Reflections on Immigrant Sacrifices and Family Legacy

What does it mean to succeed when you’ve reached the Olympic podium? How do you separate that success from your sense of self-worth?

The world knows Chloe Kim as one of the greatest athletes ever. At 17, Chloe was the youngest person to win an Olympic gold medal in snowboarding. She was the first to win two gold medals in the Halfpipe. She was the first female snowboarder to have landed back-to-back 1080s. She is the first athlete ever to win all four major snowboarding titles in the Olympics, Worlds, Youth Olympics and X Games.

Under the pressure and expectations of the world, how does Chloe stay true to herself? Now 24, Chloe holds so much wisdom. Grappling with her incredible success, she has sought to understand what truly matters - insights that have come from her moments of pain and struggle. In this conversation, Chloe opens up about how she found her way through her depression and anxiety. And how she finds inner peace. As the children of immigrant parents, Chloe and the Surgeon General talk about family and what the American Dream means to them.

Ultimately, this episode is a meditation on where we find meaning in life.

(00:03:15) Dr. Murthy and Chloe sort out Team Dog vs Team Cat tension.

(00:05:38) Where did Chloe’s love of snowboarding come from?

(00:08:55) What inspired Chloe’s parents to come to America?

(00:12:45) What were the early days of snowboarding like for Chloe?

(00:14:25) How Chloe learned to be fearless on the slopes & off the slopes

(00:17:27) How do people’s expectations of success affect Chloe?

(00:20:50) How did Chloe get through her mental health struggles?

(00:25:05) How did Chloe turn to therapy?

(00:27:45) What brings Chloe (and Dr. Murthy) inner peace?

(00:32:58) How do you live a life that’s grounded in love?

(00:38:20) What gives Chloe a sense of purpose when things get hard?

(00:39:41) Chloe’s evolving definition of success.

(00:44:12) Chloe on her relationship to self-worth and loving herself.

(00:47:04) What is Chloe’s relationship to social media?

(00:52:17) What does Chloe want her parents to know about what they mean to her?

Special thanks to the President's Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition for collaboration on this episode.

We’d love to hear from you! Send us a note at housecalls@hhs.gov with your feedback & ideas. For more episodes, visit www.surgeongeneral.gov/housecalls.   

Chloe Kim, Snowboarder

Instagram: @chloekim

About Chloe Kim
The 2022 Winter Olympics cemented Chloe Kim as the female face of both snowboarding and action sports when she became the first female in history to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in halfpipe snowboarding. After being accepted to Princeton University, Kim took the 2019–20 season off from competing to focus on her education. Returning in January 2021, after a 20-month hiatus from snowboarding competition, Kim continued her dominance of the sport, winning all 4 women’s superpipe events in the 2020–21 season including her seventh X Games gold medal and her second World Championship.

Kim has had just as much success off the mountain as she’s had on it. She’s been featured on Forbes 30 Under 30 list, Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People list, and Time’s 30 Most Influential Teens list (3 years in a row), as well as the cover of Time Magazine, Shape Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated Kids, and ESPN Magazine. She also had an appearance in a Maroon 5 video and the Charlie’s Angels reboot. Additionally, Kim has taken home 5 ESPY Awards, the 2022 Daring to Disrupt Award at Glamour Women of the Year Awards, 3 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Sports Awards, and 2 Laureus World Sports Awards. Kim was appointed as a member of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition on March 24, 2023, for a 2-year term. Kim, whose parents emigrated from Korea, now lives in Los Angeles and has been recognized for her positive impact in the Asian American community.