About
I’m a product nerd and I love getting rejected.
Yes, you read it right.
It all started with a team of 3 misfits who share a common love for science, research and writing. We teamed up to compete in a national science competition even though…
- no one we knew worked in the tech space
- we had zero funding
- where we come from, women aren’t allowed to take electronics or drafting classes, only cosmetology and baking
Clearly, the odds were stacked against us.
Day 1, we met at a park. Brought out an empty notebook. On the first page, we wrote and signed our names on the THREE WORDS that would change my life FOREVER
No matter what
All the other competitors were from science high schools, taking specialized science / tech / engineering / research courses, with a network of connections in the academe / tech space… we had none of these
No matter what
They have relatively huge funding allocated to research… we had none
No matter what
They took classes on how to solder, design a circuit diagram, program a microcontroller… so far, we spent a year learning to paint our classmates' fingernails
No matter what
Many many years later, the things I’ve learned throughout our journey have shaped the way I approach everything in my career and in life:
- Whether it’s a skill or a topic that you need to know, the best way to get over that learning curve is to get your hands dirty and “Hello World” your way to an MVP aka a working product
- don’t get stuck in tutorial hell, instead, build projects that people will find useful then release it in public to get feedback
- I’m not saying it will be easy. it would probably be challenging, sometimes you’ll get frustrated, there would be a lot of failure, but that’s okay. You’re in good company. Fail fast to learn fast.
if you’re really really stuck, reach out to people who are good at it - just don’t forget to bring coffee and cake
- You have nothing to lose. Reach out to that person. Maybe offer them something in return for lending you their time, something like…. free coffee and cake.
- In my experience, this almost always blossoms into a wonderful thing. Best case scenario: we become best friends forever, we now live together and we’re raising 40 chickens in Maragondon. Worst case scenario: they don’t know what you’re talking about and now you’re eating this tasty AF cake by yourself
if you feel like quitting, rest, breathe, see page 1 of the notebook
Since then, I have been building products and working with great people & organizations rethinking the Future of X.
If you are one of the
- crazy ones
- round pegs in the square holes
- ones who have no respect for the status quo
…. please DM me and I’d be happy to help you in any way I can
Outside of work,
- I build wooden furniture by screaming while pressing the trigger on the circular saw
- raise 40 native chickens (and counting), 3 doggos (Whitey, Dutch and Cookie) and 2 cats (Atty and Bonnie)
- grow different herbs and vegetables hydroponically with a NFT system we custom built and iterate on regularly
- play rhythm guitar in a band & currently playing bass
- perform card flourishes to tell a story
- you can ask me about startups, AI (and data ethics), abnormal psychology (my mom and dad were both AB psych college professors so my early memory as a child is spending my afternoons reading the big book of ab psych we have at home) and Law (I have a list of the best legal novels and movies that I think everyone should read / watch)
… if you are an expert on any of the above, let’s make stuff - coffee’s on me.
2021 Recap: I worked with a multi-million dollar B2B / B2C e-commerce company located in Los Angeles, California. My role involved setting up the company's data infrastructure and bringing analytics & decision science into the business. As a huge fan of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and RuPaul's Drag Race, it still blows my mind that I got to work as a Pinay Data & Analytics Lead in an LA-based retail company.
2022 Update: I'm currently working with a London-based tech company as a Product Manager, getting paid to build the future of X, day in and day out.
Check out my viz on Flourish on how I spend my time as the Tita of Data: