APAHM 2011 – Conference Recap Part I

Intro

It was a pleasure for FoundAsians to attend the 2011 Asian Pacific American Visionaries Conference presented by Verizon Wireless at the Webster Hall Grand Ballroom in NYC. Also, we want to give a shout-out to Giancarlo Pacheco, the incredible team over at Plan-C Agency and the five guest speakers for putting on this great event. Below is a recap of each visionary’s personal anecdotes, words of wisdom and our key takeaways.

Editor’s notes: All factual accounts herein are from our best mental recollection and confirmed through research where available. Some paraphrased portions were stated in a facetious tone by the speaker but not mentioned below for the sake of simplicity. Please advise of any inaccuracies that should be corrected in the comments section.

Since early childhood, Christine Gambito’s mother would constantly remind her to wear a half slip under her dresses and skirts. With a pronounced Filipino accent, the word instead came out as “hape-slip.” Thinking her mother said “happy slip” her classmates would tease her by asking her where her sad slip was. This phrase became so deeply ingrained in Christine’s head that it eventually became her screen name on her popular YouTube page. The name also lends to the fact that Christine hopes her fans “slip into happiness” while watching her videos.

Growing up, Christine’s father noticed that she did not talk that much and would eye each member of the household very closely. He would later learn that Christine was only studying them carefully in order to mimic them later. She would eventually be asked to imitate various members at every family gathering. These impromptu performances would serve as a stepping stone for her years later.

Prior to her meteoric rise as HappySlip, Christine was a LPN (licensed practical nurse), right in line with the popular stereotype. Though it was a stable career and pleased her parents, her gift in imitations became her calling card and led to her original online comedy sketches. Till this day, Christine’s mom does not fully understand what she does on YouTube with her various alter egos. However, as long as it makes money, her parents are all for it.

Key takeaway: Christine mockingly stated that she wish someone would have told her that she did not have to clean old people’s behinds to get to where she is today. Metaphorically, the takeaway here is that you do not have to cater to other people’s plans for you. You can define your own success by being a trailblazer.

SuChin’s family immigrated from South Korea when she was five years old. Growing up, she naively thought that each family had a TV that spoke their language – her Caucasian counterparts had English speaking TVs while her family had a Korean speaking TV, unaware that their TV was connected to a VCR playing Korean dramas.

At the age of 16, she landed her first TV hosting gig on a show called Straight Talk ‘N Teens. Fast forward years later, while Suchin was doing a feature story on the widespread double eyelid surgery amongst Asians, she had her mind set on getting the procedure done herself. She later decided not to go under the knife and accepted who she is and how she looks.

SuChin was always a natural in front of the camera as a host and interviewer. Despite her parents’ plea to explore a more stable career and consider pursuing a law degree, she stuck to her passion and has had a successful career as a news correspondent.

Key takeaway: The media projects images of what is considered beautiful. However, beauty is unique to each and every individual.

Jenny was born in California and adopted by a Japanese couple. In her early childhood, her mom would tell Jenny that her blonde classmates with light colored eyes were photogenic and that she was not. Jenny, always drawn to cars, would pretend to pump gas on the family car and check all the fluids under the hood. Despite having no definitive direction in her life, there was always an inner voice telling her that everything was going to be alright.

In middle school, Jenny thought that she “peaked in 8th grade” being class president. While skipping out on many classes in high school, and still managing to get good grades, Jenny did not even consider college. One memorable moment of her short college career was when a professor asked the class, “What are you all doing here?” This lit a bulb as Jenny realized that college was not for her. She would later drop out and move to L.A. to pursue her passion of working on cars as a mechanic. One night while saddling her motorcycle outside of a nightclub, Jenny had a chance encounter with a casting director that would eventually lead to a distinguished modeling career.

Jenny’s career began with her modeling for Calvin Klein. After many years in modeling and doing spreads for all the major designers in the industry, she asked her friend Naomi Campbell what is the best job for a model. Naomi’s answer was the highly exclusive Pirelli Calendar, which Jenny subsequently landed in. Once again, Jenny thought she “peaked” and could retire. Not satisfied with all the glitz and glamour of modeling, Jennifer retreated to her passion of being a mechanic in a garage once again.

Key takeaways:
(1) Jenny advised up and coming models to be extremely patient as it can be a lengthy waiting game to succeed in this career. However, the modeling industry is changing as there is now more ethnic representation and with the right set of circumstances, a new model can instantly become a supermodel overnight.

(2) Jenny personifies a carefree, live-in-the-moment lifestyle. On the flipside, any time Jenny was faced with nerve-wracking obstacles that made her hot and sweaty, she would take it heads on. This has done nothing but open doors and taken her to places beyond her wildest dreams. Jenny’s unrelenting attitude, along with the innate belief that “everything is going to be alright” has been the key to this openly gay icon’s success.

Continue to Part II with Cung Le and Teddy Zee…

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• APAHM 2011 – Conference Recap Part II
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