spark360 Behind The Scenes: Designs by Jun

The first thing we like to focus on at spark360 – the quality behind why we chose “spark” for the title of our program – is the passion shown by the entrepreneurs profiled. What sparks the passion for wanting to create a new company out of thin air? What gives these executives the energy to make their product, provide their service, ride the economic rollercoaster that makes up the process of building a business in the U.S. in 2010?

With Jun Lee, it was clear to me that the passion comes from the athlete that she used to be – and still is, to some extent, even though the aftereffects of a terrible car wreck cut short a blossoming career as a pro golfer.

It was a typically gorgeous spring morning in Texas at Bent Tree Country Club in north Dallas when we shot this feature on Designs by Jun. A sun-splashed day, not a cloud in the sky – in fact, the only things our crew saw in the air were the drives that Jun was sending flying off the ladies’ tee. She put a lot of power behind that swing, and it was apparent that she had taken this demanding sport seriously and was a serious competitor. I couldn’t help but notice one or two admiring glances from men and women who were out early that morning.

As with a lot of CEO’s/company presidents/enterpreneurs who have made the commitment to build a company, she also proved to be the best salesperson for Designs by Jun. She’s a bright, sunny face for her business and articulates her enthusiasm for the project very well. She put a lot of energy into telling her personal story about the accident, and how it forced her switch from professional sports to sports apparel design. Granted, fashion design was something she was always interested in, but sustaining such damage to her neck and back – to the point of numbness in her extremities if she lingers too long on the golf course – made her take that career leap earlier than she expected.

It’s also obvious that the camera loves her. It’s easy to picture her during network coverage of major LPGA events, striding purposefully down the fairways, the announcers speaking in hushed tones about her background – picking up her first golf club at the age of 5, the devoted mother who bought those first clubs and remains her biggest fan to this day, the older brother who won a gold medal for South Korea in a rifle shooting event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. I can imagine those announcers then mentioning that the spirit of competition clearly runs in this family.

Our thanks, by the way, to Lisa Horne, Design by Jun’s chief operating oficer, who in her additional role as director of communications also acknowledged that Jun was an attractive and articulate spokesperson for her company. And kudos to David Price, Bent Tree’s golf pro, for letting us set up shop in his shop and for sharing his thoughts about the new energy Jun’s company is bringing to the women sports apparel industry.