How Ophthalmologist and Co-Founder of T3 Julie Chung Balances Two Passions

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If you’re a beauty guru, chances are you are very familiar with the revolutionary haircare brand, T3. Julie Chung, the co-founder of T3, created the brand to innovate women’s hair tools through a more luxurious lens; however, her path to T3 is not quite linear.

Raised by a nurse with an impeccable style, Chung's early life was influenced by the medical field and the allure of fashion. Opting to pursue a career in medicine initially, Chung attended UCLA Medical School with the ambition of becoming an ophthalmologist. It was not until a pivotal moment with her future husband and business partner, Kent Yu, that her interest in the beauty industry reignited.

Yu noticed the inadequacies in Chung’s everyday hair dryer—it was heavy, cumbersome, and ineffective against her frizz. Recognizing a gap in the market, Yu proposed designing a superior hairdryer. For Chung, she wanted to mimic the luxurious branding of beauty products like La Mer creams and saw potential in marketing hair tools as high-end, beautifully packaged items. This collaboration led to the birth of T3 in 2004, a groundbreaking company that completely changed the hair-tool industry.

T3 quickly made waves, becoming the first brand to offer a luxury, high-performance hair dryer. Their innovative approach extended beyond product design; they were pioneers in securing placements in beauty magazines and transforming how hair tools were perceived and marketed. This strategy paid off, and within a few years, T3 emerged as one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing brands in the beauty market.

On top of building an incredibly successful beauty company, Chung also continued to pursue her medical career. She completed her training to become a glaucoma and cataract surgeon and began practicing, juggling her medical responsibilities with her entrepreneurial endeavors. Balancing both of her passions, Chung treated patients during the week and showcased flat irons at hair trade shows on the weekends.

Today, T3 celebrates two decades of innovation and independence with the launch of the T3 Aire 360, a highly anticipated hot air styler that promises to set new standards in the beauty industry, marking a major milestone. Listen to the latest episode of Second Life to find out how Chung manages to balance two career passions, creating a legacy that impacts both medicine and beauty.

And keep scrolling to discover some of T3's best-selling products.

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