In college, I gravitated towards economics because it gave me the tools to make sense of how we allocate our scarce resources, while accounting taught me how to assess the financial health of businesses. Though interning for Ernst and Young my sophomore summer was a great learning experience, it made me realize a career in auditing was not exactly what I was searching for.
Fascinated by tech and entrepreneurship, I spent an off-campus study semester in Silicon Valley my junior year. I worked as a Business Development Intern at Esper, a scheduling and virtual assistant startup, while taking courses on Saturdays with CMC faculty. During that time I also rediscovered my interest in design when I returned to campus and worked as a Graphic Designer helping CMC's Institute of Political Economy with their conference publications.
By this time, I had taken enough psychology courses that I was able to dual major in it.
I enjoyed conducting experiments to learn more about human behavior and felt that economics and psychology gave me equally important lenses through which to view the world. For my senior thesis, I was even able to combine my passion for both subjects into a research proposal that explored the link between personality traits and financial behavioral biases.
Ever since my semester in Silicon Valley, I knew 2 things. The first was I wanted to work in tech while the second was business development was not the role I was interested in. It was while taking a financial modeling course that I became fascinated with the venture capital industry and its role in funding innovation. UVA's Masters in Commerce program helped me immensely in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the capital markets and securing a analyst position at a leading corporate VC in Thailand.
After graduating from UVA, I worked for Bangkok Bank's InnoHub FinTech Accelerator and investment team as a Analyst. It was an amazing opportunity to immerse myself in technology and explore the fundamentals for building a successful business. In fact, it was while working on a digital wallet project here that I first saw the human-centered design process in action and fell in love with its multi-faceted approach to product development.
Much like how Neo in The Matrix took the red pill and stayed in wonderland to see how deep the rabbit hole went, I wanted to learn as much as I could about human-centered design. So much so that after I got back from the Thai Military I turned down a full-time offer to return to Bangkok Bank to instead accept a UX internship with Ahancer. Although it was a terrifying decision, I finally knew the direction of my compass. Fortunately, I was offered a full-time position to stay on with the team and have been working here ever since.
Claremont McKenna College
In college, I gravitated towards economics because it gave me the tools to make sense of how we allocate our scarce resources, while accounting taught me how to assess the financial health of businesses. Though interning for Ernst and Young my sophomore summer was a great learning experience, it made me realize a career in auditing was not exactly what I was searching for.
A semester in Silicon Valley
Fascinated by tech and entrepreneurship, I spent an off-campus study semester in Silicon Valley my junior year. I interned at Esper, a scheduling and virtual assistant startup, while taking courses on Saturdays with CMC faculty. During that time I also rediscovered my interest in design and when I returned to campus worked as a Graphic Designer helping CMC's Institute of Political Economy with their conference publications.
Dual majoring in Psychology
By this time, I had taken enough psychology courses that I was able to dual major in it.
I enjoyed conducting experiments to learn more about human behavior and felt that economics and psychology gave me equally important lenses through which to view the world. For my senior thesis, I was even able to combine my passion for both subjects into a research proposal that explored the link between personality traits and financial behavioral biases.
University of Virginia
Ever since my semester in Silicon Valley, I knew I wanted to work in tech, but I had difficulty figuring out what exactly I wanted to do. It was while taking a financial modeling course senior year of undergrad that I became fascinated with the venture capital industry and its role in funding innovation. UVA's Masters in Commerce program helped me immensely in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the capital markets - I felt prepared for a career in investing.
Bangkok Bank & INNOHUB
After graduating from UVA, I worked for Bangkok Bank's InnoHub FinTech Accelerator and investment team as a Investment Analyst. It was an amazing opportunity to immerse myself in technology and explore the fundamentals for building a successful business. In fact, it was while working on a digital wallet project that I saw the HCI design process in action for the first time and fell in love with how it applied human behavioral insights and meticulous research to product development.
The Pivot to UX
Much like how Neo in The Matrix took the red pill and stayed in wonderland to see how deep the rabbit hole went, I wanted to learn as much as I could about human-centered design. So much so that after I got back from the Thai Military I turned down a full-time offer to return to Bangkok Bank to instead accept a UX internship with Ahancer. Although it was a terrifying decision, I finally knew the direction of my compass. Fortunately, I was offered a full-time position to stay on with the team and have been working here ever since.
