Today we’d like to introduce you to Chanoknun Xayvong.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started Taekwondo when I was 12 years old. My sister wanted to do gymnastics, and next door, was a newly opened Taekwondo school. My mom asked me if I wanted to do that while my sister did gymnastics, and I said yes. Growing up, my heroes were Bruce Lee, and Jackie Chan. Getting closer to how my heroes were was something I always dreamed of. Once I started, it was all over. I immediately fell in love. I trained day in and out, and competed across competitions all over the US over the coming years.
I competed in so many places. I got to compete in the Junior Olympics in New Orleans, I competed in the Las Vegas Open, and even got to compete in Canada. I was an active competitor for 10 years. All over the US, mostly California, Texas, and Colorado. Of course, I also competed in my home state, and even developed a reputation for how skilled I was.
During this time, I also became an instructor for the school I trained at. At the age of 16, I was a part time teacher at my school. This is when I learned I had a passion for teaching and this was my part time job going forward throughout all of my high school days.
I spent every weekday teaching, and trained after classes. They owner and master of the school trusted me enough to give me a key, so I just spent my time after classes practicing. I didn’t practice on my own though. I had a few people I practiced with that would stick around and practice with me afterwards. We were teammates, rivals, and best friends. We grew up together here at the school and did our best to become the best. To this day, those people that I trained with are my closest friends. We were all competing and pushed each other to be our best selves. Some of my fondest memories are of us just laying around after being exhausted and laughing about how hard the training was while music was blaring in the background. I truly miss those days.
Eventually something happened, and there was a split at our school. The owner sold the school and a new person was taking over the school. This new person had been with us for a while, and once the school split, there was a big divide that happened. People chose sides, and we eventually got to where we are today. It was messy, lot’s of feelings were involved, and then things broke off.
Moving forward from that, I stuck with the new owner, and our old students. I couldn’t just abandon them. I had been teaching them for years and couldn’t just let them go. So I taught for I while, but it was getting to the point where I would have to leave.
I went off to college and I stopped doing Taekwondo. Working jobs and trying to manage school, I couldn’t keep practicing anymore. I would go into the school every once in a while to help with classes and do some sparring, but I wasn’t fully active in it anymore.
Let’s fast forward this a bit. After many years of working, and eventually dropping out of college, I ended up opening my own restaurant. This was a restaurant in Ogden called New Sun and we had a solid 5 years. I eventually sold the restaurant and decided to go back to school.
I went back to school, got my degree, and decided to start teaching again at the school I was at.
It’s funny. As soon as I started teaching again, it made me question why I ever stopped. I love this so much. It’s my favorite thing in this world.
A couple of years pass, and while teaching under this school, things happened. The owner got sick. He had cancer, and we didn’t know for the longest time. I did notice him not acting well during classes, but I never associated with it being his health was failing.
One day, he drops the news on us ( me and the other teacher) that he’s going to retire and give the school to me.
A wild mixture of emotions. I never wanted to open my own school. I know how difficult it is to run my own business. I used to own a restaurant. However, I can’t just leave the students that have been diligently training with us to just kick the curb. I accept, and only because I can’t leave the kids that have faithfully stuck with us to just get tossed aside.
So, I’m running the school now. We’re doing our best, and we’re trying to make sure they get the attention they deserve.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it has not been. After the old owner left, we also lost a significant number of students. The amount we were making compared to what we needed to make for the school to keep running was very harrowing. I barely had enough to cover expenses and would often time have to use my own personal funds to make sure costs were covered.
Money was looking tight, and renting space was becoming a problem. We used to be a school that had our own location, but we eventually got kicked out of our original space due to leasing contracts and a ridiculous renewal fee.
Though, by a stroke of luck and chance, we found a new location willing to host us. We’re now teaching out of the same location as DanceLife Studio, and they’ve been gracious enough to let us be there.
They are a competitive dance school, and deserve all of the praise. The fact that they are willing to share their space with us makes me appreciate their accommodations and I only have gratitude for their help.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Besides teaching at the school, I work full time as a Software developer at a company called TSB Software. We create and work on a software that let’s businesses report their credit accounts to the major credit bureaus. I also work part time at my cousins restaurant called East Moon in Lehi as a sushi chef.
I suppose I’m most known for my friendly nature and quick wit. I go out often and lots of people know me locally, as I tend to be a part of many social circles in my area.
The thing I’m most proud of is my students. They are my pride and joy, and I continue doing everything I can for them. I hope to keep teaching for a long time and I wish nothing but success in their futures.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
To me, success is the deep personal joy of living a life aligned with your passions. For some people, it’s making money. For others, it’s achieving more in their career. For me, success is being able to do what you love, and still being able to continue doing it. Making the means to do what you love, or even make an earning from what you love, that’s success. If you can go to sleep being happy about what you do, you’ve succeeded. We’re the most happiest when we do what we love.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://joesonma.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jmafit
