Zach Benson is an entrepreneur, social media strategist, and award-winning dancer based in Korea. He came to prominence from making it to the 4th round of So You Think You Can Dance and today teaches dance clinics around the world. His story has been featured in multiple news outlets in his home state of Iowa. In addition, Zach is an expert in social media marketing and is the Founder of Assistagram. ^[undefined]

Zach was born in South Korea. His mother was 20-years-old when she gave birth and put him up for adoption. At the age of four months, he was adopted by an American family. He grew up in Urbandale, Iowa and was the only person of Asian descent in town. ^[undefined] He attended Urbandale High School and graduated in 2004. Throughout his childhood and teenage years, Zach suffered ADHD and was inflicted with a speech impediment where he had trouble saying words with "r." He was enrolled in speech therapy and would practice for hours, but the impediment would still give him anxiety. When Zach was 15, his friend gave him a DVD about how to break-dance and he started to learn his craft. Dance became an outlet for Zach to express himself when words couldn't and he would practice hours a day from watching videos on YouTube. After mastering his skills, he would eventually go by the nicknames "Nesquik" and The "Asian Sensation." ^{[undefined] [undefined]}

Zach graduated from Central College (Iowa) where he earned his degree in Spanish and Public health. During his senior year, the Director of Intercultural Life, Brandyn Woodard, was a key mentor of his, and originally advised him into taking a practical career path after graduation. After listening to Zach's concerns more, Brandyn responded by saying to go follow his dreams. He graduated Central College in 2008. ^[undefined]

After college, Zach moved to Atlanta where he worked with a faith-based organization and helped refugees settle into homes and jobs. A year later, he traveled to Korea to meet his birth mother, an experience in which he describes being an emotional journey. Benson returned to Iowa in 2011 and worked as a personal trainer at a fitness center in suburban Des Moines while also honing his dance skills. Several times, Zach auditioned for the show So You Think You Can Dance and after years of persistence made it to the 4th round in 2012. Although he had the potential, he lacked the former training to advance in the competition. Zach was encouraged by a veteran dancer to keep pursuing dance. ^[undefined]

Zach ended up moving to Los Angeles, California where he signed up to a dance agency and scored a number of gigs such as music videos, television commercials and more. As he was growing in success, Zach became disillusioned with his life and his central purpose. He decided to leave Los Angeles and move to South Korea, becoming a resident advisor and teacher at a private international Christian school in Daejeon. It was during his summer vacations he began to master the social ecosystem and started Assistagram as a side-hustle, a service that helps users grow their Instagram following and reach. Assistagram has grown to be a full-suite service offering companies and personalities different packages to amplify there presence on the platform. ^[undefined]

Zach has taught dance tutorials all over the world in places like Mexico, Morocco, India, Korea, and more. He mainly works with children and teenagers and his main mission is to help them build confidence and express themselves freely through dance. ^[undefined]

Zach views education as a life-long endeavor and constantly tries to find new books to read as well as maintains a humble mindset when confronting something unknown.

A cornerstone of his philosophy are three truths which are to keep small promises and commitments, show up with a great attitude everyday, and to seek to understand, then be understood.

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