ROAD TO THE ROLE
While many saw him as destined to take over
his father’s company, Joo Kim has described
himself as a rebellious youth. It took him
a while to discover his true passion in the
world of business. “I was an idiot when
I was younger,” he laughs. “I didn’t really
know what I wanted to do; I wasn’t very
mature. I thought, ‘Okay, I’ll just go to
school, get some exposure to the business
and see what happens.’ ”
At that stage, the family company was
more concerned with the world of finance
and retail stockbroking. “The financial
business didn’t excite me as much, but
I found I had a passion for real estate,”
he explains. “We were still relatively young
as a real estate company, so it allowed me
to shape my own identity and create my
own legacy as a real estate guy.”
Joo Kim completed degrees in Science
(Management) and a Master of International
Business at Oklahoma’s Oral Roberts and
Sydney’s Macquarie University respectively,
but emphatically says that on-the-job learning
has taught him more. “No university likes to
hear this, but I don’t think it really teaches
you much of the practicality of your work.
There are a lot of things that school doesn’t
teach you, that you can only learn by doing
the work and being in the real world.”
In January 2016, he moved into the CEO
position at TA Global and has helped shape
it as a real estate developer with an eye for
ambitious and elegantly designed luxury
projects. Joo Kim says his background gives
him a very different focus from many
competitors in the real estate sphere.
“I think a lot of developers are very
profit-driven,” he explains. “They’re not
trying to re-imagine the work; they’re
focused on what will sell, what will have
a strong profit margin. I grew up pretty
comfortable, so my motivation is not just
profit. Don’t get me wrong – money is
important, but it’s not my motivation. It
doesn’t get me out of bed in the morning.
“What makes me excited is the possibilityHalf page advert
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