Jennifer Kirk

KCI Volunteer

PROFILE:
Jennifer Kirk began her career in traditional PR then forged a path to social media and digital content marketing in the early years of the social web. Since then she’s led successful digital marketing campaigns for international brands in entertainment, publishing and technology. After working in-house for many years, Jennifer founded Jenius Consulting, and has assisted companies around the world both in digital marketing strategy and in entering the US market. Jennifer brings vast experience in building engaged global audiences and implementing data-driven marketing plans. When not in San Francisco, Jennifer can be found in her “second home” of Seoul, South Korea.

How and when did your interest in Korea and Korean culture get started?

It started when I was young. My grandfather, Lt. Col. Lewis Harvey Kirk Jr. served during the Korean War and lived in Korea for many years afterwards. After the war, he acted as a liaison between the US Army and the new Korean government. He assisted in facilitating the rebuilding of infrastructure in South Korea by bringing few American businessmen and companies to South Korea, and also with resettling of refugees and the care of war orphans. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to meet my grandfather in person, but I grew up with many photos of him and the family heirlooms that he brought back from his time in Korea. While I was always fascinated with other countries, due to having a lot of exposure since my childhood, Korea always stood out. I was very interested in trying to have a connection to my grandfather through his post-wars work, so I have been following his footsteps in Japan, Germany and Korea. During the War, he spent a lot of his time in Busan, but after the war, he spent the majority of his time in Seoul. The area he used to live in Seoul is now known as Itaewon.

In addition to attempting to be closer to my grandfather, I also came to Korea to experience being abroad for a longer period of time than a normal vacation, as well to learn the language and culture through first-hand experiences. Despite the difficult situation with the Covid-19 pandemic, I have been lucky to make many good friends. There has definitely been a learning curve in order to adjust to life in Korea, yet I have been fortunate to continue to meet good people and have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. Additionally, I follow multiple English news accounts that report current events and key social issues in order to be more knowledgeable about Korean culture and society. They are: Laura Bicker (BBC Seoul Correspondent), Hosu Lee (BBC News), William Gallo (Seoul bureau Chief of VOA), Eun-Young Jeong (WSJ reporter covering regional news from Seoul, Korea), to just name a few. My favorite is Raphael Rashid, a Seoul-based freelance journalist. With his academic background and professional experience in Korean language and society, he writes comprehensive articles to help English speakers understand the reality of marginalized groups in Korea and bring change to Korean society.

How did you hear about KCI and what motivated you to volunteer for the Chuseok Festival?

The first time I heard about KCI was through the Chuseok Festival in 2019. I had known Jee Kim, one of the organizers for the 1st Annual Bay Area Chuseok Festival, for many years. Jee initially asked me to help spread the word about the Festival. Then, through a mutual friend, I was asked by Eu-jeania, another organizer of the Chuseok Festival, to help out with digital marketing and was brought into the planning process only 3 weeks before the day of the event. At first, I was afraid to get involved because there were only 3 weeks left – could I be impactful? At that time I had already decided that I would be going to Korea for a few months. I had just started learning Korean and I thought participating in the Festival would be a good opportunity to start “dipping my toes in” to become more knowledgeable about Korea and the world that I was about to step into. Additionally, it is very important to me to say yes to helping people whenever possible. It is my way of making the world a better place.

Once I decided to pitch in, I immediately organized the content that had already been created and tried to get the word out as much as possible through various social media channels. I had noticed that the Facebook event page of the festival was very dormant, so I reactivated it. I reached out to my reporter friend at ABC. She was able to come out and do a piece on the Chuseok Festival and the Kimchi Festival. I remember thinking that we would be lucky if we break 4 digit numbers of attendees, but I didn’t say that to anybody. Yet, on the day of the Festival, I was surprised (and thrilled) to see people keep coming and coming… In retrospect, it must’ve been faith or destiny, given all the connecting dots that led me to the planning team of the Chuseok Festival.

How was your volunteering experience for the Chuseok Festival?

It was definitely a whirlwind. I was trying to figure out what efforts were currently happening and how to maximize my efforts. I remember sending out a lot of emails to engage as many people as possible in a short period of time. I unfortunately had limited interaction with other volunteers, as I mostly worked with the main organizers of the festival. Everyone I worked with was incredibly helpful and nice. It has been such a wonderful experience. In my experience, people who work for nonprofit organizations really care for their community, so I knew I was going to meet good people. Yet, I was not prepared for how incredible the people would be and how impactful they would be in my life for the last year and a half.

How has the coronavirus pandemic affected your life?

The Covid-19 outbreak just reminded me how adaptable I am. A lot of people and good friends of mine have been heavily impacted by the pandemic over the last year. There have been a lot of challenges and struggles with my consulting, but I consider myself as one of the luckier ones. I have my health and still have my business, albeit a bit smaller for the time being. My personality and optimistic perspectives in life tend to work in my favor in times of crisis. I always try to come up with creative solutions to put out a fire. People who know me call me “Ms. Fix-it” for that attitude.

The situation had opened my eyes to some of my strengths that I haven’t been playing to for the last few years, and to things that interested me in the past that I didn’t really have time to explore. I have been having discussions about some new adventures to expand my experiences in the food and wine industry and my growing ties in Korea. The pandemic wasn’t in anybody’s plan and there have been very tough times. But, I just keep telling myself how lucky I am compared to many others.

How was it to be volunteering for this year’s festival again, and how was it different from volunteering for the first year’s festival?

There were many changes to be made because the festival went virtual this year. Thankfully, there was a lot more lead time for planning than the first year and I was able to be involved from the beginning of the planning phase this time around. I had a clear picture of what was going on from beginning to end. I felt everything was very well-planned and organized from the very beginning. The communication was far more streamlined and it was very easy to get questions answered. The weekly team meetings helped cement what the Chuseok Festival would look like. Throughout the entire planning time I knew my specific goals and was working with a clear vision. I was very happy to participate again, being able to see the growing improvement of the planning of the festival.

Will you be willing to volunteer for the 3rd Annual Chuseok Festival?

Of course! I’m very excited with my growing relationship with KCI and the team here. I was honored to be asked to be one of KCI’s advisors starting this year. I consider myself very lucky. Everyone I have worked with is really wonderful and warm. I am happy to get to know these people personally and professionally. I look forward to seeing how the team and the festival continue to grow, especially after having invested so much time over the past 2 years. Knowing what the festival was and what it can be is what makes me really excited for my continued involvement.

Could you give any advice for future Chuseok Festival volunteers?

If anyone is interested in volunteering, if it is something that your heart is telling you to do, you should absolutely do it. It is a really wonderful adventure. It is hard work, but rewarding and the team is very very special. It is an experience like no other.