For Eric Shin, the path to becoming a restaurateur didn’t start in a kitchen, it started with a pair of drumsticks.
While most people only know him as the founder and CEO of SeoulSpice Korean Kitchen—with 10 locations across the country and counting—he also moonlights as the principal percussionist for the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC.
As the child of Korean immigrants who also ran a Korean eatery, Shin’s ascent into the food business may seem natural but it wasn’t always that straightforward. In fact, growing up, he aspired to emulate the aspirations of his dad, who wanted to be a software engineer.
“I was obsessed with computers, video games, and oddly enough, sports; my dad really wanted me to fit into Western culture,” he told Retail Brew. “He had me playing baseball, football. I was into skateboarding—just a little potpourri of everything Americana.”
Fast forward to high school, and he said he was already running a web design business while also “getting into classical music and jazz.”
“I figured, since I already had my company in high school, I didn’t need to go to college to study computer science,” he said. Instead, he went to Julliard.
But somewhere between music school and his tenure at the National Symphony Orchestra, Shin’s entrepreneurial streak resurfaced—this time in the form of SeoulSpice Korean Kitchen, which opened its first location in 2016.
While there are some similarities between his career as a musician and a restaurant owner, Shin believes there are many parallels between the two industries: “[The restaurant industry is] one of the most honest things in the world. We all love food. We can have different beliefs, we can have different color skin, but something about food can always bring us together. Music is kind of the same thing, too. We all love music. These are necessities.”
With SeoulSpice, Shin hopes to bring the same level of honesty into the food he serves.
“Growing up as a Korean American, with the goal of introducing Korean flavors in a fast casual format, to a very mainstream audience, a lot of it was about balancing authenticity of my culture with accessibility,” he said, adding that while initially he sought a balance, he realized the only way forward was to “own your culture” which he believes is a “superpower.”
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“You can’t run away from your story,” he told us. “Stories of our parents coming to America—they’re unbelievable stories. You have to lead with those, and you have to find your power within it—the soul, spice, our flavors, the music, the design, the language, everything.”
That authenticity has resonated, so much so that Invus Group, an investor in fast casual giant Cava, recently backed SeoulSpice. With further growth on the horizon for his own business, Shin hopes that the new crop of PoC food entrepreneurs will feel confident about taking a chance on themselves, saying the “timing is really great.”
Thinking back to his time as a kid showing up to school with the “craziest things in the lunchbox,” Shin recalls how he would feel embarrassed. “One day, it’s kimchi and everyone’s flying for the doors, and another day, it’s Spam and rice. It was just like opening Pandora’s box every day at lunch, and it’s traumatizing.”
Comparing that to his kids’ experience today, he says it’s simply “no big deal.”
“People now are more adventurous and open to new ideas and culture,” he said. “Our previous generations paved the way.”
He recommends the younger cohort see it as an opportunity to “share our culture with the world’ and “lead the story.”
“Everything it takes to be successful feels uncomfortable at first,” he said. “It’s always going to be different. It’s all about pushing through adversity, and it’s that passion that gets you started.”
He also advises young entrepreneurs to master the business things like managing a P&L, understanding labor percentages, and negotiating leases.
Ultimately, however, Shin said it all ties back to leaning into your culture while also staying connected with a community of other entrepreneurs.
“Find other founders at your level and grow together; trade contacts, share tips, celebrate everyone’s openings,” he said. “Solidarity will take you further than competition ever will.”