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February 5, 2025

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Most people often overlook long-term care until they are older or faced with no other choice. Unfortunately, by that point, it may already be too late. Lily Vittayarukskul was pursuing a degree in aerospace engineering when she witnessed both her oldest brother and mother battle with an illness that required extensive long-term care. The situation became even more challenging when her aunt was later diagnosed with terminal colon cancer. The seek for quality care became daunting, even for those fortunate enough to have some form of insurance.

As a member of a Cambodian immigrant family, Lily experienced the challenges of caregiving firsthand, but the financial burden became unbearable. In a recent interview with TechCrunch, she exclaimed,  “It wiped us out financially.” The profound emotional and financial impact of the experience ultimately led her to shift her focus to genetic and data science.

Finally, in December 2021, she decided to take action by founding Waterlily, a San Francisco-based startup aimed at helping individuals and financial advisors navigate long-term care planning through cost modeling and funding strategies. Using artificial intelligence (AI) to forecast a family’s future long-term care needs and expenses, Waterlily predicts a family’s future long-term care needs and expenses, guides them in creating a care plan, and identifies the most suitable ways to finance it. Options may include purchasing life insurance with a long-term care rider, investing in a dedicated LTC policy, utilizing annuities, or self-funding.

Lily explains, “Most people begin thinking about long-term care between the ages of 65 and 70, or only when they need it, but by then, it can be too late.”

Leveraging more than 500 million data points and machine learning algorithms, Waterlily delivers highly personalized care and cost predictions. The platform forecasts when long-term care may be required, how it will unfold, and the potential expenses involved. Lily proudly states, “We have formal data-sharing agreements with long-term care providers, government databases, academic research studies, and individual users.”

Waterlily’s vision is undeniably compelling, and Lily isn’t the only one who sees its potential. She initially launched the company as a solo founder, but it soon caught the attention of angel investor Evan Ehrenberg, the former founder of Clara Health. Evan became intrigued by Waterlily’s early research and the industry’s reaction. Curious, he tested the platform himself and was stunned by its long-term care predictions—so much so that he hired a personal trainer, adjusted his diet, and revised his financial plans. Impressed by its impact, Evan, who became MIT’s youngest neuroscience PhD, officially joined Waterlily as a co-founder.

Evan Ehrenberg [left] and Lily Vittayarukskul [right] together (Image Source: Evan Ehrenberg)

Lily believes Waterlily differentiates itself from competitors by providing a more personalized experience through deep predictive modeling integrated into a user-friendly platform. Although it only launched in March 2024, the company’s monthly recurring revenue (MRR) has already grown to more than 22 times its initial level. Waterlily now serves eight major clients, including several Fortune 100 insurance carriers and Prudential.

Looking ahead, Waterlily aims to expand its services to include disability, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and Medicare planning, enabling families to make more informed health coverage decisions. Additionally, the company is exploring opportunities for international growth, with plans to enter markets in Asia, Canada, and the U.K.

John Kim, former president of New York Life and investor of Waterlily, sees the platform as the first AI-native guidance tool addressing one of the most pressing challenges of an aging American population.

Kim concluded, “Long-term care insurance is a growing and largely underserved need among trusted advisors today. Waterlily’s guidance tool stands alone in its ability to provide customized, personalized recommendations for long-term care needs. I believe it will be a game changer for the LTC insurance marketplace.”

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Image Source: The Denver Post

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Denver’s Vietnamese Refugees Share New Life While Keeping Family’s Heritage

Because of the chaos that was happening in their homeland in the 1970s, thousands of Vietnamese fled and some, later on, found a home in Colorado.

The melancholic memory is still fresh for Nga Vương-Sandoval, who, at the age of three, had to temporarily stay in refugee camps in the Philippines, Guam, and Arkansas.

She was with the about 2 million people who were unhoused and still have from within the shock of their suffering. 

It had been very challenging for them as they had to leave behind the good life they have in Vietnam and even depart from their relatives in order for them to leave safely.

