The Quiet Warrior Podcast with Serena Low

96. From Burnout to Heart-Centered Leadership: How Former Introvert Louis Kim Redefined Success

• Serena Low, Introvert Coach for Quiet Achievers and Quiet Warriors

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In this deeply reflective conversation, Louis Kim shares his journey from chronic burnout and emotional numbness to becoming a heart-centered leader who blends business acumen with soulful awareness.

Born to Korean immigrants in the United States, Louis grew up navigating two worlds, channeling discipline and drive into building and exiting over $50 million in businesses across healthcare, real estate, and technology. Yet beneath his success was exhaustion — until he chose to pause, heal, and redefine leadership on his own terms.

Now as the founder of Yusan Capital, Louis leads with values of principled equity, radical collaboration, and abundant prosperity. In this episode, he opens up about how introversion, curiosity, and stillness shaped his leadership philosophy — and why the ability to sit in silence can be the ultimate power move.


Key Takeaways

  • The evolution from introvert to expansive leader: How Louis reframed his identity and learned to use curiosity as a catalyst for growth.
  • Reclaiming stillness as a strength: Why silence and observation are powerful tools in leadership and negotiation.
  • The long game of mastery: Lessons from bodybuilding, business, and life — success is built one rep, one decision at a time.
  • Immigrant grit and generational influence: How his mother’s courage and quiet strength became a blueprint for his entrepreneurial spirit.
  • Creating safety in collaboration: How radical honesty and shared intent allow diverse personalities to thrive in business and teams.
  • Quiet leadership in action: Redefining what strength, authority, and impact look like for introverts and reflective leaders.


Connect with Louis Kim

  • Website: loukim.com
  • Instagram / TikTok: @partsoflou 
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-k-3a8539140/

This episode was edited by Aura House Productions

SPEAKER_00:

Hi, I'm Serena Lowe. If you're used to hearing that introverts are shy, anxious, antisocial, and lack good communication and leadership skills, then this podcast is for you. You're about to fall in love with a calm, introspective, and profound person that you are. Discover what's fun, unique, and powerful about being an introvert and how to make the elegant transition from quiet achiever to quiet warrior in your life and work, anytime you want, in more ways than you imagined possible. Welcome.

SPEAKER_01:

My guest today is Lewis Kim, the founder and managing director of USAN Capital, a mid-cap private equity firm built on the principles of principled equity, acquired genius, radical collaboration, and abundant prosperity. Born in the United States to Korean immigrants and raised in navigating two worlds, he channeled an unshakable work ethic and entrepreneurial drive into building and exiting over$50 million in businesses across healthcare, real estate, and technology. Under the weight of executive roles, board duties, and generational expectations, Liu hit a breaking point. Chronic overwhelm, insomnia, emotional numbness led him to reframe burnout as a catalyst for change. Through contemplative practice and sacred plant medicine retreats, he realigned with his core values and emerged a hard-centered leader. As a board member of the Church of Direct Experience, Lou champions the safe and supported use of plant medicines for the exploration of individual spiritual journeys. Welcome Lou to the Quiet Warrior Podcast.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01:

Lou, my first question to you.

SPEAKER_03:

Um I spent a large part of my life uh as an introvert. And and I I spent a great deal of time uh in the backseat being very observant, uh not spending a lot more time in the thought of what I was seeing and experiencing. And um, it is something that I um I just kind of naturally found myself moving towards. I found uh when I was much younger, uh even probably even through through college years, being more energized uh with spending time on my own. Um, as much as I might have been, you know, had friends, been engaged and been around that, uh, I found more rejuvenation and and more uh a lot of that individual connection with with myself and and being there. And um I think it was I I feel for a variety of reasons that at the time that that was sort of the native place for me to be. Um and it was it was a place of um uh of comfort. And I think some of those things even today, uh, I definitely still have them. I still have my threshold of of how much uh I can sort of be out there and put myself out there. Uh, but it it is something that I don't necessarily, I think it's something that I told myself uh as a story that this is, hey, I'm an introvert, and as a result, you know, this is these are the limitations that I have.

SPEAKER_01:

So how did you become a former introvert? What helped you to move on from that story?

SPEAKER_03:

I I think a lot of it came down with, and and as someone who who was more inclined to be introverted, as most people who who I think are there, uh the the power of observation, right? Seeing these things, feeling these things gave me a deep sense of curiosity. And that curiosity at a certain point, I feel like um I am I'm someone who is um has always had a bit of a uh an intensity of emotion. Uh I think a lot of that has to do with my upbringing. Um however, I I feel the the curiosity towards things, the things to want to lean into them and and really understand them allowed me to come outside of myself and really pursue this place of wanting to learn, that curiosity of always wanting to grow. In fact, one of my deep core values is continuing to have that deep sense of curiosity, like stay curious. And I think that's allowed me to um to not focus on where I am necessarily, but more the desire to learn has allowed me to sort of come outside of myself and and really um navigate the world in a in a much different way.

SPEAKER_01:

So tell us more about how you navigate the world these days.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, so so as a you know, as a principal in a private equity firm, um there are a lot of things that allow me to sort of be in my native place, which is um the same thing of learning and growing. There's a lot of things that we must plan and process and go through those things. However, uh, I also uh over the years have had, and as an entrepreneur, have had to develop more of this more outgoing um personality because it was a necessary thing. And you know, it's the the old adage that uh necessity is the uh the the mother of invention. Um when when when you're needed and and if you're the owner of a business, I remember I I can remember one of the first businesses I had when I was young in my 20s, I would uh I would try and hire anyone who was more outgoing than I was, so that when there were problems, I could just say, hey, can you take care of this? Because I really don't want to talk to that person, you know. Um, but over time, as some and listen, as a business person, you can always hire for your for your weaknesses. But uh I I learned that some of those problems just couldn't be solved at a certain level. And that um as a principle in something that I had to take responsibility, and that really forced me to start to really work on how I communicate. And and I and I think a lot of um people who are more introverted are already phenomenal communicators, and it's usually in the written form, right? Or in a visual form, um, and in you know, something that may not necessarily just be this uh way of communicating to one-to-one or one-to-many. Uh, and I think I just realized I need to learn how to engage this. And so the necessity of it forced me little by little to develop and to be in those positions. And I can remember, I think within you know, six or seven years of that moment uh of my first business, of really wanting to not want to be in the forefront of everything, to getting to a place where I was speaking in front of an um an industry event. And while it was very, very scary, I can tell you that the sense of pride that I felt uh of being courageous enough to sort of overcome that fear that I was having, um, that was one of those moments that I hold on to. And I feel like even today, uh, when I have those periods of time where, you know, I have to meet with investors, I have to meet with um, because a lot of the opportunities were a small firm, I meet directly with owners, it's very much a requirement for me to be out there. And so um over time, it's just it's a practice, it's like anything else, right? You you start to go there. Now, there will be limitations based on um where you are of how deep you can go, but it's the same thing. You know, you've the first time a bodybuilder goes into the gym, they don't look the way they do, right? It takes um hours upon hours. In fact, I recently uh saw an interview of Arnold Schwarzenegger talking about um his his time of being uh Mr. Olympia. And I I love going to the gym, uh I love working out and I love lifting weights, but I'm also a giant nerd, so I like to track my information. And one of the things that I always track in my workouts, I use this app, um, is volume, right? And so volume is a the very simply, if you're not familiar with it, is just you know, if you do one exercise and you lift it one time, that's 10 pounds. If you do 10 rep repetitions or reps of that, that's 100 pounds, right? And if you do that four sets, that's 400 pounds for that exercise. Um, this app tracks that. And uh Arnold was talking about how when he used to train um and what he was and he was going in that direction, he would lift twice a day and they would be doing, you know, like 30,000 pounds of volume every time they went to train. And so I share that to say from a contextual standpoint, that's 30,000 pounds of volume at the time, um, twice a day, 60,000 pounds multiple days a week, right? Over multiple years. And so for him to go from just a skinny kid in Austria to Mr. Olympia, that was years and years of repetitions of getting there. And so for me, I feel like anything we do and anything we want to become sort of requires that sort of consistent uh effort that's out there. And and I think over the years, that's kind of how this has worked for me. Um, and again, I will say there's still my native place where I do very much enjoy um my downtime, you know, even even with my wife, she understands there are certain times when I just need to be with myself. And I need to be with myself, and I need to have those moments, and she she understands. Um, and so it's it's it's through that sort of desire, you know, and and telling myself that I could do it, right? It's the story of being able to grow and get there. And so the analogy I just shared about Arnold, I think, is a very appropriate one for how that process was for me, which was literally one rep, you know, one thing at a time, kind of just just working through.

SPEAKER_01:

There's some really good points to recap there for the benefit of our listeners. I think the first thing was that you talk about your native place quite a lot. So that would be your, I'm guessing that would be your comfort zone, that place where you're it's most natural to you. That's how you're wired. So being by yourself, being with yourself, having that solitude, and that's the thing that introverts crave, and the thing that we look forward to at the end of each day after a day of you know stimulation and conversation and outward-facing activities, we just want to come back and be by ourselves and not talk to anybody.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. It's so true. I'm laughing as you say it because I just as you were saying that I was picturing sometimes there are moments where uh my wife and I uh we could just be on the couch and either just together and not really interacting. And it's just uh it's a pattern that's developed through you know years and years together, um, where she gets it because there's just those moments, even with the people that you care about and love, it's she knows it's just this is what I need in this moment, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, and it's giving yourself and giving the other person that space. And that's such a gift, the gift of silence and that kind of presence. I'm here, I'm not speaking, but I'm still here.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. And well, and it's also, I mean, I'm I'm so glad that the way you said that is as a gift because in business and much in life, we are in this place of negotiation and there will be a place of quote unquote uh competition. You know, I think the the term competition, I think the the Latin or the Greek root of it is actually it's to conspire together, right? And so when you're in that place, when you are natively more there and you meet someone who is, and we all know the type, who is just naturally gregarious, naturally outgoing, um this ability to kind of be more comfortable with silence becomes a powerful tool and the ability to observe in that moment because you're comfortable there. And I can tell you, uh, more times than than not not saying anything at a negotiating table and just observing and being very comfortable with that sort of stillness when other people are not is a powerful, powerful tool.

SPEAKER_01:

I agree. That's the true flex where you can sit in that silence and not feel obliged to say anything and you're just watching. It puts some people on edge because so uncomfortable with that silence. Like, what's happening here? Somebody needs to say something. I need to say something, do I need to say something? What should I say? And then it gets, you know, yeah. So that that is true, that is so powerful. And I wish we could all develop that ability to become much more comfortable sitting in that silence instead of feeling pressured to perform all the time.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, yeah, especially in our our modern western societies, I think so much has become performative, you know. If you if you spend any moment in social media, you would think that every 22-year-old who's a crypto genius is driving a Ferrari. Uh, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine the other day. I was at the dog park, and there's a a woman who who lives right right across the street. She must be in her her early 60s, and she drives this beautiful Porsche 911, right? It is, it's probably only a year or two old. And as she was pulling in and I'm on the phone with my friend, I just said, Hey, oh man, I wish I could record this. And he goes, why? Because I was like, this is this is the real Porsche commercial, right? It's like this is uh for most people, you have to be of a certain age to be able to afford a vehicle like that because you've got years of working or years of of succeeding to get to a point where you can buy a$200,000 car. And so, you know, I'm sure when it comes to the median age of the actual owner of these vehicles, right? It's it's in their 60s. Uh, but in our society, because of the the nature of media, right, it's all performative. You think it's the youthful, like, you know, 30-something year old that is driving this brand new, brand new high-end vehicle. And no, it's not the case, right? It's it's not the reality of life.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. And social media is responsible for curating in a in a very unrealistic and negative way, a way that generates anxiety in people. Because then it makes you continually compare and look outwards instead of looking inside and appreciating the things that you have already and what's working for you and what's going well for you.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. It's the they say this generation, it's it's like the highest percentage of um young young boys um that have body dysmorphia, which was, you know, for for young young girls and women, it had always been the case because of the way media presents, right? Magazines, television, all of that. But for for young boys now, because of like the fitness influencer and and those guys, they all expect to have six-pack abs and you know, look a certain way. And so it's um it's an interesting thing, what we become, you know, with the attention, the things that we focus on as as societies.

