Where you grew up and your background can often have surprising effects on our lives and careers. We’ve asked folks from the community to tell us about how their background has affected them.

Annie R U Ok To Nom | Content Creator

I was born and raised in Dallas! I am a child of immigrants, so I also grew up in the diaspora. It’s interesting to notice the parallel between my parents’ lives and mine. We are ethnically Chinese, and my parents grew up in Vietnam. So in a sense,they were also caught between cultures. Read more>>

Andrea Tabor | Executive Director–Twelfth Step Ministry

My family is originally from El Paso, Texas When I turned 16 years old we moved to a small community on the border of Texas and New Mexico called Chaparral, N.M. As a young child some of my fondest memories are of my mother, brother and I selecting a family to support from a local radio station. Read more>>

Zaravia Loyd | Photographer & Graphic Designer

I’m from Dallas, Texas. Growing up I saw my parents working their jobs but on the side doing what they loved. With my father he was an artist so my entire childhood I would watch him creating art. My mother was always on the go, working, while earning her masters then coming home and cooking dinner and doing homework and helping with my homework. Read more>>

Kamini Mamdani | Founder, CHAI.COM

My grandparents moved from Gujarat, India to Johannesburg South Africa, where I was born. We moved to Dallas in 1979 because of Apartheid system of social discrimination in South Africa. My roots and my heritage define who I am, how I live my life and what I hold dear. Read more>>