UGG: Feel Love With Grace Kim Lee

FEEL LOVE is a celebration of real-life heroes whose stories inspires us. Dedicated to helping people, Grace Kim Lee is an ICU nurse at a world-class hospital in Los Angeles. She was the recent recipient of the Daisy Award, given for compassionate care in the nursing field. When she isn’t saving lives, she’s home spending time with her husband Justin, daughter Chloe, and son Chase who all love to wear UGG.

UGG is proud to donate $50,000 to Grace’s chosen organization, CHOC Children’s Foundation – a nonprofit hospital in Orange County defining the future of pediatric medicine. The donation will support KidsCARE, a fund providing financial support to struggling families in need. Wearing the Classic Mini, meet Grace Kim Lee.

Introduce yourself, what you do, and where we are. 

Hi, my name is Grace. I am a registered nurse in a transplant ICU, and I live in Orange County.

Describe a day in the life of Grace Kim Lee. 

I wake up at 4:30am to get ready to go to work, and make sure that my kids have everything ready for school before I leave around 5:30am. I get to work by 7:00am and start my twelve-hour shift. I’m usually on my feet most of the twelve hours helping my patients in the transplant unit. Once I come home, I make sure that my kids are fed and getting ready for bed. I get them to bed, and the same thing happens the next day.

How do you FEEL these days and why? 

I think everybody feels stressed in some ways, but also I feel happy that I get to spend more time with my kids even though they are doing distanced learning.

As a registered nurse and mother of two, what motivates you to do all you do? 

I do what I do because I love helping others. I love my family, they keep me going, and my patients keep me going too because I really want to help them. Family always comes first – my kids motivate me to be the best that I can.

What brought you into nursing? 

I think ever since I was a child, I always liked helping people. I always wanted to help sick people. Florence Nightingale was one of my role models growing up, and so I think it came naturally that I always wanted to work in a hospital. She’s the founder of nursing.

I just have a passion for helping people and trying to get them through their sickness, especially since I know not everybody is able to come visit their family members when they’re in the hospital. I would want someone to take care of my family the same way I would be taking care of their family.

You were the recent recipient of the Daisy Foundation Award, given for outstanding service. How does it FEEL to receive such an award? 

I didn’t know that I would be nominated for a Daisy Award. It was a shock for me. I believe that there are so many other nurses out there that do even more, and I just feel honored that I was chosen to accept the award.

How does it FEEL to know your work saves lives? 

Just being able to be there to help at least one person really keeps me grounded and reminds me that I can be strong for other people.

What keeps you feeling hopeful, and what motivates your public service? 

My kids inspire me a lot. They keep me going and recharge me. They have so much love and kindness, and I think that really shows through how they act. Even just the littlest things like, “Mommy, can I wash the dishes for you?” That really lifts me up and recharges me. It reminds me that I’m not alone in this. My husband too, he’s always looking out for me and making sure that we’re all staying safe, and I think that’s what counts.

Where and how do you plan to celebrate the holidays? 

My immediate family is a family of four – it’s just me, my sister, and my parents – but we have a huge extended family all over the United States. We’re very tightly knit, so we always try to get together over the holidays.

What’s the greatest gift you can give? 

I think love in general. For me, it just means being with family, being with the people that you care about, being able to do things with them and take care of them.