At the National Convention in New York earlier this month, TAP-Austin was voted in by their peer TAPs and is now an official TAP Chapter. Congratulations and welcome to our newest family member! Please remember to “like” TAP-ATX’s Facebook page. TACL conducted a short interview with Erica Liu, TAP-Austin’s Founding President to learn a little more about her and TAP-Austin. Here is what we found out:
TAP-ATX hosted a concert spotlighting Taiwanese artists during SXSW 2015.
TACL: Tell us about yourself! It can be about anything – where you grew up, your professional background, how long you’ve been involved in the TA community, your hobbies, etc.
EL: I am a self-proclaimed OTB – out of the boat, but not so fresh. I was born in Texas but lived in Taiwan for 9 years before moving back to Texas. As a minority in a small and conservative town in Texas, I was challenged to find my own identify as a Taiwanese American and it wasn’t until college that I was able to find the community that I had longed for. I’ve been involved in the TA community since freshman year of college through TASA and TISA, I’ve volunteered with other TAs in a summer program called AID in Taiwan, attended ITASA conferences, NATWA conferences, and now, am a part of the TAP and TACL family! I am a UT McCombs MPA alum, and I currently work as a Business Tax Professional at Ernst and Young. When I’m not working or TAPing, I also enjoy watching Korean and Taiwanese dramas, reading, dancing, singing karaoke, playing mahjong, and trail-walking with my awesome dog Mocha!
TACL: What is the history of TAP-Austin – when did it become a Provisional Chapter and why did you decide to start a provisional chapter in Austin?
EL: TAP-Austin’s roots date back to 2011. When I was a junior in college, the TASA and TISA alums wanted to start the TAP-Austin chapter. I remember going to a TAPpy hour that was hosted to gauge interest. Unfortunately, the timing wasn’t right for TAP-Austin to take off, but one of the TASA alums, Hanna Huang, still carried the vision of having this chapter and she actually ended up convincing me to start the chapter in 2014. In 2014, the landscape of Austin was changing, significant economic and job growth in the city enticed more UT TA alums to stay in Austin along with attracting more TA from out of state. This was prime time for TAP-Austin to become a real chapter. I recruited a board of 8 officers in three months, and six more months later, we became a provisional chapter in September of 2014. We wanted to be a part of TACL and TAP to be able to represent the Taiwanese American community in the south as well as be connected with the Taiwanese Americans across the country.
Erica Liu, TAP-ATX President, at TAP-ATX’s September 2015 TAPpy Hour at Whisler’s.
TACL: How has being a part of TAP-Austin, TACL, etc. affected or changed your life?
EL: Leading TAP-Austin has been a really empowering process. I’ve grown as a leader from the experience, made lots of life-long friends through the organization, and have felt the direct impact of my efforts. It is extremely rewarding when people come up to tell me about how much they enjoyed an event or how much they appreciate our efforts in organizing for the TA community.
TACL: What has been your favorite TAP-Austin event so far?
EL: Taiwanese American Entrepreneurship Panel! While this wasn’t our biggest event, this event really embodies what TAP-Austin is about: networking, idea sharing, yummy food, music, and culture. We hosted this event at a cozy co-working space in collaboration with another local austin non-profit called Interlocal, and invited three local TA entrepreneurs to share their experiences with us. For this event, we had a local austin band warm up the ambience as we served Taiwanese Cold noodles and soup. Our panelists then shared their experiences and offered great advice to the audience, and after the panel, we closed the night with karaokeing!
TAP-ATX 2015 Boat Party – water slides, boats, booze & TACL alumni. Need we say more?
TACL: What is one piece of advice you would give someone looking to start a provisional TAP chapter?
EL: Have a clear vision for your TAP chapter! It’ll make convincing people to join your board easier as well collaborations with other groups and sponsors smoother.
TACL: If you could sit down with one person (deceased or alive or fictional or not famous) for an hour and talk to them about anything, who would that be and what would you want to talk to him/her about?
EL: Right now I’m kind of obsessed with Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. I want to know how he manages to do so much in so little time, what his creative process is like, and generally to just pick his brain for his life secrets.
Please remember to “like” TAP-ATX’s Facebook page!