“When you learn, teach. When you get, give.” —Dr. Maya Angelou

Eloquent, simple, deep. This quote defines the foundation in which I live, both in my personal and professional life. I’ve had a lot of job titles in the past. My first job was selling rattan baskets at a flea market with my uncle. Then there was the movie theater, financial aid officer in college, waiter, retail cashier, instructor at the Academy of Art University and University of San Francisco, host/reporter of a PBS show, TV reporter and currently, “Chief Inspirator” of Go Inspire Go. The list goes on, but there’s an underlying theme to all of the jobs — teacher.

As a child growing up in a lower socio-economic area of South Sacramento, I had three dreams that I kept quietly inside: be a TV reporter in a big city, do anything related to PBS (PBS was a teacher of sorts — I learned English and was entertained by Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow and Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood), and be a teacher. Dreams I was embarrassed to share because they weren’t the American dreams my parents had for me.

Looking back, I can’t help but get chills writing this blog. Why? Because, despite my sordid start, I achieved all three dreams (and more) by the age of 30. When I was 10, I remember how I had thought that my voice DID NOT matter. Who would want to listen to this Chinese boy’s message? What did I have to say that was of worth anyway? I didn’t think I had a message or a gift to give anyone.

Little did I know that I would manifest my dreams ten-fold. Yes, I am literally a teacher at the university level, but I feel like I’m teaching and learning from every facet of my life as the founder of Go Inspire Go and through our Go Inspire Go “Community Heroes” Youth Lesson on Compassion program.

I believe everyone we meet are our teachers — everybody! The nice, and even not so pleasant folks, teach us something and add value to our lives. I had many teachers along the way. Here are three who impacted my life personally, professionally and spiritually.

1. Ma (my grandmother)

Ah Ma was my father’s mother who helped raised us. She struggled more than anyone I’ve ever met. She lost her husband in her early 20s, fled China and became homeless with three children. She would eventually outlive all five of her children. Throughout all the heartache and challenges, she always seemed to embody a sense of joy. I remember being by her side throughout my childhood soaking in her grandmotherly wisdom. She instilled morals, values and life lessons through her stories, wounds and words. She taught me to be kind, humble and live in balance. She was my first hero.

2. Carolyn Weber

Carolyn is a tall, beautiful, wickedly intelligent woman who was an assistant professor at my alma mater, the University of San Francisco. She was the first person to validate my obsession with the art of human connection, creative writing and helped me discover my gift for connecting with people through conversation.

Growing up with immigrant Asian parents who wanted me to be a “doctor, lawyer, engineer” was stressful. Secretly, I wanted to do something with words instead. I wanted to become a writer, journalist and teacher. When I was younger, I would often read the words on shampoo bottles aloud in the shower: “Rinse, lather, repeat.” I would read my favorite children’s books aloud, pretending to give each one a unique voice. I would dream that one day, I could tell everyone stories for a living and use the power I knew I had to help people realize their own power.

Taking Carolyn’s class ignited the power inside of me. I remember the first assignment: write a one-page paper about a moment in your life that changed you. I don’t remember what I wrote about — that’s how petrified I was that she would expose me. Scenarios played in my 20-something-year-old head as to how she would react and rip me a new one. I feared that she would tell me that I didn’t belong in her class.

The next week, I sauntered to her class, palms sweaty, heart beating, blurred vision. She handed me the paper and in perfect red penmanship it read, “You are such a gifted and lively writer. What will you do with your talents?”

For the first time in my life, someone validated my passion and my gift, which became an integral part of my life’s work.

3. Oprah

Although I haven’t met Lady O (yet), she has had a huge impact on my young self. As a kid, I didn’t see any Asian male TV hosts and very few Asian males on TV. I remember watching most of her shows, even the ones that didn’t resonate with me (like the “Are you wearing the wrong bra?” episode) so I could study the way she read the prompter and connected to her viewers and audience. It didn’t seem like she was reading, rather, it seemed she was just talking to us.

I realized that she wasn’t in the business of TV. Her show was the vehicle to deliver the stories to her fans. She was in the business of connecting people. It didn’t seem to matter whether she was interviewing celebrities like Julia Roberts or a homeless, transgendered person. She still made you feel their pain and celebrate their triumphs.

She taught me about being my authentic self, having the courage to follow my passion and to use my talents — and platform — to serve humanity. The trajectory of my life changed after hearing her say, “Once you know, you can’t pretend you don’t.” Those words planted the seed for what I do today.

Perhaps the biggest lesson I learned was: If you give yourself permission to dream, dare to follow your passion and set your intentions into action, you manifest what Oprah says is the “fullest expression of yourself.”

