For years I’ve said that starting a business is like jumping off of a cliff and learning to fly. Somehow I flew. Rent wasn’t cheap. It was 2008, and I was living in New York City. I was in my early thirties, single and stupid enough to leap off of a cliff without a parachute.…More
Tag Archives: lifelessons
What the crosswalk lady said unsettled me
On our way home from school, a stream of neighborhood children cross at an intersection where a woman with a rich Latin-American accent greets every child by name as she helps them across the street every day. Dulce’s our crosswalk lady.More
Did our five-day old baby really need three spinal taps?
My wife just gave birth to our second son at home (on purpose). And five days later, our pediatrician pushed us into the ER because our baby had a low temperature. We thought he was just jaundiced (something a lot of newborns get but can be easily treated with special lights). But we weren’t prepared…More
The secret to dealing with people in business
At the core of every business isn’t money. It’s relationships. Now, I don’t mean that you need to go on a business retreat and hold hands with your coworkers as you dance around a campfire singing Kumbaya. But we can be practicing ways of relating to others that build mutual respect, trust, and maybe even…More
Growing up Asian in a Non-Asian town
Most people think I’m white. But I don’t look white.More
St. Louis, can we have a heart to heart?
Dear St. Louis, You say such mean things about yourself. It almost sounds like you hate yourself. Let’s talk about that, shall we?More
The truth about how I got my biggest promotion
I’ve always believed it pays to be honest. Even when it’s scary. I was working at my first full-time job at a bank doing data entry, and my coworker made a mistake that got sent to the COO of the bank.More
Want to do work you love? Learn from the work you hate
When I started my data entry job in 2004, I would have never known that it would have helped me in starting businesses. But it did.More
There is no growth without this
Everyone wants to grow. No one wants to go backward, stagnate, settle. It may happen, but not because we want that. Then why do some people grow more than others? Is it just pure ability, genetics, environment? Maybe. It’s hard to say. But, for me, there is one characteristic that stands out more than others.More
Reflections from a Friday night in the East Village
It was a cold, wet night, in the East Village. And I was rushing to my destination.More