Those who have lived in the world where victory is determined by 0.01 seconds on ice

will know just how fearsome the energy of 'endurance' can be.

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In this meetup,

we met Lee Jong-woo,

a speed skating athlete for 20 years who now lives the second chapter of his life as an ice equipment entrepreneur.

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An 8-year-old child who started running before speaking

At 8 years old, unable to speak a word of Korean.

The skates worn for the first time in school ice class changed Mr. Jong's life.

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Starting by falling and learning, a year later, he swept all the school competitions with gold medals.

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The first 'sense of achievement' experienced at a young age kept pulling Mr. Jong to the skating rink every day.

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But in sports, only the top is remembered.

Facing the wall of talent, Mr. Jong also learned to accept reality.

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The first big failure, and back to the ice

The summer preparing for the 2007 Asian Games, a severely injured ankle.

Spending 12 hours a day icing the pain, Mr. Jong bet everything he could on himself.

However, he fell in front of his parents at the competition,

and this failure greatly shook Mr. Jong's world.

“It just felt... like I was falling behind.”

Retirement declaration, national team expulsion, enduring days with alcohol.

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At that time, a word from his father stopped Mr. Jong.

“You know, it’s good that this failure happened.

Until now, you have achieved everything you wanted.

Four years is not a long time.”

Hearing those words, Mr. Jong put on his skates again and spent another four years preparing for the next Olympics.

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From athlete to entrepreneur—Selling 'information and service'

It’s said that almost everything for ice equipment is dependent on imports.

Strong in English, Mr. Jong found his business start by ordering equipment for his seniors.

Those were days when he stockpiled inventory in the athlete village room and rushed to the post office after training.

The greatest competitive edge Mr. Jong developed for his business started from the information gained through experience.

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“I am not someone who sells products.

I consider myself someone who sells information and service.”

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Providing equipment support to athletes,

going to the competition site to cheer them on,

and personally resolving even the smallest complaints.

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It was because of the help he received from someone,

that he now wanted to give back in return.

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To grow your capacity,

you must eventually understand ‘yourself’ first

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There’s something Mr. Jong repeatedly emphasized throughout the podcast.

“When people get greedy, they tend to overwork themselves.”

And “each person's capacity has its limits.”

The capacity mentioned here was closer to ‘my overall capacity’ encompassing ability, stamina, emotion, concentration, relationships, and work.

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He asserts, “There is no life that only rises continuously.”

Every growth has a transition period,

and the way you pass through this period ultimately depends on the depth of self-understanding.

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That’s why before he began his business in earnest after retiring from being an athlete,

Mr. Jong says he dismantled everything he had.

Searching for answers on what he truly wanted, who he was, and where the boundaries were that he shouldn’t cross. Mr. Jong looked inside each one himself.

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What Mr. Jong realized after this process was.'

Growing the capacity doesn't start from 'the power to hold more'

but from 'the power to know what kind of person I am to hold something.'

Without self-understanding, growth becomes greed, and speed becomes a burden.

The firmer the self-understanding, the further you can go, even if you go slowly.

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A person who used to run faster than anyone else, now able to look at ‘where I am going’ first.

I hope the process of growing that capacity becomes a new courage to someone and a power to start again for someone else.