My career began in the intensity of Hong Kong’s financial district where I spent three years as a commodities trader, navigating everything from futures to scrap metal. It was a high-speed, multilingual balancing act—working in five languages, across an endless sea of international clients, and requiring a knack for closing a deal with a well-timed phone call in Mandarin or Spanish.
Long before trading and markets, I had another love: the water, which has literally and figuratively shaped who I am. I swam competitively—reaching the Canadian Olympic Trials three times—and turned my love for swimming into a role as a coach, teaching kids in my community to find their rhythm in the pool.
After ejecting myself from the world of commodities, I built a career in photography and eventually launched my own creative agency focused on travel, tourism, and hospitality. I developed a robust client list with everyone from Fortune 500 corporations to scrappy startups in shared spaces. The partnerships and creative work spanned airlines, hotel companies, tourism boards, and DTC brands. It was most of everything I could have hoped for, right up until a life-changing accident a year ago reframed what matters most for me.
Breaking my neck in 2023 forced me to reassess the content and context of my work. I made a decision to dive into the things that light me up, many of which I'd do for free. This includes a lifelong interest in hospitality, with the dream of someday crafting an independent hotel that’s more than just a stopover, but a transformative experience. I'm also forming a deeper relationship with the art of glassblowing—a material that, like water, has its own fluid rhythms and an unpredictable nature. The sport of swimming is back, too, this time from the deck as a commentator with the hopes of eventually calling high-profile swim meets. Alongside all of this I am still a consultant and fractional marketer, since I love working with founders who are bringing big dreams to life.
If I’ve learned anything, it’s that I’m pursuing a life that feels like standing on the edge of the starting blocks: thrilling, bold, and alive with possibility.