he decided it was impossible considering the operating costs of a professional baseball team. So he became the owner of a golf club and even hosted the LPGA tour for several years.

Nevertheless, there were also pains and disappointments. Despite achieving success by opening cosmetics stores and franchises after starting up in 1993, the business had to be closed due to the IMF crisis. However, with the belief that "even if it fails, it should fail well," he took responsibility by liquidating all shares and handing them over to the company and investors. Chairman Kwon Ohseop learned the lesson of "not being arrogant" from this business failure and said that "vague confidence that everything will work out in the future" was the cause of the failure.

The principle of "even if it fails, it should fail well" became the foundation for his successful re-entrepreneurship. Since Chairman Kwon took responsibility for the debt, he gained trust and was able to receive investment from acquaintances for his new business. Later, he developed a sheet mask and a brand called "Mediheal." Mediheal hires only regular employees without irregular workers. Chairman Kwon added that they employ sales staff as regular workers with the mindset of "acknowledging differences but not discriminating," and provide welfare support such as up to 50% of tuition fees and study abroad costs for employees' children and monthly rent support.

Chairman Kwon Ohseop of Mediheal, who places importance on dreams, constantly encouraged students to never stop dreaming. The special lecture came to a close, reflecting on his advice to "never lose one’s dream and keep on challenging.”