Meet James Choi of Perillas

Today we’d like to introduce you to James Choi.

James, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I come from a background in finance and management consulting, where I have experienced different types of company cultures. During that time, I have witnessed multiple instances where the value of people was not properly prioritized. This started my unusual journey into entrepreneurship.

I took a detour from my corporate track to attend Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where I received a Master’s in Religion, focusing on Workplace Theology, Ethics, and Leadership. It’s there that I have built the foundations on how I feel business should be approached. In short, I believe that people have dignity and worth and that doesn’t change when it comes to business.

Profits most definitely are important, but at Perillas, we believe the focus should lie on people, not money. After graduate school, I went on a journey to find my next steps. I wish I could say I had an elaborate plan, but to be honest, I didn’t. I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but finding that idea that I can pursue was always elusive. I did, however, always have a hunch that Korean food should be available in a fast-casual manner.

The only problem was, I had absolutely no experience in the food and beverage industry. I ended up taking a job at a fast-food restaurant to learn about the operations and gain some exposure. It was such a different experience than what I was used to.

Ultimately, it was a very humbling and valuable experience. After a year at the job, I left to pursue my Korean Bibimbap venture, Perillas, full-time. We were accepted into Foundation Kitchen, where we operate out of today and started pursuing catering orders for corporate lunches as well as pop-up events at local breweries and taprooms.

We have now been open for a month our first location at Bow Market in Union Square – Somerville, MA. It’ll be a temporary location for the time being – around 6-9 months. Nonetheless, we have been extremely blessed.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not. I have encountered numerous obstacles along the way. I had to navigate a (long) period of unemployment and not having an income. Naturally, this brought upon another challenge of navigating through debt.

I’ve had to battle through cancer, a dissolution of a business partnership, and figuring out how to fund & start a business on little to no capital. Needless to say, it was by no means an easy road, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

Perillas – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
On a superficial level, we are a Korean fast-casual food company that shares the joys of Korean food with the world, specifically through Bibimbap (which literally means “mixed rice”). I’ve grown up eating Korean food every day and always wondered why there was never a fast and convenient way to get it. That, however, seems to be changing pretty quickly across the nation.

On a deeper level, we are a company that believes in the value of people. We believe that people should come first. That isn’t limited to employees or customers. We believe in treating everyone with respect and dignity. That includes our suppliers and vendors, landlords and developers, and everyone in between. This approach will give us no choice but to pursue excellence in our product and integrity in our relationships.

We strongly believe that this is the roadmap to building a company that adds value, not only profits. I’ve seen cases where companies can add profits, but extract value from the company and the community. That is not the company I want to build.

I also believe in leveraging the power of business. I have experienced my fair share of struggles, but despite that I know I have been tremendously blessed. On the other hand, I hear of others in the world that can’t even pursue an education because they are so concerned about finding their next meal.

Though our impact may not be huge, we have partnered with Rise Against Hunger where for every bowl we sell, we donate the equivalent of a meal to someone experiencing extreme hunger. We understand it’s not the ultimate solution, but it’s important to us that we steward our opportunities well, especially early on.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I would say the proudest moment of my career is taking the leap from a comfortable, corporate career, and persisting through the challenges to pursue what I really believed to be my calling – building businesses that inspire and care for people so that we can add value to our communities.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1 Bow Market Way, Suite #15
  Somerville, MA 02143
• Website: perillasfood.com
• Phone: 203-668-9237
• Email: james@perillasfood.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/perillasfood
• Facebook: facebook.com/perillasfood
• Twitter: twitter.com/perillasfood
• Yelp: yelp.com/biz/perillas-cambridge-2

Image Credit:
Emily Chung, Yuna Oh, Eunjee Yoon

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