I think the highest honor and the biggest gift you can give to others is to teach them something that’s added value to your life. It is then that the gift will be regifted. I learned that you don’t have to be rich or famous to make a difference. Although it would be fabulous to say, “You get a car, and you get a car.” LOL.

I have the best job in the world through Go Inspire Go. I discover everyday heroes, tell their authentic stories and leverage social media so that my viewers discover and use their true powers to help others. It’s because of these phenomenal teachers in my life that I’ve become my fullest self. I’ve found joy. That’s why I teach and that’s why I give. It doesn’t get better than that!

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The post Happy National Teacher Day: 3 Teachers Who Changed My Life appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

One small act can truly change the world.

Just ask Phoebe, a six-year-old first grader who inspired her community to enthusiastically support her aluminum can and letter writing fundraising campaign. After seeing homeless people in her San Francisco neighborhood when she was in preschool, she felt two things: sadness and a desire to help. She eventually inspired contributions to cover 135,000 meals for the needy, donated by the San Francisco Food Bank. First Lady Michelle Obama also wrote her a personal note to congratulate her.

Then there’s Caitlin Boyle, whose operation is beautiful from the inside out. After having a bad self-esteem moment (who doesn’t have those?), what’s a girl to do? Do something kind for others. Not everyone would conclude, or put this positive thought into action. Caitlin scribbled, “You are beautiful” on a piece of paper and stuck it on the mirror of the public bathroom at her community college in Florida. She blogged about the experience. Worldwide response action ensued with readers posting their own notes. As fate would have it, those words of encouragement turned around days for weary folks. Some smiled and in some cases, some recipients of the random note decided not to commit suicide.

In New York, Jorge Munoz, a school bus driver, has been cooking, packing and delivering food to the 140+ hungry people who wait under a subway stop in Queens, New York every night at 9:30. For many years, he’s used half of his weekly salary of $700 to buy food and supplies. Then, CNN, Go Inspire Go and other media outlets shared his story.

Hungry for more? The Yahoo! For Good do-gooders asked me to report and blog about 10 Inspiring Acts of 2010, where we featured 10 folks, including the three above, who did one small act of kindness that rippled out to big changes!

This was an epiphany for me because of my sordid childhood.

Growing up in the ghetto as an immigrant from Vietnam, all 10 of my family members crammed into a small trailer. People said “Wow, that sucks.” However, if you ask any of my family members, they’ll tell you quite the contrary. My mom says, “We were so happy, we were safe, all together and we clung onto hope and opportunity.”

Books were my passport out of the ghetto. I voraciously read every single thing I could find. I remember even reading the shampoo bottle in the bathroom out loud everyday as a kid. Many of the words I’ve learned became my everyday vernacular. I tried very carefully not to slip up and use words like “enamored” around the neighborhood bullies. I was unsuccessful. The neighborhood kids would often say, “$##*!” why you tryin’ to be white?” (I never could understand why being able to conjugate my verbs and speaking in complete sentences meant that I was acting white.)

I let them have my power.

They stole my voice and I became quiet — until college — that’s when I realized that through my voice, was my gift, my power.

In red ink, my expository writing teacher, Carolyn Weber wrote on one of my papers: “You are a gifted and talented writer. I hope you do something with it in your life.” This woke me up. It created a shift. Against my parent’s behest — to become a doctor, lawyer or engineer — I went on to do TV news, but was still unfulfilled after 10 years in the biz.

The biggest gift given to me in my adult life was being laid off from my big market TV reporting gig. During a run shortly after being axed, I “woke up” and decided to make a drastic move. As soon as I realized the intent and meaning in my life, clarity followed. I promised myself that I would eat out less, shop less and take a year off of work to use my gift for storytelling to give back. I did not have a huge savings. I was worried about how I would make ends meet after a few months. I was not rich, am not rich and have turned down many lucrative jobs to continue my mission. To pay the bills, I teach two days a week at a local university. The small YouTube channel became Go Inspire Go aka GIG. Since launching GIG year and a half ago, so many miracles — large and small — have transpired. I’ve met so many amazing people who did one small thing, that created big changes. I’ve also crossed paths with those who helped complete the circle of giving, those who were inspired to reach out and help the inspiring people we’ve featured.

My new GIG allows me to be the voice for the voiceless. With every story, every blog, I try to inspire my viewers/readers to do what I did: “Discover and use their power (talents, gift, network, etc.) to help others.”

This holiday season, give the best gift of all — yourself. I hope you’re inspired by my Yahoo! 2010 Inspiring Acts blog.

Be inspired. Take action. For more inspirational stories go to Go Inspire Go.

What can YOU do?

The post Small Acts. Big Changes. What Can YOU Do? appeared first on Go Inspire Go.