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Hello, and thank you for joining
us for this conversation.

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I'm Diana Yao, and I'm here today
representing the Asian Photography

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Association, or APA.

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APA is a non-profit community
organization founded in

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2025 by a group of passionate
photographers who share a love

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for photography and a
commitment to public service.

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So, when I learned about Andrew's
journey, I felt an immediate and very

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personal resonance.

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Andrew, thank you for
being here today with us.

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Yeah, thank you. Yeah, rather
than having me to tell your story,

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I'd love for you to tell it yourself.

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Where would you like to begin?

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Well, I guess, let me start,
because people don't really know,

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you know, people tend to look at,

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you know, people they think
are successful and say,

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well, you know, they've
had, you know, they were,

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that success came easy, or this,
you know, they try to understand how

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successful people become successful.

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But maybe I'll start off a
little bit about, you know,

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where I grew up and how, you
know, how I view the world.

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I grew up in a small farm in the
Midwest with blue-collar steelworker

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parents. And we were always
practical, hands-on type people,

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which prompted me to get it, to like
to figure out how the world works,

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how to fix things, build
things, make things.

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And naturally, I went into engineering.

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So I studied engineering all the way
through the PhD when I was at Stanford.

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And I was really fortunate to be at
the right place at the right time.

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It was about 1993, Stanford,
and the internet just came out.

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And I just finished all my coursework
for my PhD, and all I had to do was my

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thesis. I was an entrepreneur and all
of a sudden this internet came out,

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and I'm like, well, what can I do with
it? And so I started the very first

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internet development company.

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But the problem was when you go
to talk about what you're doing,

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nobody knows what the internet was.

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And so I had to figure out how do I
build some websites so that I could show

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them to other people. And I just
got out of a relationship and such,

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and I just said, well, why don't I try
to bring people together for dating?

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You know, back then, the only thing,
if you were single and you wanted to

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find other people, you can
go to friends and such.

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But as most grad students know, you
don't have a lot of friends when you're

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a grad student. You're
focusing on studies.

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And the only thing you can do
is like newspaper ads and such.

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And I said, well, you know,

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the internet's perfect for this.

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You can, instead of having three lines
of text, you can have a full profile.

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And I was fortunate enough to create
one of the very first online dating

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companies, completely free at that point.

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But over the next 12, 13, 14 years,
I was able to build that up being

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a little bit the first mover advantage.

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You're the first site out there.

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And you get a lot, you can grow that way.

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But over 12 years, we had several
hundred million people on the website.

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And I went from a kid in a dorm
room to a 200 person company

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in which there's always
challenges going on.

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But, and you can imagine anybody who's
like studying engineering and ends up

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at Stanford, you have to have a certain
kind of intensity of what you do.

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You know, we're driven type people.

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We're always trying to succeed. You
know, you probably understand the type

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of person who's, you know, wants to
get good grades and wants to perform,

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you know, do all this stuff.
And when I ran the company,

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I was, you know, go, go,
go, this type of thing.

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And what I found at some point, at
some point I made plenty of money.

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I had what I call enough.

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But I was, I was, I had nothing,
nothing outside my life other than work.

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And I was, you know, 70,
80 hours a week type work.

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And I didn't know that all of a sudden
I realized that there was no joy in

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what I was doing. You know, at first
it was fun to build and this and that,

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but after 12 years it secretly started
weighing on me to a point where I

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didn't get any joy going, going to work.

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And I just, I had to get
away. I had to get away.

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So at 39, I decided to sell
the company and walk away.

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But what happens, I might just
ramble, I'll just talk a little more.

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But what happens when,

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after you go from, you know, 200
person company, you're the guy,

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you're the, you make
decisions, you go, go, go.

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And the next week I'm at,
at, at the supermarket.

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And the only question that I
can answer is paper or plastic,

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you know, and my whole world changed.

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You know, I went from, you
know, on one level, you know,

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top of my game to very, very quiet.

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And then I realized that it took, it
took many years before I kind of got

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through that, that phase where, you
know, it's, it's hard to retire at 39.

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No matter, you say, oh, I
wish I could retire at 39.

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But if you're, you know, all of a sudden
you realize everything you do from

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that moment on, it pales
in comparison to what you,

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the success you had. And so I, I
challenge, I went through a lot of,

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a lot of years trying to,
trying to figure out, you know,

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what is success? You know,
it's not, at some point,

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once you have money, the money is not
the thing, and money has never really

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been my motivation.

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It was always trying to help people.

