Back At It

Ayesha Raees identifies herself as a hybrid creating hybrid poetry through hybrid forms. Raees currently serves as an Assistant Poetry Editor at AAWW's The Margins and has received fellowships from Asian American Writers' Workshop, Brooklyn Poets, and Kundiman.

Her first book of poetry, "Coining The Wishing Tower" won the Broken River Prize hosted by Platypus Press and judged by Kaveh Akbar, and will be forthcoming in March 2022. Akbar describes her book as: “everything I hope to find when I read a book of poetry—fearless reckoning with unprecedented experience spoken in a singular, deeply and importantly strange lyric voice.”

Her VideoPoem "The Memoir.... " was the winner of the Deanna Tulley Multimedia Contest hosted by SlipperyElm at the University of Findlay and has been selected for national and international film festivals including the Midwest Video Poetry Fest & 9th International Video Poetry Festival in Athens, Greece.

Ayesha works with a lot of mental health issues. She started a poetry Salon at Asian America Writers' Workshop (which she ran for a year!) to help battle mental health through radical togetherness and active inclusivity.

Antonio Mancini Albano is currently completing his Masters in Food Studies at NYU Steinhardt, and is the Founder & CEO of a mission-driven tech startup called beet & pear. His background is in Environmental Science, Economics, and nonprofit food justice work with Slow Food USA and Grow NYC. Prior to this, Antonio was an apprentice cook in Michelin-starred restaurants throughout NYC. He grew discouraged by the amount of food being wasted and peddling luxury ingredients to the rich every night, so he quit, struggled and carved yet another path forward for himself. His bold move to leave the kitchen and start from scratch marks only the beginning of his difficult come-up to where he is now. Antonio has an uncompromising vision for the future of food; he is super passionate about food justice, innovation, and he's dedicated his career to making meaningful systemic reform with beet & pear.

Camille Monzon is the founder and CEO of Camila - a minimalist and high-quality activewear brand for women. Camille has a bachelors degree in psychology and went to graduate school to study counseling psychology. But after experiencing hard trials and grief, she realized she wouldn’t be able to help others if she couldn’t help herself first. So she explored another path and with this choice she hit what she believed to be rock bottom. Jobless and helpless, Camille endured by keeping in mind that, “If this is rock bottom, then there’s no where else to go but up.” After teaching herself how to code, she managed to transform a 2 week temp job into the career she has now. Camille is now a successful Automation Engineer which allowed her to be able to start the business of her dreams. Hers is a story about resilience and perseverance. You can checkout Camila at @thecamilabrand and www.thecamilabrand.com

Yuyu Kitamura is an up and coming Japanese actress/poet raised in the bustling city of Hong Kong and moved to New York City. She went to study at NYU Tisch School of the Arts where she studied at the Atlantic Acting School and Stonestreet Studios earning a BFA in Acting. Yuyu has worked on scripted podcasts, theatre, and independent shorts such as Electable (Athena Scriptwriting Lab) and Clique Bait (Featured at the Asian American International Film Festival). After publishing her first poetry book 'Circles and Lines', she continues to write poetry that centers around cultural identity, mental health, and coming of age experiences. The biggest obstacles in her career have surrounded immigration in the US, and the complexities of accepting oneself. Yuyu strives to work with other Asian creative to bolster Asian representation within the industry, not just on-screen but off-screen. You can find her at @yuyukitt or at yuyukitt.com

Sean Liu is the founder and culinary director of My Sweet Grandma (MSG), a food brand focused on changing the way we approach Asian American food through examining immigration, culture, and cuisine. His earliest food memories are in the restaurant standing on a barstool, scooping rice into those iconic foldable Chinese takeout containers. But his fondest are those he shares with his Grandmother. His approach to food is well-thought-out and meaningful, but Sean's main goal is to connect with people through food and make sure they have eaten well, just as Grandma did for him. Sean dedicates his art to creating thought for food, unveiling the stories beyond what’s on the plate. Follow his work on Instagram @msg.kitchen.