SPEAKER_01:

Um that's a good point. That's a good and that's exactly what you were just talking about with Arnold, one rep at a time, one consistent atomic habit at a time. And it's built over years, it's not something you come up with in three months or one year, even.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. No, I I it's it's such a good point because it is just it's progressively little things at a time. And it's the same thing for me. And any change that we make with ourselves or or make in the world, we believe that it should be instantaneous because of what we're exposed to on a constant basis, right? The the media, the attention, the focus is there. But if you look at nature, nothing has ever been that way, right? And and nothing great and beautiful that's been built, that's been sustaining, has ever been done in a short period of time, right? It's always takes time to build because there's just a progression to everything. And and you know, in the businesses that that we um are involved in, it's why when we go seek and look for opportunities, you know, our typical business we're looking at is at least 10 years old. Most of them are 20 plus, they're family-owned, uh, more time than not. And it's because for us, what we see is the uh the beauty and the value in this, in this time, right? And so in what they build and where they get to by the time that these folks are ready to retire, there's just so much experience and um understanding that's built into their business. And then they're with their customers as a reputation. There's things that just you can't just make up tomorrow, you know?

SPEAKER_02:

And so the um that that's what we look for.

SPEAKER_03:

And I think it's uh it's very much indicative of how I kind of lead my life in that being very progressive, knowing that in the long-term arc of time, um, the big changes you want to make are possible, and you just can't expect them tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01:

And that goes against the instant gratification we've been taught to expect. So good things come with time, progress comes with time. And it's important as well, you mentioned to track your volume or to track your numbers, your reps. And when you look at businesses too, you look at their track record, you look at what they've been doing, what they've built up over all these years.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, yeah. The the the power of observation, the you you learn within financials. Um, when you start to really understand businesses, you start to see there's a story, right? And there's a story within those books. And if you can find and work through and understand them and digest the, because you have to understand the context as well, right? Of where things are, you can very quickly understand whether a business is healthy. And and when you start to have those gut feelings, um, when we look at things and something just seems off. And then you go dig deeper, dig deeper, and then you start to realize that sometimes um that what they're telling you isn't necessarily true 100% factual. Uh, you know, businesses are either growing or they're dying. Um, and sometimes people paint stories that a business is growing when in actuality it's dying.

SPEAKER_01:

So it's an instinct that you've honed over time with your own experience and your powers of observation.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, yeah. And and I think that desire to constantly be be curious and lean into the curiosity, um, I think has taught uh an understanding if there's an itch to lean into the itch. And that uh we can get to an answer. And it's not always 100% um right, but when it is right, it is uh hugely, hugely uh, I don't want to say life-saving because I'm not in a life and death situation, but it is uh it is a huge uh saver of my own hide. Let's just put it that way.

SPEAKER_01:

I want to ask, as you mentioned, the the weight of generational expectations, what led you on the entrepreneurial path in the first place?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I appreciate that. Um my I was I feel very blessed to have been in a family um where whose parents were entrepreneurial. And and when I say my parents being kind, it's actually my mother. My father is your prototypical um uh artist engineer type. He's a perfectionist by nature. Uh my mother was the entrepreneur, and uh as we're as we're saying, I just uh I just realized how natively uh introverted my mom actually is. But she's also very much like a driving force who was fearless. And now that I think about that in her personality, it just shows how actually courageous that she was coming to a foreign country, you know, in the 70s, not knowing the language, but then just having the grit and the entrepreneurial drive to go out there and buy businesses or start businesses and do those sort of things. But as somebody who um I think one of the the biggest uh tools that she has taught me in life, so is the is the great party escape, um, where she's she has she has she has lots, she had lots of friends and she's in her 80s now, so you know most of them are aging, but um, she gets would get invited to a lot of things and she would show up and she'd be there for a few minutes, and people would not understand how quickly she would be like uh like Spider-Man or Batman. She could be out the door, like you, you turn the corner and it's there. And and I as I got older, I I would be going with her and and I would also be making that great escape. Um, but that's because she was just more comfortable with with being with herself. Uh but I think she's really is the one who sort of taught me that you can go outside of that, right? And and do these things because you for her, her drive and desire to do it was very simple, which was to take care of myself and my brother and sister uh and the family in a in a certain way. And so that um very much shaped me in watching her do that on a regular basis, and then also you know, engage in things that were were difficult without really uh understanding the culture or or even the language and and made it made it possible.

