#2, You don’t Find Passion, You Build It; Reflections from an interview with Minnie Choi

Hi, and I’m back again with an interview. The reason I wanted to start interviewing people was because my life had become very routine and plain with a constant repetition of home → school →church. Although I love my community and learn a lot from it, I felt like my way of thinking was becoming too fixed. I wanted to gain different perspectives and broaden my understanding of the world, and maybe a little bit about myself. Surprisingly and graciously, Ms. Minnie Choi agreed to lend me some of her time! When I interviewed Ms. Minnie, Director of Product Design at Meta, I had mostly been expecting advice about career paths and tech trends. What I didn’t expect was to walk away with wisdomabout personal, ‘human’ things that we struggle with every day, things that I could start applying in my life. The conversation was a very insightful one, and I learned so much from her, so I would like to share (not all, but) some of them!

Ms. Choi didn’t begin her journey with a love for design. She had initially considered illustration as her main profession. In college, she explored everything from sculpture to fashion before landing in industrial design. This was partly because majoring in architecture would take too long, and her mother discouraged her from following in her footsteps and studying fashion. Rather than waiting for a passion to roll into her life, she committed to the path and chose to find interest in it. “When I decided to find it interesting and to get involved in it, I started enjoying it. And because of that, I got better at it,” said Ms.Minnie. This idea that passion follows commitment felt like the opposite of the usual advice we are given.Usually, people advise you to ‘follow your dreams,' or the very opposite, to be practical and pursue what you are good at or what would be more ‘successful.’ But for Ms. Choi, passion is something you create through focus, effort, and maybe, a little bit of necessity. As someone still figuring out my direction, who considered myself to be sometimes pressured by the daunting tech trend and peer pressure, this challenged me quite a bit. Maybe I don’t need to find the “perfect fit” right away, as long as I stay open, hardworking, and willing to grow where I’m planted.

At Meta, Ms. Minnie leads in a demanding environment, surrounded by high-performing teams and constant evaluation. However, surprisingly, her leadership style isn’t based solely on pressure and efficiency. Rather, it’s about connection. Her most meaningful moments as a leader, she said, come not from excellent team performance (although it is still very satisfying), but when two hearts truly connect. Although only the best of the best are employed at Meta, employees can suffer from anxiety, pressure, and impostor syndrome, as the workplace is fast-paced and cutthroat. Ms. Choi shared that for her, true leadership is about being an influence that awakens people to their full potential. I thought it was really meaningful that someone like her was placed in such an environment, not just to perform, but to bring healing and empathic influence. It also made me reflect on the kind of leader I’d want to be. Not just someone who solves problems, but someone who uplifts others and creates space for them to grow.

One of the most unexpected parts of Ms. Choi’s story was her honesty about communication. She described herself as an introvert who rarely spoke in school and struggled to speak up in meetings, especially in a fast-paced workplace with a ‘cutting-in’ culture. Instead of avoiding it, she practiced onpurpose. She wrote down what she wanted to say to have something to fall back on. She pushed herself to speak, even when it felt awkward. "I needed to survive, both for my team and for my family,” she said. Her method for preparing a presentation by recording yourself repeatedly, so that you find your natural rhythm, stuck with me. The first few tries might be rambling, she laughed, but by the fifth or sixth, it starts to flow.

That advice became real for me recently. I was accepted into a competitive research fellowship, which was my first time doing research ever. Part of it involved giving a pitch presentation to a room full of peers and mentors. I was nervous, and honestly, I utterly and tragically bombed it. I rushed. I blanked. I had this ultra-cringey moment where I just laughed awkwardly for 10 seconds straight. I walked away feeling like I didn’t belong. But hearing Ms Choi’s story helped shift something in me. It reminded me that confidence isn’t something you’re born with—it’s built. I started practicing my presentations out loud. It’s still very cringey and I’m still learning, but now I’m less afraid of failing and more willing to speak out.

Ms. Minnie did not try to sugarcoat the general trend of the tech industry. Entry-level jobs are disappearing, AIs are even automating complex tasks, and many people, especially juniors, are being cut. But Ms. Choi was very serene; “It will balance out eventually, as new technology always does.” She said that what the new generation should focus on was developing their ‘humanness,’ skills like creativity and empathy that connect us to other people. These aren’t just 'soft skills,' they’re survival skills in a machine-driven world. She compared our talents to seeds. Seeds are small, but full of potential if we take the time to nurture them. That made me humble and to reflect on myself, and I realized how often I am grumbly about the ‘seeds’ that I am given and consider them useless.

Talking with Ms. Minnie Choi didn’t just give me career advice; it gave me a new lens for looking at my life and offered a new path for growth. She reminded me that we don’t need to have it all figured out, that passion is something that can be developed over time, as well as confidence. And that in a world obsessed with efficiency, being human might be our greatest strength. I still don’t know exactly what I want to do. But I know now that the most important thing might not be choosing the “right” path but being willing to keep trying, working hard (obviously), and figuring out how I can positively influence others with the seemingly small talents I have.