Hello Vokelites! My name is Margaret, and like Steph, I am a fellow newbie to the VOKLE team as well. I was born and raised in the Bay Area in Northern California. I just moved to Southern California a few months ago and have fallen in love with its perpetual sunshine (I’m ignoring the last few days) and quirky variety of food trucks.

I was admitted to the University of the Pacific in Stockton as a Pre-Pharmacy major, but graduated in International Affairs & Commerce with an emphasis in Marketing and a minor in Japanese. A big jump, I know (my parents were ecstatic). Last year, I came back from a 10-month stint studying abroad in Osaka, Japan, during which I ate my way through Asia. And if you can’t tell already, I love food. I am a pop culture junkie who loves traveling, fashion, and Googling images of Ryan Gosling. I also draw comics poorly.

I am very excited to be a part of this team and will do my utmost to not bring VOKLE crumbling down to ruins. To be honest, there is nothing I can say about VOKLE that Steph hasn’t already said so eloquently (nor will I attempt to at risk of shameful embarrassment). So I will just end it on this note: I am elated to be on board. Please excuse my poor attempts at humor.

Greetings and salutations, good folks and friends of the VOKLE community! My name is Steph, but many people call me Slo — short for Stephanie Lo – and I just recently joined the team at VOKLE. I’m a born and bred Southern Californian with an impenetrable love for summer, sunshine, barbecues, and obnoxious fluorescent colors (see image above).

I was fortunate enough to spend four years in New York City as a student at NYU, where I studied Marketing and Management, dabbled within the realms of Entertainment, Media, & Technology, and ate way too much (or not enough?) chicken and rice from a Halal cart on 53rd and 6th. Some of my hobbies include: going to shows, eating, getting swept up in spontaneous adventures, rhythmic hand-clapping, and fist pumping. I’d like to say that I don’t do all of those at the same time, but that would be a lie.

I’m psyched to embark on my journey here at VOKLE, and look forward to doing whatever I can to help the company continue to push the boundaries of interaction and innovation. It’s hard to put into my own words exactly what it is about VOKLE that is so inspirational to me, but I know it has something to do with the following line from this most recent VOKLE spot, which was inspired by Larry Lessig’s 2007 TED Talk on the “laws that choke creativity.”

“Digital technology is the opportunity for the revival of [lost] vocal cords — culture where people produce for the love of what they’re doing, and not for the money.”

If digital technology is the opportunity for uninhibited communication, then I’m positive VOKLE is the right vehicle to navigate that opportunity, and I’m happy to be along for the ride.