E13: Hive Vibes: Meet Karla, The Queen Bee of K-Pop Hive

On this episode of BibimPOP with Sean, I’m on location at the cozy and vibrant K-Pop Hive in American Fork, Utah. ❄️ From the moment I walked through the doors, it felt like I had been transported straight to Seoul’s Myeongdong Subway Station! 🇰🇷🚇

I’m sitting down with Karla, the queen bee 🐝 and owner of this incredible K-Pop store, to chat about:
🎤 Her early journey into the magical world of K-Pop (BTS fans, unite! 🙌).
💡 How she brought her dream of K-Pop Hive to life.
🛒 The hottest merch in the store (lightsticks, anyone? ✨).
🎧 Our favorite K-Pop tracks and ultimate playlist picks!

Whether you’re a die-hard ARMY, a Blink, or just K-Curious, this episode is your backstage pass to the local K-Pop scene 🎟️ and the inspiring story of one woman’s entrepreneurial adventure. 🌟

Tune in, subscribe, and enjoy this episode! 💜🎙️

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Episode 13
• 6:57 Introducing Karla, Queen Bee of K-Pop Hive
• 13:29 All About K-Pop Hive
• 18:31 Let's Talk K-Pop
• 22:16 Don't Walk, Run to K-Pop Hive
• 25:10 Subscribe, Follow, Like, & Share

Transcript

Hello Pop Tarts, and welcome to this episode of BibimPOP with Seab, where pop culture ate. All right, we have to first address the elephant in the room. The quote tick tock ban. For those of you who don't know what's going on here. And okay, maybe that includes me too, because I am so confused. Are you confused? I'm confused.

But let's try to break it down. To my knowledge, which is limited because again, this whole situation is just a little puzzling to me. Okay? The US Supreme Court unanimously decided that ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, would be banned in the USA unless it was sold to a USA organization of some sort, and this decision was driven by a national security concern over potential access to data by the Chinese government.

Then, on January 18th or 19th, somewhere like between the two days, honestly, of 2025 this year, TikTok became unavailable to U.S. users as the deadline approached, the app was removed from Apple and Google's app stores, preventing new downloads, and I logged into my TikTok account to just do my daily pop culture post on Saturday, January 18th, and it was around 6:30 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, and I must have gotten in right as access was being shut off because I was able to get my post up, but then was not able to subsequently add the post to my TikTok story, and I do one immediately after the other minutes later, at 6:53 p.m. Mountain Standard Time,

I tried closing and reopening the app to see if that would work, and I got a notification that said, quote, important update from TikTok. We regret that a U.S. law banning TikTok will take. And I don't know what this voice is that I'm doing anyway, it said. We regret that a US law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19th and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable.

We're working to restore our service in the U.S as soon as possible, and we appreciate your support. Please stay tuned. Close quote I tried reopening the app at 8:50 p.m. that same evening, Saturday, January 18th, and then got a new message that read quote, sorry, TikTok isn't available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.

Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned. Close quote. Okay, well, I had given up on TikTok by now. I figure, well, it's done. The ban is here. Who knows what's going to happen.

This could be it could never be resolved. Then to my surprise, the next day, on Sunday, January 19th, I was on the stair stepper at the gym and I opened the TikTok app at 1215 in the afternoon Mountain Standard Time. It was just out of habit. Like I look at TikTok sometimes when I'm stair stepping. And so I, just like with automaticity, went to the TikTok app and I got a message that said, quote, welcome back.

Thanks to your patience and support. As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S you can continue to create, share and discover all the things you love on TikTok. Close quote. Okay, so basically, are you are you telling me that the TikTok ban was like less than a day long? This is the shortest ban I have ever experienced or heard of in my entire life, ever.

It was probably less than 18 hours because it was around, like I said, 6:30 p.m. Mountain Standard Time when I could no longer access TikTok and 12:30 p.m. Mountain Standard Time when I could, I bet some people went to bed on Saturday and woke up on Sunday, not even realizing a ban had ever even happened. And my understanding is that now there is a 75 day extension that was enacted for ByteDance to secure a US buyer.

So what will the future of TikTok be in the U.S? It is still a mystery to all of us and honestly, it's the whole situation is a mystery to me. What do you think about the TikTok ban? Were you impacted at all? Do you even care? I do think it's sad that some people's careers and livelihood are based on their interactions and engagement through TikTok.

That would feel so unsettling to essentially be in limbo and not have any clarity about what's going to happen with TikTok. I guess only time will tell. All right, pop Tarts, I am so excited once again for today's episode of BibimPOP with Sean. I sat down with Karla, the store owner of K-pop hive, which is the only the only K-pop store in my local area of Utah County in the state of Utah.

We talked about how Karla got into K-pop, the journey of how K-pop Hive came to be, and then grabbed all about our favorite K-pop groups and songs we recorded on location at K-pop hive. So the audio is not as crisp as it is when I record in the studio like I am right now. It's raw. It's real. Sometimes you'll hear cars driving and passing by.

Also, sadly, one of my microphones was not working and so we just used one microphone which created some audio issues as well. My voice definitely sounds more echoey, so I am really sorry about the technical difficulties and really appreciate your understanding as hashtag life happens and notwithstanding the technical issues, this is an episode you do not want to miss.

Karla brings such a great energy to BibimPOP with Sean. So without delaying the best conversation that you will hear all day, let's get into it.

All right, I am on location at K-pop hive and it's a rather chilly day today. The high was I think around 23 degrees. So cold and walking into the cozy K-pop hive store and American Fork, Utah was just what I needed to get a reprieve from the frigid air. I took a moment to walk around the store before sitting down, and the vibe in here is just so engaging.

I could look around and peruse for hours and completely lose track of time. I don't even feel like I'm in Utah anymore. It honestly feels like I've stepped out of Utah and into a quaint underground K-pop store at the Yang Dong subway station in Seoul. I'm sitting down right now with Karla, the store owner, and couldn't be more excited for our conversation today.

Before we get into all things K-pop, we would love to get to know you better. So tell us about your background, where you grew up, any of your interests and hobbies, and just what has you excited as we go into 2025? Well, thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here. So for my background, I basically grew up in Utah for most of my life, living in other states here and there, and just come from a Hispanic background where I want to, you know, open my life doors and learn more things about other cultures and stuff.

K-pop really like caught my attention with how colorful it is and how engaging and how exciting it is. Hobbies right now is basically the store trying to get it growing and putting the name out there. Getting the K-pop community together make it a bigger thing for everybody to know what it is here in Utah. And then another hobby.

I would say I really like doing crafts, art, and as you can see, decorating in K-pop posters is it is so beautiful in here. You have made the whole area so fun and just so like outgoing with all like everything around the store is so great. I kind of gave it the vibe of, teenage Room. Yes.

And that's, that is so like it, like, brings me back to, like, when I was a teenager. I think that's one of the reason why I love it so much. I would like, cut out, like, you know, the posters, the magazines, G14 and like, you know, pop star I it all over my room. So yes, I love the vibe in here.

As for 2025, we have a couple things coming that I can't quite announce yet, but I do want to grow as a store. Oh, right. Well, that is exciting. You're, like, keeping me on the edge. I can't wait. We will all be tuned in to see what comes for K-pop hive in 2025. So, Karla, tell us about your early journey into K-pop.

Like, how did you discover K-pop? I discovered K-pop back in 2016, as you do. Like in 2016, I was scrolling through YouTube and kind of stumbled into the BTS's Spring day area, and that's where I kind of just started growing my love for K-pop. And then I started going into K-dramas. But mostly it started with that YouTube scroll and finding BTS's.

I love that so much. And the reference to Spring Day that is my favorite. BTS's song is on my bathtime playlist. It's my number one song right at the top. And so yes, Spring Day is such a vibe, I love it. I love that you discovered BTS back in 2016. I actually first discovered K-pop from BTS in 2018, and it was when Mic Drop released a few months after Mic Drop released.

