Seattle’s Jane Park makes history in NYSE debut of women-run Athena Consumer Acquisition Corp.

Athena Consumer Acquisition Corp. CEO Jane Park (fourth from left) and her colleagues ring the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange. (NYSE photo)

The solemn ringing of the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday morning was symbolic for Jane Park in several ways.

The Seattle-based entrepreneur, believed to be the first Korean-American woman to go public as CEO of the NYSE, was hired by the all-female executive team at Athena Consumer Acquisition Corp. flanked, with Parks cheering on immigrant parents among family members on the screens behind it.

Athena Consumer went public on October 20 as a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) and raised $ 230 million that it will use to purchase a consumer business. Athena’s chairman, venture capitalist Isabelle Freidheim previously took a similar approach at Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. with cybersecurity veteran Phyllis Newhouse.

Jane Park signed the NYSE registration in Korean. (Jane Park photo)

Park immigrated to Canada with her family when she was 4 years old. A graduate of Yale Law School and a former Starbucks executive, she founded and ran Julep Beauty, a physical retail chain and e-commerce brand acquired by private equity giant Warburg Pincus. She founded Tokki, a sustainable gift packaging company, and led the company through a turning point during the pandemic.

“I think one of the most important constructs that you have on your mind as an immigrant is that you can travel across different worlds,” Park told us recently in a recording for an upcoming episode of the GeekWire podcast. “And when there can be more than one world, you can make your own rules.”

Despite her experience of traversing different worlds, she hadn’t imagined that she would end up running a special-purpose acquisition company. But she decided to take the call because of the leadership team that Freidheim was putting together.

“It took some persuasion, a little. I wasn’t sure I had the right skills. I’ve always sat on the entrepreneur side. Being on the acquisition / money side is a new perspective and perspective for me, ”she said. “I don’t think I would have answered the call if it wasn’t for the fact that it was an all-female SPAC.”

Jane Park accepts CEO of the Year award at the 2014 GeekWire Awards. (File photo)

In addition to Park as CEO, Athena Consumer’s management team includes Jennifer Carr-Smith, chairman of the board of Blue Apron, who is Athena’s president and chief operating officer; and Angelina Smith, Athena chief financial officer, a Seattle area finance and operations manager who held executive positions at companies such as Zulily, glassybaby, and Inspo Network.

Park has shared personal stories about her family’s journey as an immigrant, including a heartfelt open letter to her mother in May amid the wave of anti-Asian violence. Her father was separated from his parents during the Korean War and has not seen them since. As a 9 year old, he looked after his own 6 year old sister and survived the winter digging up frozen sweet potatoes that farmers overlooked during the harvest.

“It’s really, really meaningful for someone like this to see his daughter accomplish something like this in two generations,” said Park. “And it took a lot of sacrifice and hard work on their part.”

Listen to our full conversation with Jane Park, CEO of Athena Consumer, on the next episode of the GeekWire podcast on Saturday November 6th. Subscribe to GeekWire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to it.

https://www.geekwire.com/2021/seattles-jane-park-makes-history-nyse-debut-women-run-athena-consumer-acquisition-corp/