Author of autobiography, Sweet and Sour: The Life of Bipolar Asian American Woman, Rebecca N Le shares her experience living with a mental illness. One of her lifelong goals is to be an advocate for mental health awareness in the Asian community. Having experienced mental health challenges first-hand, Rebecca hopes she can bring light into this highly stigmatized subject in her community.

The daughter of Vietnam War refugees, Rebecca grew up in Houston, Texas, and was diagnosed with Type 1 Bipolar Disorder shortly after her high school graduation. Her book details her experience with being hospitalized at 18 years old, and the struggle her family went through in understanding the reality of mental health challenges.

Today, Rebecca lives in Austin, Texas, where she works for a highly successful Fortune 40 company. She is adamant about not letting her illness keep her from being accomplished, and wants others to do the same.

You can find her book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book sellers, and keep up with her blog at rebeccale.com.

Instagram: @rebeccanle

Blog: www.rebeccale.com

Tony Yi, an LA-raised NYC-based recent college grad struggled with unemployment for half a year after college. After picking up Ryan Holiday's "Stillness is Key" and embracing Greek Stoicism, Tony turned his life around and now advertises for Deloitte US. In addition to working in the advertising industry, he also makes Youtube videos under the channel name "Yiman". Garnering 1.7 million channel views and over 20K subscribers, Tony dedicates this channel to discussing his love for storytelling through the Anime/Manga medium. Obsessed with self-development, He positions both his professional career and Youtube platform to teach people to embrace the concept of "Amor Fati" or a "lover of one's fate".

You can discover more of his content here: https://www.youtube.com/yiman

Eddie Lai is making his way through life step by step as he navigates through his early career working in healthcare and hospital administration. Currently based in Atlanta, he was raised and attended college in the Philadelphia-metro area and earned a graduate degree in public health in Boston. Seeking representation and shared experiences in our 21st century digital age of connecting also led him to co-found a grassroots coalition, the Association of Asian Healthcare Leaders, which aims to connect Asian Americans and others in the health administration field to share their experiences, and show others that they are not alone in their journeys. This initiative combines several of his interests in Asian American representation, healthcare administration, and professional development.

As the first son of Chinese immigrants, Eddie reflects on how comparison can rob you of your joy, how it's worth considering the path less taken, and how his Asian American and faith identity play into how he sees the world and interacts with others. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, playing video games, trying to play sports, and cheering own his hometown Philadelphia 76ers. Trust the Process!

Vivian Nguyen, better known as Vivian Teresa, is the Founder & CEO of Innerstate Media, a growing consultancy in the health & wellness space. Vivian is also a confidence coach, and a non-certified professional at keeping it real.   

Vivian is also coming out with a podcast in 2021 called “The Fake Hippie” sponsored by @byobrevolt, which challenges listeners to break their own judgments by exploring the realms of people living in the world of “taboo.”   

Having gone through the traumatic experience of being obese as a kid, Vivian is no stranger to facing the insecurities from the judgment of others. At the end of the day, owning who she is as a person is what makes Vivian inspired to serve others to be proud of their true individualities. Plus, she’s not afraid to burp and fart everywhere because it’s a part of nature. If human beings keep holding in their gas, they can be prone to hemorrhoids or other diseases, which is why Vivian encourages passing gas when truly needed. Same thing goes for mental health - if you hold in your feelings and thoughts, you will naturally become very ill.   

If there are any takeaways from this, get comfortable with passing gas, because once you’re comfortable with doing that, it’ll be the first step to getting comfortable with your flaws, and it will also build your endurance to constantly improve.

Do the work of working on yourself.

Wanderlusting foodie Angela is closing the global skills gap through her marketing role at General Assembly NYC, a global tech education company. As the oldest daughter of a Chinese immigrant family, she shares with us the importance of boundaries, self discovery, and how her failure has led her to her career change and how it rebuilt her confidence.

Nothing makes her happier than to inspire others to be the best versions of themselves. Let’s go!