And I fell in love so deeply, so quickly. And before you know it, I was getting YouTube recommended videos for like Blackpink and, you know, and enter in the K-pop world for me for song. I just am so glad we had, you know, somewhat of a similar introduction to K-pop. All right, so, Tala, what is it about K-pop that you're drawn to?

How do you feel like it's different than other mainstream pop music? Yeah, so I think it's different just because, again, it's very like, well put together where you have your choreographies, these like super colorful outfits and stuff like it just draws you in and then it's super catchy as well. I don't know what they're saying, but it's super catchy.

It is. I know, you know what? Like, I would love to speak Korean. Like, I just think that would be so cool. And I totally agree with you. You spoke to the choreography and I think that's what hooked me initially because their dancing is so it's so on point. It's so particular. And every member of any K-pop group, you know, that they obviously have put in the time, the energy and the effort to put on like a perfect performance and to be so in sync.

You know, how how it how it's honestly unreal. So, so cool. It seems like a lot of the cities that are maybe on the coast that I think of, right? Like New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, have a lot of K-pop community or influence in those bigger cities. Have you been able to find a K-pop community in Utah and what has that been like?

So before actually opening the store, I don't think I knew where things were going on because again, it's like nobody knows what it is here. And that's kind of where my journey had a little bit of an issue when starting the store. But I feel like the more that people see the sign, they come in, they're like, hey, what is this?

And you kind of sit there and talk to them and explain what it is. And it's been a lot of fun getting to know the people who do or the are part of the community, that now that I have this store, I can be like, hey, there's this event going on here, there's this event going on over here.

Let's go meet up and meet other people and kind of see what their journey is like and how they got into K-pop. And you make more friends in that community. Slowly, it's getting bigger and bigger as we get to know each other. I think that's so true. And I think it takes people like you who are doing what you're doing with K-pop hired to really build upon people's interest and their knowledge and their exposure to K-pop.

Like you said, people just wandering off the street and be like, what's this? Yeah, and then that's the perfect opportunity to be like, well, let me tell you about the greatest thing you've never heard of. But now when you leave the store, you'll be obsessed with. I love that show so much. Well, let's move on into learning more about what K-pop Hive is.

If you are liking this content and discussion, please remember to subscribe! Follow, like and share BibimPOP with Sean.

All right, all right. So here we are in this amazing star K-pop hive again American Fork, Utah. How did the concept of opening a K-pop store come to you? Just kind of walk us through that journey. Yeah. So when I was just really learning to drive, my little sister wanted to go to K-pop stores. We obviously don't have any here, so we had to travel to LA to Las Vegas just to go find an album that we really, really wanted.

And it was spending so much more money than right, just getting that K-pop album online, right? Because you want the experience, you want to be in the store, you want to be looking around, seeing what else you can find. And it started off as a joke. I was in Las Vegas going to the twice concert, and we stopped by the K-pop store and I was like, to my sister, what if we have something like this in Utah?

And it was kind of a joke where we were like, yeah, whatever. Like somebody will do it, right? And I was like, no, but like, what if I do it? Like, what if I open this store and it kind of just like ended that way. But as soon as, like we were driving back, I was like, not really like, what if I do it?

And then my sister was like, you wanna do it? I was like, no, let's do it. So then it kind of sat in the back burner for like maybe a week or two. At that time, I was in a relationship, got cheated on, and I was like, distraction, why not? Right, girl? Something I like. Yeah. And that's kind of where this all started, kind of as a distraction.

And now it's like my little baby where I get to watch it grow and have people come in. And again, have that community that I get to hang out with a little bit. That is so awesome. I love how this entire beautiful store started with the spark of a simple idea in Las Vegas, going to the twice concert, and then next thing you know, you have this business that you've created, which is honestly so cool.

What inspired the name K-pop? Hi. So at first it didn't have a name and I was like, We're in Utah. Hi state K-pop, K-pop. I've I love that that's about it. Yes, I love that you're bringing in like our local community and then also then bringing in the K-pop. That's cool. I didn't that it even occurred to me, but how absolutely brilliant.

I love that I and I just really respect this whole entrepreneurial adventure that you're on. I just could talk to you about this all day. I literally for fun, I will turn it on like a little bit of Shark Tank. And I just love seeing people honestly talk about things that, again, started from an idea that they've built into a product or a business and how cool you're literally doing that right now.