SPEAKER_01:

So you're the beneficiary of that immigrant, that first generation immigrant experience of coming to a new country, starting over, reinventing yourself, learning a new language and culture, assimilating and making taking the best of both worlds in a sense.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

I I think it's so brave when people I immigration is such a um these days, it's it's it's wild to me because when I when I was growing up in in, you know, I'm in the United States, immigration as a child was seen as something that was valuable and that was good because the best of other parts of the world were coming to the United States to contribute, to be um members of the society. And I find it really interesting that um we're in such a different tone about it in these days, only because anyone who has the courage to leave their homeland, right, and to go to another country with most of the time, because most people who immigrate don't immigrate with millions of dollars, right? That's um it, you know, I I say this to members of our team all the time, especially when we're looking for investors. Um if you're rich in one country, you're rich in another, right? And so potential investors and and wealth is not concentrated to a single nation. Not this is not like the 1940s. Um, and so most people who are immigrating are immigrating for a very specific reason, and often it's it's opportunity. And so for people who do that, I think it's it's very, very brave. And I think more times than not, they come to be a part of the society and they they want to contribute to the place that has given them the most opportunity. And for my mom, that was definitely the case where she was always always doing things to support the communities that she did business in. Um, and it's because she felt very grateful for what they were providing and and what they um what they'd done. And and uh I just I just wanted to say that because I think it's so uh important for us not to forget that uh especially in the United States, that immigration is such a quintessential component of what makes this country as great as it's always been, right? And it's always been a great country um for a variety of reasons. Uh I think a lot of places are amazing, but uh I only say that to say that uh nobody is gonna make it great again if it's already been great, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

I noted yeah, very subtle.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

I it's it's I I it's a line I have to dance, you know, uh very very very very straight because a lot of folks that we interact with, and and I make no bones about where I stand, when it when it comes to politics or even business and entrepreneurship, I I believe that capitalism is the single greatest um system for creating wealth, innovation, and opportunity. I also believe that it is the power and the responsibility of government to direct this thing called capitalism. You can call it a vehicle, a machine, you can call it a beast. Some people will consider it a beast. Well, if it is a beast, you must tame the beast. And that is the duty of government to direct where we're going with this machine and engine. Because as societies, I think we should not just believe that wealth is the cure all, right? Um, and so when we get people in power who look at certain things um and view them in a certain way, I I have a very hard time just being completely silent about it, you know. You know, and and I think that is also part of uh what had as a child really had me, you know. I told you I uh when we started this, I I've always had an intensity of emotions that were sort of held within. And I think over time that also um, you know, as I watched my mom be frustrated in certain situations because of her lack of understanding of culture or language, that you know, it's it's the the the idea that we do more for others than we do for ourselves. I feel that as a child, watching your mom struggle or suffer, that created a certain sense of um, I don't want to say inj injustice is like the feeling of injustice, I guess is probably the best way to put it, and and wanting to do something about it. Right. And I think that's where part of that drive to come outside of myself came from because I wanted to have a voice for my mom.

