Voxcali

Victor (00:00)

And I owe a lot of my personal knowledge when it comes to fitness to my time in powerlifting.

Victor (00:38)

my training history, I've had a lot of different phases and different seasons. And there isn't really anything I would say I regret. Even though technically I wasted time when I was 18 years old and had no direction, I feel that that was also an important experience for me.

Victor (01:01)

though I no longer engage with the sport of powerlifting, I still think everything I have learned while in the sport has stayed with me to this day.

Victor (01:14)

definitely smaller and weaker than most of the people on that team. And then by my junior year I just decided to take the plunge and just, you know, join them for a group workout. And that was a very humbling, humbling experience.

Victor (01:47)

And then that is when I met one of my first ever mentors. She was a top ten power lifter in the US in the 125 pound female class, and she was outlifting me, which was very, very embarrassing.

Victor (02:31)

Victor (03:06)

she chose to stay back and stay with the powerlifting team, which I thought was really, really cool. And I remember that summer of my junior year, I hung out with her a lot and we went back and forth about programming and programming methodology.

Victor (03:47)

That was just covered in chalk and dirt with pages just crumpled from sweat getting on them. And she had kept this logbook for years and she was very detailed and meticulous about the way she logged her workouts, every single set, every single repetition, down to the way she felt about each set and little technical notes. And she said that if you're not logging, you will have zero data on how you will improve in the future.

You need to keep a logbook. And that first kick in the ass was what I needed.

Victor (04:45)

Victor (05:01)

Sounding very unimpressed, she would reply, okay, that's cool and all, but what are you trying to accomplish here? Like you're just doing random things, and if you just want to have fun, that's fine. But do you actually want to get stronger? If if so, I'll tell you how to get stronger, but if not, like don't waste my time with this.

Victor (05:49)

When my mentor kind of called me out for just kind of following what seemed trendy on YouTube rather than having a distinct plan with a focus on developing a very specific quality,

Victor (06:25)

Victor (06:42)

Victor (07:03)

Victor (07:18)

Get a sweat going with no clear direction. You're just moving your body just to move your body, which is fine for most people. That's a perfectly fine way to engage with the gym. However, I found that with training, you have a very specific goal and a very specific intention in mind. And with that level of focus, I found that I achieved a lot of the things that I wanted to achieve. I got stronger and I was able to build some muscle.

Victor (07:58)

Types of accessory movements. And I was so anxious about my performance that eventually my mentor snapped at me again one day and she said, Listen, I can't answer these questions for you. I actually don't know whether or not these adjustments will be positive for you. You need to be scientific about it. You have the data, you're logging your workouts right.

You need to just simply stick with your plan for three to four weeks. See if you are making progress in your lifts. And if you're not, you make an adjustment. If not, and if you keep making progress, then you don't make any adjustments. These are things I can't tell you. You have to experience them yourself.

Victor (09:12)

Even being a decade removed from this conversation, I find that there is still a lot of wisdom to be had in reflecting on it. Because my mentor was right. She had an idea of things that could work for herself, but I was a completely different body with a different set of experiences and training histories and injuries. So she c she can't say for sure whether or not changing one exercise here, one rep scheme there.

Would have made a difference with me, and that I just needed to simply think long term and just follow a plan. If I think a certain adjustment would yield more gains, then I need to stick with it and let my body take time to adapt because these things take a while before you will see results.

Victor (10:01)

outcome in any endeavor you pursue. The only thing that you can really guarantee is the amount of effort, intentionality, and focus that you bring to the training session.

Everything else might be out of my control and I needed to accept that, especially being younger. I was kind of afraid of wasting my time, quote unquote. Like, what if I chose the wrong exercises? What if my program wasn't optimally designed? And the truth is

It probably did not matter as much as I thought it did. I think what tr would have mattered more was the amount of effort that I was putting into each training session, and whether or not I was actually properly eating and sleeping.

Victor (11:15)

Hickups and bumps and bruises into our vest laid plans.

Victor (11:46)

Giving myself the time to really get those training sessions in and allow my body to adapt.

Victor (12:20)

Victor (12:34)

And train intentionally, have goals when you go to the gym, don't just wing it. Thirdly, embrace

uncertainty and approach your training with a level of curiosity. Experiment but give yourself time to see whether or not changes are actually taking effect. And then

The fourth and final lesson: surround yourself with like-minded individuals that are also pushing themselves. If you want to get faster at cycling, hang out with cyclists. If you want to run faster, hang out with runners. If you want to get stronger, hang out with powerlifters and find somebody who will nurture your attributes.

As the Chicago Cubs chase a crucial postseason berth, five-year veteran Seiya Suzuki delivers a standout offensive performance in his contract year.

The Chicago Cubs have positioned themselves as frontrunners in the National League wildcard contention, fueled heavily by the stellar contributions of right fielder Seiya Suzuki.  Putting together another strong campaign, Suzuki holds the second-best batting average on the team while anchoring the middle of the order. He has also recorded 22 home runs, on pace for second-best of his career.

This season marks Suzuki’s fifth year in the majors, having spent his entire MLB career with the Cubs.  Over his five seasons in Chicago, he has established a strong offensive track record, maintaining a career batting average of .268 and an on-base percentage of .347.

Crucially, this is a contract year for the veteran star, who signed an $85,000,000 deal over five years covering the 2022 through 2026 seasons.  Before making the jump to North America, Suzuki built a legendary reputation during nine seasons in his home country of Japan playing in the Nippon Professional Baseball league. During his time overseas, he developed into a five-time NPB All-Star, where he tallied 182 home runs while batting .315.  Additionally, he earned six Best Nine Awards and five Golden Gloves.

His winning pedigree also extends to the international stage.  Suzuki was a key member of Japan’s 2020 Olympic team, alongside MLB stars Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Munetaka Murakami, helping his home country capture the gold medal on home soil following a dramatic 2-0 victory over the United States in the gold medal game.  As the Cubs chase a postseason berth down the stretch, Suzuki’s clutch bat and extensive championship experience remain central to their October ambitions.

After a difficult flight the First Lady finds herself in a bizarrely sumptuous surroundings, trying to understand the motives of her enigmatic captors.

Tom Kagy (00:01.132)

The whole world is focused on the First Lady's abduction. Who could do such a thing? And where on earth did they take her?

Megan doesn't know that her abduction is seen as having occurred simultaneously with Jack Tang's murder, but finds herself wondering at her new accommodations, which are both sumptuous and bizarre.

Not knowing the efforts underway to locate and secure her return, Megan begins probing and testing her new environment and the psychology of her enigmatic captors.

Despite being at the epicenter of what the world believes to be the geopolitical escapade of the century, she finds herself as baffled as the rest of the world.

