Did the place where you grew up make an impact on you?

‍Absolutely – I was born and raised in Walnut Creek, which is just across the bridge from San Francisco in the East Bay. My mom grew up there too, and my grandparents bought their first house there back in the 1960s when it was first being developed as a suburban neighborhood.

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So you really are a local!‍

Yep, my grandmother just moved out of that house a few years ago, and it was emotional after having spent so much of our time as a family there throughout the years. We grew up as latchkey kids, so we were always out exploring the neighborhood on our bikes or with other children from around the block. It really instilled a sense of independence and ownership in me from a young age.

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Describe what it was like to grow up in your family.

My parents had us when they were fairly young, so they had a lot of energy and made sure we stayed busy. We tried everything, from soccer to ballet to Girl Scouts to piano classes. I even took a cross-stitching class for a while because my great-grandmother was a big cross-stitcher!

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Wow, you were busy!

Yes, but no matter how busy the days were, we were one of those families who made sure to have dinner together every night. Looking back, I’m not sure how common that was when I was growing up, but I feel grateful that we always had that time together in the evenings.

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Fast forwarding to the present; what’s the last book you read?

“How to do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy” by Jenny Odell. It touches on the modern-day phenomena associated with constant contact, social media addiction, doomscrolling, FOMO, and the creation of a curated online presence that takes away precious time from LIVING.

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Ooh. I have to read this book.

You should! It offers simple ways to become more meaningfully aware of and connected to the people around us, and to avoid feeling like we must always be in a state of productivity. Once I started paying attention to how much time I was spending on my phone, I felt embarrassed — this book definitely motivates me to slow down and live in the present moment.

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Sounds like you’re still a cross-stitcher at heart.

Yes! It would definitely be hard to doomscroll and cross-stitch at the same time.

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