what do you want to know?

my name is Lily Zhang, and I'm currently a student at NYU Stern studying finance and pursuing a minor in public health. so nice to meet you!

I'm originally born and raised in a suburb of atlanta, georgia, to chinese immigrant parents. my professional interests lie across industries - fintech, consumer goods and electronics, venture capital - but one thing persists. i think it's really interesting to look at the way things get to how they are.

for instance, something that I've heard plenty about as of late (05/08/2022) is that twitter's users are concentrated within certain corporate industries - namely tech, duh. but why is that so? why is it that apps like blind, fishbowl, and even yikyak are the ones that bored, frustrated, burnt out employees want to use to vent? i think there's something there from the linguistics of it all: that short complaints are easier to express said frustration with, instead of formualating long arguments at lunch.

or another one - why do certain brands and trends die, and other revive? a little outdated, but the one ever-present for me is the wave of minimialism from the 2010s. perhaps historically originating with kinfolk magazine, it was reflected across the consumer goods industries. it said, less is more! "clean" is better! sleek is the new sexy! now, i know there are specific arguments for practicing minimalism as a form of protest or even meditation. but i have always wondered, can I embrace maximalism, expressionism, energy without being explicitly exploitative/extractive/capitalistic? that future must exist, right?

so that's just some of the things I like to think about. in my personal life, I love to experience things. that is typically food, travel, and museums. in my short lifetime so far, i have only learned that there is so much more to learn from these institutions. and i want to learn more! my word of the year (2022) has so far been "progression" (reasons to be elucidated elsewhere). i'm hoping that something like this website will help me centralize my efforts, too.

on another note, i'm got a few personal directions too. as a list: going pescatarian, getting myself a tattoo, finishing this website, building my own "digital galleries", reading more, going back to yoga classes, getting another ear piercing. a lot, i know! but also, not that much. will keep you posted.

scott galloway signs off by writing, "life is so rich." i have my own version...

the world is so big,

lily z :P