Little Yulee Choi and her sisters were big fans of the Korean boyband Seotaiji and Boys (an active boyband from 1992 to 1996), but they never had a chance to go to their concerts. The sisters were born into a family of two doctors – their grandfather and father. “My father spent most of his time taking care of patients. His busy schedule was one of the reasons I realized that being a doctor was probably not my passion,” Choi told Harper’s Bazaar with a smile.
Even in her childhood, she loved singing and dancing in front of the family. Growing up, Choi played the piano and started writing songs as a hobby. At that time, she did not know that entertainment would become a part of her future professional life.
The founder of SRP Entertainment
Fast forward, Yulee Choi finds herself the owner of SRP Entertainment, a company that manages artists. Being established in 2013, SRP Entertainment, initially SRP Co. Ltd., focuses on K-pop, the music culture that “uniquely combines Korean and international music,” as per Yulee Choi’s description.
One can describe the culture of her SRP Entertainment with these words: passion, inspiration, good opportunity, dedicated time, supportive family, finance, good teamwork, and artists with positive attitudes. Choi manages artists as her own family. Although she requires artists to be disciplinary, the CEO also listens to the opinions of artists and their parents, then adapts to the situation as much as possible.
Eight years of studying music composition
Being a busy businesswoman doesn’t prevent Choi from being a good mother. She has two beautiful kids, the 8-years-old Janie and 6-years-old Johnnie. The young mother talked lovingly about her kids, “They love to sing, play music, and dance. Both of them are more artistic than me.”
While caring for the children, she took time to study music composition with a Thai teacher. Yulee Choi gave more details on her findings, “Thai is a unique and difficult language. Its lyrics have especially high sensitivity with many vocabulary levels that can translate to different meanings.”
Initially, Yulee Choi studied music composition just as a hobby. But then her Thai teacher inspired her, which led to SRP Entertainment. The company is promoting talents such as the new K-pop girl band Rocking Doll. Choi said, “K-pop is very dynamic and competitive.” She considers her last eight years just the learning period. She now has to focus most of her time on daily management tasks. As much as she loves music composition, the artist admitted, “Composition is probably just a hobby for me.”
Attending Venice Film Festival 2022
Being busy, Yulee Choi seldom had the chance to attend global entertainment events. But recently, she managed to make her time for the renowned Venice Film Festival. She described the event, “The festival was bustling with a merry but warm atmosphere. It was supposed to be a formal event, but everyone was friendly, polite, and respectful toward one another once you got in.”
Choi wore a beautiful white Dolce & Gabbana dress to the show, which made international media headlines. She laughed, “When I was a kid, I liked to play with paper dolls. I would often change paper clothes for them. So putting this D&G dress on reminded me of my childhood.”
***Team Credits***
Talent: Yulee Choi.
Photographer: Gerson Lirio.
Stylist: Bilal Fakih.
Makeup/Hair: Lena Yasenkova.
Photo assistant: Ilaria Primerano.
Producer: The Creator.
Agent/Casting: Nichapat Suphap. Location: Aman Hotel Venice
Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam