I am a middle school art teacher and a meditation/mindfulness practitioner. Before college, I had only taken an art class in elementary school. I doodled the comics (mostly Garfield), did NOT draw all the time, and did not have an encouraging family to support my art curiosity. Somehow, I still went for it.... art school made sure to let me know how far behind in knowledge I was...especially during critique.

When I read the prompt, I knew I wanted to do a food recipe that reflected how strong my mom is. Strength can be shown in different ways and one of those ways is through adaptability and making the best of what you have. My mom has always inspired me to be a better person and an even better baker. I created Girls Gotta Eat Good Asian Bakery because she taught me to love food and to share that love with everyone.

I am an engineer with over 25 years of experience in manufacturing, operations, strategy, and innovation most recently serving as the Chief Innovation Officer at Aperam, a multi-billion/yr global manufacturer of stainless steel and specialty alloys. I went from being laughed at when I told professors I wanted to pursue a Ph.D., to leading hundreds of scientists around the world.