“I grew up in Sydney, Australia. As a shy tomboy, I’d be found adventuring through my backyard with my two dogs or curled up reading or writing fantasy. I’d always fictionalize myself as the male hero. I wanted to play the compelling protagonist, but I’d only ever seen women play supporting characters.
As I grew up, I became more curious about politics, stirred on by the casual racism I faced as a young Asian Australian in the 1990s. I decided to study law and politics and supported myself at university by working part-time on law reform projects. Getting paid to argue was a delight and a privilege.
A highlight was appearing before a senate inquiry with my professor to argue for the constitutionality of Australian same-sex marriage laws. After I graduated, I joined a law firm that helps Australian Indigenous landowners and worked for a judge on the Australian supreme court.
I loved the intellectual challenge of the law, but I didn’t feel I wasn’t making a difference. There are so many economic, social and psychological barriers to helping people; changing laws is important, but it’s just one step. So, I jumped into the public service then management consultancy, before finding my place in startups. Startup innovation is key to solving the world’s biggest problems: including the mental health epidemic.
It was early in university that I was diagnosed with a mental illness, which thankfully led to my introduction to mindfulness. (“Oh I can’t meditate, my thoughts never stop”, I explained in my first counseling session. My counselor suggested we meditate on my thoughts, which intrigued me enough to try it.) A decade later, mindfulness not only helps me manage my mental health – it’s how I discover more about myself and our world.
I work in Insight Timer’s Strategy Team, where every day we try to positively shape the future of mental wellness and meditation. To work at a company that also celebrates women and our stories is a dream come true. I wish my younger self could have read every post shared this month – I would have rewritten the gender of my heroes.”
