My Brand Builder Story #1 🌏 At 8 years old, I didn’t know my ABCs. Today, I build global brands.
As a kid in Taiwan, I had no idea that being “creative” could be a real career.
The “safe” paths were clear: doctor, lawyer, engineer… maybe business.
Then everything changed.
I was suddenly moved from my happy home in Taiwan to America.
Overnight I became the new kid who didn’t understand the culture, didn’t know the rules,
and barely knew the English alphabet.
Like any eight-year-old, I just wanted to belong.
But my English couldn’t carry me into conversations or friendships.
What I did have was drawing.
Art became my language.
I used sketches to start conversations I couldn’t have with words.
Classmates came over, pointed, laughed, and slowly, friendships formed.
That was the real beginning of my creative life – not in a studio,
but in a classroom where I was using art just to survive socially.
Years later, I was accepted into the Maryland Institute College of Art.
For the first time, I was surrounded by people who saw the world the way I did
and believed you could build a life around creativity.
I graduated, showed my work in galleries, and that chapter became the foundation for everything that followed.
Today, I help brands design experiences where creativity, community, and business actually support each other –
online and offline, on platforms and in real life.
This video is Episode 1 of a new Tuesday series, sharing how that journey unfolded:
from immigrant kid with a sketchbook → to global brand, marketing, and OMO strategy.
If you’re a founder or leader building a brand and this story resonates,
I’d love to connect and hear what you’re working on.
And if you’re curious about the next chapters – New York, agencies, China’s golden age, and beyond –
follow along. A new part of the story drops every Tuesday.
As a kid in Taiwan, I had no idea that being “creative” could be a real career.
The “safe” paths were clear: doctor, lawyer, engineer… maybe business.
Then everything changed.
I was suddenly moved from my happy home in Taiwan to America.
Overnight I became the new kid who didn’t understand the culture, didn’t know the rules,
and barely knew the English alphabet.
Like any eight-year-old, I just wanted to belong.
But my English couldn’t carry me into conversations or friendships.
What I did have was drawing.
Art became my language.
I used sketches to start conversations I couldn’t have with words.
Classmates came over, pointed, laughed, and slowly, friendships formed.
That was the real beginning of my creative life – not in a studio,
but in a classroom where I was using art just to survive socially.
Years later, I was accepted into the Maryland Institute College of Art.
For the first time, I was surrounded by people who saw the world the way I did
and believed you could build a life around creativity.
I graduated, showed my work in galleries, and that chapter became the foundation for everything that followed.
Today, I help brands design experiences where creativity, community, and business actually support each other –
online and offline, on platforms and in real life.
This video is Episode 1 of a new Tuesday series, sharing how that journey unfolded:
from immigrant kid with a sketchbook → to global brand, marketing, and OMO strategy.
If you’re a founder or leader building a brand and this story resonates,
I’d love to connect and hear what you’re working on.
And if you’re curious about the next chapters – New York, agencies, China’s golden age, and beyond –
follow along. A new part of the story drops every Tuesday.