“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” - Seneca

I often point to luck when asked about my career choices as a gemologist turned lawyer and mediator. I am lucky not because I have discovered my personal calling early in life. Rather, I am lucky because I can recognize when an opportunity strikes and having the preparation and conditions be favorable to seize these opportunities. This sense of luck is called “timing.”

Pursuing mediation as a career is not only a professional decision but also a deep personal calling. My path to mediation is far from being perfectly linear, but my lived experience, filled by a collection of stories—mostly serendipitous moments and a roundabout exercise of connecting the dots, multigenerational upbringing, and legal education have shaped me in such a way that I can now envision the important differences I might make as a connector and facilitator for a more just and balanced commercial ecosystem.

Some might think that I am being idealistic, while others might praise my ability to stay grounded in this seemingly complicated world….

I realize now that I have been preparing for this role as early as 12 years old, when I was entrusted to help my family sustain our little jewelry shop—a 45-year-old local establishment that continues to thrive today. Its success rests in the strength of our family unity, strong work ethics, and interpersonal relationships that we cultivated with local communities, grounded in trust and integrity. The hardship, grit, and perseverance that my elders endured as Vietnam War refugees were of no familiarity to most American children in my generation. Despite their humble beginnings, they continued to emphasize a life guided by service and purpose, which can mean different things for different people—in big, small, and sometimes not so visible ways. This became the “why” that sparked my early interest in pursuing a purpose-driven career.

For over two decades, my exposure to large legal networks, professional experience in various disciplines across both public and private sectors, and personal travels to certain remote parts of the world have broadened my perspective and piqued my interest in exploring the different ways that business owners, like my parents, and future generations can assume a bigger role if they are educated, empowered, and informed about their industry’s impact. Some businesses might innocently govern their enterprise based on their limited knowledge and often within the scope of their own locale and accustomed standards and norms, while others might deliberately exploit certain practices, both resulting in varying degrees of unintended consequences. This reality expands beyond any one industry and is, therefore, the reason why we should aim to speak a common language—a language that understands both the business needs of global commercial operations and the personal needs of communities that support them.

Lawyers and mediators, alike, are uniquely positioned to assist business enterprises and communities in active disputes to reach solutions that are both profitable and principled and of mutual benefit for all.