SPEAKER_01:

And that's the common theme I find with a lot of introverts that I've spoken with that when it's something for ourselves, we may struggle to find our voice or to articulate it, but when it's for someone else, we find it so much easier to access that drive, that resourcefulness, that courage. Because now it's not about me, it's about all of us. It's something bigger than just me, and therefore it's easier for me to be bold, to speak up, because if I don't speak up, someone else misses out. Someone else doesn't get represented, someone's views don't get hurt.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Um, I'm I'm on the the board of a um homeowners association where we have an investment property, and uh I've learned so much. Um I am frustrated and grateful for being on this board. Because it's the first time I've been involved in these sort of dynamics where I have no authority, basically. Like, you know, it's a volunteer situation. Everyone's a volunteer, so you can't fire each other, right? So, but the I bring it up to say that board dynamics, there's uh one person, the president who is a very strong personality, great person, very passionate, right? And then the vice president who was also great and very well intended, but natively introverted. And I often have to say to her, Are you gonna express your opinion? Are you gonna voice your opinion? And she keeps it to herself sometimes. And it's frustrating for me because she has such great ideas and she she she has some really good perspective a lot of times. That there are times when I feel like she might get a little bit lost in the weeds a bit, but I think that's also native to who she is. But more than more than not, there are those things, and I find she is also more vocal when the thing that she is um not certain about, when someone has expressed to her an opinion that she's close with about this in a particular way, and it could be about finances, operations, whatever we do. Um I only bring this up to say that I have found because I've, you know, that is more of my native place, people who are more introverted. There is a resource in businesses, in our communities that because of the volume, right, and the way of communicating that get left behind and don't get tapped into, that there's like a richness that I feel like. And I and I say that to say one, if you are that person who is more introverted, if you find a reason why. And I think that's that's ultimately what you're what you're saying, and your your observation about it uh across you know, other people who are introverted, you find you find the ability to come outside of yourself, right? The reason. And so I would I would say to you, all of the greatness that's within you, all the great ideas, all the things that you see that nobody else sees, right? I I feel that that part to me, in my perspective, the power of observation and context, because you're you're you're when when you are, especially when you're super introverted, you're distant, even though you're there. And that gives you a perspective that nobody else has. And sometimes that perspective is the difference between winning and losing. So don't be afraid. You know, if you think of the people around you or people you care about, or that your team and you want them to win, just think to yourself if I don't share this, we could lose, right? And and so if you want everyone to win, don't be afraid to let that out. And then I would say to the loud, boisterous, gregarious, super outgoing person who thinks everybody has to be that way. Um, slow down and pay attention to the quiet one. Because I promise you uh there's a resource there that if you know how to communicate with and draw out, that is super, super powerful.

SPEAKER_02:

Um it's like you said, there is a giant flex in silence and stillness uh that most people don't understand.

SPEAKER_01:

It sounds to me like the yin and yang. We need each other, we need to appreciate ourselves, but also take responsibility for those areas where there is a gap, and we can perceive that you know, for the introverts at least, there is one more step that we need to take outside our comfort zone in order for all of us to win, and that is to articulate, to express, to say the thing, and not just keep it inside our heads. And then for the extroverts, the the thing that is missing would be the ability to sit in silence, to reflect, to to make space for those quieter voices to feel safe to be heard. I think the safety aspect is immensely important in good dynamics.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah. Um as as you were uh speaking, um I was focusing on your on the on the logo behind you about the the quiet warrior and um even what you're doing here, right? Like there's a leadership aspect, right?

SPEAKER_03:

