The Story of SoYoung

Hello! We’ve had many new subscribers lately, so I wanted to share the origin story of our brand this month.

I’m Catherine Choi, the founder and CEO of SoYoung. Twenty years ago, after having my first child, I had an unexpected moment of inspiration: I would design my first product and start a business. 

It felt crazy, especially since I had no background in anything related to this. But I decided to take a leap of faith and ignore the voice of reason.

Things were slow at first. With three kids close together, I found motherhood challenging.

Dreaming about my business helped me feel alive and excited. 

This venture was more about believing in myself than having any expectations of success. 

I promised to focus only on the next step.

To my surprise, the business kept growing, even when it felt shaky. 

As it expanded, I had to grow too—learning how to be a boss, structure a company, and sell effectively. I realized that through entrepreneurship, I transformed into a more empowered version of myself.

I hustled for years to make SoYoung a success. But the Universe had other plans. 

Just before the pandemic, we were in top retailers across North America and growing rapidly. It was exciting yet stressful, like being on a runaway train I couldn’t stop. Then, the pandemic hit, and everything came to a halt.

This gave me time to reflect on what truly mattered to me—my soul, not my ego. 

Those years were some of the hardest of my life, filled with challenges and mistakes. 

Two crucial lessons I learned:

1. Decisions made from ego will come back to haunt you.
2. While you can seek advice from experts, no one knows your business better than you.

Today, I focus on building a business that aligns with what excites and inspires me:

1. Sharing my message of hope and healing with you.
2. Creating beautiful, functional, and durable products that support your journey of empowerment.

With love and gratitude,

Catherine