'Wonderful' gets things done in Korea
Startup entrepreneur Maria Lee / Courtesy of Wonderful
By Hallie Bradley
Maria Lee moved to Korea without any Korean language skills and quickly realized life would not be as easy as she and probably others might hope.
Rather than wallow away the days thinking about how hard life is, she decided to start a service to make living in Korea easier for foreign residents. She named that service Ask Ajumma. Three years later, and a name change to
, her service is thriving.
Aiming to help with everything from day-to-day troubles to event planning and more, Wonderful has gained a reputation in the foreign community as the personal assistant expats living in Korea and tourists coming to Korea can use for any number of needs.
Lee spoke about the inconveniences of her early days in Korea, “Even though Gmarket was in English, many of the product descriptions were fully in Korean. And the most frustrating part was talking to the delivery guy when he called. Packages would get misplaced sometimes and it was impossible to call the company back without the help of Korean friends.”
Most people who make that move abroad come with an independent streak, and the sudden dependence on Korean co-workers, acquaintances or neighbors for the most basic of things ― from making dental appointments over the phone to booking a cabin on a mountain ― can come with its disappointments.
“When I learned how easy it was to hire someone to clean my home and fix things, suddenly I was getting things done I had been procrastinating about because before it was on my 'too hard and too burdensome' list,” Lee said.
With her list of to-dos decreasing, she realized her family had more time to explore Korea and enjoy their time here ― and that's exactly how her growing list of clients feel.
She didn't just jump headfirst into growing her business though. Starting a business abroad from the ground up comes with its own hurdles.
“For me it was extra-challenging because of language difficulties, but more significant was adapting to an incredibly different business culture,” she said. “Nothing is easy. And things that seem easy can oftentimes escalate into monsters.”
After much planning and research, Maria understood her customers' needs and desires and set out with a solid plan. She bade farewell to 15 years of civil service for the U.S. government to serve and provide in a different way.
Now, she might just know more than the average Korean local when it comes to troubleshooting and problem-solving.
Lee employs up to 10 bilingual assistants at any one time, but she remains a hands-on CEO providing oversight and looking for ways to improve services. She is now looking at exporting her business to other countries, which was the main reason for changing the business name.
The service has helped thousands of foreigners in Korea do everything from putting together creative cosplay outfits and finding missing people, to renting a Porsche for a video shoot and having Spider-Man deliver cupcakes to a birthday boy. They've even been asked to stand in long lines to get an item first.
“The requests really run the gamut and although there is a list of common requests, we continue to receive interesting and unique requests all the time. People, especially foreigners, are really creative! Our job is a lot of fun this way because every day can be different.”
Those in need of help can contact Wonderful through
,
or
.