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You know, I grew up in a family
where it's all about public service.

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And it's a lot, it's a lot more fun
to build things for other people when

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you serve them. But all of a
sudden I have nobody to serve.

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You know, I'm, I'm now just
Andrew and it was very quiet.

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And you know, I struggled for many
years to kind of complete my education.

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You know, one thing when you
go to school, like, well,

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by the time I graduated, had my
PhD, I had 30 employees at the time.

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And so I went straight from school
to work all the way through.

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I never had any, any other opportunities
other than tech and business and

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all this type of stuff, which, it's,
so it took several years to kind of

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fulfill the left, left part of my
brain where I started to get more

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complete. I studied a lot of, more
of the humanities and learning about

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how people are and had more time to
kind of understand and observe the

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world. And then, you know, I was
drifting around for a while until about

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six, seven years later, I was
looking for a New Year's resolution.

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You know, I'm a driven type guy and I
can, maybe, maybe I'll get on my funk

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if I have a, have a purpose
and so have a challenge.

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So I was talking to my friend
and, and she said, Andrew,

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why don't you learn
something worth remembering?

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And I, that appealed to me as
somebody who likes to learn,

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you know, and I said, so, and I, I
always, always had an eye for beauty.

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I mean, I, you know, from a
sunset to a nice hike in the,

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in the nature, you know, I, or even
just the, the great artists of the past,

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you know, I had an affinity. I said,
why not challenge myself to learn how

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to paint?

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And just my, my personal nature, I
said, okay, I'm going to paint one

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painting a day, every day for a year.

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And that was my first challenge.

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But what I, what I found is, you know,
as most, most creative people and

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photographers are no,
you know, no different.

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You're always trying to
find something beautiful to,

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to, to take a photo of.

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That's right. But when you're,
when you're painting every day,

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you have to always be at a
lookout for something beautiful.

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And after a few weeks of that, you
know, I started getting into the

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rhythm of painting. And one thing about
painting is that you don't have time

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for any regrets.

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You don't have any, like a lot, a lot
of things that cause people pain and

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suffering is regrets of the past
or anxiety or fears of the future.

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And totally agree.

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Totally agree. And what I, what, what
I learned later is that the simple

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process of slowing down, looking
at what you want to try to paint.

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I'm a realist painter. So it's similar
to a photographer where it's like,

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I take a photo and then
try to try to paint it.

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You know, I try to paint what I see.

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And no matter what your whole
life is going on in your,

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no matter what you're, what
you're thinking in life,

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when it comes down to focusing in the
moment, you are doing what's called

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active meditation.

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So the only thing you worry
about is getting the right color,

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putting it in the right space, and you
do this for hours every single day.

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And I realized over time that
it gave me a new identity.

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You know, back when I was running the
company, my identity was business guy

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or, you know, success, business, you
know, growth and all that stuff and

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problem solving and all that.

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And then the years went, went
by that I was like, what am I,

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if I'm not doing something, if I'm
not, if not giving or creating,

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serving.

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And, and if all of a sudden
when I realized to slow down,

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I no longer had regrets of the past.

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I started realizing that I was being
healed from inside by the simple act of

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slowing down and being, being
able to be more kind to yourself.

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And over a period of that first year
was such, such uplifting experience.

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I decided to do it for a second
year and I did, you know,

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so I ultimately painted three or
four or 500 paintings of the time.

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But more importantly, I realized that
there's happiness that you can get

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that's unrelated to most of the
things that other people are,

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think of our success career, finance.

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It's a moment of quiet that
gets to say, I'm okay, I'm good,

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I'm happy, you know, and that was
something I found was very powerful.

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What an impressive life journey.

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I think you just talk about success,
search and discover and the healing

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and then became a calling, right?

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So like it's, yeah, I mean, this
deeply resonates with me and

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you've achieved.

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I mean, like as an entrepreneur,
you've achieved what many people would

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consider the ultimate
definition of success, right?

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At some point, success
was no longer sustainable.

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And what were you really searching
for during those years of intense

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achievement? How did your understanding
of success change over time?

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Well, I mean, I've, I'm never one
who's, you know, chased money for

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success or, you know, I always wanted
to, success to me was being useful.

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Right. And that made, you get so much joy.

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It wasn't necessarily how much money
I was making on these websites.

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It was how many people were
using it and how, you know,

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how much benefit they got from that.

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And that was really fulfilling
that you wake up, oh,

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you know, oh, people are
using what you're doing.

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You're, you're, you have value. You
know, a lot of our value is based on,

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you know, a lot of people.

