KSHB 41 reporter Fe Silva covers education stories involving K-12. Share your story idea with Fe.
This month, we are amplifying the voices of women who make a difference in our community and Grace Ahn is one of them.
She arrived in the United States with just $200 and big dreams. Twenty-six years later, now based in the Kansas City area, her business NVisionKC has reached a revenue of $1 million.
When Ahn arrived in the United States, she wasn’t sure where life was taking her.
“Coming here was not easy,” Ahn said. “I came to this country with nothing. I didn’t mean to stay this long.”
She had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the U.S. after studying in Switzerland.
Meanwhile, in South Korea, her family was dealing with financial struggles.
“I found out that my dad went bankrupt. We did not have any cash or money,” Ahn said.
In Florida, she started writing her story. Everything was new, and even communication was challenging.
“I had to do almost two steps: if somebody said something in English, I would translate it into Korean and try to respond in English,” said Ahn, remembering her first years in the country. “The conversation was too far ahead, and I could not keep up with it.”
In the U.S., she grew. She learned English and found opportunities in other American corporations. In 2020, she started her own company.
“I was like, ‘God, I am praying to you. If you really want me to start the company, show me some evidence, obvious evidence,’” Ahn said.
The sign came, and her life changed. Now living in Leawood, she owns an IT consulting firm in Kansas City and hopes to reach $2 million in revenue by 2025.
“If you don’t give up, you can become whatever you want to be,” Ahn said.
Her co-workers and friends say it wasn’t luck — Ahn deserves her achievements.
“She inspires me daily through her passion in everything she does and talks about. She really is dedicated to helping people,” Liz Miller, the senior project manager at NVisionKC, said.
“She’s full of joy. She’s full of hope, and she has so much tenacity,” said Lauren Fraser, director of the board at Empire Dreams, a nonprofit where Ahn volunteers her time and knowledge.
They say she encourages others to be better versions of themselves.
“It’s really something that other immigrants and other women in our city and around can see and say, ‘This is awesome. I can do this. She did this. I can do this,’” Fraser said.
“Grace has always encouraged all of our team members to speak up and make a difference, just like she has,” Miller said.
As she and her business grow, she wants to give back to the community.
“Everything that I have, I feel like it’s extra, and I’d like to help people, just like the people who helped me get here,” Ahn said.
—