I grew up behind the counter of my family's restaurant in Sioux Falls.

My parents arrived in 1993 as refugees of the Vietnam War. They worked factory lines and overnight newspaper routes to give our family a foundation.

I was the first child in my family to grow up fully bilingual. By nine years old, I was translating commercial leases at the kitchen table. By fourteen, I was sitting across from attorneys and doctors, bridging the gap between my parents' vision and systems that were never designed with them in mind.

That experience shaped everything.

Whether advising non-English-speaking business owners as a financial advisor, building media campaigns for community organizations and growing businesses, or running a citywide people-powered political campaign, my approach has always been the same: people before systems.

I think of strategic communication as a design problem. Strip away the jargon and the performance, and what is left is real people looking for real solutions.

The leaders who had to earn every seat they occupy are always the first to pull out a chair for someone else.

That is how I approach this work.