“the plan is to MOVE:
move out
move on
move up
move smarter
—
just keep moving.”
hello!
你好!
born in luoyang, raised in seattle, and currently based in new york city, i am a growth operator and creative excited about building innovative growth strategies for ventures in the consumer space. in my free time, you can find me diving deep into the web3 world, vlogging here, exploring new coffee shops, creating moodboards, and reading any travel literature that i can get my hands on.
here, i share with the internet my digital home—a few of the places i've had the privilege of visiting thus far in addition to a curation of designs, concepts, and aesthetics that move me.
take a look around. if you see anything that catches your eye—a shared passion, an unexplored idea, or an opportunity for collaboration / partnership—hit my line on twitter here.
︎,
makisa
places
asia
🇨🇳 luoyang + zhengzhou + wuhan + beijing + shanghai + shenzhen + guangzhou / 🇭🇰 hong kong / 🇰🇷 seoul
north america
🇨🇦 vancouver + quadra island / 🇺🇸 seattle + san juan isl + portland + boise + sf + oakland + la + hanover +
woodstock + providence + boston + cape cod + martha’s vineyard + new haven + new york + upstate + pittsburgh + philly + dc + arlington + charleston + miami
central + south america
🇲🇽 mexico city + mérida + chichén itzá + teotihuacán / 🇵🇦 panamá city / 🇨🇴 bogotá / 🇵🇪 cusco + ollantaytambo + aguascalientes / 🇺🇾 colonia del sacramento / 🇦🇷 buenos aires
europe
🇪🇸 madrid / 🇫🇷 paris + bordeaux / 🇬🇧 oxford / 🇮🇹 roma / 🇻🇦 the vatican / 🇵🇱 kraków / 🇹🇷 istanbul / 🇬🇷 athens + mykonos + ioannina
africa
🇲🇦 rabat + imlil + jebel toubkal + marrakech + fes + meknes + casablanca + essaouira + chefchaouen + agadir + tangier + asilah
the middle east
🇵🇸 jerusalem + bi’r as-sab’a + tabariyyā + al-jalīl + siderot + al-bahr al-mayyit + tal abib-yāfā / 🇯🇴 amman + wadi musa / 🇸🇾 hadhbatu al-jawlān / 🇰🇼 kuwait city / 🇸🇦 jeddah + al-bahr al-ahmar + diriyah + thuwal + dammam + dhahran + al-‘ula + turaif + riyadh
coming soon
🇧🇴 ︎ santa cruz de la sierra / la paz / uyuni / rurrenbaque
🇧🇷 ︎ rio de janeiro / são paulo
🇨🇱︎ santiago de chile / calama / rapa nui
🇪🇨 ︎ quito
🇵🇾 ︎ asunción
🇯🇵 ︎ tokyo / kyoto / nara / osaka / nagoya
psst... send me your travel recs! ︎ ︎
curriculum vitae
as a creative + operator working full-time in crypto, i am passionate about leveraging blockchain to build a more socioeconomically equitable world, in particular by using blockchain to generate robust economic value for people of color and other marginalized individuals and onboarding more people into crypto in the process.
presently, i am head of growth at iyk, a company using nfc + blockchain tech to bridge the digital and physical worlds, as well as a digital assets investor at the symmetrical, a new york-based investment syndicate. previously, i worked in operations at the digital currency group, in strategy consulting as part of deloitte’s public sector division, and in social impact at numerous startups + ngos spanning new york, shanghai, lima, and more.
/ experience
growth @ iyk / new york, ny
investments @ the symmetrical / new york, ny
operations @ the digital currency group / new york, ny
strategy consulting @ deloitte / washington, dc
design @ the dali lab / hanover, nh
/ crypto + web3
boys’ club crypto ✦ fwb ✦ pactdao ✦ shefi ✦ arkivedao ✦ the blockchain acceleration foundation ✦ web3baddies ✦ crypto college ✦ kernel block 5 @ gitcoin ✦ “listen to the crypto converts”, quartz (2021)
/ education
dartmouth college / bachelor of arts, middle eastern studies & economics
stanford university / fellowship, the american-middle eastern network for dialogue @ stanford
/ languages
english — native
mandarin chinese — beginner intermediate
modern standard arabic — beginner intermediate
spanish — beginner
/ random facts
i once won a company-wide hula hoop contest.
i studied chinese dance for 15 years and have also studied ballet, cuban salsa, and dominican bachata on the side.
the inspiration
my current obsessions: a curation of ideas, words to live by,
and movers-and-shakers shaping beautiful worlds and new futures
internet
iyk
radicalxchange
zora
reserve
art + culture
sharjah art foundation
queering the map
the snaxshot
who am i / why am i here?
shanghai girl eats
miilkiina
architecture + representation
sticky rice
trippin.world
style
leaf greener
anok yai
sisilia piring
구페기
margaret zhang
aesthetic + creative eye
zaha hadid architects
andi schmied
farah al-qasimi
anqi meng
struck app ✨
wisdom
“so strove i with wonder — how to fit the image to the sphere…
high fantasy lost power and here broke off, and as a wheel in a smooth motion whirs,
my will and my desire were turned above by love that moves the sun and all the stars.” - paradiso 33, dante
“our goal should be to live life in radical amazement… get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted.
everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. to be spiritual is to be amazed.” - rabbi abraham joshua heschel
“ludlow street, nyc. 2011/2012. can’t remember. i was coming off of years of dancing and unsure what to do with myself.
i was going through the motions, without fully committing to anything. the thing is, it’s taken almost 6 years to start to listen in again.
to start to commit fully, to move forward with certainty knowing that i’m being guided. as soon as we start to define the timing of things, we SLOW the process down.
we start to take lengthy detours without realizing that we’re going the wrong way! give yourself time to let emotions and questions
move through you and and excite you. these things are coming up to guide you to where you need to be; don’t rush the process...
trust that everything’s happening exactly as it should, and in perfect time.” - @vzbree
the dreamscape
p.s. pics are draggable︎
