NAME: Ken Lee
AGE: 31
CITY OF RESIDENCE: Los Angeles
COMPANY THAT YOU WORK FOR: People magazine (Time, Inc.), in the Los Angeles bureau (People is based in New York)
JOB TITLE: Staff Correspondent
TIME AT YOUR PRESENT JOB: 1 year and 2 months

Describe what you do.

Report on news and human interest stories for the magazine, i.e. interviewing ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Do you consider your job a passion?

To some degree, yeah, because I believe everyone has something interesting to say. You’d be surprised what people are willing to tell a complete stranger.

What do you find most fulfilling about your work?

When interviewees notice that I’m being a good listener, or say, “That’s a good question.”

What was your most unusual or extraordinary assignment?

Getting flown last minute to Thailand and Indonesia to cover the tsunamis for two weeks. In one of the worst-hit areas in the latter country, me and a photographer ate nothing but energy bars and water for four days. Then there was a massive aftershock at 2 a.m. one night; I envisioned a tidal wave bursting through the doors of the building we were sleeping in (it never came). In one moment, I was peering over a bridge into a river filled with about 50 dead bodies. In the next, I was back on the plane in business class being offered champagne and warm cashews.

Describe your path here. What other jobs have you held?

Basically I was never good at math, so I stuck to publishing type jobs for the last 10 years. I started as an editorial assistant for a bicycle magazine, became a copy editor, and even put in two years as an editor at KoreAm. Then I did freelance writing in New York (1.5 years) and the Middle East (two years).

So there’s not much difference between working for People and KoreAm, right? (Dripping with sarcasm.)

Not at all! I was never invited to cool parties while working at KoreAm, either.

What skill of yours has proven to be one of the most useful to your job?

Fast typing.

What are some challenges that you might not have expected?

The sometimes grueling hours.

What are the perks, if any?

Own office (almost unheard of for print reporters), corporate card, lots of travel, meeting new people. Free skateboard magazines from the 16th floor of Time, Inc.

What is your favorite work time pick-me-up?

Twenty minutes in the 17th-floor nap room. There’s a bed in there.

What’s the best euphemism you’ve heard for your job title?

Tear jerker, because for the emotional stories, we inevitably make our subjects cry during the interview, kind of like Oprah.

What is your work philosophy?

Thousands of journalism school grads would kill to have my job, so I damn well better appreciate it.