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I’ve mentioned before that I really got into investing last year.  While, I did get into  investing in general I specifically really dived into angel investing/investing in startups. I think this was a natural step as I’ve worked with entrepreneurs a lot,  I like trying things, one of my close friends is in Venture Capital (VC), and I’ve personally seen what angel investing/VC can do.  I actually wanted to start this series with this post but when I came up with the idea for the series the investment I wanted to focus on was closing on the first of June. I had already written that post up and hadn’t yet written this intro so when they extended their raise it was too late for me to change my order.

Anyways, why I invest. It’s fun and exciting, anything can happen so it’s a bit risky (big risk = big reward). I also realize that investing allows you to shape society in a way that you can’t through pure philanthropy. This really gets into my thesis for investing. An investment thesis, basically states what you invest in and why. So it could be industry specific or in companies of a certain size or companies that have a certain valuation. You write your own thesis and there is essentially no right or wrong way to do it. This document is used to guide you, you don’t have to share it. It’s your beacon to remind you on how you want to shape your portfolio/where you want to invest your money. I actually use my thesis for investing in both startups and in the stock market.  For those that know me, my thesis will not be surprising. I primarily invest in startups focused on sustainability, automation, and food that are founded by BI(P/W)OC.
I personally have a more complex and broad definition of sustainability so this allows me to be a bit more flexible in my thesis. My background is in sustainability and I’ve been in this field for a while so I have bit of insight into it and am therefore more comfortable investing my money into startups in this field. I also want there their to be more companies that help us live more sustainably. I believe deeply in automation to free humanity from unnecessary work. So in short I invest in companies that are helping to build the world I want to live in.

I rarely stray from this thesis but occasionally I do for the right fintech (financial technology), edtech (educational technology), or wellness/health startup. The person who actually spurred me to start this series has a very different thesis than mine. They are focused on companies that have a certain valuation (essentially what the company is worth//there are a million ways to calculate this but it’s normally some multiple of their projected revenue).  Some people do a combination of this, so they may only invest in financial technology companies with valuations between $10-20 million. Some people will invest in companies that are only early stage and raising their Seed or pre-seed round. Financing rounds are generally ordered like this pre-seed, seed, series A, B, C, D, (and sometimes) E. These funding amounts will all vary by company and there is very little consistency between the round amount and the name. The round name give you a little idea of where the company is at in it’s life.

By now you’re probably wondering what I’m invested in. I’m only sharing the companies I’m invested in outside of Roth IRA, which if you haven’t set one up, please please please do! I worked with a licensed financial planner, who is absolutely brilliant, and I am happy to connect you with her just DM me on Instagram and I will connect you. She is sooo knowledgeable, her recommendations are fantastic! (I’m really happy because my IRA is up 36%). So my actual portfolio companies in alphabetical order are:

• Bloomi
• CodeCombat
• Delee
• Deuce Drone
• Dollaride
• ecotext
• it’s by u
• Juna (which I love so much)
• Miso Robotics
• Moku Foods (also some really bomb mushroom jerky)
• NowRx (lowkey regret doing this investment)
• R3 Printing (lowkey regret doing this investment)
• Renewal Foods
• Sienna Sauce
• Talla ai
• Terracycle
• TrustStamp (this company actually went public last year)
• Winc

I really get into things sometimes and that’s what happened last year because except for like 3 of these companies I invested in all of them in 2020. I really went super overboard, it’s actually a little embarrassing and I regret some of these investments just slightly.  I toned down dramatically what and how much I’m investing and I’m trying very hard to stick to my thesis. I’ll admit I didn’t really know what I was doing when I started and I didn’t have a thesis which is why some investments don’t actually align with my thesis, but a year into this I’ve learned a ton and feel much more confident about moving forward.

I promised this post many months ago but honestly, life has gotten in the way of actually maintaining and loving this blog but I’m trying to be more intentional about writing and carving out time for it. I rather recently fell in love jewelry which is due to do the fact that I’ve learned about sculptural jewelry. Growing up I wasn’t a huge fan of jewelry, I just didn’t really see the purpose, because I didn’t see anything I loved or that I thought I could actually wear. I bought a lot of things I liked but nothing that I actually loved. Another part of my delayed love of jewelry stems from my metal allergy so anything that’s not gold or silver causes my ears to burn and feel like they’re bleeding, which is no fun. I thought this was normal or that my earrings were too tight until I realized it only happened with some pieces. These two factors combined; I now fully embrace my love of jewelry because I know what inspires me and what I can actually wear.

Below are 10 of my favorite pieces that I own. I also don’t wear these every day or even every other day, I have some standard pieces that I wear regularly but these are the pieces that I go to when I want to cheer up. I buy a lot of my jewelry preloved because jewelry is environmentally taxing. You really should know where and how your jewelry is produced because gold and silver mining are often times detrimental to environment and mining communities; from polluted waterways filled with lead, mercury, and cadmium to deforested areas (source 1//source 2//source 3). These metals can and are recycled which lessens their environmental impact. Then there are the gemstones, everyone knows about diamonds and their impact on humans, but I go into detail about gems’ impact on humans and the environment in a follow-up post.

Satomi Kawatika E7002P pearl with pearl earring jacket: these are my go-to more formal events. I’ve wanted a pair of earrings like this a while because they can pull double time since they consist of an earring jacket.

A pair of vintage onyx earrings: these were originally owned by my mother, who received them as a baby. I don’t really know much about these but they are simple and unique.

