I grew up as an only child of immigrant parents in Northern California and became the first in my family to graduate from a four-year university in the US. I felt drawn to marketing as a way to connect and build relationships through storytelling, but no one in my family had experience in the field. I completed a degree in nursing and worked as a school nurse for four years, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to change careers and revisit my interest in marketing. I learned about COOP, a nonprofit organization that aims to address underemployment for first-generation college graduates, and applied to their digital marketing track. COOP provided me with rigorous digital marketing training and support, ultimately leading to a job at a digital marketing agency. I now market to diverse communities, including Asian Americans, and am proud to play a part in ensuring that our marketing is representative of people like me. COOP and Google’s Talent Match have shown me the importance of taking risks and believing in myself, and I believe that with hard work and determination, individuals have the power to shape their own story. Companies in the New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey area can register for an upcoming Talent Match event on December 7th for more information about COOP.