It's become fashionable to say that the “American Dream” is dead. Many people feel that the best days are behind us. The pandemic created extraordinary wealth concentrated in a small group of powerful people, while average Americans feel left behind. The humiliating pullout from Afghanistan, supply-chain disruptions and the surge in inflation causing increased costs of everyday items (such as food and gas at the pumps) erodes our confidence.

Sometimes, we need a reminder that despite setbacks, there is hope. The American Dream of immigrating to the United States and creating a better life for your family is still alive and well. Yong Kim was born in South Korea. At an early age, he became infatuated with the U.S. and desperately wanted to emigrate. He begged his parents for years to relocate. As a young adult, Kim boldly left his family and came to America.

With broken English, he tried—mostly unsuccessfully—to find a job. “This was before the days of the internet. Living alone in a foreign country, not knowing anyone and not speaking English, was extremely difficult,” Kim said. Over time, he found his way. He attended the University of Chicago and received a masters and M.B.A. from Harvard. Kim went on to found Wonolo, an on-demand staffing marketplace for blue-collar workers.

The platform connects businesses that have critical temporary staffing needs with workers looking for a gig. Kim conceived of the app based, in part, on his own experiences working at Coke. He noticed that it was hard to quickly find workers and thought that there has to be a better way to both benefit folks looking for part-time work and employers who desperately need to staff up.

With over $200 million in venture capital funding, Kim says that Wonolo has over 1 million people on the platform, predominantly retail, factory, warehouse, fulfillment, hospitality and related types of workers. There are thousands of businesses that seek Wonolo’s help.