My story doesn’t begin in Silicon Valley or a computer science lab. It begins in corporate boardrooms, restaurant kitchens, and the countless hours between — the journey of someone who built a career through persistence, reinvention, and a willingness to start over when necessary.
From Corporate Strategy to Culinary Arts
After completing my business education in the United States, I joined Amore Pacific Corporation in South Korea, which is one of Asia’s premier beauty conglomerates. I was working in Corporate Strategy Office, where I spent years evaluating cross-border acquisitions, joint ventures, and commercial due diligence projects across Vietnam and France.
Those years taught me strategic thinking, financial analysis, and operational evaluation. But they also taught me something else: the intensity of corporate life — endless late nights preparing executive reports — left me questioning whether I wanted to remain a small cog in a massive machine.
I wanted to build something with my own hands.
Starting from Zero
With minimal capital and no hospitality training, I opened a small pizzeria in Korea. It failed. But that failure ignited a genuine passion for cooking and hospitality that changed everything.
I started over from the bottom — working as a line cook, learning kitchen operations through hard work rather than theory. When my daughter was diagnosed with nonverbal autism, my family immigrated to Canada seeking better support and opportunities for her future.
For the process of immigration, I enrolled in culinary school in Toronto, and I worked my way up through restaurant kitchens, eventually becoming a head chef and working alongside some of Canada’s most recognized culinary professionals. An unexpected opportunity to teach at Centennial College culinary school for three years added another dimension — mentoring culinary students deepened my understanding of leadership, communication, and education.
The Gap That Changed Everything
Throughout my restaurant career, I noticed a persistent problem: owners, especially those with multiple locations, struggled to extract meaningful insight from their operations. POS systems provided raw numbers — sales totals, guest counts — but rarely translated them into actionable intelligence.
That gap became the foundation for F&B Central, an intelligent restaurant analytics platform designed to transform operational data into business insights that help owners make informed decisions about labor efficiency, inventory, campaigns, and profitability.
Why This Matters
Here is what makes this journey significant: I am not a software engineer. I don’t write code. I’m not a tech expert.
Most of my life has been spent in kitchens, classrooms, and business operations. Yet today, I am building a software platform — something that would have been impossible for someone like me just a few years ago.
Artificial intelligence opened the door.
AI tools allow ordinary people — those without programming backgrounds — to organize ideas, structure systems, and develop concepts that were once accessible only to technical specialists. What matters isn’t coding ability, but clarity of vision, willingness to learn, and persistence.
Building the Second Half
I am developing F&B Central as a side project while working full-time in restaurants, carving out limited hours outside my day job. It is demanding and exhausting, but it represents something bigger than a software platform.
It represents the possibility of reinvention.
For professionals over 45 — especially those approaching retirement or questioning what comes next — AI presents a rare opportunity. Many already possess decades of industry knowledge, leadership experience, and practical wisdom. AI provides leverage: the ability to transform accumulated experience into new businesses, consulting opportunities, educational platforms, or entirely different careers.
My goal isn’t just building a successful company. It’s proving to others who think it’s “too late” that it’s not too late.
Why I Write Daily AI Desk
That belief is exactly why this blog exists.
Daily AI Desk is where I share what I’m actually learning — the tools that work, the workflows that save real time, and the honest lessons from someone building something new in the second half of life. I don’t write about AI from theory. I write from the desk where I use it every day.
If you’re a working professional who feels like technology is moving faster than you can keep up, this blog is for you. You already have the experience. AI can give you the leverage. And together, those two things are more powerful than either one alone.