If I wasn’t working n tech, I would be a musician or a makeup artist. I love to create, so   it would be something that would be a vessel for a creation and expression. Music has been my first love (even more so than programming), and has contributed so much to my life, as well. I can’t imagine life without either. Also, my biggest dream is to own a Corgi and a black British Shorthair cat.

The process of watching something you love grow into a full, blossoming product that helps other people. Just the stunning process of watching your work evolve over time is a treat like no other. This is probably a strong hyperbole, but it’s one that a lot of people in the tech industry echo; It feels like your child. You’re there every step of the way. I know my code inside out. Every aspect was designed by me. The UI, UX, descriptions, marketing materials, names, branding, content of the apps, code, is all created by me. I watched it grow from a simple notebook sketch to this huge influence in my life. I’ve watched it grow, and I’ve had the privilege of growing, too.

definitely have things that I need to work on, and that’s one of them. There’s a balance between wanting to help others, and needing to help yourself, and it’s something that comes with the job. I definitely look for warning signs when I get tired. Usually, my depressive tendencies come back, I lose my appetite, and I become easily irritated. That’s when I either scale back the work I’m doing, or find ways or take care of myself in between it. Self care, medication, therapy, exercise, and everything in between is essential to making sure that I’m healthy enough to continue doing what I need to do.

Do what you’re passionate about. Business is hard; especially in tech. If you’re not passionate about the problem you’re solving, you’re wasting your time. You have time on this earth to make an impact. Make sure it’s the impact you want to make.

As I mentioned above, I’m pretty infatuated by space. I always knew that I wanted to create a company to overhead my apps and all of that jazz. I just was never certain it was the right thing to do. Another thing I mentioned earlier was that I loved music. I found this album entitled ‘Atlas: Space’ back in January when another startup I was apart of was dissolving. The impending end of that startup really tore me apart, and I was falling into a pattern of depression. I remember listening to that album, which details love, mental health, and recovery and just crying because while I listened to it, I came up with the idea for a non-profit that would later become Astra Labs. It was like a very cheesy indie music video of me seeing my future flash before my life to this beautiful soundtrack. Astra was completely new to me. It was the first time I was building an actual company, (which I was the only employee of at the time) and I wanted it to be mine as much as anything. I named it Astra (the stars in latin) because I wanted it to represent the unity and peace inspired by humanity to look to the sky at night. I created the branding off of colors I loved, and I built my dream company. I dropped out, and I haven’t looked back since.