A journey from hiding to building.
When I first came to the U.S. at 26,
I struggled with English — so much that even my own name felt like a barrier.
I worried that Inkyu would be hard to pronounce, easy to forget, or too foreign to belong.
A pastor who welcomed me into the U.S. gave me an English name: Joseph.
For years, Joseph became my name in every room where I needed to blend in.
But as I kept building my life, my work, and my systems,
I realized something profound:
The name I once tried to hide is now the root of everything I build.
Inkyu is not a footnote to my story.
It is the foundation.
It carries my origin, my culture, my family’s hopes — and my own decision to begin again on my terms.
Joseph Inkyu Yu isn’t just a name.
It’s a statement:
Of where I come from,
what I’ve built,
and who I am still becoming.
Stories. Systems. Freedom.
Not to erase where I started — but to integrate it.
I no longer hide my name. I lead with it.