09/04/2026
Written by Victor Lee, Founder & CEO at victorYmarketing Studio
What Changed This Summer: Studio Launch, Under His Wing Studio, and a Structural Call | victorYmarketing Studio
Founder Victor Lee on returning to Boston after summer 2026 fieldwork in Seoul and China — the studio launch, the restructuring of Under His Wing Studio, and what the research actually produced.
What Changed This Summer
I was gone for three months. The studio didn't seem to notice.
I'm back at CIC in Boston now, about a week removed from Seoul, and it's time to actually account for the summer. In the previous post, I called the time away a different room to think in. Here's what came out of that room.
The Learning
I finished Google's Data Analytics certification and the Google/DeepMind AI course while I was gone. Not for another line on a profile — because the tools reshaping this industry are worth understanding firsthand. If this studio is going to build AI into client marketing workflows and actually mean it, that understanding starts with the person running the studio, not just the tools he's paying for.
The Studio Didn't Wait
Here's the part that surprised me a little: victorYmarketing Studio kept moving without me standing over it. We helped partner and sponsor companies scale their digital marketing with AI. We launched the studio website, with a new email system running behind it — real infrastructure, live and working.
That's the actual story here. A studio staying functional while its founder is on the other side of the world doesn't happen by accident. It's the payoff from decisions made months earlier — global brand tokens set up front, a content system that's documented instead of living in someone's head. Summer put that to the test. It held.
The Fieldwork Paid Off
Four days in Shanghai and Yiwu with Chung Wha Sa Co., Ltd. | (주)청화사 turned into more than just note-taking. Time on the ground went toward reading the market firsthand and developing product samples for what's next. Some research just doesn't work over a video call.
The Bigger Call
None of that was the biggest change. That one happened back home.
Under His Wing Production is now Under His Wing Studio—owned and managed by victorYmarketing Studio, with a new regional CEO leading it in the Korean market. I stepped back from CEO to content creator, closer to the work I actually want to be doing. The studio is also now managing a new Christian ensemble in Korea under that same brand.
This wasn't me walking away. It was making room for the platform to grow into something bigger than one founder splitting attention across two ventures could give it — a regional CEO closer to the market, more bandwidth for content, more room for the ensemble to develop.
If your own venture has outgrown what you can run solo, or you're weighing when to bring in outside leadership, that's a conversation worth having early. Get in touch — happy to talk through what that decision actually looks like.
Turns Out I Was Right
Back in June, I told you I'd still be working, just from a wider lens. Turns out that was the accurate version — a studio launch, two certifications, a market visited in person, and a structural call on the venture that started all of this.
The lens stays wide from here.
Victor Lee is Founder & Lead Strategist of victorYmarketing Studio, a research-driven brand strategy and marketing studio based in Boston, MA, serving founders, startups, and cross-cultural and enterprise brands across English and Korean markets.
Written by Victor Lee
Copyright by victorYmarketing Studio