Sun Komen is a prolific entrepreneur and visionary with an expansive career in digital marketing, which includes managing teams at some of the biggest agencies in advertising and leading campaigns for major brands such as Heineken, Tommy Hilfiger, Axe and Samsung. Komen is a steadfast believer in the power of digital, recognizing it as a democratizing force that can provide both access to information and the tools to tell more impactful, personal stories. She began her career as an agency producer before indulging her entrepreneurial spirit and founding a series of her own creative companies.
Komen later joined legendary entertainment company Caviar where she helped launch it’s digital arm Caviar Digital — building the studio from the ground up and earning multiple awards from prestigious creative and advertising entities such as The One Show, FWA and Cannes. It was here where Komen met fellow industry titans Joanna Shaw and Adrianne McCurrach with whom she later co-founded Unicorns & Unicorns, a Los Angeles-based creative studio specializing in the development, design and production of world-class content across entertainment, consumer brands, and tech.
What is Unicorns & Unicorns all about?
Unicorns & Unicorns (U&U) is a women & BIPOC-owned and operated creative studio specializing in the development, design and production of content across entertainment, consumer brands, and tech. Headquartered in Los Angeles, U&U delivers award-winning, world-class content in non-traditional and unprecedented ways.
On April 1st, Unicorns & Unicorns will be three years old. We created our company as a proactive response to underrepresentation in the advertising, digital, and film & TV industries. We wanted to reimagine the creative and production experience by setting sustainability, social change and collaboration as our core values. We make every effort to connect with projects that are aligned with our company ethos and hold ourselves accountable to the change we set out to accomplish when starting Unicorns & Unicorns.
The fact that created the company, what we do and how we do it is what’s so special about U&U. We’re an anomaly in the industry — a female, LGBTQ+, and minority-owned and operated business. I think it’s weird to say these things because we do really good work, but I’ve realized it’s important to be visible to show that this type of company is not only possible, but it’s normal.
What is your role at Unicorns & Unicorns all about?
I am the Technical Creative Director, which can mean a lot of different things on any given day. Ultimately, I collaborate with some of the industry’s leading creative companies to create impactful and culturally integrated digital experiences that are authentic celebrations of each brand’s mission and purpose. Besides directors, our studio has a mix of motion graphic animators, editors, coders, and designers – I take charge of guiding and shaping these teams to respond to a technical and/or creative brief, as well as developing the tech tools we create and employ. I am also one of three managing partners of Unicorns & Unicorns, so there’s an entrepreneurial aspect to my role as well. Along with my other two partners, Joanna Shaw and Adrianne McCurrach, I am always developing the company to be more functional and true to our ethos on every level … even if it’s just about taxes.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how Unicorns & Unicorns started?
I was born in Seoul, raised in Amsterdam and I have an eclectic background in mass communications, new media, and film; all of which gave me a variety of analytical and technical skills. I began my career as an agency producer before indulging my entrepreneurial spirit and founding a series of her own creative companies in Amsterdam, including Falk & Sun’s where I worked with clients such as Adidas, Cirque du Soleil and Canon; digital production company, Rocket Science Studios; and fashion distribution company Golden Agency where I worked with brands such as Burton and Marshall Speakers. I later joined entertainment company Caviar where I helped launch it’s digital arm Caviar Digital — building the studio from the ground up and earning multiple awards from prestigious creative and advertising entities such as The One Show, FWA and Cannes. It was here where I met Joanna Shaw and Adrianne McCurrach and we realized we had a similar vision and it eventually just made sense to start our own company.
What was the biggest problem you encountered with your business and how did you overcome it?
The biggest problem was first to just get started, then to keep going for the first three years. You have to keep everything above the line while also setting up all your operational systems and making sure all your finances are running smoothly. The second year was all about investing and then once we made it into the third year that’s when we really started to see lots of growth and the return on those investments. I went in without a lot of prior knowledge about owning a business in the United States. If I would have known about all the logistics and operational stuff upfront, I don’t know if I would have done it. We just closed our eyes and jumped. The naivety of being a beginner can be very powerful.
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business and what did you learn from it?
I shoot first, then I’m ready, and then I aim. I go in head-first and with that I can make mistakes. It’s hard to quantify exactly, but if you’re not prepared enough it can be detrimental. But then again, if I don’t do it this way, I can get frozen or stuck, so it’s not all bad.
What is one thing that you do daily to grow as an entrepreneur?
Every day I continue to challenge and train my patience. First, because I had a bad habit of being very reactive when I was first starting out in my career. I had a boss point out to me once that I was falling into a trap and ever since then I started counting to ten whenever something felt annoying. Now, if I can, I try to sleep on it because it’s usually better if I address it in the morning. At the very least I take a moment and remind myself to breathe.
