Interview with Hyunsoon “Sunny” Song, director
Q: How did you get involved in this business?
A: Taekwondo has been my lifelong passion. Over the years, I have earned my teaching certificate and hold a sixth-degree black belt. To develop a taekwondo academy and an after-school child-care facility that incorporates teaching the art and tenets of taekwondo is a natural progression.
Q: What distinguishes you from other businesses in your category?
A: In addition to a taekwondo academy, we are also a licensed child-care facility for ages 5-16. We provide after-school transportation to our facility and full-day care during school holidays, and operate full-time camps during the winter, spring, fall and summer.
Q: What do you like best about your line of work?
A: Seeing our students progress and develop to a level of accomplishment beyond what they could only imagine they were capable of.
Q: What is your business’ biggest challenge?
A: The challenge in teaching is to motivate each and every one of our students to extend what they may view as their limits, recognizing the personality traits and quirks of each individual and using them for development of both physical skills and personal character strengths.
Q: Something people might be surprised to learn about you or your business:
A: While teaching our students, I get as much pleasure and learn as much as they do. When I began learning the art of taekwondo at the age of our youngest students, I would never have imagined that I would now serve in this role as the master. The tenets of courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, indomitable spirit and strength of character that were taught to me at that young age have served as my guide in passing these tenets on to my students, only now they are enriched with life’s experiences.
Profile
Business: Song’s Elite Martial Arts Academy
Address: 2426 E. Bridge St.
Hours: Noon- 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-11 a.m. Saturday, see website for Taekwondo camp schedules
Founded: 2011
Contact: 303-654-9922,
Employees: 7