So let's get into chapter six of Midnight in Karkorum.

The cargo jet touched down rather violently and came to an abrupt, screeching halt.  The pilot wasn’t out to win points for passenger comfort, decided Megan.  The muscular young man named Rick came back to the cargo hold and put a blindfold on her, a large one that covered her entire face except the mouth and nostrils.  The First Lady was too tired to care.  She wanted only to be taken somewhere with a bathtub and hot water. 

Rick draped her in a blanket before picking her up and carrying her down the cargo ramp.  The air was moist and cool, almost cold, suggesting the wee hours of the morning.  Or maybe Siberia or Hokkaido.  Regardless, the fresh air was a huge relief after the long flight.  The whine of jet engines from other planes suggested they had landed at a substantial airfield, not some remote landing strip.  Whoever had arranged to abduct her apparently had the support of someone substantial, perhaps an entire government.  The chill that went down the First Lady’s spine had nothing to do with the cool air. 

She was set down in the back of a van, judging by the hollow slamming of an unlined steel door.  Two of the men got in with her, probably Rick and the other young one.  From the front seat came a muffled exchange that sounded like Scowl talking with the driver.  The van accelerated quickly, swerving as it picked up speed.  They drove for what seemed like an hour, the second half over a winding upgrade with very little traffic.  They turned onto a dirt road and climbed steeply for a few minutes, then stopped.  There was a brief exchange with someone outside, a guard perhaps.  Then the First Lady heard a gate squeaking open.  For a minute or two the van rumbled up a steep winding driveway covered with gravel before crunching to a stop. 

“I can take this off now,” Rick said, pulling off the blindfold.  He jumped out of side cargo door and helped the First Lady step down onto the gravel driveway.

It was dark.  A touch of blue toward one horizon suggested that dawn wasn’t too far off.  They were to the east side of a large three-story house perched on a steep, thickly forrested mountainside.  The wan light from its front entrance revealed it to be built of granite and glass in an angularly modern style completely devoid of regional architectural detailing.  It could be anywhere on earth.  But at least she could see her surroundings now and, after god knew how many hours, she was again standing on her own two feet on solid earth.  The sudden abduction had robbed the First Lady of her composure and strength.  Now she felt both returning.  The removal of the blindfold suggested that whatever her abductors’ ultimate objectives, their present intention was to show her such civility as was possible under the circumstances.

As she followed Scowl and his men up the steps toward the front entrance, one of the double doors was opened by an Asian woman.  She was in her late-20s or possibly early 30s, a beauty with flawless skin and the kind of cheekbones that gave her a high-fashion look, the kind of face one saw strutting impassively down some Seventh-on-Sixth runway.  She was about Megan’s height, two or three inches too short and a little too voluptuous for the runways.  She wore a short black spandex dress that clung just so.  Her makeup was flawless, with impossibly elegant eyebrows and perfectly drawn lips.  The lipstick was dark plum, two or three shades too hip to suggest the tastes of a totalitarian society.  It convinced Megan that she was somewhere in South Korea.  Which meant the abduction wasn’t sanctioned by a government, South Korea being a close ally.  That thought gave her strength.  The abductors couldn’t operate with total impunity and had limited time, resources and freedom of movement with which to gain their ends, whatever they were.  On the other hand, they could draw on American resources, as suggested by American-trained operatives like Rick and the use of what must have been a secret American airfield and even an American aircraft to fly her out.  That must have required cooperation from at least a few US civilian or military officials.

“Welcome, Madame First Lady,” said Plumlips, bowing before the First Lady had reached the entrance.  Her accent suggested she was Korean.  For the first time, Megan noticed that Plumlips was wearing black velvet house slippers instead of the strappy spikes that might have gone with her daring dress and disco-doll makeup.

“Welcome to where?” said the First Lady, stepping into the house.

Plumlips smiled and hesitated.  “To our home.”

A quick glance around showed the interior to be as starkly modern as the exterior—marble, leather, brushed steel, glass.  A few large stone objets.  The effect was perfectly impersonal, absolutely devoid of warmth. 

“Who does your decorating,” said the First Lady with a tight little smile. “An industrial robot?”

“I’m sorry it isn’t to your taste,” Plumlips said.  “But we’ll do our best to make your stay comfortable.”

“How many nights am I booked for?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know.”

“Who does?”

“Perhaps my boss,” said Plumlips gently.  Then she noticed the bloodstains on the First Lady’s no-longer-white Chanel suit.  Switching to Korean, Plumlips fired a question at Scowl who was standing near the entrance.  Sighing noisily, he murmured a reply.  That was met by another angry question.  Making a show of containing his irritation, Scowl spat back a curt response.  Plumlips shot him a look that hinted at further discussions at a more appropriate time, then returned her attention to the First Lady.

“I am very sorry that—that you had such an unpleasant flight,” Plumlips said, her eyes showing genuine concern.

“I won’t be flying that airline again.”

Bowing in apology, Plumlips said.  “I will take you to your room.”

As she followed Plumlips up the broad marble stairway, Megan saw Scowl and his men walking out of the house.  The rose tint of dawn threw enough light that the First Lady could look down through the tall picture window beside the front entrance and see the three men trudging down the driveway.  They appeared to be heading for a single-story barracks about a hundred yards below the main house.  Where the watchdogs sleep, Megan decided.  The barracks looked big enough for twenty men on friendly terms.  From the second-floor landing she could make out the top of a gate and a guardshack another hundred yards past the barracks.  There was probably a fence around the compound.  It would take at least three men to patrol it.  That suggested there were at least nine guards in addition to Scowl and his men. 

Plumlips led Megan all the way up to the third floor and turned down a long dim hallway.  The house was larger than it had looked from the driveway, maybe eight to ten thousand square feet.  Megan’s room was at the far end of the hall, the west end of the house, judging by the direction in which color was spreading in the sky.  Plumlips opened the door and pressed the light switch.  The room was huge, with a view of a pine-covered mountainside through the large window smothered with heavy velvet window treatment.  What flabbergasted Megan was the decor.  Unlike the rest of the house, everything in the room was gaudy and mawkish.  The canopied bed, tables and chairs were abominations that paid badly misguided homage to Marie Antoinette.  Covering the bed was a brightly colored silk patchwork quilt that cried out to be donated to the Salvation Army.  If the rest of the house had been decorated by an industrial robot, this room was the work of a blind person with a weakness for overwrought varnished wood. 

“Charming,” the First Lady said.

