At 4 a.m., when most of New York was still asleep, Youn Jin was already awake. She blogged. She practiced yoga. She made breakfast. By the time her coworkers shuffled into the office, she already had accomplished a lot.

Early mornings have long been considered a secret weapon of successful people, and stories like Youn’s might seem familiar — until you hear what happened next.

Her mornings didn’t just set the tone for her day. They completely changed the course of her life. She built an entire business around them, defined by the singular theme: morning.

Her morning journey began in 2012 when she landed what she thought was a dream internship at a small fashion label in New York. But the excitement quickly faded.

"I felt completely overwhelmed and had to step back and figure out why," she told The Korea Herald. "At the end of the day, it was loneliness. New York is a fun and exciting city for sure, but emotionally, I felt like it was 'poverty in the midst of plenty.'"

What saved her wasn't the happy hour cocktails or weekend brunches in Brooklyn, it was the quiet dawn.

"I'd wake up around 4, process my thoughts about the previous day through blogging, do yoga and fix a healthy breakfast. By 8 a.m., I'd be ready to hit the ground running," she said.

She emphasized why it had to be in the morning and not at night, especially when it comes to writing out her feelings on her blog.

“When writing at night, it usually ends up being documentation of what happened that day. But when I write about them the next day, after sleeping on it, the incidents settle down, and my thoughts or what I’ve learned from them come to the surface,” she said. “Also, because it is the beginning of a new day, I can apply them (as newly learned insights) right away. I can live through the day with my new thoughts in mind.”

She added that having that time for herself really centered her.

"No matter what curveballs came my way, I stayed steady," she said.

Fast-forward to 2025, and mornings are no longer just her personal salvation. They’re her business model.

On March 12, Youn welcomed this reporter to Achim Provision ("achim" is Korean for morning), the brunch spot she founded last year in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

The fresh, cozy feeling of morning was everywhere, from the golden light streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows to the quarter-zip pullover she wore, embroidered with "Achim," to the tiny sunrise tattoo on her wrist. She began making a pour-over coffee as the reporter took a seat.

But Achim Provision isn't just another Instagrammable restaurant with good lighting.

At its core is a community of devoted members she calls "morning owners." What started as her modest blog, 11o' claire, on Korean portal Naver in 2011, has now evolved into a network of over 1,000 subscribers to her newsletter, Sunday Achim Inspiration, and a quarterly print magazine, also called Achim.

Youn’s initiative is similar to the "Miracle Morning" method by American author Hal Elrod, who advocates a six-step morning routine to devote daily time to personal growth, but without a fixed set of rules. Instead, subscribers exchange morning hacks, from breakfast ideas to workout routines to inspiring reads, through Slack channels.

These shared experiences are intentionally simple, fostering a collective appreciation for mornings. The community's goal is to share a common appreciation for the morning and have fun with the concept, which is what people living in Korea today often neglect due to being accustomed to late-night socializing and rushing to work in the morning.

"So, the community is always eager to discuss anything related to mornings. Anything, really," she said. "For example, members recently had a lively debate over whether milk or cereal should come first," when preparing a bowl of cereal in the morning.

Youn added that members join to cultivate a sense of solidarity as well.

"Our 'Achim Movement' group on Slack shares morning activities, from running to yoga. It fosters connection by showing that others out there are also awake at this time and starting their day."

She's also launched a podcast, extending Achim's reach to a broader audience.

"I personally love print media, so I print Achim magazines, but magazines can only go so far," she said. "If we package our message in formats people already consume, there's a better chance they'll connect with our values. If someone stumbles on our podcast while browsing Spotify, they might think, 'Who are these people, and why are they talk so much about their mornings?' Next thing you know, they're checking us out online."

Her venture does not stop there.

These days, Youn moonlights as a brand consultant, leveraging her experience building Achim Provision from scratch.

When asked about future plans, Youn lights up describing her next big idea: a chain of subway station cafes where commuters can grab a thoughtfully crafted coffee alongside Achim brand content designed to help them reclaim their mornings.

"Picture a coffee shop network in business districts, a place where early birds can actually savor their morning instead of just powering through it," she said.

Still, she's wary of overplanning, preferring to ride the wave of opportunity.

"That’s how Achim got to where it is now." she said. "Taking it one step at a time. I never set out to open a restaurant, but when one of our morning owners tipped me off about an available space, I jumped. This place was supposed to be a six-month pop-up. Yet here we are."

The restaurant, which has been opening at 8:00 a.m. for nearly a year, will celebrate its first anniversary this month.