Who or what is your inspiration in business?

My inspiration is every artist and author who deserves to be paid for their work but has been pushed aside by an industry that performs diversity without delivering it. As a biracial Filipina creator, I know what it feels like to be underrepresented. I built Tides Collide Publishing because I refused to wait for traditional publishing to catch up. I want to be the door I never had.

How do you stay motivated?

I stay motivated because I cannot imagine a life where I'm not producing stories where my own children have representation. I look at them and see a need that exists for a lot of readers. I know there are authors desperate to fill those voids too. I have the ability to help fill that gap and that's what keeps me going.

What would you do with the $25,000?

This funding would scale Tides Collide Publishing's growth. Events are our highest revenue channel, where we sell directly to readers who show up specifically for diverse, intersectional fiction. More events means more inventory, more connections, and more revenue. I would also invest in professional marketing and hire diverse narrators for audiobook production. Every dollar would go toward building a press that gives diverse, intersectional stories the platform they deserve.