So congratulations on your success. Well, K-pop Hybe has such an intimate and cozy vibe, while at the same time feeling like there really is such a large variety of K-pop memorabilia and merchandise. What are some of the K-pop items that you carry in store and what can what can K-pop fans find at K-pop? Hi. So the majority of the stuff I have in here are albums and light sticks.

I do want to expand in the future to do more things like merchandise and like fan made stuff where we can, again, as a community, share our, products that we can sell to each other and kind of get more of that little community going. But mostly I have albums and photo cards, actually, those are the most popular thing right now.

That is so awesome. You know what I love about K-pop? Merch is my favorite thing. The light sticks and right behind me you have a whole mass active row of all the different light stick you could ever imagine. And I just love that they're so interactive. And I love how there's really a lot of symbolism in each, like, stick, depending on the group or the soloist that the light stick is attached to.

Do you have a favorite like stick? Yes, I really like icon a little bit. Yeah. But recently we got Yanez and that one's really, really cute. Oh my gosh. So cool. I love that so much. Well, I need to expand my like stick collection. I have three right now and 17 and I have them in my living room.

They're like prominently displayed. So fun. So so fun. You already said that some of the most popular items in store are the photo cards. Would you say that there are any groups or specific artists that you say are the most popular? Yeah. So Stray Kids I can never keep on the shelf. They are so, so popular. 80s is another one and 17 twice for sure is also another one.

So good. I feel like you're just naming all my favorite people right now. Oh, that's so awesome. All right, well, thank you so much for telling us about K-pop Hive and giving the listeners of BibimPOP with Sean a little clue into what they can find when they come in. Store the K-pop hive. Let's transition and talk about K-pop.

Right. All right, well, we can't talk about K-pop and not discuss our favorite K-pop groups and idols. What K-pop songs are on your current playlist? Ooh, Rose is toxic. Til the end is on replay. And then I have DPR. Ian, don't go insane. It's another one that's on replay spell by 17. Super catchy. And then lots and lots of beats for sure.

That's where I started. That's kind of just on replay. Twice is also on replay strategy. Strategy is strategy. Can you talk strategy? I mean that's so good. It's so good. And the music video is so fun. But even better, Megan Thee Stallion Ivy. Yes. So good. And I love that you talked about toxic till the end. That's also like right up there for me.

Constantly listening to that entire album is so good. So, so good. Yes. Oh my goodness. Well, that is awesome. I definitely feel like we could probably swap playlists and enjoy each other's I love that. All right, I'm going to name a few K-pop groups, and I want to know what your favorite song is by each group. Like, if you could only listen to one song of theirs again, what would it be?

Okay, it might be hard, but it is. I'm going to do the best we can. Yes. All right, BTS butterfly. Oh you knew? Yes. My favorite song ever. Have to think about it. No. I love, butterfly. Amazing. That's so good. And I think I talked about mine before spring day. I love that song. So, so good. I think that would be my number two.

Yeah, it's so good. Blackpink. Oh, boom, baby boom by, So it's like a club banger. I love that like crazy. The energy. Yes. I would say mine would probably be as if it's your last. Oh, that's okay. It's just fun and like, bubblegum, like. Yeah. I just really like it. It's fun. It's got a good upbeat 17.

Ooh, I really like their old stuff. But again, spell is just so catchy. Spell is so catchy. And you know what? When I went to see them, my husband and I went to see 17 and San Antonio back in November. And they didn't perform that far. No, I know how good would that be live, I know I was so waiting for it, I was, I really wanted it.

I would say, if I had to choose one. This is so hard because I really have to, but, okay, if I had to choose one, I think I would choose home. Oh that sucks. I love that song. It's cute. It's beautiful. It just gives me all the feels. But for a faster, like, upbeat. Like, if I'm feeling like I want to dance.

I love the song hot. Oh, such a good song. So good. It's such a good music video. So good. I mean, seriously, And I think it's actually the most streamed song. Really? Yeah. I mean, I blame people for what you for. Go for real. All right, here's the next one. Aespa. Oh. Better things. Oh, better things to do with my song.

