lover of travel and food

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Foragers Present started as a small business just before the pandemic in 2019. Located in San Francisco’s Mission district, right on Valencia Street, I was proud to be part of the longest stretch of independent retailers in the country – at the time, there were no large chain stores for 2 miles. An avid food lover and traveler, the location was part event space, retail food & shop and snack bar, dedicated to highlighting small batch food producers and aspiring and accomplished chefs with backgrounds from all over the globe. In 2022, I moved back to my hometown NYC and decided to continue Foragers Present online.

Early On

I’ve been walking the line between art and science since double majoring in drama and finance at NYU Gallatin. I went from being an aspiring actress, which I consider my first entrepreneurial venture, to a VP on Wall Street, where I worked in sales & marketing for over a decade. Highlights include watching the live Shack cam outside the first Shake Shack to determine the optimal time to get a burger in Madison Square Park and fortuitously moving to a new gig just before the collapse of the financial markets in 2008. After the birth of my 2nd daughter I succumbed to my next venture and founded bit+piece, a women’s fashion venture in Nolita named one of NYC’s best indie shops by Time Out magazine. Shortly thereafter my family took a chance on moving to California where I worked for several well-renowned consumer commerce companies in the San Francisco Bay Area in various senior strategic marketing and management roles.

Currently

During the pandemic, I led the hospitality sales team at food & beverage business incubator La Cocina in San Francisco. Since 2005 La Cocina has focused on small business incubation with a vision to increase inclusivity in the food industry and offer equitable opportunities for living-wage work and asset generation. I was introduced to the La Cocina family through Foragers Present and value so much of what I learned working at my first non-profit. In 2020, I was proud to be appointed to serve as a trustee on the governing board of the LLESD school district (which was unfortunately embroiled in a newsworthy Twitter scandal). I currently serve on the board of Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF), the nation’s only pan-Asian children and families’ advocacy organization bringing together community-based organizations as well as youth and community allies to fight for equity for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI).