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What do you do to improve your sleep?

Falling asleep for me is not really the issue. My bigger issue is if I have a lot on my mind and I wake up early and can’t fall back asleep. I’ve heard that if you can’t sleep for 20 minutes, you might as well get out and go somewhere else in the home and come back later as a sort of reset.  Usually I just tell my body “hey, if your eyes are closed and your muscles are relaxing, then you’re probably okay. There’s really nothing for us to do right now.”

What’s something you used to believe as a kid that seems ridiculous now?

I believed there was a secret room at my aunt’s house behind the fireplace, but when I got older I realized it was just a mirror along the wall.

Which languages do you speak and how did that impact your life?

English, Japanese, and French. Japanese has had a direct correlation to the beginning of culinary education as well as employment. Cultural exposure has been high creating an unusual counterculture shock but making life more interesting. French mix for fun European visits which entail opportunities to utilize and connect while also making perception of the difference between English and French speakers historically more fascinating. Preconceived notions challenged. Stereotypes are amusing. English is standard native culture exposure of a rural sense, rather different from most other developed places I visited. I tend to take much for granted depending on where I’m at physically along with local population sentiment.

What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you?

Learn about finances (saving, investing, career planning, equity, etc.) when you’re young because no one is going to teach you that. It will impact your ability to do a lot of things in both the present and future, and it can teach you to set and achieve short and long term goals.

If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be and why?

I’d like to instantly master real estate so I don’t have to deal with the difficult parts of learning and can automatically jump into being a pro at everything. I feel like it involves being skillful in a lot of different ways and possibly just building up knowledge over the years, but if I can Master that then I can help people to the best of my ability and that’s really what I want to be doing with this job.

What is one way you have grown this year?

Hot dang I’ve been growing left and right this year! Changing careers after 12 years was a big one and I am growing by learning how to plan/film/edit/post videos on social media, how to be an entrepreneur, how to figure out medical insurance, how to do real estate as a job which includes a lot of new stuff, and I’ve probably grown a few more gray hairs in the middle of all that!

What is something you wish you could tell your 20-year-old self?

Living in an international house is fun, but at some point it would have been a good idea to start considering buying a home. Spending money traveling is nice, but you probably should have put some into retirement and also learned about how to invest money in the stock market. Working hard at a job over the years is stable, but there is no growth in certain jobs and sometimes it’s better to leave a harmful job then stay there until you burn out and have to deal with the slow recovery. No one else will promote your growth in work but you, and no one else will promote your mental and physical health but you. While we’re at it, you probably should learn more about boundaries so you’re not so reactionary to other people.

What’s a cultural tradition from another country that you wish existed in yours?

Public transit that is clean and reliable, store owners who sweep and clean the areas outside their stores, school kids who take ownership of their space and keep it clean out of respect to their classmates and others, mountainous areas left to nature and trails even in major cities, subways that are cleaned so regularly that I’ve seen them being mopped on multiple occasions, healthy food options at all convenience stores, a smaller wealth gap so that even people working in clothing retail can afford to travel abroad on occasion, eating out food doesn’t hurt your health because the quality is better, and a national healthcare system where you almost never pay more than $5 between both the day-of doctor visit and the medicine prescribed. Some shout outs to things Japan got right.

What’s a fear you’ve overcome — and how did you do it?

I’m tall and always was afraid a short haircut would make me look like a man. So I cut it short. It still looked feminine and cute, and I went a bit shorter the next time. Around the same time, I got my ears pierced for the first time in my mid thirties. Also around that time I finally overcame my fear of free weights by taking 3 months of training at the gym. Woot woot!

How do you build loyal subscribers?

I’m really not sure I’m the best person to answer this but I’ve been using chat GPT to help me come up with methods. Consistency seems to be important, more so than perfection. Also finding out what the people are googling and helping them find answers for those specific questions seems more valuable for them. I’ve kind of started from scratch over the last 2 months working in real estate since beforehand, I never did much with my social media and didn’t even really use them. I’ve never been a big fan of technology and upgraded from my flip phone perhaps 5 years ago?