About me
my story
I am a child of immigrants, so my story is common. My parents came to America for a chance at a better life, working menial jobs despite their university degrees to learn English and to provide for our family. Their industriousness paved a path of stability through which I was able to go to college, secure an internship that translated to a full-time job, become CEO, and then get elected as President of the United States. Kidding. While the last two didn't come true, the ambition my parents instilled in me shaped a big part of who I am in my career and my passions.
During my years working in digital marketing, I had the sense that something wasn't quite right. It wasn't just the corporate bureaucracy, it was something deeper. I had the sense that whatever I was working on was ultimately supporting the business, not the people sustaining the business. I also felt morally compromised by participating in a discipline that inherently capitalized on the attention economy.
That's not to say that designers are innocent and perfect, but there are ideals in design to strive for that can help in solving wicked problems and in looking out for the user—no, person—using the technology or product.
Having worked with product marketers, product managers, and visual designers, I know that a product team is the place for me. My dream is to design something human and personal that can improve people's everyday lives. While on this journey, I'll get to work on the forefront of technology, study what makes people tick, and better an experience while also beautifying it.
There's a lot of work to be done, and I think being in a field that's entirely centered on empathy is a great place to start.
fun facts!
I am a first-generation Chinese-Canadian-American born in Germany and mostly raised in Texas with my formative years in Austin. I bleed orange (hook 'em! 🤘🏻)
I am mom to a Shiba Inu named Taiga 🐕 (like the biome, not the rapper)
My career has ranged from small business social media and branding to enterprise cybersecurity campaign management to doing a 180 into growth marketing consultancy for early stage start-ups.
The professional accomplishment I'm most proud of is spending a summer as a mentor and program coordinator for 12 interns in addition to my full-time job. Empowerment and inclusion are extremely important to me, and this experience allowed me to focus on these values within a working environment.
I started cooking at the age of 7, starting with eggs 🍳, and I've learned much, much more since.