I was lucky in that my upbringing surrounded me with the Silicon Valley startup scene. The concept of starting your own business - and getting involved in tech - seemed natural to me. If there was ever a problem, I usually wouldn't accept that something wasn't possible. I'd consider other ways we could solve it or get around it. This is a trait I still have and has stuck with me. I think it helps me a lot in business... although in day-to-day life I know I can frustrate people! I also studied Japanese in school and ended up living in Tokyo and working in market research for my first job.

My interest in globalism kept taking me farther and farther away from California. When I completed my masters in London, I got involved in London's startup ecosystem as I had founded the UK branch of my family's software development business. I learned how to sell software. It wasn't easy -- I think my background in Silicon Valley is what kept me going through it. It didn't make sense to me that because I was young and a woman, people wouldn't trust what I was selling. I did make some fantastic connections doing that, and they carried over into my next business. Once I founded Tokyoesque, we became purveyors of information about innovation / tech for our Japanese clients.