Thomas Kim, CEO Everclean honors his daughter Mackenzie by telling her story
“I ask myself, what is the message I want to hold as my True North as I’m heading into my day, because if I don’t have that at the start of the day, I’ve lost before I’ve even started.” Thomas Kim
Topics Covered In This Episode
00:00 Intro
03:15 Mackenzie’s Journey
07:51 Broken To Breakthrough
10:57 2 Energy Buckets
14:26 Combatting Covid
16:29 True North
20:49 Couples Grieve Differently
28:20 The Power Of Community
32:27 Being Wonderful-Terrible
37:15 Don’t Complain Be In Gratitude!
40:34 Honoring Mackenzie
41:57 Mentorship Mindset
48:59 Team Flexibility & Support
52:32 Difference Between Team & Family
54:11 Are You Ready?
57:15 Suffering To New Life
Thomas Kim – BIO
Thomas Kim is an entrepreneur and investor with a focus on real estate and small businesses with high growth strategies. He’s the Founder and CEO of Everclean, a modern, branded car wash. Its social mission is to enrich lives through opportunity and holistic mentorship. He and his wife, Evelyn, make their home in the Chicago suburbs. They have one daughter, Mackenzie, who is in heaven, and prior, Thomas raised three teenage foster children. Hobbies include any sport under the sun (except long-distance running), foreign travel, motorcycles, and high-fiber breakfasts. He has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BS in Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Episode Description
As business leaders we try our best to prepare for the worst by mitigating risks…but what happens when tragedy strikes. How do you ready yourself for heart wrenching loss? Thomas Kim, CEO of Everclean and his wife Evelyn had to face the death of their baby daughter, Mackenzie, while juggling the added stresses of running a business during the peak of Covid-19. Shattered by the loss of Mackenzie, Thomas says that on every given day what he feels is wonderful-terrible. An internal tug of war is their new normal as they find gratitude for their blessings in life while simultaneously helping themselves and others rise above the heaviness of their losses.
In this BwB Tv interview, Thomas shares the raw agony of losing their daughter to illness yet gifts us his deeply personal insights on his own growth and understanding as he and his wife move bravely through each day, grieving in their own ways while holding onto their relationship with all their might. It’s not easy, says Thomas, but with a bucket of physical tools in one hand and spiritual tools in another, he finds the tenacity to take the next step as a grieving father, a loving husband, a visionary entrepreneur and mentor of young minds.
During the months of his daughter’s illness and in the heartrending aftermath of her passing, Thomas still maintained a strong connection with his business. He’s created an extraordinary culture at Everclean that provides young Future Leaders with an opportunity for mentorship and personal growth. Through his business Thomas is giving life to the dreams of many young people who now have a place they call home and a future they’re excited about.
A deeply inspiring story that talks to the spirit of community, faith, compassion, great leadership and the power within to navigate even the most tragic losses.
