And How It Changed Everything”
I first met JEFF — the guy who worked five days a month and made eight grand —
when I went to get my car tinted.
I searched the Korean community site for the cheapest tinting service I could find,
and the owner of that listing turned out to be JEFF.
When I called him, I learned he didn’t even have an office.
Which explained the price: $250 for a full windshield tint.
The job was done in his driveway.
And honestly?
The quality matched the price — “okay,” nothing more.
After he finished, we ended up standing outside his house,
talking for almost two hours about life in Canada.
That’s when JEFF dropped this on me:
“Sushi work? That’s poverty.
Do what everyone else does, and you’ll earn what everyone else earns — nothing.
Canada is all about skilled trades.
I work five days a month doing interior film and make eight grand.
Tinting is just filler work for easy jobs.”
Inside, I rolled my eyes.
“Right… here we go again.
Another Korean dude in Canada talking nonsense.
Five days, eight thousand dollars? Come on…”
As we talked, evening rolled in.
Then JEFF said:
“Hey, there’s a jjajangmyeon place here that tastes better than Korea.
If you’re free, dinner’s on me.”
A tinting guy offering a $13 meal
to a customer who paid $250?
Suspicious.
But Korean-style jjajangmyeon is my weakness — I couldn’t say no.
And the crazy part?
It really was better than jjajangmyeon in Korea.
Like… 1.5× better.
That one bowl broke through my guard.
Not because of the food —
but because it didn’t match the “liar” stereotype I had in my head.
There’s something surreal about eating your home country’s food,
but better, in a foreign land.
It hits you like a small existential slap:
“Damn… maybe I don’t know as much as I think I do.”
That day was when I stopped seeing JEFF as a scammer.
After that, we started hanging out —
hiking once a week, grabbing food, just talking about life.
Then came August 2019.
My move-out date didn’t line up with my move-in date,
and I suddenly had nowhere to stay.
I asked JEFF for help, and he let me crash in his living room.
I ended up living there for a month.
And during that month, I witnessed something that shocked me.
JEFF really did work only five days a month.
His main work was kitchen cabinet refinishing using interior film.
Here’s what clients paid:
One-bedroom apartments
15–20 cabinet doors
- $2,500–$3,000
- 1–2 days of work
Regular houses
25+ cabinet doors
- $4,500–$5,500
- 4–5 days of work
Material cost?
$600–$900, including film + shipping.
And the Canadian system?
Clients paid 50% upfront.
Meaning:
- Film cost covered
- Shipping covered
- Partial profit secured
- Zero risk of losing money
It was almost impossible not to profit.
(Meanwhile, back in Korea?
10–20% of interior jobs don’t get paid.
Everything is post-paid.
Clients ghost.
Companies close, reopen under new names, and avoid any consequences.
It’s chaos.)
I punched numbers into my phone.
“…Wait. This really is over $1,000 a day?”
During that month, JEFF and I went to five estimate visits together.
He told me he once refinished an entire motel in Alberta
and made $30,000 in a single month.
And the thing is?
He wasn’t exaggerating.
This was how he had lived for ten years —
working five days a month, taking home eight grand.
He explained it simply:
“Labor is expensive here.
Replacing kitchen cabinets costs 5–8× more than film wrapping.
That’s why Korean interior film dominates.
It’s unbeatable value.”
It felt like someone hit me in the head with a hammer.
A new world opened up — one I didn’t even know existed.
And in late August 2019, I made my decision.
I wanted to make $1,000 a day too.
So I decided to learn interior film.
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