From $15/Hour Sushi Cook to $1,500/Day Vinyl Wrap Installer

—

And why I walked away the moment I finally “made it.”

From $15/Hour Sushi Cook to $1,500/Day Vinyl Wrap Installer —
And Why I Walked Away the Moment I Finally “Made It.”

Three days before flying back to Korea,
I was working inside the Vancouver Korean Consulate—
my final vinyl wrap installation job in Canada.

Two days of work.
Over $3,000 in labor fees.

Not bad for a guy who, just two years earlier,
was a $15-an-hour sushi cook (actually $10.85/hour + tips)
in a cramped Vancouver Island kitchen.

Back then, I never imagined
I’d reach a point where I could charge
$1,500 a day for commercial vinyl wrap work.

Of course, the first six months were rough.

I was barely making $500 a day from vinyl wrap work,
and some months I only worked two or three days in total.

But after a year—

contractors were messaging me nonstop:

“Can you take a wrap job next week?”

Two to three inquiries
every single day.

Whenever I stepped onto a job site,

I wouldn’t leave
for less than $1,000 a day.

At that point,
I wasn’t taking every job anymore.

I was selecting projects—
working only with contractors who understood the value and paid accordingly.

But in the spring of 2023,
as the cherry blossoms were falling,

it was over for me in Canada.

In just two years,
I had gone from $15 an hour
to $1,500 a day.

And yet—

I couldn’t stay there
even one more day.

The sense of loss hit me all at once.

I knew how much money
I could make in Canada and the U.S.
with this skill.

And I was walking away from all of it.

I’m going back to Korea.

Because at some point,

I had started to look like a zombie.

If you’re wondering how I even got into vinyl wrap in the first place—

it started with one unexpected moment.

→ Continue to Part 2