I also think it’s really important to be ridiculous and do stupid stuff like blasting energetic music and dancing and singing along. I tend to be very inside my head and it’s good to have regular moments where I’m just being silly, it’s a funnel for what could be irrational behavior.
What are three books or courses you recommend for new entrepreneurs?
First, something I really use and believe in is ‘Eckart’s Notes’ by Eckart Wintzen. It’s in Dutch only, but through his entrepreneurial endeavors, he developed a strategy for decentralized expansion and for managerial accessibility. Through this book, I discovered how important it is to have regular social time with my staff and stay approachable in an informal manner, so they know they can talk to me.
Second, the ‘Social Animal’ by Elliot Aronson is great for insight into human social psychology. It’s a classic for a reason.
And if I told you a third I’d just be making it up.
What was your first business idea and what did you do with it?
I had this idea in my head that I wanted to have my first business before I turned 30. Please know having a timeline like this will bite you in the butt. I don’t recommend putting all that pressure on yourself unnecessarily. I have no regrets, but as I was quitting my job at the age of 29, my then boss told me I should’ve stayed another year because I would’ve learned a lot more — and he was right.
However, I’m a strong believer in momentum. When it’s time, it’s time. And my parents are both entrepreneurs, so that inspired me as well to just go for it. So I started my own production studio/creative agency where one arm could tap into the resources of the other. As both sides grew, I had to choose which side to focus on and I chose the tech production side.
Next to the desire to have my own company, I always had a dream that at a certain stage I’d have grown it so much that it would get acquired and I could kick back a little bit. When that happened, I was thrilled at first. Cut to being in LA and it didn’t feel like I thought I should. The transfer of power didn’t feel right. Everything I fought for, I sold, and suddenly I was in a position where I couldn’t make my own business decisions.
It took me a long time to ask: Why am I doing this for someone else? So when Joanna, Adrianne, and I all met, we realized we were going to do better things with our skills and funnel it all into a stronger message for the people we work with. Hence my second business, Unicorns & Unicorns.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
Really it’s all about running a company from the start and having staff in a country that I’m not from. I’m still learning how to get used to certain things and it’s important that I can speak the same language culturally as everyone else.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
HR and Operations are so crucial. When it comes to the operational part of your business, you want to make sure you’re minimizing risks from the start. There are all these liability issues you might not think about and you want to make sure your contracts are in order. You might not want to invest in these things but you have to.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Not being afraid to show the industry that we’re here and that we really do practice what we believe in. Part of that, for me personally, is being more visible, which means stepping into a space where I’m uncomfortable. It’s important to speak out and be heard because even though our stance on true inclusion and representation can seem like a marketing strategy, we truly believe in it.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new startup, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
It depends. If someone gave it to me, I’d make a case for why they needed to give me $30,000. If no one gave it to me and instead it was my own money, I’d keep saving it until I had $30,000. The reason why is because investing or spending $1,000 is like putting a cup of water into the ocean. With a tech startup, you have to calculate a minimum amount of money to survive for 6 to 12 months so you can stop having a day job and completely focus on your business.
And it all depends on what you can do yourself. Assess what your strengths are honestly and invest in what you need help with.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Don’t forget to enjoy it. Sometimes we’re going so hard, we achieve stuff and just keep going. We don’t acknowledge for ourselves that we hit a goal or an accomplishment, we just move right on to the next challenge. Force yourself to take the time, re-strategize, zone out, see how it’s going, reflect, and have some fun too. Also,
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
I try not to be the bottleneck. If I get too busy and others are waiting on input, then they are being held up from doing what they need to do. And in the end, I’m halted too. Take the time to prioritize and delegate so it doesn’t hit you back as a boomerang effect. It takes longer to get the day or week started, but you end up wasting more time in the long run if you don’t.
What is your favorite quote?
So I have a favorite quote from Yoda, which is
“Do or do not, there is no try.”
I also have some advice/words that I live by every day, which are
“Don’t be afraid of failing, because there truly is no failing. It’s fine. It’s okay to make mistakes because at least you’re doing it.”
The door. To be able to shut it and just think sometimes is priceless.
How is running a company different than what you thought it would be?
Being your own boss sounds great and glamorous, but it’s not fancy at all. It’s actually really hard because your business goes up and down and so does your mood and confidence. Sometimes you might be freaking out about something internally, but you can’t show any of it because it’ll trickle down. As the boss, people are always watching and looking to you to take their cues, so you have to keep that in mind constantly, put on a brave face, try to keep a positive attitude, and always put your best foot forward, which is hard sometimes.
How can readers get in touch with you?
We’re always looking for Unicorns and you can connect with me through our website: unicornsandunicorns.com or follow us on Instagram @unicornsmakemagic.
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