Moonlynn Tsai + Yin Chang
How did growing up Asian make you feel?
Yin: I was incredibly self-conscious about being Asian growing up and it was rooted so deeply and even impacted the way I felt about my name. I had always been aware of how often teachers would butcher my name during roll call for attendance in elementary school, and how I’d brace myself for the same laughs and snickers across the rooms full of kids who didn’t look like me. Entering middle school, I dropped my middle name, thinking it would make me sound “less Asian” and blend in with everyone.
In middle school, a classmate learned of my first and middle name, my full Chinese name, and rallied the entire class to taunt and mock me, intentionally mispronouncing my name to rhyme it with demeaning words and sounds. I cried to my teacher in hopes she’d step in as protector, and instead told me, in a nutshell, to get over it and stop complaining.
It’s something that I find so beautiful about the younger generation nowadays where I’ve seen so many young Asian Americans take pride in their given Asian names, and share about it confidently while educating their peers about their lineage and ancestry. Though I finally accepted my name after graduating high school, I wish I had that strength and confidence as a kid in proudly embracing my Asian heritage.
Yin wears the Cropped Cashmere Sweater, the Compact Pencil Skirt in Jet Stream, and Le Naomi Heel. Moonlynn wears the Abstract Intarsia Sweaterin Hay Multi, Le Slouch in Orange Crush, and Le Naomi Mule in Noir.
Moonlynn: I grew up in a predominantly Causcasian neighborhood in San Diego where my brother and I were always the two Asian kids at our schools starting from Pre-K to to junior high. I didn’t think too much of it most of the time, but when it came down to meals, that’s where our differences from the rest of my classmates was very apparent. When I was in the 5th grade I had a sleepover with 4 friends and the next day my parents brought all of us out to dim sum. My friends never had dim sum but they did enjoy the dumplings but then my parents ordered chicken feet (my fave) and I can still remember the look of horror on all of their faces when they found out what it was – I was mortified, embarrassed, and angry at my parents. Right after that I begged my mom to let me please forgo the delicious sushi rolls, rice bowls that she would pack for me for lunch and instead to please enroll me in the schools hot lunch program which meant Monday-Friday was: KFC, Carl’s Jr, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut.
Who inspires you?
Moonlynn: As cheesy as this sounds, Yin constantly inspires me throughout everything she does. We’re very similar but also extremely different. If you’ve ever met her you’ll find one of the most strong-willed, empathetic, hard-working, positive, caring people on the planet and there’s literally nothing she can’t do. I’m constantly learning and inspired by her! Ok, no pressure bae…
Yin: All the women in my life, and yes, that includes Moonlynn who lights up this world! She is so fast at everything she does and I truly do not know how she does it, and I’m always blown away by the fact that she’s constantly looking out for our health and well-being no matter how busy she is. She spoils me with the most delicious homemade breakfasts, lunches, and dinners while juggling a million things. I’m constantly inspired by women who bootstrap their way to success, the women who speak their minds and their hearts, the women who face challenges head on. I’m drawn towards trailblazing and powerful women who are shaping my field of arts, entertainment, and literature in bold, equitable, and innovative ways.
These are a mixture of women who have directly supported me in my career and championed my work, and women who I admire from afar who have made an influential impact on my path: Ava Duvernay, Lena Waithe, Issa Rae, Chloe Zhao, Tomi Adeyemi, Katie Wech, Erin Westerman, Victoria V.E. Schwab, Reese Witherspoon, and Elizabeth Gilbert. And while this isn’t my field, I’m constantly in awe and deeply proud of my youngest sisters (whom I’d like to take credit for helping to raise!) who are always breaking barriers and striving to carry out their ethos of building around the intersection of racial equity and environmental justice. They recently joined the family business, Gamco Corporation, which provides high quality fenestration systems (think commercial doors, windows, skylights) and architectural metals. It is a rare feat in itself to find two young POC women in the white, male dominated field of manufacturing where 2.4% of Asians are hired.
What are you listening to right now? (we'll make a playlist)
Both: We’re old school and love singable upbeat “oldies” You’ll find “ Songs To Sing In The Shower” and “Coffee Shop Acoustic Covers” playlists on rotation. We just checked our spotify and currently, “Can’t Help Falling In Love”, by Jesse Daniel Smith is playing.
Are there any AAPI artists or designers you've been eyeing lately?
Both: We have incredible artists within the Heart of Dinner community that constantly blow us away with their artwork that they draw on our care package or help to fundraise for us. Artists like artist Stephanie Shih who for months helped to hand deliver care packages around Chinatown, Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya who creates such powerful illustrations that you can see all around Manhattan, clothing designers like Phillip Lim and Prabal who’ve been paving the way for the AAPI community and we’re huge fans of Peter Do and the team behind the brand there, they were also the first clothing brand to fundraise for Heart of Dinner back in 2020!
How do you unwind after a particularly long/stressful day?
Both: We rarely get a chance to properly unwind. On top of running Heart of Dinner full time we’re also balancing both of our independent careers. When we do have some time to unwind, you’ll find us drinking tea, A LOT of it, especially oolong tea from Taiwan. We’ll take a hot shower and spoil ourselves with delicious smelling products (shout out to 2 Note Hudson!) and try our best to follow along with a Yoga With Adrienne video to relax our minds but will more than likely cap off the evening watching a show and sometimes fall asleep halfway into it.
Photography by Melora Chang
