My mother and father emigrated from China to America in 1948. My brother and I were born soon after, making us both the first American-born members of our family. Upon coming to America, our parents worked extremely hard to make a living, and, as such, sacrifices were made to ensure a better life for all of us.
Our father worked seven days a week, and our mother would work all day. I remember waving good-bye to my mother every morning as she drove off to work, then I walked to school alone with a house key dangling on a chain around my neck. After school, I would come home to an empty house. When my mother finally came home, she had to clean and prepare dinner and didn’t have time to help me with my homework or play with me. Looking back, I realize that this helped mold my independence and resourcefulness, because I had to figure out how to do things on my own. But at the time, I was resentful. In the mid-1950s, everyone else’s mother stayed home and went to the PTA meetings and school field trips, and I didn?t want to be different. I also remember having only one birthday party as a child; my parents were always too busy working. I vowed that when I became a parent I would do things differently.
Since making a living was always a struggle for my parents, education was very important to them. My father believed that you could use education to make your life better. He would always say, “People can take away your house or your possessions, but they can never take away what you have learned.” I had high expectations of myself as well, so I worked all through high school and was able to put myself through college. I did my undergraduate work at University of California, Berkeley and University of California, Davis in business management and design, and then later went to Northwestern to get my MBA in marketing and finance.
I was determined to be successful and make my own money so that I could make my own choices. I went on to work as a marketing manager for major corporations, such as Johnson and Johnson, Hunt-Wesson and Revlon Cosmetics, then as a director of marketing for Mattel Toys. These jobs were very demanding, and I often wouldn’t get home until midnight. While I enjoyed the success and challenge, I really wanted a family, and I didn’t see how I could have children when I was working so many hours
In between my hectic schedule, I decided to take a jewelry beading class for fun. I really enjoyed it and made jewelry just for myself. When I wore it, people asked about the jewelry and where I got it. They were surprised and impressed that I had made the pieces of artwork.This interest intrigued me, so one day, I took a shoebox full of jewelry to work and began selling to colleagues during the off-hours. A woman asked if I would bring the jewelry to her home so some of her friends could see it, which I did, with great success!