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And I've learned that put a lot of,

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you know, success of them might be, oh,
that they, they got a degree or they

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got, they got a high position job or,
but ultimately I learned that success

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is, is being at peace with yourself.

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Right. Because I, and one of the
things I really learned from my,

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my time kind of in my depressive years
was having greater sympathy for other

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people who are going through that.

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And I've learned, you know, that, you
know, almost a third of people have

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depressive times in their life.

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And a lot of people are
struggling to find meaning.

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And I realized that's, that's
a more universal thing.

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And I have, I've been so blessed to
have those dark years in my life because

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it gave me perspective on how,
how other people are suffering.

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And that's kind of led me now, maybe
eight years since I started all that

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to create this, this art foundation.

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Because I said, well, maybe if, if art,
the process of making art helped me,

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I realized how valuable that is to others.

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And I thought, well, let's
see what, let's see what,

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what could happen if I put some serious
time and resources into trying to

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create an art experience for people here.

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Wow. Yeah. That's really inspiring.

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One of the most difficult things
in life can be losing an identity.

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We've spent decades to build, right?

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So when burnout and depression brought
your successful careers to an end and

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the, the identity you build around
that success suddenly fell away.

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What was left? When you stand in the
supermarket, who were you when you were

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no longer Andrew, the entrepreneur?

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Well, unfortunately in my case,
it was ruminating on your failure.

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Because when I sold the
company, because I, oh, sorry.

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The thing that led me to sell
the company there originally is,

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is one you lost, I lost joy.

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And I lost joy because I
was, I was afraid of all the,

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all the difficulties and
challenges and problems.

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I just, I just wanted to get it away.

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And afterwards you're like, and after
that kind of stress drops and you're

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able to breathe, you know, a
couple of three, four weeks later,

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you start going,

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what, what an idiot I was.

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Why did I, why did I sell this company?

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I could have just kind of had
some therapy and gotten better,

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you know? And then for years
and years you had this regret.

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And regret is a really a
dangerous caustic thing.

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Is, you might have like, oh, if you
were in a relationship that broke up and

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didn't work out, you have, oh,
I wish I did something better.

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And you just, that, that
regret thing is a very,

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acidic thing to your soul.
And I think over time, I,

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I,

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figuring out how your, your success
is not related to how much is in your

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bank or what people,

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perhaps even think about
you. It's internal.

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It's, it's, do I like myself?

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You know? And I think that,

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having an identity that transcends,

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external trappings, you know?

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Successful business person is one
identity, but underneath that external,

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external,

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perspective, there's the
person underneath that.

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And that person is just, just a
human being, just like everyone else.

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We live in a, in a crazy society,

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in which,

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people can amass great fortunes as tech
people, that you can do these things

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that, you know, a hundred years ago,
you know, I would definitely not be

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able to, to have the success I have.

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I, but I'm the same person.

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So I realized how, how much circumstances
played a role of getting someone's

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identity. And it's so tempting
to embrace that identity and say,

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oh yeah, I'm that, that person.

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And you don't have time to develop
who you really are until you have

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challenges in your life. When
you get, you, you, you know,

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in my case, I walked away from the
company, but I could have been laid off.

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You know, a lot of people go through
that, maybe scary in the future that

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we're going to have some
layoffs in certain fields.

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And a lot of people are going to be
facing that reality where their identity

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is somehow stripped. Then who are they?

256
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And so like my experience might be
something that other people can,

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can relate to. Like when,
when, what they thought was,

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who they are is no longer there.

259
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I definitely can relate
to what you just said.

260
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Yeah. And you also mentioned
about the depression, right?

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The seven and eight years of depression,

262
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searching, trying to understand
what had happened to you.

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You also talk about you
create, discovered painting,

264
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right? And then you started one
painting a day and created 365 paintings

265
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in a single year. Wow.

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That was just so impressive.

267
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But at what point did you realize
that you were simply just making art,

268
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but art was actually
helping to remake you?

269
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Well, you know, it grows on you.

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Like at first you're just
trying to get something that,

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that other people than just
your mother would like.

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You know, if you grow up, I'm really
putting your paintings on the wall,

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on the, on the refrigerator.

274
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My purpose was simply just to
try to create something pretty.

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And that was, that gave me so much joy.

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It was remarkably fast
within a month or two.

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I started feeling a different identity.

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My identity was to get up every
day and try to capture beauty.

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And that was such a
fulfilling thing that I just,

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that I, that I was
secretly growing inside.

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And then now I, now I look at my,
that period of my time with so much,

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happiness because I was okay.

283
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I, I was, I was becoming more fulfilled.

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I was,

285
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and that, I think that's
changed my perspective.

286
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Like today, I, I don't really know what
my identity is other than to try to

287
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build things that other people
can value and get value from.

288
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And that's,

289
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it's, it's great because I,
I'm no longer limited to what,

290
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a title or a description might
be because I'm just Andrew.

291
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Wow. That's really, really great.

292
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Yeah. And I feel deeply
inspired that art became a,

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source of healing for you.

294
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And what was even more remarkable is
your own healing became a calling,

295
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a desire to help others to reconnect
with beauty, meaning and with one

296
00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:48,670
another. So when did you,

297
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begin to see that it was no longer
just about your own journey,

298
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but about something much
larger than yourself?

299
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Well, I think the first thing
to realize, that I realized is,

300
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is that suffering is pervasive.

301
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There are so many people who are
struggling in all sorts of different ways.

302
00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:10,120
You know, financial is just one
of them, emotional challenges.

303
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And I realized I had some, I,
I was connected to the greater,

304
00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,300
greater community of, of, of
sufferers out there and realize,

305
00:17:18,340 --> 00:17:19,940
okay, I'm not alone.

306
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You know, other people
are, are, are challenged.

307
00:17:22,020 --> 00:17:25,040
And, and the more I started
talking about my art experience,

308
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I talked to other creative people and
things I said resonated with them.

309
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So I, I knew that it's not just me.

310
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I just happened to, you know, for
me, it was, it was very healing and

311
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therapeutic. And then I realized, I
talked to a lot of other people and I

312
00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:40,910
realized that art gave them a joy as well.

313
00:17:41,140 --> 00:17:44,170
Like there's a reason why
people like being creative.

314
00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:45,850
And I said, okay, well,

315
00:17:46,620 --> 00:17:48,680
what can I do to help leverage that?

316
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Or, or how can I
participate in a larger way?

317
00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,450
And trying to bring these type of
creative experiences to others.

318
00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:56,940
And that's what's the original,
that's what the original,

319
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or, that's, that's how I started
the Conrad Art Foundation was,

320
00:18:01,540 --> 00:18:05,890
was an experiment. How can I use
some of the resources that I have to,

321
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officially give back, happiness to
others and let them experience the

322
00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:11,890
process that I've had. Yeah.

323
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I like what you said,
we are not alone, right?

324
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So we are here for each other.

325
00:18:17,140 --> 00:18:19,530
And it seems that you have,

326
00:18:20,100 --> 00:18:23,300
been trying to connect with people, right?

327
00:18:23,340 --> 00:18:27,000
First by building systems that
connecting people digitally.

328
00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:33,060
And now, like by creating spaces
that connect people on human level,

329
00:18:33,100 --> 00:18:34,590
right? So,

330
00:18:35,380 --> 00:18:41,320
looking ahead, what kind of impact
do you hope the Conrad Art Foundation

331
00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:45,630
and your work will have on Seattle
and the broader art community?

332
00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,980
I guess, you know, what's, what's my
goal with all the things I do here is,

333
00:18:50,020 --> 00:18:53,450
is to give the people of the Seattle area,

334
00:18:54,700 --> 00:18:57,750
something special. Something,
something to say that they're loved.

335
00:18:57,940 --> 00:19:01,660
Because when art artists of all
types, create, create their arts,

336
00:19:01,700 --> 00:19:04,780
they're doing it typically because
they want to send a love letter to the

337
00:19:04,820 --> 00:19:06,750
recipient of that. Right.

338
00:19:06,860 --> 00:19:10,780
And what I've been, what I'm trying
to do here is bring together our other

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00:19:10,820 --> 00:19:14,960
artists and leverage their
enthusiasm and their joy.

340
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:16,050
And to try to,

341
00:19:16,540 --> 00:19:20,830
bring art together, art with a
specific purpose in order to help,

342
00:19:21,140 --> 00:19:22,770
give people therapeutic value.

343
00:19:22,940 --> 00:19:25,980
It's like we have multiple
locations of this location here.

344
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We specialize in art that
has a human connection in it.

345
00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,040
So they're mostly opinions of
people in different phases of life.

346
00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:34,830
And you can, by just observing them,

347
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,530
you can sit, have a quiet time to
have a relationship with the artist.

