[Sportschosun Lee Ji-hyun] Broadcaster Song Eun-i shared the journey that led her to success as a content entrepreneur, along with the growth story of the company and office building she built.
A recent video titled "How Did Song Eun-i, Who Was Unemployed, Get Back on Her Feet? (+The One Line That Stayed in Her Heart)" was uploaded to the YouTube channel "Jung Sang-hoon, Not Jung Sang-hoon."
During the interview, Song Eun-i spoke candidly about her management philosophy as the head of a content production company and the secret behind her company's growth. The shoot took place at her new headquarters in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Media Lab Seesaw, which she leads, is known to run content production, management, and commerce businesses, with a staff of about 50 employees.
Although she is now called a successful CEO, her start was far from easy. Song Eun-i confessed that around 2013, she was effectively unemployed for about a year and a half. She then took on a new challenge by launching the podcast "Secret Guarantee" with her close friend Kim Sook.
She recalled, "We did a counseling content show, and after about five weeks, people started responding. Advertisements also began coming in." After the success of "Secret Guarantee," she founded a content production company and expanded her business by launching the variety show "Bob Bless You" and the project group Celeb Five. More recently, she has diversified further by taking part in the production of the film "Open the Door" with director Jang Hang-jun.
Song Eun-i also revealed the key to surviving in the fiercely competitive content market. She said, "To survive in this red ocean, you have to put a lot of effort in at the beginning," adding, "The thumbnail, the idea, and consistently uploading content are all important."
She added, "You have to keep communicating with viewers. Subscribers stay only when they feel that the channel owner and I are communicating."
Above all, Song Eun-i made clear her firm belief in the value content should have. She said, "Because I focus on the value of content, it may not make money right away or produce immediate results," and added, "Even if it is not useful, I want to make content that is at least harmless."
Meanwhile, as the company has grown under that management philosophy, Song Eun-i's new office building in Sangam-dong has also drawn attention. The building is a newly constructed structure with one basement level and six floors above ground, and it is known that about 8.7 billion won was spent when the land was purchased in 2022.
The real estate industry estimates that the building is now worth around 15.7 billion won. By a simple calculation, that means the asset value has risen by about 7 billion won.
Song Eun-i, however, took the increase in the building's value in stride. Appearing on Choi Hwa-jung's YouTube channel last year, she laughed and said, "It has gone up a lot. But most of it belongs to the bank," referring to the large amount of debt involved.
She also explained why she chose the site for the office building, saying, "It used to be a junkyard, but it got so much sunlight," and adding, "I thought it would be great to build on that site."
olzllovely@sportschosun.com
