SOY KIM is a bridge builder. Bicultural and bilingual, Soy has a track record of launching first-in-market collaborations between the U.S. and Korea. As a marketing executive, Soy developed record-breaking campaigns for artists including BTS, Chloe x Halle, Baby Keem, 24kGoldn, and John Legend. Today, she is Head of North America, music and podcast content strategy at YouTube. Her work blends global youth culture, content & marketing strategy, GenAI x video, and product development. Previously, she worked across algorithmic discovery, product GTM, and industry education at Spotify. Her experiences span marketing (B2B, B2C, PMM, GTM, digital); content strategy and distribution (music, film, TV); and global business strategy in both the U.S. and Korea, operating in both languages. Her work and leadership have been recognized by Variety and the 2021 Alt Power 100 Music List.
Soy believes in paying it forward. She serves as a mentor for national non-profit Asian American Collective, the Recording Academy GRAMMYU program, and YouTube’s Music & Premium product and engineering org. Soy has been invited to speak as a keynote speaker, panelist, or moderator at Harvard Business School, Yale School of Management, USC Annenberg, U of Michigan, NYU Stern, Drexel U, and 20+ conferences including MU:CON, SXSW, NY:LON CONNECT, Music Biz, jump.global, Country Radio Seminar to discuss: tech x entertainment, K-culture / K-pop / Korean diaspora, the future of digital platforms, global music cultures, content marketing, and women in leadership. She has received academic grants to conduct ethnographic research on Korean society and is a published thought leader on Asian Pacific content and culture.
A conservatory-trained semi-pro cellist turned media executive, Soy is also a dedicated sports fan (COYS!). She believes in the power of sports to enact societal change. Soy serves on the New York board for Street Soccer USA, a national non-profit dedicated to eradicating youth poverty through soccer. She enjoys traveling the world, learning new languages, and trying new sports — even though she broke her middle finger playing ice hockey. Soy holds an MBA from Yale, BA from Harvard, and is an HBS BEMS alumna.
Ever curious and adaptable. Building products, experiences, and narratives to delight and empower the world.
In our saturated digital landscape, stories are shared every second. And in this landscape, we must question: what is the purpose of the increasingly ephemeral stories we share, if not to expand our collective consciousness? Connecting disparate communities, building experiences that bring delight, and championing lesser heard voices remain urgent life priorities.
ϟOY•JOURN: Soy + sojourn = I am journey-ing.
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