During COVID-19, many people have purchased diagnostic kits that detect specific viruses or diseases simply within 15 minutes. This type of biological technology has been around for some 30 years and has also spread its influence in the field of veterinary disease diagnosis, which is today led by Kim Jeongmi’s VetAll Laboratories.
Kim, an alumna who majored in Life Sciences, is currently the CEO of VetAll Laboratories. As a veterinary company leading the global diagnosticmarkets in the field of animal diseases, VetAll develops, produces, and exports veterinary diagnostic kits across the world. The diagnosis can be used for not only companion animals but also industrial animals.
“The development of the veterinary industry relies significantly on the elevated standard of living,” Kim said. “As more and more people started to own companion animals with the increase of economic standards, the need for veterinary diagnosis simultaneously surged, just like what I imagined when I first started my company some 20 years ago.”
Although she is successfully running her own company, surprisingly, Kim did not start off as a founder. Back when she was in her 20s, it was common for women to graduate from some well-known school, meet a person to make a living and a family, and have a settled job if they were to work. Kim was also one of the people who followed the “normal” path and continued her studies in biology, specifically disease investigation, both in Korea and abroad.
Kim was scouted for her first job to work for the current Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during her post-doctoral fellowship in Boston. Although she was praised for working at a stable government agency, she resigned after three years due to the inflexible work environment.
She moved to a back-then high- risk bio venture company as Director of Research, where she worked for human disease diagnosis kits, while enjoying the active and dynamic work environment. Here, she even developed the diagnosis kit for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), which is used up to this day and acquired by the Korean Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service.
Kim’s next job was at a large enterprise, where she was assigned general director for the diagnosis business team. After five years of experience at a large enterprise, she naturally grew confident about starting her own company.
“I strongly believe my diverse experience in the field of disease diagnosis helped me start my own company,” Kim said. “Working as a research government official, I became part of a tightly knit network in the field of medical research. My years at the bio venture company provided local experience, and I practiced managing and leadership skills while working as general director.”
Based on her broad experience in the field of disease diagnosis, Kim founded her own company in 2005. Back then, the American manufacturing company IDEX Corporation had an approximately 70 percent monopoly. Kim strived to make a veterinary company, more successful than IDEX Corporation. Again, she thought of the loopholes in the American business, and focused on performance, price, customer engineering, and quick despatch to develop her small company.
“I believe I was always brave in facing both small and big problems,” Kim said. “I knew running my own company would never be easy and had the mindset that everything was about whether I could wisely solve those problems with a strong mindset or not. This really helped to reduce the actualamount of difficulty I felt.”
Kim is not only a hard-working CEO, but also the leader of the Ewha Bio Mentoring team of Korea Foundation for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (WISET). She decided to spend her spare time sharing her experience with some juniors for the future of Korea’s science and engineering industry. Since 2007, the corporate social organization has grown to produce 31 mentors and more than 320 mentees.
“Starting your own company, of course, is extremely challenging,” Kim said. “However, sophisticated planning and analysis will always make it less stressful, with the premise that it is something you enjoy doing. The focus of your life should be yourself, and always work towards a life that complements you.”