Rosey West Drop Diamond Disk Earrings: these were actually one of the first pieces of fine jewelry I ever purchased. I’m a huge supporter of up and coming and smaller jewelry designers and I loved their simplicity and chicness. These are my go-to when I’m meeting new people for work.

Gabriela Artigas Infinite Tusk Earring with Sapphire stone: This is such a simple and edgy piece that can easily spice up my outfit and life my mood. I like how it draws attention downwards.

Hirotaka akoya pearl ear cuff 7/4mm: if it’s not painfully obvious I love pearls. While all gemstones remind me of the earth, pearls remind me of the sea. I’m a sucker for good pearl jewelry, that’s why there are 3 pearl pieces on this list. I love the subtle asymmetry of this ear cuff. It definitely brightens my mood and ties together otherwise too pared down outfits. Hirotaka is also one of my favorite jewelry brands (I’m currently in love with their manta spine ring!). (full disclosure this was a graduation gift from my sister)

Rattlesnake ear climbers: I bought these at a pawn shop like a year ago because they’re incredibly cool. I haven’t worn them in a while because I pierced both of my ears recently and I want them to heal properly. In a few months, I will definitely start wearing these again with either my tiny ruby studs or the emerald studs I bought in Colombia.

Concrete Collective 14k deux pearl earring: when I saw this earring a few months ago, I knew I had to have it. A majority of my jewelry collection is mostly studs but recently I started trying to wear longer/larger earrings, especially structural pieces. This earring is my foray into building a more structural and interesting collection.

Turquoise studs with silver bars: I don’t wear a ton of silver because I don’t like how it looks with my complexion; sometimes, I make some exceptions. I bought these earrings last summer while doing some preliminary research on what turned into one of my two senior capstone projects. I bought these while visiting the Ashiwi tribe near Mescalero,  NM. I try my best to support Indigenous communities and I refuse to buy anything “Native inspired”. (similar style here)

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Spore gold ring (?): I know zilch about the provenance of this ring. I bought it from a pawn shop, which is a recurring theme. I almost didn’t notice this ring when I while trying on like 10 other rings. I love the sculptural elements of this ring and the fact that the diamonds remind me of mushroom spores in flight, while the wrap-around gold element reminds me of a wisp of wind.

Tiny freshwater pearl stacking ring: I’ve actually lost this ring. When I first started writing this post, I had it but now just a few weeks later it’s missing somewhere in my apartment (it’s probably with my missing Satomi Kawatika tiny ruby stud). Anyways, when I had this ring in immediate possession, I wore it every day and it fast became a favorite. I admired the way it looked paired with my gold stacking rings; I’m definitely going to buy a few more specifically one for my pinkie or thumb. Even though I must admit I was a bit hesitant when I received it because the pearls were much smaller than I expected.

Stay tuned for my next sneak peek into my jewelry collection, which probably will highlight the pieces I wear every day!

One of the two research projects that splintered off this original research was looking at remediation methods to reducing the amount of lead that is absorbed by plants. There are certain plants are able to absorb lead, which can then be absorbed into the bloodstream. I actually want to rephrase/clarify, there is a grouping of plants that are considered hyperaccumulators, some of these plants are better at absorbing lead vs another element like mercury or arsenic, it varies from element to element and plant to plant. Some of these plants are commonly consumed by people, for instance mustard greens.

In the first part of this post, I mentioned some the sources of lead in soil/compost. While lead paint chips do break into smaller pieces when they chip off, a less obvious method of entry is airborne, but how does lead from paint become airborne? Fire. When whites started moving from the city to suburbs/African Americans started moving into the city for jobs; whites burned down their homes to prevent African Americans from having places to live. The fires “released” the lead into the air and soil.

Another point of entry was through former landfills/brownfields becoming suitable housing properties. Lead acid batteries have been around for a while, just as long as people’s failure to properly dispose of them. Fast-forward to the resurgence/necessity of home gardening or the emergence of urban agriculture, however you want to phrase it (although the former is more accurate). Add this into the urbanization, density, and racist housing policies/practices of America and you might start to see a few connections. The communities where African Americans moved into tended to stay African American (and some became home to other communities, mostly POC/immigrant), and many started to become food deserts (i.e. areas were fresh, healthy, affordable food are unavailable). In some communities, people wanted to grow foods that were foreign to mainstream/white grocery stores that are in the area. The most obvious approach to this issue/system failure— gardens. One of the foods that is frequently grown (because of other historical reasons and its ease to grow) is mustard greens. A plant that also happens to be a hyperaccumulator for lead, which I’ve previously mentioned in prolific in some soils and compost.

            The upside is mustard seeds are easy to come by and grow, and therefore figuring their absorption rates is more accessible than potential other methods and creates a more realistic experiment. This experiment was actually pretty involved, because the mustards had to be grown (and multiples of the plant in variations of mixtures of soil, compost, and a manganese oxide component) and the leaves tested, which also involved mimicking human digestion; in order to assess lead’s absorption and movement throughout this whole process. The starting and ending concentrations of the soil mixtures were measured and recorded, too. The results produced a ton of new questions and inquires.

            Honestly, I was super excited to work on this project and it led me to think about other methods of remediation, which is an entirely different project that I will discuss in my next post. It also connected back to a ton of other interests and passions (gardening, food, history, and spaces).

Just to clarify some of the information presented here has been simplified for condensing/privacy purposes, but I’m happy to answer most questions (especially if things were unclear). However, I request that you try googling before asking me questions that are easily googleable.