I am a graduate student at SGH Warsaw School of Economics, currently based in Warsaw, Poland. With a background in management and marketing, I have worked across startups and large fintech companies in Vietnam, gaining practical business and operational insight.
Driven by curiosity about the why behind decisions, I am expanding into finance and quantitative modeling through a second MSc in Financial Engineering at WorldQuant University. My interests lie at the intersection of business, data, and quantitative finance, with a focus on how models can support better decision-making.
My Story
After years of working professionally across startups and large enterprises, I had built what looked like a solid career from the outside. I worked in marketing management, designed enterprise-level automation workflows, and helped teams build and optimize funnels to scale.
Yet, I felt hollow.
Not burned out, just empty.
I couldn't identify clearly what was missing, but I was certain of one thing: staying still was no longer an option. I needed change, not incremental change, but structural change in how I lived and learned. And I knew it was a now-or-never moment.
So I quit my job.
After stepping away, I realized there were two things I genuinely wanted to do: build my own products and see the world.
Building my own products
Building my own products became my entry point into coding. I won't romanticize it, I used ChatGPT a lot. But the process was real, hands-on, and deeply engaging. From interface design to application logic, from debugging to deployment, I enjoyed turning abstract ideas into something tangible.
One of those projects was LiteSplit, a web application designed to help groups settle shared expenses simply and transparently. Looking back, coding itself wasn't the skill that improved the most. What truly evolved was my problem-solving mindset—learning how to break down ambiguity, reason through constraints, and iterate toward workable solutions. That shift fundamentally changed how I approach complex problems, both technical and non-technical.
Seeing the world, starting from home
I backpacked across Vietnam, from north to south. From towering mountains and winding passes to endless sand beaches and quiet coastal towns. I traveled slowly, often alone. There were moments of real danger—situations that could have turned fatal—but I managed to get through them.
In total, I spent two months immersed in the country: its landscapes, its rhythms, its people. I experienced Vietnam not as a destination, but as a living system—raw, chaotic, resilient, and deeply human. Those memories remain some of the most vivid and grounding experiences of my life.
They are all connected.
I chose Warsaw as the next destination in my journey, knowing that my past experiences and aspirations converge here. It allows me to pursue two objectives at once: deepening my understanding of quantitative economics and finance, while continuing to explore the world beyond familiar boundaries.
There was a saying I heard on a podcast during my flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Warsaw, and it stayed with me. It came from Dr. Karim Lakhani, in a discussion about competing in the age of AI.
He challenged a piece of advice we often hear: “Follow your passion.”
The problem, he argued, is that when you are young, you don't know what your passions are yet. Instead, he offered a different compass:
“Follow your curiosity.”
I believe curiosity is not a trait, but a discipline. If followed honestly, it leads to knowledge, perspective, and—hopefully—fulfillment.
And this journey is far from over.