The suppressed little smile on Plumlips’s face suggested the irony wasn’t lost on her.  “You will be comfortable here.”  She showed the First Lady the bathroom.  Unlike the bedroom, the bathroom was the work of the industrial-robot, not the blind person.  It contained a large jacuzzi-style tub, a glass-walled shower and a sparkling bidet.  It adjoined a large walk-in closet that was, surprisingly, filled with an assortment of dresses, robes, blouses, slacks, shirts.  Even jeans and swimsuits.  A cursory inspection revealed the clothing to be in her colors and styles.  There was also an array of shoes, slippers and athletic shoes.  Seeing the First Lady’s surprise, Plumlips said, “They’re your size.”

Megan’s heart sank.  The closet had been stocked for an extended stay.  There was enough for weeks, maybe months for someone who probably wouldn’t be going out on the town every night.  The large marble dressing table was equipped with an exhaustive array of cosmetics from Estée Lauder, Clinique, Chanel and Lancôme.  It was as though someone had spent hours cataloguing the contents of her White House dressing room.  Had a White House staffer participated in her abduction?  The First Lady’s head swarmed with images of the several dozen secret service agents, maids, valets, chefs, stewards, aides and secretaries who had access to the Mansion.  It was a path Megan didn’t have the will to travel at the moment. 

“I will leave you alone now,” Plumlips said.  “Breakfast will be sent up soon.  If you would like anything, please call me at extension 7.”

“What do I push to get an outside line?”

“I am afraid your phones aren’t connected to an outside line,” Plumlips said politely. 

“I was afraid of the same thing,” said Megan.  “When can I speak with your boss?”

“Perhaps he will arrive later today,” Plumlips said.  She bent at the waist in a formal bow before leaving the room. 

Megan lost no time turning on the bathwater.  The water flowed clean and hot.  Gratefully, she stepped out of her high-heel pumps and shucked off her blood-stained suit and bra.  She positioned herself on the bidet and cleansed herself.  Whatever traces of the rape may remain in her, she had no desire to let it contaminate her bath.  Knowing that the rapist was dead helped.  The water helped as well.  Only time would wash away the rest. 

While enjoying her long-awaited hot soak, the First Lady idly picked up the phone next to the tub.  She tried pressing 0.  After a couple of rings, it was picked up.  “Neh?” said a Korean male voice.  “Yes?”  Even Megan knew that much Korean. 

“Please send up a taxi,” the First Lady said.  “I’ll be leaving for the airport in a half hour.”  The long silence that greeted her request made the First Lady smile.  There was a murmured exchange in Korean.  The man must have placed his hand over the mouthpiece because she could barely hear them.

“No taxi here,” the man said in heavily accented English.  “Please you dial number 7.  Maybe you get lucky.”  That was followed by muffled laughter.

“Thank you,” Megan said and pressed the hook.  That must have been the barracks, or maybe the guardhouse.  She tried pressing 1 and listened to the phone ringing numerous times before pressing the hook.  Given Asian fixation on hierarchy and protocol, that extension was probably assigned to the man of the house, the boss, as Plumlips had called him, who wasn’t there yet.  Megan tried 2.  Again, there was no answer.  Extensions 3 and 4 were also unanswered.  Extension 5 was answered on the fourth ring by a sleepy male voice.  “Yeohboseyo.  Hello.”  The tone of his voice suggested he expected whoever was calling to be an inferior and he was highly annoyed at having been awakened. 

“Good morning,” Megan said.  “This is the First Lady of the United States.  Who am I speaking with?”

The hesitation was briefer than Megan had expected.  “How are you, Madame First Lady?” the man said, his voice coming awake, as though he had been expecting her call any minute.  “This is Dr Park, Jang-sun Park.  It is truly an honor to speak with you.”  His English was excellent, hardly accented and rich with assurance.

“Likewise, Dr Park,” the First Lady said.  “Are you a member of the household or an honored guest like me?”

Park’s genial laugh contained no trace of apology.  “A mere family member.  I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for quite some time.”

“Your invitation was hard to refuse,” Megan said drily.

Again, the laugh, rich and well-oiled, dripping with assurance.  “I hope you won’t hold that against us for too long.  Our intentions are completely honorable, as I think you will soon see.”

“If they’re so honorable, couldn’t you have just dropped me a card?”

“Your, shall we say, protocol as First Lady of the United States probably wouldn’t have allowed you to consider our invitation.”

“Whose hospitality am I enjoying?”

“The hospitality of our leader.”  Dr Park gave another rich laugh.  “Of course, you have many questions.  All of which we will fully answer in due time.  At the moment, we would simply like you to make yourself comfortable, perhaps enjoy some breakfast and get some sleep.  Then we will get better acquainted.”

“When can I go home?”

“At the earliest possible moment, Madame First Lady.  See you soon.”  He hung up.

Wondering what kind of doctor Park was, Megan pushed extension 6.  The busy signal told her it was probably her own.  Extension 8, she learned, was the kitchen.  A harried-sounding woman assured her in fractured English that breakfast was on its way and hung up.  Extension 9 was dead.  Probably the outside line. 

The bath left Megan feeling human and famished.  She emerged from the bathroom wearing a thick white terry robe to find a breakfast tray on the ornate little table beside the window.  Beneath the stainless-steel cover was a large plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast.  The bacon was a little underdone, but the coffee was surprisingly good.  As she attacked the food, Megan couldn’t help wondering about the room’s horrible decor.  Was it their misguided idea of quarters suitable for a western guest?  Recalling Plumlips smile and Park’s urbane banter, the First Lady decided the decor wasn’t a reflection of their taste or level of cultural sophistication.  If not, why would they deliberately mar a perfectly nice room with such obscene furnishings?  To torture her sensibilities?  That made no sense, given their generally respectful attitude and the quality of the bath and the food.  To make her think they were uncultured boors?  No, because they had let her see the rest of the house which certainly reflected a high degree of sophistication if an utter lack of personal warmth.   No, Megan decided.  The decor wasn’t for her benefit.  Then whose?  It certainly wasn’t for theirs.   It was baffling, but maybe had no significance at all.  Perhaps she could simply ask her hosts later.

The breakfast relaxed the First Lady somewhat, making her feel heavy with fatigue.  She went to the bed to lay down.  Through the window she saw that the sky had turned azure.  She heard the chatter of sparrows and felt a gentle breeze that shook the drapes.  She drifted into a deep slumber.  In her dream Bryce was trying to call her, to warn her about something terrible that was about to happen.

From their breakthrough culinary hit to global chart domination, the self-producing eight-member group has become an unstoppable force in modern music.

K-pop group Stray Kids has established a clear foothold in the global music market, defined by their self-produced anthems and intense, technical rap style.

In March, the eight-member boy band released their most recent standalone single “Stay.”

This followed August 2025’s Karma, their sixth studio album most known for the lead track, “Ceremony.”  The project reached number one on the Korean charts, along with the other three Korean-language albums.

Their highest charting single in the U.S., “Chk Chk Boom” shined on Stray Kids’ July 2024 EP, Ate.  The music video featured Deadpool & Wolverine stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, who donned their respective costumes.  This high-profile collaboration extended to the movie’s official soundtrack, for which the group released the original promotional single “SLASH.”

The same year they dropped their second Japanese-language album, Giant, preceded the year prior by The Sound.

2023 also featured their third Korean-language studio album, 5-STAR, featuring the hyper-energetic standout track “S-Class.”

That sound evolved from their 2021 studio album NOEASY, which broadened their audience via the fusion single “Thunderous.”

Yet, their trajectory was truly set by their 2020 breakthrough album GO LIVE and its culinary-themed masterpiece “God’s Menu.”  The track remains their biggest to date, amassing over 1 billion plays across Spotify and YouTube.

Stray Kids has quickly grown from a rising name into a deeply respected K-pop mainstay with 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Filipina entrepreneur, Jemima Ty, dropped out of university to pursue her passion project, Blackbough Swim, a celebrity-loved swimwear brand making waves around the world.

When Jemina Ty spent her saved up allowance on a swimsuit, she was thrilled to receive something stunning to wear, but after the one-piece arrived see-through and flimsy, she decided to turn this experience into the beginning of a business.

She was born and raised in the Philippines and attended an all-girls Catholic school in a Chinese-Filipino community before attending Ateneo de Manila University to study Management Economics. After making an unfortunate swimwear purchase, Ty began to develop her creative instincts all on her own, playing around with different prints and swimwear designs as a form of self expression.

Ty has explained before how her Filipino identity has helped her throughout her entrepreneurial journey. The country’s tropical climate and deeply rooted beach culture would eventually become a natural inspiration for Blackbough Swim. Ty featured florals, bright colors, and island imagery in her earliest swimwear collection, which have remained recurring elements of the brand.

People began to notice Ty’s designs after producing a small batch of bikinis for herself and her friends, leading to strangers approaching her to ask for the details. Soon after, Ty’s entire home was overflowing with bikinis and so in 2017, she decided to take a major risk by leaving university to fully concentrate on Blackbough Swim. She found herself executing every part of the business, acting as a designer, developer, and marketing and e-commerce expert.

Social media allowed Ty to expand beyond the Philippines and by 2023, Blackbough had over 900,000 Instagram followers and was being seen on some of entertainment’s biggest names. What made Blackbough stand out amongst competitors was its flattering silhouettes that were still comfortable, durable, and made for all different body types. Blackbough’s price range was also more affordable compared to other brands without compromising the product quality.

The brand gained even more publicity in 2023 after Ty developed a collection inspired by Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty, helping demonstrate the growing influence of Asian women on TV and in retail. Since launching Blackbough, Ty has been recognized by Forbes as a top female founder making an impact in the fashion industry and was named one of Tatler Asia’s Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow in 2023.

Without any formal fashion experience or training, Jemina Ty was able to transform a disappointing purchase into an internationally recognized swimsuit brand, proving that a homegrown Filipino idea can make waves beyond the islands that inspire it.

Who needs good poll numbers when you have a platinum harp that always plays your tune?

I take my Harp wherever I may roam,

[Spoken, smug, over vamping bass]

[Verse 2: playful, finger snaps]

[Chorus: big band swell, brass punches]

[Verse 3: sly, muted trumpet fills]

[Verse 4: swaggering, vibraphone accents]

[Bridge: strings swell, tempo pulls back, intimate]

[Final Chorus: full band, triumphant]

[Spoken aside, wry]

[Outro: belted final line, big band hit, rim shot]

Founded by former Raytheon engineer Ghonhee Lee, Katalyst Space Technologies is proving the viability of in-space satellite repair through a high-stakes NASA telescope rescue.

Building on this momentum, the startup raised $12 million in a funding round led by Geodesic Capital to develop its NEXUS robotic spacecraft and support a geostationary orbit servicing demonstration mission planned for 2027.  This effort marks a crucial step toward proving that high-value satellites can be upgraded, repaired, and sustained in deep orbit rather than left abandoned after hardware failures or fuel depletion.

Headquartered in Flagstaff, Arizona, Katalyst Space Technologies was established in 2020 to shift the space economy from simple orbital deployment to active in-space operations.  The aerospace startup designs robotic spacecraft, modular hardware, and software that enable satellite life extension, post-launch hardware upgrades, and orbit repositioning to make space assets flexible and sustainable.

The company was founded by chief executive officer Ghonhee Lee.  Lee earned his bachelor of science in aerospace engineering with an emphasis on astronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2018.  Following graduation, he began his career as a Guidance, Navigation, and Control engineer at Raytheon Missile Systems, contributing to defense programs alongside the United States Navy and Missile Defense Agency.  Expanding his leadership in the industry, Lee served as the inaugural Industry Chair for NASA’s Consortium for Space Mobility and On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing Capabilities for a year beginning in 2024.

Looking ahead, Katalyst plans to scale its operations beyond individual servicing demonstrations to build a broader infrastructure for responsive space operations.  As demand grows across both commercial and national security sectors, the company aims to expand its fleet, broaden its software capabilities, and establish routine in-orbit servicing standards that redefine how assets are maintained across diverse orbital regimes.

A daughter's love and sacrifice for her blind father is magnificently rewarded in one of the best-known Korean traditional folk tales.

Come here, my little stars. Yes, both of you. Scoot close, pull the blanket over your toes, and let Mama tell you an old Korean story — a story about a girl with a heart so bright that even the sea could not keep it hidden.

Long ago, in a quiet village near the hills, there lived a blind man named Sim Hak-gyu. Everyone called him Sim Bongsa, which means Blind Man Sim. He was poor, and he could not see the blue sky, or the green rice fields, or the white clouds floating like rice cakes above the mountains.

But he had something more precious than gold.

He had a baby daughter named Sim Cheong.

Ah, my loves, she was such a tiny thing when she first came into the world. Her fingers were no bigger than little bean sprouts, and her cry was like a kitten asking politely for milk.

Sadly, her mother went to heaven when Sim Cheong was still very small. So her father held the baby close and whispered, “My little Cheong, I cannot see your face, but I know you are beautiful because my heart can see you.”

Now, Blind Man Sim was clumsy with babies. Of course he was. Babies are slippery little dumplings, aren’t they? They wiggle, they dribble, they kick off their socks and then look surprised when their feet are cold.

But he loved her. Oh, how he loved her.

He fed her soft rice. He sang to her in a cracked old voice. He tied her tiny jacket crooked sometimes, but he always tied it with love. And as Sim Cheong grew, she became her father’s eyes.

“Father,” she would say, holding his hand, “the morning sky is pink today, like a peach.”

Or, “The barley is waving in the field.”

Or, “There’s a puppy chasing its own tail. Oh! Now it has fallen over. Father, even puppies are silly.”

And her father would laugh and say, “Then tell me everything, my Cheong. Your words paint pictures brighter than sight.”

They were poor, very poor. Some days their rice jar was nearly empty, and the wind came through the cracks in their little house as if it had forgotten its manners. But Sim Cheong never complained.

When she was old enough, she washed clothes for neighbors. She carried water. She gathered firewood. She mended torn sleeves. And when she came home tired, she still smiled and said, “Father, sit down. I’ll make supper.”

Now, don’t think her father did nothing. No, no. He tried his best. He wove straw sandals and recited prayers, and sometimes kind villagers gave him a bowl of rice. But still he worried.

“My daughter works too hard,” he would say. “A child should have time to play.”

Sim Cheong would pat his hand. “I do play, Father. I play with the laundry bubbles. I race the water buckets. And sometimes, when the rice is cooking, I have a staring contest with the steam.”

“A staring contest?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said. “The steam always wins because it disappears.”

One day, Blind Man Sim was walking near a stream when he stumbled and fell into the water.

“Oh! Help!” he cried.

A Buddhist monk passing by heard him and pulled him safely to shore.

“You are fortunate,” said the monk. “The heavens protected you today.”

Blind Man Sim, shaking and soaked, bowed again and again. “Thank you, thank you. How can I repay such kindness?”

The monk looked at him gently. “Pray with a sincere heart. Offer rice to the temple, and perhaps the Buddha will bless you.”

“Will my eyes open?” asked Blind Man Sim.

The monk did not promise, but he said, “A great offering may bring great mercy.”

Now, children, sometimes grown-ups hear what they most long to hear. Blind Man Sim longed so much to see his daughter’s face that his heart leaped ahead of his wisdom.

“How much rice?” he asked.

“Three hundred sacks,” said the monk.

Three hundred sacks! Ai-goo! That was more rice than Blind Man Sim could gather in ten lifetimes. He went home heavy with worry.

Sim Cheong noticed at once.

“Father, your shoulders are drooping like wet laundry. What happened?”

At first he would not tell her. But she coaxed him gently, and at last he told her about the monk and the offering.

“My eyes might open,” he said, then sighed. “But three hundred sacks of rice might as well be three hundred clouds. I cannot give either one.”

That night, Sim Cheong lay awake. She looked at her father sleeping on the floor beside her. His face was tired. His hands were worn. He had given her all the love he had in the world.

And she thought, “If only Father could see the sunrise once. If only he could see flowers. If only he could see me.”

The next day, merchants came through the village. They were sailors preparing for a dangerous voyage across a stormy sea. In those old days, people believed the sea needed a pure-hearted offering to calm the waves. It was a hard, sad belief from a hard, sad time.

When Sim Cheong heard that the sailors would give three hundred sacks of rice to the family of one brave girl who would go with them as an offering to the sea, her heart became very still.

Now listen carefully, my little ones. This is the part of the old story that can make the heart ache. But remember, this is a folktale. In folktales, people walk through sorrow so the story can show us where love and truth live.

Sim Cheong went to the sailors and said, “I will go.”

The sailors stared at her. “You are young.”

“I am old enough to love my father,” she said.

When Blind Man Sim learned what she had done, he cried out, “No! No, my daughter! I would rather stay blind forever than lose you.”

But Sim Cheong held his hands and pressed them to her face.

“Father,” she whispered, “please remember me not with sorrow, but with love. You gave me everything when I was small. Let me give you this hope.”

He wept until his voice broke. She wept too. But her decision had been made.

The rice was sent to the temple. The prayers were offered. And Sim Cheong walked to the ship.

The sea was wide and dark. The waves rose like mountains. The sailors trembled. Sim Cheong stood at the edge of the ship and looked back toward the land where her father waited.

“Please, heavens,” she prayed, “protect my father.”

Then she stepped into the sea.

But the sea did not swallow her the way people feared.

No, my little stars. The sea opened like a blue silk curtain.

Down, down, down Sim Cheong floated, as gently as a petal falling through the air. Fish with silver scales swam around her. Turtles bowed their old turtle heads. Lantern-like jellyfish glowed in the deep.

At the bottom of the sea stood a palace made of pearl and coral.

The Dragon King himself welcomed her.

“Brave child,” he said, “your love has reached even the deepest waters. You shall not be harmed.”

Sim Cheong was given warm food, dry clothes and a soft bed. Sea maidens brushed her hair. Little fish peeked through the windows and whispered, “Is that the girl with the shining heart?”

After some time, the Dragon King said, “Your place is not here forever. The world above still needs you.”

So he placed Sim Cheong inside a giant lotus blossom — a flower as pink as dawn and as fragrant as spring.

The lotus floated up, up, up through the sea until it reached the surface. Fishermen found it and gasped.

“A lotus big enough to hold the moon!” one cried.

They brought it to the king’s palace. When the petals opened, there sat Sim Cheong, alive and radiant.

The king was amazed. “Who are you?”

Sim Cheong bowed. “I am only a daughter who loves her father.”

The king listened to her story and was deeply moved. In time, he married her, and Sim Cheong became queen. But even in a palace of silk robes, golden screens and bowls filled with sweet fruit, she missed her father every day.

At night, she looked out at the moon and whispered, “Father, are you eating well? Is someone guiding you safely? Do you know I am alive?”

So Queen Sim Cheong made a plan.

She held a great feast for all the blind people in the land. Servants carried invitations over mountains and across rivers. “Come to the palace,” they called. “The queen welcomes you!”

Blind men and women came from every village. Some came with sons. Some came with daughters. Some came with neighbors. They ate warm rice and soup. They laughed. They rested their tired feet.

Each day, Queen Sim Cheong watched the guests, searching for one familiar voice.

Then, at last, an old blind man entered the palace courtyard.

His clothes were worn. His back was bent. His voice trembled as he said, “I am Sim Hak-gyu. I came because they said all blind people were welcome.”

Queen Sim Cheong’s heart nearly flew out of her chest.

She ran to him and knelt at his feet.

“Father,” she said.

Blind Man Sim froze.

No one had said that word to him in that voice since the day his heart broke.

“Who are you?” he whispered.

She took his hands and placed them on her face.

“It’s me. Your Cheong.”

He shook his head. “No. My Cheong went into the sea.”

“And the sea carried me back,” she said, crying and laughing at once. “Father, I am here.”

Blind Man Sim cried out, “My daughter! My daughter!”

And in that moment, as tears washed down his face, his eyes opened.

The first thing he saw in all the world was Sim Cheong’s face.

Not the palace. Not the golden walls. Not the silk banners or the jeweled lamps.

His daughter.

