Jun Lim: work hard, play hard

Picture an office where bright yellow is the feature colour, Lego minifigures dominate, and meeting room tables are topped with plastic bricks for employees to play with. Imagine having an annual event called Play Day, where staff around the world stop work and spend the next eight hours constructing Lego sets, engaging in team-building activities and sharing delicious meals.

This is the norm for Jun Lim, senior digital promotions manager in the Lego Group’s global e-commerce team – but a future in Lego wasn’t something he had planned.

Born and raised in South Korea, he moved to New Zealand with his family when he was ten. Hoping to start his own business one day, he enrolled in a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in finance at the University of Auckland in 2009.

When the opportunity arose to complete a semester abroad as part of the University’s 360 International semester exchange programme, he jumped at the chance to revisit his homeland as a young adult.

Six months at Seoul National University gave him a taste for life in the metropolis.

“It sparked my dream to live here,” he says, naming the city’s constant energy as a big attraction. “Everything is 24/7. The city never sleeps; it’s always active. When you go out at night, there’s lots to do.”

Taking time off from his degree, Jun had a brief stint working for an Australian shipping company before completing a three-month internship back in South Korea for the Dutch health technology company Philips. The company offered him a full-time position and, after graduating in 2013, he returned to Seoul – for good. Four years of e-commerce experience with Philips was the perfect preparation for shifting from tech to toys.

Enter Lego, a brand needing no introduction, instantly recognisable and as iconic as Barbie or Hot Wheels. Jun is responsible for managing content for Lego’s global online stores.

It’s a big but rewarding job, which involves targeting content for specific countries and working a broad range of hours to collaborate with offices in different time zones. For someone who grew up with the toy juggernaut’s presence in his home, it doesn’t get much better.

“As a child, I played with Lego. I used to love it and I still love it,” he says, noting that the brand’s audience stretches from toddlers to adults.

Its enduring and intergenerational appeal, he says, can be attributed to two key factors: mindfulness – “building Lego sets gives you time to focus on something. It makes you calm and relieves stress” – and agility: “Lego continuously invests into new, innovative franchises, making it unique among other companies in the toy industry and relevant to shoppers.” Said franchises encompass everything from Star Wars and Harry Potter to Animal Crossing and Minions.

Jun is grateful for his unexpected career path. Not only did he wind up with a job he loves, but he also learned a valuable lesson in being receptive, which he says could help current students grappling with their future.

“When I was a student, I was stressed, thinking I needed to find a good job right after graduating,” he says.

“But life is long. Don’t worry about landing a job you need to do for your entire life. Anything can change. Be open minded and do as many different things as you can while you’re young.”

And don’t forget: play is for adults, too.