Born and raised in Plano, TX, I grew up in the suburbs of Dallas. The streets were generous, Targets and Walmarts were on every corner, and every family had a front yard and back yard.  I was lucky. I grew up as a First Generation ABC (American born Chinese).  My parents moved to the states from Taiwan when they were young, went to college in Iowa, and moved to Dallas to raise a family.

For me, I went to UT Austin, entering as an architectural engineer and leaving five years later as a scholarly economics degree holder.  Somewhere between my aspirations to be an architect and my liberal arts diploma was a harsh realization that I had no idea what I wanted to do after college.  And it showed. When I graduated UT, I moved back home and got a job as an IT recruiter. 12 days later, I quit.  (12 business days. You can ask me why when we meet.)  I then took a job at IKEA as a sales associate, getting paid $8.25/hr. This was upsetting to my parents as I was making well below my fellow peers and degree holders; but I loved the job.  Despite the fashion forward yellow polos, I enjoyed the atmosphere and the people. I was put in the Office department where most customers who came in were looking to furnish new offices and their small businesses.  It’s here that I realized that I got satisfaction out of meeting new people and working with them to find solutions.

After IKEA, I went to work for a small Austin based company called Tiff’s Treats.  They had just opened their first store in downtown Dallas and was hiring managers.  I got the job and was instantly thrown into small business boot camp.  Everything moved faster, decisions were made quicker, and mistakes were more frequent.  I soon took over marketing and expansion for the Dallas store and was strategizing with the store owner on a daily basis. I learned what it took to own and run a small business and I became hooked.  This was what I was looking for in life.  The excitement of entrepreneurship and the passion that fueled long hours of work.

During my time at Tiff’s Treats, I simultaneously dove deeper into photography.  When I got off work, I would go home and study photographs, photographers, and read up on gear.  It was an unending thirst to learn and soon I was staying up till 3 or 4 am trying to soak up as much information as I could.  I’d spend hours in photoshop, reading forums, and contacting photographers around the world to give me advice.  I became obsessed with passionate and emotion wrenching wedding images.  How were these photos of people I didn’t know making me feel so close to them?  And more importantly, how were these photographers doing it?

So, I practiced. I practiced, practiced, practiced.  And the best part?  I could see no end.  There was no gold medal waiting for me, no payoff from my practicing. It was just a feeling.  I strived to create images that could draw me in and keep me there like the ones I saw from others.  And when I did, I kept wanting more.  I wanted to create those images for my friends, my family, and for myself.  That’s the best part about this job.  Every new person or couple I meet, I’m challenged to tell their individual story.  I’m challenged to create and capture images that are just as unique and perfectly fitting to them.

And the name? You’ll just have to ask me to find out.

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