Tell us about your personal heritage and cultural upbringing.
I am a Korean American born in South Korea. We immigrated here when I was five years old. My parents blazed the path when coming to the States, as they were the oldest in their families to immigrate here, with their siblings following after; naturally, that made me the first in my generation (of siblings and cousins) to graduate from undergrad and law school in the States.
What do you do for work?
I’ve devoted my entire career to the healthcare space, starting out as a healthcare management consultant and then going to law school to become a lawyer. I’ve worked for an integrated health system at Kaiser Permanente, specialized in government programs while working for Inland Empire Health Plan—one of the largest public agencies servicing Medicaid beneficiaries—and now work in the dental benefits space at LIBERTY Dental Plan.
What inspired you to do what you do?
My drive largely comes from my background. Since my parents made the investment and sacrifice to come to the States, I always think of the sacrifices they have made in their own lives for my well-being. This grounds me to put 100% into everything I do.
One of the values I always adhere to is when I wake up, I want to make a difference. It’s the ability to roll up my sleeves, build a team, and execute together with those people who have the same mindset. I believe this is why I naturally gravitated towards leadership roles and mission-focused organizations.
What is your advice for future generations of Asian lawyers developing their careers?
For the young Asian-American lawyers starting out, always be resilient and hustle! Additionally, the subject matter expertise comes with experience but always focus on the soft skills. It’s emotional intelligence that will pay dividends in your career. Whether you’re at a law firm or whether you decide to go in-house, you have to work with people. You have to work in teams; if you’re in a leadership capacity, you’re only as good as your collective whole. It’s how you can make a difference. It’s how you elevate each and every person on your team, or even those you work with, to do better, to rally around the mission and the vision and the values you have at your company. Those are the skills that you probably don’t learn in a law school class. What I would impart is that you have to hustle but sharpen and stay cognizant of those soft skills.
How has your heritage contributed to your leadership style and work ethic?
We are very community-based. You rally around the community, think about the general, greater good. My heritage always wants to bring more people into the fold and be more team-based. This has impacted my leadership style as I tend to rally consensus within my teams.
What projects are you particularly proud of?
Last year, LIBERTY Dental Plan completed a significant investment transaction, which largely was conducted through the pandemic period. I led the deal team on our side and completed the transaction from soup to nuts. It was a great learning experience, navigating the process and working through regulatory approvals. The investment is allowing us to really make a difference in the dental managed care space. Personally, it was a rewarding experience to lead a merger and acquisition project, with a lot of lessons learned!
What are the shared goals and values that drive your relationship with Nixon Peabody?
Our shared value is to welcome new challenges and navigate solutions. The healthcare and managed care space is very complex and highly regulated. Like many practice areas, we healthcare attorneys also pride ourselves in being part of this special niche. Harsh Parikh and I started our legal careers together, and I lean on him as a thought partner and complex problem solver. Our dialogue usually starts with “Hey, we’re trying to do this. I don’t know any idea like this. It’s unclear to me if we can do it or not, but I feel like it’s going to make a difference. So, what do you think?.” He never hesitates to jump in and try to figure things out together. It’s that long-standing partnership that I appreciate the most about our relationship.
