Interview

How did you get into your chosen profession?

I previously enjoyed a very stimulating corporate career; however, I found that the constraints of corporate America hindered my creative endeavors, and I constantly experienced a dire need for flexibility and personal freedom. While I appreciated structure, I could not thrive in an environment that was so routine it became inane and mundane. Despite not having complete fulfillment, I found satisfaction in fostering relationships with my prospective clientele. I enjoyed fostering mutually fulfilling business relationships and synergistic partnerships that fostered business growth. I am a nurturer of relationships. I entered this business and have since further refined skills honed in the corporate sphere. I want to build relationships that encourage mutual adoration, closeness, and intimacy, but that also give us the freedom to pursue our goals simultaneously without being confined.

Do you like what you do?

I LOVE what I do. Embarking on this path has led me to build relationships and experience adventures I would have otherwise never had, nor could fully conceptualize had I chosen to climb up the corporate hierarchy. I am a student of my craft. I have a well-developed business sense. My skill set includes SEO and social strategy/marketing, visual creative direction, and financial management and investing. I have learned on my own significantly more than what an office environment could teach me. Furthermore, I have learned much about myself from the relationships I have built with my suitors over the years. My chosen profession has provided the fertile soil for me to grow, blossom, and thrive. I am daily becoming the best version of myself.

What is your love language?

“Presents are made for the pleasure of who gives them, not the merits of who receives them.” (Carlos Ruiz Zafron). I think gift giving has been given a poor reputation as it has been made to seem vapid and materialistic with the rise of American consumerism and social media. I wholeheartedly disagree. To give the perfect gift requires attention, thoughtfulness, and time, all of which reinforce that I’m cared for and loved. When given a gift, I think about how my suitor has thought about me and thoroughly considered my person, even when I am not around. It reminds me that I have made an impact during our time together, as he remembers my interests or something I am yearning for that will add value and richness to my life. Whether physically obtaining a gift or clicking through a gift link to a website, the time spent thoughtfully preparing so I may feel special and seen makes me feel prioritized. Going through all of that just to put a smile on my face reiterates just how much I mean to you.

What is something you still do analog?

As someone whose second residence is the airport, I always request a printed boarding pass. While my Delta app is quite dependable, it is necessary for me to always have a plan B regarding business travel. I try to foresee future problems ahead and plan for them accordingly. We prefer our dreams to come true over our fears, right? Well, I once faced a situation where I was ready to board and scan my app, but due to the time-out feature, I was logged out of the app and couldn’t log back into my account due to spotty wifi. Alas, my plan B finally came into fruition! Paper boarding pass to the rescue!

Do you have a motto? Spoken or unspoken?

I have always gone by the saying, “Take care of people who take care of you.” Building relationships has always been integral and natural for me. I value and maintain my business relationships just as much as my personal relationships. For example, while I understand the convenience of seeking out a service that is closest proximity distance wise to home or when the next time slot available, I detest being viewed as, “one of many,” nor do I hold the belief that what we each can offer one another is merely a “basic standard of care.” The “good enough” attitude that has come to permeate our culture in the modern era is, quite frankly, the result of laziness. Most of my courtship relationships and business relationships have been maintained for no less than five years, a fact I take pride in as I give generously and am met with the same in return. I always match energy. I find this imbues the relationship with unlimited growth, fosters deep understanding, and provides necessary intellectual and emotional support to one another.

Of the five senses, which is your strongest?

Taste, for it is the sense that allows one to sample the elixir of life. I had the privilege of being born into a family that prioritized incorporating cuisines from around the world. Taste is a full-body sensory experience that brings with it an array of feelings that should resonate within your core.

Whether it is the crispness of a Riesling from the Alsace region, the ripe dill of a delicious tzatziki dip, or the subtleness of ginger as a palate cleanser, your sense of taste transforms food and wine into something vivid, turning each moment into an experience rather than just a pleasure. I have further refined my palette and have indulged it further by following the Michelin guide. This has allowed for many novel culinary concepts and journeys with food not as sustenance, but as art. The culture of your surrounding environment is epitomized through taste, like the pairing of sweet and savory at my favorite dim sum spot in Chinatown, or the perfect tartness of a pickle on my Chicago hot dog when I am home and enjoying a game at Wrigley Field. Mustard is the only acceptable condiment on a hot dog, by the way! This is a statement of fact, not opinion.

What was your favorite subject in school?

History. I never felt I was “studying” but simply “learning” history. I am fascinated by how human society has developed and interacted with one another since we decided to stand up and peer through the grasses on the savannahs of central Africa. History is so much more than the memorization of dates and events, but the study of the human condition. My current leisure readings are directed to learning about non-European history. While European history is fascinating, it has long been the center of much of the world’s curriculum, leaving out a great deal of facts that are only now beginning to resurface. I took as many AP history courses as possible in high school and as many additional courses as I could fit into my college curriculum. The combination of AP credits and additional courses should have qualified for a history minor. Unfortunately, my university would not count AP credits towards a degree, but merely additional credit hours towards my college completion. Thinking back, I am still a bit salty about being robbed of my minor to this day.