Meet Sophie : The Woman Behind the Company
Born in Korea and spending her teenage through college years in Los Angeles, SOPHIE COMPANY founder & CEO Sophie Park is a trendsetting entrepreneur with a native Korean perspective infused with Californian sensibilities. Sophie is a curator and tastemaker of all things Korean beauty, skincare, and lifestyle.
While majoring in science, she started a beauty & cosmetics club at the University of California, Los Angeles, and built up experience at Leaders Cosmetics USA, the American branch of a Korean cosmeceutical company.
About her eleven years in California, Sophie says,
“I think what I learned from the U.S.–probably because I lived by myself–is that you have to speak up. If you do not speak up, people will try to take advantage of you. What the culture taught me is that I should be open-minded and self-confident. If you do not love yourself, then who is going to love you?”
She continues,
“Open-mindedness means you can experience so many different cultural things. I think that perspective actually taught me how to be more creative. Diversity, open-mindedness, and self-confidence. Do not care what other people think. Just do whatever you want and whatever you think is right.”
Sophie founded SOPHIE COMPANY just three years after returning to Korea upon graduation. Now, SOPHIE COMPANY functions as a sales and marketing agency that helps make K-Beauty brands and products accessible to global retailers and consumers. bySophie–through its Instagram and blog–functions as a curation platform for Sophie to share her favorite new finds and interact with the #SophieSquad. glowiest is an original line of skincare products and accessories developed and designed by Sophie and her team of four women.
Each month, products are carefully selected and curated into the bySophie box, which is sent out to buyers of major retailers and members of the #SophieSquad for trial and review. Sophie gave insight to the process she goes through to create each month’s box.
“I discover brands through Instagram or by being introduced by brands. I try to go to K-Beauty stores at least once a week to learn more about new brands and products. I carefully select which product I’d like to curate into our boxes after testing samples & learning more about the brands. I always try to talk to the founder & owner trying to figure out what story they want to tell customers. Every month, we have a theme, and I try to create a skincare routine according to that ‘trendy’ theme. For example, the theme for our recent box was all about collagen. Collagen has become more popular lately probably because of our concern on immunity boosting during pandemic & fear.”
Sophie also shared the parts of K-Beauty she loves the most, including its affordability and conscious attention to ingredients. She attributes today’s K-Beauty to Korea’s fast-paced culture and quick-moving trends, as well as the tendency to focus on appearances. While there are advantages and drawbacks to these aspects, Sophie believes that they have come together to build K-Beauty in such a way that it “helps women feel more confident and flawless with near-perfect skin using minimal makeup.”
She notes,
“While being flawless doesn’t mean perfection, K-Beauty–with so many new products and non-stop innovation and advanced technology always coming up–helps women rebuild confidence.”
This makes K-Beauty the perfect medium for Sophie to further her mission of “curating and creating modern beauty essentials that accentuate the existing natural beauty in women and inspire them to feel more confident and empowered.”
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