Where did you grow up?
My father, though Chinese, was born and raised in a small village in Jamaica. He persevered and overcame many obstacles to earn his way into the U.S. where he attended Howard University in Washington DC. As fate would have it, this was where he met my mother who was also a student. They were married in the early 60’s and had four children before the 70’s. I was born in DC but actually spent most of my childhood growing up in a suburb of the Detroit area. It was there, in eastside Michigan, where my father decided to begin a practice and settle our family.
Tell us about your family.
My husband and I have been married for 20 years and we have three beautiful teenagers – a son who is 14 and two daughters aged 16 and 17. In the year 2000 we decided to move our family from Michigan to Florida, and although my husband and I have both grown to love the sunshine and warm weather, my children still miss the snow and changing seasons of Michigan. Our family is very close though, and we enjoy spending time together while sharing in common interests such as hockey, music concerts, boating, and water sports.
What are your interests and favorite hobbies?
Interior design and decorating are the things that interest me most. Whether it is designing and decorating either a single room or an entire home, these hobbies allow me to be involved with so many of my favorite things: Use of color, textures, fabrics, artwork, and furniture. Over the past five years I’ve been fortunate enough to incorporate my interests and favorite hobbies into my property investment and vacation rental business. But my hopes for the future are to consolidate my investment property business and focus most of my creative energy into growing this new business, Shoe Angels, with my partner Debbie.
What has been your biggest accomplishment?
My greatest joy and biggest challenge thus far has been to nurture and raise my three beautiful children. I don’t believe there is a more rewarding sense of accomplishment than to be able to look back over the many years of hard work and dedication, and see that I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to have had a significant role in raising such well rounded, open minded, talented, and warm-hearted children.
What inspires you?
I am most inspired by aesthetic beauty and its components of balance, contrast and symmetry. I appreciate the beauty that is found in nature as well as the beauty that is created by individuals through many forms.
What has prepared you the most for creating your company?
I’ve always had the desire to create and produce something that I could offer to others. I began my career by opening and operating a women’s retail boutique in my early-20’s, to inventing board games in my 30’s, to interior decorating and vacation home rentals in my early-40’s, all of which have prepared me for my latest endeavor-the creation of Shoe Angels, with my partner and friend, Debbie Klatt. Debbie and I are both looking forward to the challenges and rewards that lie ahead as we begin to launch and grow our business.
