Please give a brief background on yourself and your career.
I publish comics and graphic novels for women and girls under the imprint Alpha Girl Comics and I’m a freelance writer for comics publishers like DC and Vertigo.
I’ve done a little bit of everything – At Wellesley I took a semester off to start an Asian American magazine. I came back to finish and then became the executive director of the Asian American Arts Alliance. From there I ended up running the management consulting program for nonprofits at the United Way of New York City. I wanted to get more global experience, so I did a stint in Hong Kong doing luxury brand PR. After two years in Hong Kong, I left to attend Harvard Business School. I decided to try conventional Fortune 500 style management consulting for two years. Then I became an independent consultant for biotech startups which I did while getting married and starting a family. About four years ago, a writer friend floated the idea of a startup to make comics for the YA market and we formed Alpha Girl.
How has your career changed since you originally envisioned it at Wellesley? What other careers did you consider as a student?
I think when I applied to Wellesley I put down pre-med because it’s what the smart, respectable kids did. I also applied and got into the dual degree program with MIT to double hedge my bets. My plan was to do economics at Wellesley and Media Lab at MIT. At school, like a lot of students, I was influenced by what was hot, which at the time was banking, consulting, and advertising. I ended up taking the classes I was interested in and graduated with a BA in East Asian Studies and a SB in Architectural Design at MIT.
I started Alpha Girl Comics as the publisher. I have several years of experience writing business plans and Powerpoint presentations but never thought I would be good at writing fiction. Just for fun, I wrote Saving Abby, a sci-fi action comic about a female taxi driver, and people really liked it. It’s what led me to get a Wonder Woman story, and now a book I’m doing for Vertigo this fall.
How has Wellesley contributed to your career?
It may sound funny, but I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for the skills and confidence I learned while at Wellesley. In high school I was very, very shy and had trouble speaking. Now I speak on and moderate panels all the time. It’s changing, but in mainstream comics, especially the superhero kind, it is still very much male dominated on the professional side even though the fan base has changed. I make sure to attend and speak at as many comic-cons I can, just to show that women are active and have a voice in this business.
What is a typical work day or work week like for you?
It’s pretty varied and hard to predict. For example, this is my current week: Monday I sent in a one page pitch to Valiant Comics – they asked me to come up with story ideas for a military character (who happens to be a woman). Tuesday I was in the New York DC Comics offices meeting with editors to discuss some changes in my mystery series that will come out later this year. This morning I wrote a scene for a book I’m doing with one of the Green Lantern artists and my contribution for this blog. This afternoon I have a call to discuss a comic for DMC of RUN DMC. By tomorrow I need to finish the script for a comic book for the Baltimore Museum of Art. Friday I’m flying to Ball State University where I’m lecturing on comics to a class. And Saturday I’m signing my Wonder Woman story at the Aw Yeah Comics! store in Muncie, Indiana.
What piece of advice would you offer students looking to get into your area of interest and expertise?
On the creative side, work on honing your storytelling skills, whether it’s writing or drawing. And self publish. It’s how you get noticed in this business.
What do you wish you had known as a student?
Grades matter a lot less than you think.
If you could come back and take one class at Wellesley what would it be?
WRIT 135 Living in the Age of the Anti-Hero looks really interesting!