Yeah, I know, it's so good. I love that song. I think my favorite one, I love supernova. I know that so cliche. Everyone knows it, though. So far, so good. Can't stop listening to it. All right, last one tomorrow. Bye. Together or txt. Oh, they have so many good ones. Déja vu, déja vu. So good. So that that album, I mean.

Yeah, all songs, all hits, no misses. I would say I really like, you know, I think deep down I love that one. That just that lo fi vibe. It's still gotta be. It can be dancey, but not be chill. I really like that one.

Right. Well, Karla, as we wrap up our conversation today, is there anything that you want to share about the what you envision the future of K-pop have to look like? Hopefully a lot like a bigger space. I definitely want a bigger space for running our space right now, because I do want to have events in the future where again, we can host that hip hop community, grow that community.

Because when I starting this store, we had such a hard time just finding a location that would understand what we were doing just because getting that, like, I don't know what you're doing kind of response after being like, hey, I want to open a K-pop store. A lot of people thought I was talking about like, cake pops. I told them that I'm starting K-pop.

So funny. I had like, no, no, no Korean pop. Yeah, this is what it is. And then I again had to explain that whole thing. So hopefully allowing to have the community a space where they can share the interests and again bring that crowd of people that are like, hey, what is this? And you can talk to them and explain what it is.

I can grow in that community. So a bigger space and a couple of things that I can't announce quite yet, but an announcement is coming soon. So that's all I can say. Stay tuned everyone. I love that you want to expand the space. I think that'd be so cool. Host different events. How fun. Well, if you know, you can definitely count on me to come to the event.

I think that would be so fun. And I always would love to have you hear more K-pop energy in my life. I just want to say thank you so much for joining us on this episode of BibimPOP with Sean. One of my hopes is that through this podcast, I can create some great energy around the K-pop space and just highlight it more into mainstream pop culture.

And as a local K-pop store owner of K-pop hive, I know you're doing the same great work. Can you please share with my listeners where they can follow you? Do you have any social media handles for the store? Yes. So, on Instagram we're K-pop hive underscore Utah, and then on Facebook we just K-pop hive. We have an online store as well, K-pop hive.com where you can order your albums, get them shipped to you, pick them up in store.

That's so awesome. Well, you've heard it here. If you are local in the area of Utah, definitely come on down to American Fork where you can visit K-pop Hive in person. If you're passing through Utah and just visiting, come on down. Visit K-pop hive. Can you please share your store hours? Yes. So we are closed on Mondays, but we are open Tuesday through Friday, 11 to 6 p.m., Saturday from 11 to 5 and Sunday from 11 to 4.

Love it. Well Karla, thank you so much for letting us visit today on Deep and Papa Sun, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day and I will definitely be seeing you soon. Thank you for having me so much fun.

Oh. Oh, right. Pop tarts. That is a wrap on this episode. Thank you so much for listening. Was that not so fun? I loved visiting K-pop hive and chatting with Karla. What an amazing human. Stay tuned for the next episode. I cannot wait for you to hear what's up and coming on! BibimPOP with Sean. I will be interviewing an incredibly talented DJ, Andrew Chen, who is a DJ for K-pop club Night, which is an event that tours all over North America to bring K-pop to a city near you.

This is an amazing episode that you do not want to miss, especially because there is so much hype around K-pop Club Night coming to my local area of Salt Lake City very soon. On Saturday, February 15th at Sound Well. This episode will drop on Tuesday, January 28th, so make sure to listen when it releases and soon after the next episode airs.

I will also be announcing details about a K-pop Club Night giveaway on my social media channels. You don't want to miss it, so remember to subscribe! Follow, like and share BibimPOP with Sean. Make sure to follow me on social media @bibimpopwithsean on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok and @bibimpopsean on X, formerly Twitter.

And as always, go to my podcast website for more information where you can also send me messages. The website is bibimpopwithsean.buzzsprout.com. Thanks so much for listening to BibimPOP with Sean where pop culture ate.