Justin Chon Quotes

I did the 'right' thing and got a corporate job on Wall Street. That did not last long. I felt like I was throwing all my years of hard work and relationship-building down the toilet. I eventually quit, went and bought a camera, and built a website. That was the birth of KarenCivil.com.

The day I graduated, I skipped the ceremony to go straight to California for the dot-com boom.

Once I got out of architecture school I decided not to be an architect, I just started my own little design studio.

Becoming emancipated at 14, my life wasn't normal. I didn't have to go to school, so I didn't. I was rebellious by nature. I spent my 20s focusing on my company, Flower Films, and producing movies. Now that I'm almost 30, I would like to try other things in lie. I'm crazy about photography, and I want to take an art history class.

Since I quit banking, all my major life decisions, when they could, have revolved around writing.

I think many people go to business school and learn ways to play it safe, ensuring that they avoid some of the pain that entrepreneurs endure while taking less calculated risks.

When I first thought about leaving the traditional route of a 9-to-5 career to pursue full-time YouTube, it was terrifying - not many people were doing it. The thought was I have to have money saved up, because this very likely might fail. From the start, I had to give it my all for it to work.

I've taken the leap of faith to stop punching the company time clock and start working for myself. I'm now the CEO of Starfish Media Group, my production company, in New York City.

I've been acting since I was 10. My dad was an entrepreneur, so I guess something along those lines. I wouldn't want a 9-5 job.

It was supposed to be a year or two just to refresh my batteries, but I moved to Silicon Valley in the early 90's, and one thing let to another, got very involved in high tech, and formed a company and it ended up doing pretty well.

I left halfway through my third year to start Lipstick On Your Collar, which was the first thing I ever did.

If I had sat around and waited until I had an idea to be a successful photographer, I would still be in finance.

In July of 2010, I lost my finance job in Chicago. Instead of updating my resume and looking for a similar job, I decided to forget about money and have a go at something I truly enjoyed. I'd purchased a semi-professional camera earlier that year and spent my free time taking photos in downtown Chicago.

I called up a bunch of the CEOs of Silicon Valley companies and said, 'Hey, can I come and see you? And I'd like to learn about what you're doing.' And I don't know, most of them said yes.

I'm an entrepreneur. This is my life. This my career. This the way I eat.

I got a sociology degree and then had an opportunity to go to graduate school. But I said no, because I wanted to give songwriting a shot.

We always saw ourselves in careers as entrepreneurs or angels.

Silicon Valley is like Wall Street in that it will fill and pursue market opportunities to their logical extremes.

I thought I wanted to work in music production for a while. I worked for a film producer. Then I was given the opportunity to open a bar in New York. So, I was like, 'You know what, I'm going to give it a shot.'

I grew up the son of a businessman. And I didn't get into music to be a businessman.

As my athletic career was coming to an end in 2007, I asked myself, do I want to work for somebody, or go out and make a difference?

I was a dancer for about 20 years. It didn't really help me transition into music.

Part of the American dream is 'I can own my own business, I can control my destiny. I can have the opportunity to work for myself.'

I am an entrepreneur. Beyond that, I am a mother and part of a wonderful family that is part of a wonderful business.

I'm not of the mind where, 'It doesn't matter what you care about; you've got to have a safe reliable job and do the 9 to 5.' I obviously don't subscribe to that. There's nothing wrong with that, though, if that's what you want to do.