After coming to America, Honey Kim, a senior theatre and sociology major at Stony Brook University, traded her school uniform in South Korea for heels and handbags after starting her own fashion business.

Kim and her family came to America to seek a better education and that is when Kim’s love for fashion started to emerge. “When I came here, I got to dress up and it was the best way to express myself,” Kim said.

While in South Korea, Kim was forced to wear uniforms at school but she really wished to dress how she wanted. So after coming to America in seventh grade, Kim started dressing for herself. When she was a freshman in high school, Kim started to sell her own clothes. She says that because she could not speak English well when she first came here, clothes were her way to say who she was.

As a sophomore at Stony Brook University, Kim launched her fashion website VeryHoney.com which sells clothing, bags and accessories. The website was created on Oct. 13, 2011 and uses social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to attract more customers.

“When it comes to clothes, yes there’s trends but it’s about what makes you feel comfortable, what gives you confidence,” Kim said.

What separates Honey Kim’s clothing from the rest, is the reason why and how she sells the clothing. She said the reason she started VeryHoney was because, “ever since I was younger, I wanted to be a positive influence.” She says she wants to help people and make them have a positive self-image.

“I want them to feel beautiful and special,” Kim declared. In each order she sends, Kim puts a personalized message to the recipient because she believes that a simple message such as “Smile you’re beautiful” can make someone’s day.

Kim believes reaching out to people and meeting new customers increases her chance to send them a positive message and can make them feel good about themselves.

In each package, Kim spends a lot of her time just wrapping and preparing the order. She buys tissue paper, stickers, ribbon and hand writes each of the notes to her customer.

“Not only does she try to pick the best quality clothing, but she cares about her wrapping, and little thank you notes when she sends products to her customers,” Suah Min, junior psychology major and friend of Kim, said. “I think caring for the littlest thing makes her business successful.”

Kim spends about two hours a day on VeryHoney. She orders her clothes from various stores in America and South Korea and sells them on her website for a small profit. However, she says she is still in the expanding stage and almost all the money she makes goes back to her shop.

“I really like running my shop because all of the components are things I do for fun like web designing, photography and of course shopping,” Kim laughed.

About twice a year on her website, Kim posts links to different organizations to get people to donate. Whether it is sponsoring a child or providing clean water, Kim donates part of her proceeds towards that organization. She encourages everyone to go out and help.

Kim is a big advocate for prevention through arts and is a part of Stony Brook University’s “Swallow This.” This program is run by the Center for Prevention and Outreach Health Education Office and the Department of Theatre Arts. According to their website “Students dramatically portray the real-life alcohol and other drug related experiences of SBU students as a way of educating on the consequences of substance misuse, abuse and dependence.”

Kim’s life goal is to become an actress, own a fashion office and “ultimately be someone who has a positive influence on other people.”

She said people make a big deal about her owning a business but to her, it is just something she loves. “I don’t make tons of money and I’m not that popular, “ she said. “It feels like it’s my hobby and who I am.”

Also incorporated into her website are Stony Brook students. She uses them to model or help her take photos. “I’m blessed because I started this business in school so I can get help from other students,” she said. “It’s about experimenting and learning together, I’m so thankful to everyone.”