You you're a leader, you're here, and I'm sure jumping into this initially was daunting, right? And coming into this aspect and and and getting here, but you can be the quiet leader, you can be the person who is driving things because you see the field better than everybody else, right? And and you're bringing all of these things that are there. And I think what you said before just now about the the safety within a group, I I think it's absolutely true. I think all of us need that sense of safety. I mean, our one of our one of our uh core values is is radical collaboration. And we've created an environment where the idea is um we go as deep as we can and we are going to get into it with each other. And this safety that we've created within our way of communicating are the types of people who are aligned with these values, and so we can get heated sometimes and we can get very passionate, but we've created a space where if you say something that may someone may take offense to, we communicate in such a way and we interact with such a way that we know that the intent behind what we're doing is never to be malicious, right? That in the moment that someone can say something, because we're human, right? We can make mistakes and we can say something that was the the word choices or or the tone that we use was too aggressive, right? But we as a group have decided we're all adhering to this that we can be very passionate and vocal and that everyone has an opportunity to speak and everyone has the ability to share. In fact, in that environment, if you are not sharing, you have an idea, you're not gonna last very long with us, right? And it it is something where uh it can be challenging for some people, but I feel we've set boundaries that allow people to come and express themselves uh in a in a very specific way and to be open about it. Um but going back to the to the thing with your um the logo, I think we have this notion of leadership and what strength is, there's the perception of what it is. And I think there is a some of the strongest people are the ones that you don't know are strong, and some of the the greatest leaders are the ones who aren't necessarily the boisterous, overly vocal folks. I mean, one of the greatest coaches in NFL history is Joe Gibbs, and I'm aware of him because I live in the city where he was the coach. And if you watch videos of him on the sidelines, you know, in his heyday winning the Super Bowls, um, you wouldn't be sure if he was awake, you know, and in his interviews, it people would get frustrated because it's just very like all shucks kind of thing, you know, like the way he talked. He wasn't he would say what he needed to in press conferences, but not what you think of what an NFL coach is today. And um he had a way and he had a charisma, but it wasn't it it came from a different place, right? And I think it's a big part of it is he was working with outs outside of his native place because he cared so much and he was actually so passionate about the game. And and the beauty of his leadership skills is that when he left the NFL and he retired, he got into NASCAR. And then for a period of time in the late 90s, early 2000s, his NASCAR team was super, super successful, right? It it I think Joe Gibbs racing is still around, but it became and came from this place of that very much that that notion of the quiet warrior, right? Knew what he needed, knew the outcomes he was getting towards, built the right people and teams and went there, but very much did it from a place of just certainty, specific drive without having to look or sound a particular way, right?

SPEAKER_02:

It it was the the passion and the drive that took him there.

SPEAKER_01:

I think you've raised some amazing points to finish off this conversation with, and that is that leadership looks different to different people. We may have certain stereotypes we subscribe to because they are popular in the media, and so we assume that everybody should operate that way, but we are all wired differently for a reason. So if we have been given certain gifts, certain traits, certain attributes, and a native way of being, there is a reason for that because there is a place for that. We can't all be talking at the same time. Someone has to do the listening in order for there to be true communication. And so that's where the introverts flourish, that's where their gift lies. Holding the space, being the listener, being the observer, and noticing, being able to step back and notice the bigger picture and how everything fits together and read the room. And so, what is the best way for people to connect with you after listening to this episode?

SPEAKER_03:

Um, so there's a couple of ways. Uh, the I'm on Instagram and um I'm also on TikTok and LinkedIn. Uh, that's just parts of Lou. Uh, that is something where I have uh shared various parts of my sort of life journey. Uh, it's evolved a little bit. And then um, if you go to just Lou Kim.com, uh, that has my blog and redirects you to businesses, nonprofits, things I'm a part of, and a little bit more about just my day-to-day um of who I am.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much, Lou. I really appreciate your time and your wisdom and the energy that you've brought to this interview today.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, I I really appreciate what you're doing. Um, and this, and I think when I've reached out and was communicating with you initially, I was telling you this is very this podcast is very different from a lot of the other ones that I've I've been on and and and and go visit. And it's because of what you're doing. And I very much appreciate uh where you're coming from and and what you're doing and the conversations that you have. So thank you very much for the opportunity.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to leave a five-star rating and review to help the Quiet Warrior Podcast reach more introverts and quiet achievers around the world. For the most current resources on how to thrive as an introvert, make sure you're subscribed to the Invisible Introvert newsletter at serenalo.com.au. See you on the next episode.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm so grateful that you're here today. If you found this content valuable, please share it on your social media channels and subscribe to the show on your favorite listening platform. Together we can help more introverts thrive.

SPEAKER_01:

To receive more uplifting content like this, connect with me on Instagram at Serenalo Quiet Warrior Coach. Thank you for sharing your time and your energy with me. See you on the next episode.