“My Cheong,” he whispered. “Now my heart and my eyes can see you together.”

Everyone in the palace wept. The king wiped his eyes with his sleeve and pretended there was dust in the room, though really, kings cry too. They just try to do it in a royal way.

From then on, Sim Cheong and her father lived in peace. She cared for him with joy, and he spent his days looking at everything he had only imagined before — the sky, the flowers, the moon, and most of all, the daughter whose love had lit his life.

So what does this old story tell us, my little ones?

It tells us that love can be stronger than fear.

It tells us that a good heart may sink into sorrow for a while, but it will rise again like a lotus from deep water.

And it tells us that when you love someone, you become a little lamp in their darkness.

Now close your eyes. The sea is calm. The lotus is floating under the moon. Sim Cheong is safe. Her father is smiling.

And you, my darlings, are safe right here, where Mama can see your faces without any magic at all.

From $10,000 grapes to $36,000 melons, Asia’s luxury fruit market represents the generations of craftsmanship and gift-giving traditions that have transformed ordinary fruits into some of the continent's most fascinating goods.

In the United States, shoppers are spending thousands on luxury items like designer handbags or expensive jewelry, but across parts of Asia, a perfectly round melon in a velvet-lined box can carry the same prestige.

Japan is home to generations of farmers who have turned fruit cultivation into an art. Watermelons, strawberries, mangos, and all kinds of fruit are carefully grown to meet strict standards categorized by size, sweetness, shape, color, and skin pattern, allowing the most exceptional specimens to be sold for outrageous prices as luxury gifts or at auctions. This idea has been closely tied to Japanese gift-giving culture where premium fruit is presented in the same way a box of chocolate covered strawberries would be here in the States.

No other fruit represents this industry better than the Yubari King Melon. It is exclusively grown in Hokkaido where farmers closely control growing conditions of the perfectly round fruit and only the best ones fully pass an inspection before receiving the Yubari name. Premium Yubari melons that are sold through normal retail vendors can cost hundreds of dollars, but just recently in May 2026, a pair of Yubari melons sold for a record breaking 5.8 million yen or roughly $36,500 at an auction in Sapporo.

Another Japanese fruit is the Ruby Roman grape, which was developed in Ishikawa Prefecture. These deep red grapes are much sweeter and larger than your average grape as they must reach the sugar content of at least 18% and a minimum weight of about 20 grams, which makes each grape nearly the size of a ping-pong ball. Back in 2016 a single bunch of around 30 Ruby Roman grapes sold for 1.1 million yen, then approximately $10,900. 10 years later, this tradition continued as a one kilogram bunch with 33 grapes sold for 1 million yen at 2026’s first seasonal auction in Kanazawa.

In Thailand, the Kanyao durian has proven just how valuable Southeast Asia’s fruit industry can be as one durian sold for 1.5 million baht, or approximately $65,000, at a Nonthanburi charity auction in 2019, breaking the Guinness World Record for the most expensive durian ever sold. Because of the demand for premium durian, China has transformed different varieties like the Malaysian Musang King and Black Thorn durian into luxury products. By 2025, China was responsible for nearly 95% of durian exports worldwide, importing about $7.5 billion worth of fruit that year.

The high prices of these premium fruits is not just because of their appearance or exclusivity. It’s about the amount of work that it takes to produce them and even then, only a few end up meeting the highest grading standards. It is also important to know the difference between luxury retail fruit prices versus record-breaking auction prices since first-of-season auctions tend to generate publicity for growers and buyers, while versions of the same fruits can still be purchased for much less.

Still, these sales paint a vivid picture about how differently fruit is valued across cultures because what may look like an ordinary durian, melon, or grape to us can actually be the result of true agricultural art.

From Nordstrom to TikTok Live to digital media, this episode shares how balancing multiple income streams helped me discover what I truly loved doing.

Kelli (00:00)

I definitely don't think I would have told you that I would be working in media, producing podcasts, styling people for Nordstrom, creating social campaigns, marketing a sports bar. But somehow I've been able to find a way to make all of those things fit right into my schedule within the last couple of years.

My career has been anything but a straight line. I'm twenty-four now, and I think that one of the biggest things that I've learned so far being in my twenties is that you don't necessarily need to know exactly what you want to do when you're 18, 19, or even 22. Sometimes you just figure it out by doing things, going through experiences and realizing what you like and what you hate.

That's pretty much what happened to me.

So today I wanna talk about how I went from having absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life to balancing multiple streams of income while also building a career in social media, marketing and content creation.

Going all the way back to when I first graduated high school, I attended community college, and my first major was actually business real estate. Throughout high school, I thought I wanted to become a real estate agent. As a child, my dream job was to become a fashion designer. But as I grew up and I got to high school,

I decided to go towards a more traditional path and when I was younger I would always love going house hunting with my mom. She was always on the hunt for her dream house. So we would look at houses online together and then go and visit them as well.

I really loved seeing the different homes, seeing interiors, and really just imagining what you could do with different spaces like that.

So naturally at that age I was like, okay, I like houses. Maybe I should just go into real estate. But then I actually started taking the classes and I was like, okay, maybe not. There were a lot of numbers, a lot of math problems, technical concepts, and things that just really weren't exciting to me.

I started realizing that liking houses and actually liking the business of real estate were two completely different things. And that was my very first lesson because sometimes you may like the idea of a career more than you like the actual work.

So I switched my major multiple times. I considered criminal justice, sociology, and psychology,

and I was just trying to figure out where I fit in and what I really liked.

In my second year at community college, I landed on communication and media studies. And choosing that major ended up being one of the best decisions that I could have ever made in my life.

Taking these classes felt like I was learning about things that aligned with how my brain worked. Growing up, I always had a creative side. I loved talking to people. I was always a social person. I loved understanding why people think the way that they do,

and communication gave me the room to explore all of that. But more importantly, it didn't lock me into just one career.

After doing my research about the major, I realized that I can work in marketing, I can work in media, public relations, social media, entertainment, sports. At the time I didn't know what I was going to do, but I finally felt like I was going in the right direction.

Something that shaped my career was definitely timing. I was a part of the high school class of 2020, so the timing wasn't that great with the pandemic and all. I graduated into a world where nobody knew what was going to happen.

School shut down, so we didn't have people that we could talk to and guide us into the next steps of our life. Businesses were closing, people weren't working, college was virtual at first. Entire industries were changing and I was here, freshly graduated, thinking to myself, okay, I'm supposed to figure out what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life now."

And so aside from school, I would fill up the rest of my time with work.

My very first job was at Kids Foot Locker and I also worked multiple serving jobs throughout college. One of my first major jobs was Nordstrom.

