Welcome to DAE GEE!  I would like to share my unlikely story of how I got started with DAE GEE.

I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado and an avid entrepreneur and golfer. After graduating from high school in 1999 I attend a semester at University of Colorado before moving out to Mountain View, CA to live with my sister and be engulfed in the dot com boom of the Silicon Valley business world. I attended DE Anza College for 2 years and pursued continuing education until I received the devastating news that my father was involved in a fatal accident. I was on the next plane out of San Jose to be by my father’s hospital bed to find out that he was on life support. At that moment I grew up real quick and remember going to the dry cleaners my parents operated and began to get training to reopen in a couple of days. I had helped out at the cleaners part time over several summers so I had a little experience. I was a business operator at the age of 21. While my friends were celebrating their 21st birthdays drinking and partying, I was celebrating my first business and embracing the journey to come.

While operating the business I graduated from University of Colorado in 2005 with a B.A. in Business Administration and emphasis in finance. I was no book worm and my slogan at the time was “C’s earn degrees”.  Not to say that college is not important but I knew what I did not have much interest in theories of business but more in experiencing it firsthand which I had been doing for the past two years after my father had passed in 2003. So after graduation I was working 80-100 hours weeks for the next 6 years and very involved in ministry at a 2nd generation Korean-American Church Immanuel Mission Church.

I was married in 2008 to my beautiful wife Janet and thank the Lord for what would be the next level of building my character and integrity in life and business. Went through the one of the toughest points in my career with the economic crash which lead to a 30% drop in revenue. I remember being backed up 3 months in rent and at the brink of being kicked out of my retail space. In those moments, God had convinced me of the most important life and business lesson. Never give up HOPE and always have LOVE in every situation and FAITH in something bigger.

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Several years went by and in 2010 my son Ethan was born and one of the most memorable moments in my life. It gave me more motivation to work harder than ever. December 2010, had the opportunity to partner with a chef of a restaurant called Korean Garden BBQ in Westminster, CO. The only experience I had in the restaurant industry was I knew how to eat well and was probably considered CEO (Chief Eating Officer). Just as I jumped in to the dry cleaners with little experience I jumped into the restaurant industry with no experience, but thankful to my mother in law who had operated her own Korean BBQ restaurant in Honolulu, HI for 15-20 years.

I started ground up and worked as a server for a year and at times did the dishes during slow times and served.  In August of 2011, another memorable moment in my life happened when my daughter Emma was born. Soon thereafter, the chef decided to move back to S. Korea and I bought out his portion of the business.  The following year April 2012 we hired a branding company and DAE GEE Korean BBQ was born. Once again I had no experience with branding but I initially wanted to open a food truck. But as the business began to grow and I looked at the numbers, I chose to invest in more locations rather a food truck.

I took a failing Korean restaurant in 2012 and in three short years grew the business by 400%. We opened up our 2nd location in September of 2014 and due to the A+ location it matched what we were doing at our first location as soon as we opened. What took me 3 years to build at our first location was immediate at our second location.

I am proud of my Korean-Japanese-American Heritage and would like to introduce not only Denver and the United States, but the world about what Korean BBQ is and how fun it is. My passion has evolved from making money to desiring every person in the world to taste Korean BBQ.

God has truly orchestrated the perfect plan by implementing the right people in my life at the right moment. Only when I am ready and able to handle the next level He provides. Matthew 25:14-15 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.”

Well that is my story.  I am glad that you have decided to investigate DAE GEE and look forward to learning your story and our success together.

Sincerely,

Joe Kim, Founder & President