"Good Thing We Returned to Korea": Reverse-Immigrant Couple Turns Life Around with YouTube, Achieves 8.7 Million Won Sales in 10 Days [Content Commerce]

Gaining Empathy Through Content About Reverse Immigration
Leveraging Flight Attendant Experience to Launch a Cosmetics Business

"After leaving a large corporation and immigrating to Canada, it became so difficult to make a living during the COVID-19 pandemic that I experienced depression. The new business I started with renewed determination upon returning and settling in Korea is the cosmetics brand 'Pearly.'"

'Hyunbubu,' run by the married couple Hyun Lee and Hojung Kim, is a YouTube channel with 57,000 subscribers that shares content reflecting their experiences with both immigration to Canada and returning to Korea. They have consistently operated the channel for six years since 2019, and have produced multiple videos on immigration and return migration that have each surpassed one million views. Their primary audience consists of people in their 30s to 50s who are raising children and facing similar concerns.

Hyun Lee and Hojung Kim, representatives of LeafLeaf.

The decision to immigrate to Canada was made in 2018. At the beginning of that year, Hyun Lee was working in technical sales at a foreign company, and Hojung Kim was a flight attendant at Korean Air, living an ordinary life as a couple in Korea. However, after the birth of their first child, the couple realized that the frequent overtime required for sales and the shift work of a flight attendant left them with no family time. After much deliberation, they decided to immigrate to Canada. To prepare for settling down, they learned dental technician skills and boarded a flight to Canada in November of the same year.

The process of settling in a foreign land was not easy. They were unable to obtain permanent residency in a timely manner, which made it difficult to find employment. It was around this time that they launched their YouTube channel. They thought that, in order to generate any income, they should at least upload content on YouTube. Hyun Lee said, "Since it was our first time creating content, we were awkward in front of the camera and inexperienced with editing, but we decided to show our life as honestly as possible without embellishment. After obtaining permanent residency, we shared the process of finding jobs and securing a home, and we were grateful to receive so much support from viewers." The couple later had their second child in Canada.

The most significant challenge was the COVID-19 pandemic. As strict lockdowns were implemented in Canada, it became even more difficult to find jobs, and their livelihood became unstable. Hojung Kim, the wife, suffered from postpartum depression due to the mental strain. The couple then decided to return to Korea, and they shared this process in detail on their YouTube channel as well.

After returning to Korea, they chose to start a business rather than seek employment. The business idea they found was cosmetics. As a former flight attendant, Hojung Kim had always been interested in skincare. As more viewers left comments asking about her skincare routine and favorite cosmetics, she decided to create and sell her own products. After more than two years of study and research, the couple launched the cosmetics brand 'Pearly,' which features products containing exosomes to strengthen the skin's moisture barrier.

Kim explained, "The cabin environment where flight attendants work is even drier and dustier than a desert, so I naturally learned how to take care of my skin on the job. I developed these products with the hope of providing effective skincare that can be used consistently at an affordable price to achieve the best results."

The couple enhanced business efficiency by utilizing the 'YouTube Shopping' feature on the Cafe24 platform. They added a 'Store Tab' to their channel, allowing them to introduce products within their content and making it easy for viewers to make purchases. The cosmetics were so successful that they recorded total sales of 8.7 million won within just 10 days of launch. Within six months, they sold out the first production batch and are now proceeding with a second round of production. Recently, they have also begun exporting initial batches to Southeast Asian markets.

The couple plans to further grow their brand in the future. They are currently planning to develop additional basic skincare products such as sunscreen. Kim added, "The YouTube channel is our main marketing tool. As the channel continues to grow, I hope that, through our beauty brand Pearly, we can help many people achieve healthy and radiant skin."