A mini-memoir of the complex, strong women who raised me Growing up in a small town in China’s Guangxi Autonomous Region, I’d never felt I had anything in common with the women in my family. As a child, I was defiant, ambitious, fiercely independent, and more than anything else, I…

I never tested positive, until an antibody test After coming back from a three-week trip to Europe recently, I thought I developed severe jet lag. My head was heavy for half of a day. I was falling sleep as early as 7:00 pm. Classic jet lag symptoms that should disappear…

Learning to be relentlessly resourceful in the quest for uniqueness As a designer, I have an occupational hazard. Perfectly good furniture items on mass-market sites like Wayfair, West Elm or CB2 is not good enough for me. Since a few years ago, I have gotten into a vintage mid-century modern…

Why the pre-launch grind hits entrepreneurs so hard “When are your new courses launching?” said my eager students. “Haven’t you been working on them for months?” said my mother. “What do you do every day?” said my friend. As I entered into Month (X) of new course development, I started…

During time of COVID, immigrants are making choices they have to live with One day in May, I opened my mailbox and discovered a nondescript white envelope. Inside, there was a little plastic card that was previously stuck in processing for almost 3 years. It was my green card. For…

What It’s Like To Be Told To Smile More Your Entire Life My first memory of becoming self-conscious about my face was around the age of seven, when my mother mentioned casually that I looked prettier when I smiled. Even as a child, I understood the unspoken message — I…

UX and CX Design Lessons From A Disastrous Google Fi Signup Experience — A couple of days ago, I left my current mobile carrier and tried to sign up for Google Fi. Recently, I was doing research for my upcoming 6-month long international trip. From my research, I found that Google Fi is recommended for trips of this nature. The fact that it…

Seeing through the reality of unlimited PTO as an entrepreneur — I was born a very skeptical child. When adults told me something, I always questioned the validity of their advice and source of information. I always did my own “investigation” and “research”, to the extent that a 7-year-old child could perform, to find out things on my own. When tech…

If you want to become an entrepreneur, you can’t have a “fallback plan” — “You are have such great experience. I’m sure if this doesn’t work out, you can always go back to the corporate world.” An acquaintance said to me once after I started my entrepreneurship journey. They meant well, and it is true — I could always go back. The corporate world…