Hannah Kemper has had a long battle with acne, and despite trying doing all that she could to clear her skin up, nothing seemed to work in her favour.
So when her Korean best friend introduced her to K-beauty products while they were in Germany, she was intrigued, to say the least.
“She gifted this thing that looked like a tissue box. I wasn’t exactly impressed at first, but it turned out to be a box of Korean sheet masks,” says Kemper. “She said her sister, who struggled with bad skin, had used them and they helped her skin.”
Curious but cautious, Kemper decided to ration them. Unfortunately, they dried out over time to a point where they could no longer be used; nevertheless, whatever was used improved her skin.
It was like a lightbulb went off in her head — Kemper never imagined that a product made halfway across the world would be the one to finally help her skin.
“Seeing how it has worked on others, I thought to myself, ‘This is amazing, I’m finally going to fix my skin,’” she shares.
It goes to show that sometimes, finding the solution to your problem simply requires looking outside your comfort zone.
Kemper (left) returned to South Korea after her study abroad programme on a working holiday visa. She held several part-time jobs and later worked for a K-beauty marketing company. Source: Hannah Kemper
A taste of Asia while growing up in Europe
K-beauty wasn’t Kemper’s first brush with Asian culture. That came years earlier, during her childhood in Hungary.
Despite being born in the UK, Kemper spent most of her early life moving across Europe, attending international schools in Hungary, Romania, and Germany.
Being in such a diverse environment meant she met people from all over the world — including her Japanese best friend in Hungary, who introduced her to Japanese music and dramas.
“I got hooked, and that’s when I started learning Japanese,” shares Kemper.
Later on, when in Romania, Kemper found herself making new friends with a group of Korean students. She often overheard them chatting in Korean and was surprised by how much she understood.
This might be attributed to the fact that Korean and Japanese use many words from the Chinese language. These loanwords, known as Sino-Korean words in Korean and Kanji in Japanese, are often related to academic, technical, or formal vocabulary. While the pronunciation may differ, the characters themselves often retain similar meanings.
Kemper with her Japanese friend whom she met while living abroad in Hungary during her schooling days. Source: Kemper
“I realised that because I’d been learning Japanese, I could actually understand bits of what they were saying in Korean. That blew my mind,” says Kemper.
When it came time to choose where she wanted to pursue her undergraduate degree, Kemper decided to return home to the UK, after more than a decade abroad, but her love for the Japanese and Korean cultures followed her home.
In 2014, Kemper enrolled on a BA in Korean and Japanese studies at SOAS, University of London. But after her first year, something didn’t feel right.
“I was already good at Japanese, but I’d grown distant from the language,” she says. “It didn’t feel right for me anymore, and I had a gut feeling I should focus only on a BA in Korean studies.”
With the support of her professors and course tutors, she made the switch and never looked back. From there, Kemper had the opportunity to study abroad in South Korea at Sogang University as part of her programme with SOAS.
But that wouldn’t be the last time she would set foot in the country.
From K-beauty to entrepreneurship: A full-circle moment
After graduating from SOAS, Kemper returned to South Korea on a working holiday visa in the summer of 2019.
“I was volunteering for a career and tourism organisation, doing a few bits and bobs — odd jobs — but I couldn’t find any long-term jobs,” she says. “I eventually ran out of money, and it was also at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. So I decided it was best to return home and spend time with my parents.”
However, Kemper knew her goal was to live and work in South Korea. Her temporary solution? Moving to the country to be an English teacher.
“I taught from 2021 to 2023, but in between that, I became a K-influencer with the Korean Culture and Information Services and took up a part-time job with Kworld Media, the parent company of a K-beauty marketing company AGASKIN,” says Kemper.
That’s when everything came full circle.
Seeing how K-beauty has saved her skin and gained some work experience in the industry, working in K-beauty was Kemper’s calling.
“It’s a wonderful thing, and I’m happy to work for an industry that’s not from my own culture,” she shares.
Kemper became the Head of Global Marketing at AGASKIN, which led her to work on several K-beauty activations both in South Korea and globally. Source: Kemper
While at Kworld Media and AGASKIN, Kemper realised that most of her work revolved around marketing, prompting her to enhance her skills by enrolling at Alliance Manchester Business School to pursue an MSc in Digital Marketing.
“Besides, I used to think that my undergraduate degree was a little lightweight, and sometimes I wished my parents had forced me to study economics or business,” she says. “Many of my friends went on to get a second degree in something more professional, so I decided to do that too.”
Between her talents, skills, and knowledge she earned with her master’s degree, Kemper was quickly promoted to Kworld Media and AGASKIN’s Head of Global Marketing, and later, to Marketing Manager.
But in January 2025, Kemper made a big decision and left her job to return to the UK for good.
“I wanted to take some time off from working and figure out what I wanted to do next,” she shares. “I thought of getting another job and even did some interviews. But it didn’t feel right.”
That’s when her dad stepped in with some fatherly advice: just starting her own thing — something she had been quietly considering for a while too.
“My dad said, ‘Why don’t you just do it? You’re going to regret it if you don’t do it. You’re living with your parents, so you don’t have any big costs. Just do it.’”
And just like that, Kemper founded “원화 (WonHwa),” a K-beauty marketing agency in the UK.
The name “WonHwa” is a play on Kemper’s first name, Hannah. In Korean, “Hana” means “one,” while in Japanese, it can mean “flower.” However, “flower” in Korean is pronounced as “hwa.”
“The K-beauty industry doesn’t often need help with offline marketing; however, to me, beauty is an experience,” shares Kemper. “We want to show that people love offline events, and also build an environment where people can interact over something they love.”
Kemper believes that K-beauty has the potential to get bigger, especially in the Western world. She could have started a company in South Korea, but the market is as saturated as it is. However, in the UK, there’s still room for growth.
“I’m planning on hosting a lot of events throughout the summer and building a community of influencers and creators who are interested in K-beauty,” says Kemper. “I’m excited for what’s to come.”
