when people say, “tell me about yourself,” i always have a million thoughts running through my mind. do i say i’m a film and tv actress? a voice over artist? an mba graduate? a life coach? a mentor? a motivational speaker? a fitness enthusiast? a world traveler? a 4th generation chinese american woman? a daughter/ granddaughter/ sister/ girlfriend/ friend?

i’m not even sure that stating any or all these things would get across what i’d really want people to know about me.

i want people to know what i care about. what lights me up. what gets me excited. what kind of impact i want to make in the world. what my version of success looks like and how i’m living that everyday.

after college, i really struggled with what i wanted to do with my life. up until then, i had a path drawn out for me. i knew what i needed to do to get to the next level in life. but once i was welcomed into the “real world,” there was no more road map to guide me and i had to figure it all out on my own.

i had been a professional actress since i was 15 and loved acting but felt like after graduating from ucla that i should probably grow up and get a “real job.” i remember I used to say to myself, “i don’t care what i do, I just want a stable job that pays me enough money to take care of my family.” seems practical, right? i’m sure you’ve heard other people say the same thing, or maybe even said it yourself.

but i found myself constantly stressed about if i was living life right. i was afraid that i’d choose the wrong profession and waste my time going down one path only to find out how miserable i was and then struggle to change course the older i got. i didn’t want to make the wrong decision. doing what i loved (acting) didn’t seem stable enough to provide for a family because there was no consistent paycheck and work was unpredictable. i didn’t want to disappoint my parents. they didn’t help me through college and grad school so that i could choose a profession that wouldn’t bring me stability.

but then the revelation happened and my life was changed forever.

i looked at how i spent my days and realized that i had been living a great life. i would wake up, go to yoga, follow that up with a stroll through the farmers market, go home, work on some auditions, then probably have lunch with friends and create some fun content together. when i sat back and thought about it, though money didn’t come in consistently every two weeks, i’d done well enough that i always had been able to support myself, travel where i wanted when i wanted, do what i wanted to do, buy the things i wanted to buy. i was stable, just in a more unconventional way. so why was i stressing and trying so hard to change my life?

well, it was because I felt like i didn’t have much control over the jobs i booked, meaning unpredictability in the income i would get. though i was able to financially take care of myself in the past, i wanted to ensure that i could do it in the future as well. and to be vulnerably honest with you, i didn’t trust that i could do it with just my acting career. but it didn’t mean i had to give it up…

fortunately, i had been surrounding myself with people i aspired to be like. as they say, “you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” my mentor from my mba program along with my best friends really helped me broaden my perspective on how to live life on my terms and take control to create the life that would work for me. they helped me see that i didn’t need just one job as my sole source of income. i could have multiple passions that i pursued, all of which collectively providing me streams of income and allowing me to spend my time and energy making a living doing what i loved.

that realization set me free.

realizing that i didn’t have to be just one thing. i didn’t need to have just one title. and that i didn’t have to have it all figured out. i could try one thing while also doing something else and follow which ever ones took my heart because i covered my butt with other sources of income. i was free to do whatever i wanted.

at that point, i realized that all that really matters to me is that i spend everyday doing what i love, with whom i love, where i love, and am working towards positively impacting the world. then, i would be able to look back and be proud of the life i lived and know that i lived my version of success.

Photography courtesy of Peter Griffith Studio.

what i’m passionate about:

continuously learning about myself and the world around me.

living as my true authentic self.

helping ignite the lights within as many people as possible so they can shine bright and live a life they love.

“Be the light that lit a thousand candles, and as the world gets brighter, it shines back on you.” -nikki soohoo

How i’m striving to be the best version of myself:

i’m not the biggest physical book reader, but i’m an avid audiobook, podcast, youtube listener. i’m really into self development/ self improvement (see my recommendations blog for some of my favorites) and am curious and open to exploring deeper into who i am, why i do what i do, and why i think the way i think.

i know that “perspective” has helped me become very grateful for my life, so the journey of exploring other parts of the world, other cultures, and other lifestyles is something i am greatly passionate about.

I love meeting new people, going new places, doing things I've never done, eating foods i’ve never tried, and just experiencing as much as I possibly can in all facets of life. I've been fortunate to have had opportunities to see the world...

through family and friend vacations that took me to many parts of America, to Europe, to China, to iceland, to thailand, to bali, to malaysia, to japan...

studying abroad during my MBA program in Brazil...

shooting a Peter Jackson film in New Zealand...

doing a medical mission in India...

I'm very grateful to have seen so much… to be given the opportunity to get perspective and have gratitude for my privilege… to connect and share culture with others around the world… and to expand beyond my little comfort bubble.

next on my list: spain.

How i want to impact the world:

i want to inspire people to figure out who they are, who they want to be, how they want to live their life, what matters to them, what they value, how they want to spend their time, what lights up their souls, how they want to contribute to the world, what success means to them, and what it feels like living authentically to their true selves…

then, i want to encourage them to go after that.

i once was afraid.

afraid that i was going to do life wrong.

but once i defined what a good life meant to me, it was much easier to act on it. and let me tell you from experience, life is so much more enjoyable when you do it on your terms. i’m not living to impress anyone. i’m living for me and for what’s important to me.

how i view life:

We have MONEY, TIME, and ENERGY... the way we use those three things defines our values and passions in life...

Money and Energy have a give-and-take effect... you can give some and get some and they fluctuate throughout your life...

but time... time is only given and you cannot get it back, so make sure that you most wisely spend that one. 

the things i love spending my time on: my family. my friends. meeting new friends. learning. coaching. mentoring. volunteering. Dancing. acting. game nights. first friday's in venice. carnivals/fairs. farmers markets. Doing Yoga. Kung Fu. biking. skiing. almost any type of working out. but most of all... LOVING... and trying to bring happiness to as many people as i possibly can.