348
00:19:39,980 --> 00:19:42,600
Because the artist is trying to
tell you something for each of these

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00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:47,960
paintings. And, by able to quiet, by
spend a half hour walking around and

350
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:52,400
looking at them, just that fact
reminds you that you're connected to,

351
00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:55,010
to people. And you're
absolutely correct that,

352
00:19:55,600 --> 00:20:00,160
art has the ability to bring people
together with, because nothing ever met,

353
00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:01,750
nothing of their background,

354
00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:06,370
is it important to, as compared
to how they feel in that moment.

355
00:20:06,820 --> 00:20:09,120
And so what I found is people
from all sorts of backgrounds,

356
00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:10,870
even political different differences,

357
00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:13,710
melt away when you're
standing in front of beauty.

358
00:20:13,940 --> 00:20:16,070
And it just has this
really amazing power to,

359
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:18,970
remind us who we, who we are inside.

360
00:20:19,090 --> 00:20:23,530
Wow, yeah. I really like your vision
to build a broad and inclusive art

361
00:20:23,570 --> 00:20:25,720
community for artists, right?

362
00:20:26,090 --> 00:20:31,750
So, but what are the biggest
challenges to see in turning that

363
00:20:31,790 --> 00:20:33,400
vision into reality?

364
00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:34,950
And given our Asian,

365
00:20:35,860 --> 00:20:41,560
Asian photography association, you
know, we share, very many of the same

366
00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:42,600
values.

367
00:20:42,940 --> 00:20:47,160
And what are the opportunities to
see that we can work together and to

368
00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:48,680
contribute to that vision?

369
00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:51,460
Wow. Well, I think, I think
every creative person has,

370
00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:56,750
has the ability to make
somebody, understand life and to,

371
00:20:57,540 --> 00:20:59,760
to break through some of
their, their, their problems.

372
00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:02,080
Even just, you know, seeing
something beautiful is,

373
00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:03,430
is, is key on that.

374
00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:06,630
But I'm trying to, it's on a shift
because you're talking about,

375
00:21:07,340 --> 00:21:10,670
the Asian art community, the
Asian photography community,

376
00:21:10,940 --> 00:21:12,430
specifically. And I think,

377
00:21:13,140 --> 00:21:14,140
we all have,

378
00:21:14,500 --> 00:21:18,340
a role to, role to play because,
everybody has different perspectives.

379
00:21:18,380 --> 00:21:23,300
The photographers have the ability
to see things in completely different

380
00:21:23,340 --> 00:21:25,480
perspectives than what you
normally, normally see.

381
00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:28,310
And that's how they're
able to explain things,

382
00:21:28,820 --> 00:21:30,410
differently than, perhaps even,

383
00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:34,920
traditional artists have. Because you're
capturing a moment of feeling and a

384
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:38,120
texture. And that's, that's a, that's
a community, a way to communicate a

385
00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:41,420
story. Right. And, you know, because
there's, photography is one of the

386
00:21:41,460 --> 00:21:44,840
challenge, most challenging
art forms because it's so,

387
00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:46,610
on one level, so restrictive.

388
00:21:46,740 --> 00:21:50,640
Because you get what, whatever the
photons hit, hit the camera is what,

389
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,630
what you get. And you have to,
like, through that limitation,

390
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:57,580
find, find, creative and interesting
ways to view the world in.

391
00:21:57,620 --> 00:22:02,320
And I think that's, but as far as what
they, what they can to offer to the,

392
00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:04,090
to the general public. Right.

393
00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:06,160
There's two. And to your work.

394
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:07,410
Well, it's my. Specifically.

395
00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:09,410
Obviously we,

396
00:22:09,940 --> 00:22:13,150
we try to give platforms and venues for,

397
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:15,510
all types of creative people.

398
00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,380
-hmm. So we, we, we're really excited
to have, our art magazine called

399
00:22:19,420 --> 00:22:21,200
publicdisplay .art.-hmm.

400
00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:23,040
It's been around for
three or four years now.

401
00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:25,810
And it, it's, it reaches out
into the greater Seattle,

402
00:22:26,460 --> 00:22:29,620
community to find artists who are,
are telling interesting stories.

403
00:22:29,660 --> 00:22:32,500
-hmm. And we find that, you know,
it comes from amazingly just diverse

404
00:22:32,540 --> 00:22:35,100
backgrounds.-hmm. Different
cultures, different ethnicities,

405
00:22:35,140 --> 00:22:36,830
different world views.

406
00:22:37,020 --> 00:22:39,980
-hmm. And, and putting them all together
is a way to kind of show that we're

407
00:22:40,020 --> 00:22:41,280
all connected.-hmm.-hmm.

