ALIST_Anniversary2017_Final (2)

Five Years Later:
Yul Kwon, Facebook's Director of Product Management
AM: How do you define success and how do you measure up
to your own definition?
YK: Ooh, this is a tough one. I tend to think of success across
three dimensions: professional, family, and personal/social.
Professional success reflects how far you’ve risen or achieved
in your chosen profession. On this score, I think I’ve done
ok, but not great. I’ve switched careers too many times to be
really good at any one thing, although I feel lucky to have had
a broad diversity of experiences. With regard to family, this is
probably where I feel like I’ve experienced the most success.
I have a wonderful wife and two amazing girls who are the
lights of my life. But I don’t spend nearly as much time with
my family as I want to or should, so on most days, I kind of
feel like I’m failing. Personal/social success for me refers to
your level of self-actualization or social impact. I think I’ve
done ok here, certainly better than I would have guessed 20
years ago. I had a lot of anxieties and self-doubts in youth, and
while I’ve never fully overcome them, I haven’t let them stop
me from doing the things I’ve wanted to. And I’m fortunate to
have had opportunities to drive broader social impact in a way
that most people probably don’t get.
Having first gained national recognition as a winner of the
“Survivor” TV show in 2006, Yul Kwon career has ranged from
hosting Discovery Channel documentaries to operating and
developing Red Mango retail stores. We spoke with the current
Director of Product Management at Facebook about his personal
journey and what he’s learned about success.
ALIST Magazine: Looking back at where you were when
you started this journey, where did you think it was going to
lead you?
Yul Kwon: I’m really not sure. I used to plan out my life in
minute detail and set goals for what I would do and where
I would be at various points. But my life kept changing so
frequently that I realized this was a moot exercise. As a result,
I didn’t have any clear expectations of where my journey would
take me. Although I did hope that it would lead me to having
a great family, and in that respect, I feel really blessed.
KENNY KIM
AM: What do you worry about, and why?
YK: I tend to be a worrier by nature, so I worry about pretty
much everything. I worry about my family and their health,
the future well-being and happiness of my kids, the rise
of intolerance and extremist views around the world, the
dysfunction of our political system, global warming, nuclear
proliferation, whether I have bad breath, whether this pudge
around my waist is ever going to go away … all right, I’d better
stop or I won’t be able to sleep tonight. But there’s one thing
I don’t worry about anymore – whether anyone will notice
that I’m an awkward, sweaty dancer (because dancing is just a
theoretical concept to me now).
AM: If you won $20 million in the lottery, what would you
do with the money?
YK: I’d use it to self-finance a run for political office. Just
kidding, I’d rather put a pointy stick in my eye. I’d probably
donate a portion of it to charitable causes, use some of it to
launch a startup, and invest the rest into an index fund.
AM: If you could select one person from history and have
them truthfully answer one question, who would you select
and what is the question?
YK: I’d ask James Madison:, “Is the Second Amendment of
the U.S. Constitution intended to provide the right to bear
arms only to militias or to private individuals as well?”
6 | ANNIVERSARY 2017/2018