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USER PROFILE
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William B. Choi
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Location: Vancouver, BC
Title: Founder & Managing Partner
Company/Organization: CB Williams Business Advisors Group
Birth Date: Mar 11
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My Life Story...
I was born in Toronto, Canada, and moved to Vancouver, BC at a really young age. I remember my grandfather flying in from Japan and each time hearing about how he had started a new business. Every business he had started was an exciting story that pioneered the way. As an example, he was the first one to introduce and import certain fruits to S. Korea. He described areas of land he had purchased and described in great detail how he envisioned the area that would be "bustling one day", looking at me and said with a chuckle, "...by the time you're age comes around". He had so many stories, and since then I had been intrigued to not only be a success, but to make a difference to a community or in the world, just like my grandfather did.
So began my journey as an entrepreneur, and I asked my dad for my first job at age 6 to work in his factory. I "opened" my first business at age 7 selling Japanese action figures (that weren't in North America, but are a phenomenon now) at a park in my townhouse community at the time. I obtained my first "warehouse of items" each time when my grandfather would come to our home with the next hottest toy in Japan. I had some old toys that were "out of fad" and had my first round of Japanese items to sell. I made a modest profit (the bigger kids I knew around the block either threatened me to sell to them at an unreasonable price or convinced me of a "fantastic" trade!). With that money, I bought my grandfather his favouite North American beverage and a bag of sweets, and put away the rest. At age 13 I started working at a gas station (I knew my parents would be upset for not studying like the rest of the Korean kids!), and a few consecutive nuts and bolts jobs from there.
I always loved travelling and started backpacking around the world, after quitting my job at one of the Big 5 consulting firms, shortly after obtaining my MBA. However, the main purpose of those trips were for a deeper learning about myself and engage with people from all races, whether the media portrays certain people negatively or not. I learned that 90% of the world's population are good people and just like you and me.
During the hype of real estate, after seeing how people were on the craze to acquire land and homes, I either started or acquired renovating businesses that were "hidden gems" rather than homes. I would then flip them and go on to the next exciting venture.
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About My Job...
During those times, I learned, not only from my faith, but also from business dealings that no matter how bright a person may be, one always needs a right hand man "to take it to the next level". Although I had been lucky in business, I was desperate for a trusted advisor. None were to be found, where I concluded that the reason why most entrepreneurs fail in business rather than succeed because of this lack of advice.
From the core of my entrepreneurial experience, my newest venture CB Williams Business Advisors Group fills this need, and today we have helped many start-up, distressed, and companies on the verge of expansion, succeed and experience not just incremental increases, but dramatic growth.
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My Education and Degrees...
St. Georges' School, Vancouver, Canada, Honors 1993
University of Western Ontario, BA Honors, London, Canada, 1997
Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, Int. MBA, 1999
Keio Business School, Tokyo, Japan, 1999
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Member of These Organizations...
Vancouver Board of Trade, member 1997-2003, 2005 • St. George’s Old Boys’ Society (The Georgians), member since 1994 • Pacific Urchin Harvester’s Association, Processors’ Representative 2001-2002 • Western Canada Seafood Merchants & Processors Association, founding member • Canada-Korea Business Association, member since 2001 • Korea Overseas Trade Association, partner since 2001 • BC Seafood Alliance, member since 2003 • Canada Export Centre, member since 2004 • The Terminal City Club, member since 2004 • BC Food Processors Association member since 2004 • Association of Zoos & Aquariums member since 2005 • American Pet Product Manufacturers Association member since 2005 • World Federation of Overseas Korean Trade Association 2006 • C3 Society (Canada Corea Coactive Society) 2006
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Comment Board
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