I started off as a sales associate working in the women's department. I worked in lingerie, I worked in the activewear department. And this was really exciting for me because, like I said before, I always wanted to be a fashion designer, but this kind of sufficed because I was around fashion, I was around clothes, and I was around something that I was interested in since I was a little girl.

This was the very first time I was working in an environment that felt creative because I was putting outfits together for customers, I was learning about different fashion brands, and I was learning about how clothes fit different people.

Throughout all the years that I've worked in retail, I didn't really realize in the moment how incredibly important learning how to sell would become. Retail totally teaches you how to read people.

Some customers do not want you to talk to them at all and they just want you to ring them up after they're done shopping. Other people want you to greet them when they step into the store. You learn how to ask questions about people and you really learn how to listen as well.

So as I was working at Nordstrom, on top of that, I was also working my serving job. So throughout college, I had school, Nordstrom, and restaurant work, and that definitely helped me with the mindset that I have today.

I strongly believe that working these jobs has helped me with my people skills. It

has helped me become the person that I am today.

And so during this time I really enjoyed being busy. I liked knowing that I had different ways to earn money. And without realizing it, I was also learning how to manage my time extremely early on.

Throughout the first two or three years being in college, I was working three different jobs, Nordstrom and I had two restaurant jobs all at once.

I got very burnt out and I eventually quit both of the restaurant jobs and I was only working at Nordstrom. So I started to ask myself, what else can I do here?

After working at Nordstrom for over three years, I was offered the opportunity to become a Nordstrom personal stylist. So now customers could actually book appointments with me online. I could build my own clientele, I could create online styling boards, and then that's when another opportunity also opened up, and it was with content creation.

I was able to become a part of Nordstrom's digital styling and influencer ecosystem and I started to film videos for Nordstrom.com. If you go on the website and you look up a product, there's always a video that goes along with it that shows you an up-close look at the product and tells you a little bit more details.

When I was doing this, that was really my introduction to being on camera professionally. I would talk about products, I would demonstrate outfits, explain how pieces would go with one another, and just really create shoppable content.

Here I would also get gifting opportunities. I would collaborate with other stylists all across the country working on digital campaigns for brands at Nordstrom.

So I kind of personally taught myself how to create this kind of fashion content. And then I realized while doing it that I really like this. And I really liked being on camera. I really liked creating something and seeing people respond to it. And I loved seeing that people wanted to buy something because I was showing it to them.

I realized that I really liked this. I liked figuring out how to make someone interested in a product. I just didn't know that I could really build a career around this retail position that I was in.

Aside from Nordstrom, I was going to school, but I also kind of had a lot more time because I wasn't serving anymore. And so I started to kind of look at what else I could do besides that. I was sending out emails, looking at random opportunities, and one of those opportunities eventually landed me on the whatever podcast.

For anyone who's unfamiliar with it, it's a pretty raunchy podcast that became known for these big panel discussions and debates, especially the ones around modern dating and relationships. At first I went on as a guest. I had no idea what was about to happen. I just thought, okay, I like being on camera. Let me try and see what this opportunity is all about.

After the show, clips of my appearance began to circulate There were clips of me debating the other girls on the panel, debating with the host, and just sharing my opinions. And those videos were getting millions of views across TikTok and Instagram. And I remember watching it happen and thinking, "Wow people actually think that the stuff I have to say is interesting."

And after that, I was invited back multiple times to be a guest on the podcast again. Eventually, I was able to develop a relationship with the show's producer, and he really liked the way that I thought. He liked how I communicated with guests and how I understood different people and personalities. And he offered me a position working behind the scenes rather than just being on camera in influencer relations.

This was fascinating to me because this gave me the opportunity to really grow my network. Now I wasn't just talent sitting in front of a camera.

I was helping build the panel, I was negotiating rates, I was doing influencer out I was doing influencer outreach, casting guests, and helping determine which personalities would work well with one another. And because this entire position was remote and it was contract based, I did all my work from my phone, just a couple hours each day and

fit it around everything else that I was doing. So now I had another stream of income that replaced my serving income. And also I got more experience and another skill.

So now at this point I'm working at Nordstrom three days a week, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and going to school on Tuesday and Thursday.

Like I said, I would fit in the influencer relation stuff throughout my schedule whenever I had time. But then during my junior year of college came one of the most random and probably one of the most important opportunities

I found a position for a hosting job at a TikTok livestream company.

When they called me in for an interview, I really didn't know what I was walking into. I kind of showed up and they handed me a product. It was some kind of 14-day gut cleanse product. And they said, Here's the product, here's some notes, sell it to us for five minutes. And I was like, Five minutes of talking? That's it? I can yap for 25 minutes. I can totally do this. I had already spent my years working in retail and restaurants and without realizing it,

I was training for this exact situation. Retail taught me sales. Serving taught me how to talk to strangers. Making content for Nordstrom taught me how to talk on camera. And working for the podcast taught me how to think quickly. Now all of a sudden all of my unrelated jobs were coming together and I did this interview and I got the job on the spot.

Once I started to go in more, I was live streaming and I realized that I was really good at this. In the first month that I started, in the first month that I started selling this gut pill, I generated around $100,000 in sales. And that completely blew my mind. I was talking for six hours straight, which was way more than what the other hosts were doing. They would have three different hosts a day working two-hour shifts.

And I would come and I would work a full six hours shift talking from hour one to hour six.

Now, if you've never live streamed for six hours, it is a lot of talking. You're repeating information, you're answering the questions that people are asking in the in the comment section. You're creating urgency, you're keeping these people entertained, you're watching the sales numbers all at once. This is no editing. This is all in live time. So you don't have an opportunity to do another take. You just really have to keep going.

When I would tell people what I was doing for work, they would be completely mind blown because they didn't understand how I was able to do it. But I loved it.

As I was live streaming more, I realized that

I kind of liked this a little bit more than working at Nordstrom. So I switched up my schedule. Now I was going to school on Tuesday and Thursday. I was going in live streaming on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And then on Saturday and Sunday, I would work at Nordstrom.

Then throughout my schedule, again, like I said, I would spend time on my phone doing influencer outreach and casting for the podcast. Looking back at it now and saying it all out loud, I don't know how I did it. At the time, it felt normal, but I was basically working every single day and I didn't have no off day. But

I was making money from multiple places

But other than making money, more importantly, I was learning completely different skills from each one of the different jobs that I had.

Each one was teaching me something new. Nordstrom was teaching me about fashion, sales, and client relationships. The podcast was teaching me about the entertainment industry, casting people, and talent relations. Live streaming was teaching me social commerce, content strategy, and performing,

and then in school I was learning about communication theory and media. Suddenly I started to see a career building from this.