408
00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:42,330
Because when you go see,

409
00:22:42,780 --> 00:22:45,830
a, a art exhibition, you
get into their world.

410
00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:49,080
Right. And it's a way to get behind
the scenes and understand the,

411
00:22:49,120 --> 00:22:52,030
the, the, the soul of the people behind.

412
00:22:52,300 --> 00:22:55,340
And when you see beautiful
photography, it's the same thing.

413
00:22:55,380 --> 00:22:56,660
You understand the soul of the artist.

414
00:22:56,700 --> 00:23:00,060
Yes. And I think that's, to
understand we're all, all,

415
00:23:00,100 --> 00:23:02,590
all together trying to find
beauty, truth, and love.

416
00:23:02,820 --> 00:23:07,800
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for
sharing your perspectives and also the

417
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:09,670
impressive life journey.

418
00:23:10,100 --> 00:23:12,340
-hmm. I, I know like we already
had a long conversation,

419
00:23:12,380 --> 00:23:18,230
but if I may, I still have one last
slightly personal question for you.

420
00:23:18,300 --> 00:23:22,800
Okay. So if you could have an
opportunity to sit down with your younger

421
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:24,730
self, the engineer,

422
00:23:25,540 --> 00:23:26,610
the entrepreneur,

423
00:23:27,300 --> 00:23:30,550
very successful businessman, right?

424
00:23:31,020 --> 00:23:32,890
-hmm. And the young man who focused on,

425
00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:39,710
the young man who focused so much on
achievements, what would you tell him?

426
00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:42,310
Well, the first thing I
do is give him a big hug.

427
00:23:44,100 --> 00:23:46,910
Right? Because, Because
everyone needs that.

428
00:23:46,950 --> 00:23:48,610
They just say, it's going to be okay.

429
00:23:48,650 --> 00:23:49,650
Love.

430
00:23:50,790 --> 00:23:55,050
The key message I think everyone should
know is that something that says,

431
00:23:55,090 --> 00:23:58,490
this too will pass. That says whatever
challenges you have and whatever

432
00:23:58,530 --> 00:24:00,720
things, it's going to be okay.

433
00:24:02,030 --> 00:24:05,090
A lot of times the biggest thing you
need to know is that you're loved,

434
00:24:05,130 --> 00:24:06,720
you take care, it's going to be alright.

435
00:24:07,050 --> 00:24:09,410
You know, I could say
we all have that regret.

436
00:24:09,450 --> 00:24:11,380
I wish I did this and that,
something differently.

437
00:24:11,590 --> 00:24:17,450
But I think one of my messages
would be is that it's okay to have

438
00:24:17,490 --> 00:24:22,270
things that you might have wanted to
have done differently because they're

439
00:24:22,310 --> 00:24:24,730
going to give you
perspective in the future.

440
00:24:24,770 --> 00:24:30,720
So treat even adversity and
problems as a gift from the maker.

441
00:24:31,430 --> 00:24:33,010
Wow. Thank you.

442
00:24:33,050 --> 00:24:34,210
Thank you so much, Andrew.

443
00:24:34,250 --> 00:24:40,190
I really enjoyed our conversation
and I'm deeply grateful to have this

444
00:24:40,230 --> 00:24:42,260
opportunity to learn from you.

445
00:24:42,690 --> 00:24:46,910
I also want to thank you and the
Conru Art Foundation for the generous

446
00:24:46,950 --> 00:24:52,350
support of our Asian Photography
Association and for opening the doors of

447
00:24:52,390 --> 00:24:55,840
this beautiful ArtLove
Salon to our community.

448
00:24:55,970 --> 00:25:00,030
Absolute pleasure. Thank you. So
you know, photography captures human

449
00:25:00,070 --> 00:25:05,690
experiences. Art connect human soul and
the community give that connection a

450
00:25:05,730 --> 00:25:10,970
place to live. So we hope this conversation
can be the beginning of an even

451
00:25:11,010 --> 00:25:15,570
stronger collaboration between the
Conru Art Foundation and our Asian

452
00:25:15,610 --> 00:25:17,320
Photography Association.

453
00:25:17,450 --> 00:25:22,150
Let's work together to create and
share beauty and foster meaningful

454
00:25:22,190 --> 00:25:26,130
connections and build a vibrant
art community in Seattle.

455
00:25:26,170 --> 00:25:27,610
That's wonderful. Thank you.

456
00:25:27,650 --> 00:25:28,860
Thank you so much.