My story - welcome!

my first Substack post :-)

Hey friends!

This is my very first Substack post! Some of you reading this already subscribed to me either through my website or my Beacons link. But I’m creating this *new* Substack page for a few reasons:

1. Managing multiple sites with separate email lists was getting quite confusing

2. I post a ton on my social media, but 1-minute videos can really only get me so far in terms of information/thoughts I can share. This is a way for me to expand on topics I cover in my videos for those who want a deeper perspective

3. I do enjoy writing – this will be a good way to improve my writing skills and the fact that these newsletters will live in the wild gives me #publicaccountability (LOL) to keep writing

4. And to create a deeper connection with you guys!

All that to say, most of y’all probably have no idea who I am. So here’s my story.

Childhood & why I’m the way I am

I was born in the suburbs of Chicago, but my family moved to the Bay Area when I was 6 years old, specifically to a town called Cupertino (or “the weather app city”). I don’t have any siblings!

If you’ve heard anything about what it’s like to grow up in the Bay Area, it can be a lot. The population of the area is overwhelmingly Asian – 85% of the students in the schools I attended growing up were East & South Asian, so I never felt like a minority (which was great). But on the flip side, lots of Asian people = lots of academic competition. Competition amongst the students and parents in this community was intense – there were high expectations to do well in school and extracurriculars, and going to (a good) college was a given, not just an expectation.

Most of the parents of my classmates worked in Silicon Valley and had high-level positions at tech companies. The median income in the Valley in 2024 for a family of four is $184,300, which is much higher than the U.S. median of $80,610. If you make less than $104,000 in some areas in the Bay, it’s considered low-income.

It was a strange experience for me to grow up in a wealthy city when you didn’t really fit the bill. While I had friends whose parents made way more than the median and could afford large homes in the Bay, it was a different story for my family. I certainly remember my parents arguing about money struggles, and our family income never really crossed the median in the area (and some years, not even close). We rented an apartment for over a decade in order for us to live in a good school district, because education is what my family valued the most and knew it would help open doors for me down the line (which I’m forever grateful for).

I observed a distinct difference in the lifestyles between my “more well-off” friends compared to my family’s – and I was constantly reminded of it. New cars, flashy vacations, multiple homes – things I saw constantly but didn’t feel reachable for me. I honestly felt a sense of resentment during a lot of my adolescence years as lifestyle and wealth differences became more apparent to me. But, this also became one of my biggest motivators to do well in school and my career. I tried really, really hard to get my foot into the doors I wanted to enter. And it worked.

School & work

I attended college pretty close to home — UC Berkeley in the East Bay near San Francisco (go bears!) and went to business school at the Haas School of Business. I credit myself ending up here because of the small plushie business I started in middle school. You never know what your childhood passions lead you to!

There was a huge community when it came to recruiting and finding jobs – especially in tech, consulting, finance, etc. This was a good thing about growing up in the Bay Area; I was already somewhat familiar with the industry so this wasn’t completely foreign to me.

I was in a couple of marketing and business clubs through my undergrad, which helped with getting relevant experience and meeting new friends & mentors. I’m grateful for the mentors I met from these club experiences – they really helped me pave the way in terms of setting myself up for success professionally. This was one of the biggest motivating factors that led me to start content creation (more on that below).

I aggressively started looking for summer internships starting my freshman summer to gain real-world experience. I’ve done internships in consulting, sales, venture capital, and product marketing. In my junior year summer, I was an Associate Product Marketing Manager Intern (APMM) at Google, and I received an offer to join the company full-time after graduation. It’s a two-year program where you can work on different teams and you join a team permanently after you graduate from the program.

Creating content & becoming an author

One of my biggest motivators to create content was because of my mentors as I mentioned above. I realized how influential they were to my growth, and I wanted to give back to the next generation of students and young professionals. Putting out what I learned out in the world and through social media helped to reach people who either need help or may not have access to this information. And it truly makes my day when I hear someone message me how my tips led them to their internship offer, or how it positively impacted them :’)

I’m also passionate about financial literacy education (especially for Gen Z), a topic that isn’t really emphasized in schools. I felt like I got a good grasp on this topic after taking finance courses in school and watching Graham Stephan videos until 1am during my college days. LOL

I love creating content – it’s my hobby during my off hours, I’ve met so many new friends, and created a community that I’m privileged and honored to be a part of. But it’s also brought some opportunities that I’m really excited about: working with some of my favorite brands on really fun campaigns…and writing a BOOK :O

A few major book publishers reached out to me to work on a book about financial literacy specifically geared towards Gen Z, which I’ve been working on since August of last year! I’m super excited to bring you guys along the behind-the-scenes and share more about the title and book cover when I can (but the manuscript is completely done, yay!). There aren’t many financial books that provide the realities of personal finance for Gen Z and this generation, so my hope is to be a fresh voice in the space!

What I do outside of work

I admit, I’m still a recovering workaholic. But when I’m not at my day job or cranking out content, I love:

• YouTube workouts and long walks outside

• Finding and making matcha lattes :D

• Watching the latest kdrama or reality TV (my guilty pleasure…heh)

• Trying new restaurants with friends

• Reading self-help books and trashy romance

What you can expect from me going forward

I am committing to keep up a semi-regular cadence of written content at least 2x a month. A lot of the content will be extensions of the topics and thoughts I talk about in my videos on IG and TikTok, but some might be exclusives! My goal is to provide my knowledge and perspectives to hopefully help you on your career, financial, & everything-else journeys as we navigate this complicated thing called life :-)

If you’ve read this far, thank you! Your support means so much to me.

Follow me on Instagram and TikTok for real-time updates!

Cheers,

Lillian