I took the live streaming position very seriously because of how much I enjoyed it. Eventually it became more than just me sitting in front of the camera and doing these live streams. We started to plan mega live streams, some of them which lasted 12 hours long. And I became completely involved with the moderators and other team members to figure out what kinds of products are we pushing,

Which hosts are gonna come on and do the live stream? How do we keep viewers entertained? Which deal should we do? What language is converting? There was an entire strategy behind these mega lives. And at that point, that's when I started to understand that social media wasn't just about making something look good and posting a pretty picture. There was an entire strategy behind everything. There's psychology, there's data, sales, storytelling,

community management.

And the more that I was executing the strategy behind these live streams, I thought that this is exactly what I love doing. I love working in this kind of environment. And by my senior year, I had some kind of direction. I knew I liked social media, I knew I liked content creation, I liked being on camera, I liked marketing, I liked storytelling.

And so from there I started to just prepare myself for my life after graduation.

I started to completely rework my resume. I built my portfolio and all of my random jobs did not look random anymore. I had so many videos that I had created over the years. I had campaigns that I worked on. I had real number results. I had social media experience, on-camera experience, styling experience, live commerce experience, and actual numbers behind my work. So by my final semester, I was applying for full-time positions, and that's how I ended up here at

Asia Media Group. I joined Asia Media Group as an associate editor, and this role brought together so many of the things that I discovered that I loved. Here I write articles, produce podcasts like this right here. I create Instagram and TikTok content. I research Asian American culture, business, entertainment, and sports,

and I also help keep Goldsea.com updated with stories that matter to the Asian American community.

When I was initially hired, I was still in college, so I worked part-time, which meant my schedule changed yet again. So now Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I'm working at Asian Media Group. Tuesday and Thursday, I'm going to school, and then Saturday and Sunday, I would be at Nordstrom.

Saturday and Sunday, I would still be at Nordstrom, and in between all of that, I would do the influencer relations still for the whatever podcast.

Now at this point I had to dramatically cut down on live streaming because the commute to the office was about an hour each way. And I really would only so I started to only come back for major live stream events.

So, even though I still had multiple streams of income, I did start becoming more selective, and that's another lesson that I learned along the way: having multiple streams of income doesn't mean you have to say yes to everything forever. Sometimes some things are only there for a little bit. Sometimes you will only have a gig for like four months, and that's okay. But I think the most important thing is just to say yes to the experience,

But you don't have to keep saying yes to that if there are more opportunities that you want to go and explore. Something just serves its purpose for the time being. You learn from it and then you make room for the next opportunity.

Once I finally graduated from college in 2025, Asian Media became my full-time position. So I had another decision to make. What am I gonna do with Nordstrom? I didn't necessarily want to leave because I had spent years, because I had spent about six years now building my clientele. I built so many relationships with customers, and I've already established myself as a stylist for the brand.

But at the same time, I did not want to spend every Saturday and Sunday working an eight hour retail shift anymore.

So I decided to take action and change the way that I was working for Nordstrom. I moved most of my styling online and I would create style boards for my phone and send products to different customers so that they I so that I could continue managing my relationships with them. And then I would physically go into the store once a week or once every other week. And now I finally had my weekends back.

For just a little bit because apparently for some reason I do not know how to leave empty space in my schedule or time for me to take a break. So now

it's been almost a year since I graduated from college and I've been working full-time. And with the flexibility that I had on the weekend now, I took on a contract marketing position with Game Changer Brewhouse, which is a sports bar in Sherman Oaks.

This was exciting for me because I was going to be able to do something I haven't done before. I was going to be completely leading a restaurant's marketing strategy.

So rather than just creating content and posting it, I started to have to think about the bigger picture. So I have to think about what's happening this weekend. What sporting event are we marketing? What are we posting? What flyer will get attention? How are we going to how are we going to get people through the door?

And because this was a contract position, I didn't have to be on site all the time. So working on the weekends there fit right into my schedule. We just recently hosted the FIFA World Cup, which was absolutely crazy.

And there was so much planning behind those events with soccer games every single day. Sometimes there was five or six games every single day. Sometimes there was back-to-back turnovers where there's fully sold-out reservations all day long.

Gaining the experience that I got from that campaign taught me a completely different side of marketing.

You need those views to become reservations, customers, sales, revenue.

And knowing that made me a much stronger marketer today.

So I would definitely say my career now looks completely different from what eighteen year old me would have imagined. My primary career is in media.

I'm an associate editor creating editorial content and social content centered around Asian American stories. And at the same time, I'm leading digital marketing at Game Changer Brewhouse.

Because of the industry that I decided to step into,

I was able to find positions where I can create my own schedule and do things from home and do things right off of my phone. Over the years, I've been maintaining the pieces of my network and skills that I've built throughout fashion, content creation, and social media. And when I look back at everything that I've done, there are so many lines that just connect all of it. Back then, I just couldn't see the line when I was living it.

I think people online always talk about having multiple streams of income and they talk about it like it's the glamorous life hack. Yes earning money from different places can be great, but I think the overall biggest benefit of it was the career leverage. Each job gave me something that I could bring to the next one.

And that's the part that I wish more young people understood. Your first job is not going to be your dream job. Your second job isn't going to be either. But working so many different jobs

has definitely helped me get me to where I am today.

I don't want this to sound like I'm telling everyone in their twenties that they need five different jobs because you definitely don't. There were so many times where I felt absolutely exhausted, times where my schedule was ridiculous, where I wasn't even getting a break.

And eventually I did learn that being busy and being productive are not the same thing. In the beginning, I wanted every opportunity, but now I'm much more selective. I stop and ask myself if it helps my career. I ask, does this teach me something? I ask if it pays enough to justify my time, and if I actually am going to enjoy what it is that I have to do.

I think at twenty I was just trying to still figure out what I liked and kind of collect experiences. But now I want to build more depth. And I think that is a really important transition throughout anybody's career. I think if you are eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty one, twenty two, any age really, and you have no idea what you're doing with your career, you should not

panic yet. I think experimenting was one of the best things that I could do. Take those internships, send those emails. Don't be afraid to message people. Apply for stuff that you're not even sure if you're qualified for.

I did not wake up one morning and decide that I'm gonna build my career around marketing and digital media.

I took the opportunities that came along the way and I discovered what I truly like.

And from there one thing just kept leading to another.

So even though I changed my major multiple times and worked multiple different jobs in between hospitality, entertainment, and fashion, I can now look back and see how each of my experiences was giving me another piece of the career that I have today.

I'm still figuring stuff out. I'm only 24, but I do know what I'm good at and what I love doing. I love turning ideas into something that people respond to. I love being creative. I love working with people.

So really at the end of the day, I do not think your twenties are supposed to be about finding that perfect career immediately.

It's really more about collecting enough experience to realize who you are in your line of work. Thank you guys so much for listening in, and we'll see you in the next podcast.