Starting their life all over again, Denver has become a home to the 24,000-man Vietnamese Americans.

After being able to establish their community and found a home in the place, Nga said “I’m proud to say that it’s the city that I love, it’s the state that I love.”

Meanwhile, Vo, a 21-year-old grandchild of a Vietnamese who grew up in Aurora after his grannies and parents left Vietnam in the 1990s to seek a better life, had the experience of living in “a very diverse place.”

Knowing very little about his family’s past in Vietnam, he conducted a research project to unleash an “inherently American story,” according to him. 

Enabling people to have a glimpse of the refugees from a different perspective, Vo made use of his relatives as objects of his photography.

“Even though we moved here, they still lived a very Vietnamese life,” Vo said in Denver Post, 

It was also in his research that he found out how the majority of his family members were able to escape Vietnam while being robbed of cash and gold on their way.

He also mentioned how his family kept their culture by still practicing them in Denver which contributed to what America is, a place with diverse cultures. 

Despite having to start from scratch, they were able to begin life anew and even owned an Asian supermarket, Asian cinema, and Truong An Gifts.

His family also started the Far East Center shopping mall in 1987, home to him and his cousins and even to the Asian community.

Image Source: Silicon India

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South Asians Found Second Home in Devon Avenue’s “Little India”

At Devon Avenue in Chicago, immigrants from India discovered a taste and comfort of their home country.

The area, commonly referred to as “Little India,” has served as a shelter for Indians who miss their culture.

Finding a home in it, Indians such as National Indo-American Museum board member Beverly Kumar, go there every now and then, especially when she craves Kalakand, a traditional Indian fudge.

According to Kumar, “It’s very comforting knowing that just 14 miles away from my house, there is an essence of Little India.” She also mentioned how reminiscing it is to see familiar sights, sounds, scents, and flavors when visiting Devon Avenue since it makes her feel as though she has never left home.

The area not only became a haven for Indians, but also for other South Asians who opened grocery stores, sari and jewelry stores, as well as many other enterprises in addition to food stores.

In the middle of 1960s, the place it became the second and fourth-largest enclave for Indian and Pakistani Americans, respectively.

The Federal Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 ushered in the first wave of South Asian immigration, which established settlements for South Asian professionals in Chicago, while the second phase arrived in the 1980s and 1990s.

Psychotherapist Ranjana Bhargava was one of the first immigrants who yearned for vegan food and searched for spices to sate her craving for Indian cuisines, which she found at Mexican places.

Between the first and second waves, businesses such as The Sari Palace sari store and Indian grocery stores began to thrive there.

Since then, a new community has been created where Indians continue to practice their culture through activities like viewing Indian movies, getting together, playing instruments, performing traditional dances, and eating.

The once Jewish-dominated place became a mainly Indian community which captivated more visitors where one can meet not only Indians but people of different races.

Image Source: Olivier Koning / Honolulu Magazine

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Chinatown’s Oldest and Most Respected Businesses Proudly Carried On By Next Generation

The blood of entrepreneurship runs through the veins of Chinatown’s Chinese food business owners, as three of the longest-running businesses have their children enter the management fields of their family business.

Tony and Selina Chun, together with Alan and Helen Chun, who have been in the business for decades, fully trusted their children to run the meat market company they bought in the 1980s.

The older generation passed it down to their children believing that they would treat it the same way they had after 40 years of building and creating the Chinatown cornerstone with crispy roast pigs, burnished roast ducks, and glazed char siu along with butcher store and seafood vendor.

Frankie, 35, and his cousins are now in charge of running the company that they established through diligence and thrift. Given that they have a family business to manage, Frankie has known since then that he won’t take long in any career.

He was reported in Honolulu magazine as saying, “I knew that anything I was going to pursue wasn’t going to be lengthy, because the family would always ask us back for support.”

He and his cousins learned the operations as a result of early exposure to the business and used them as a means of support, which pleased their parents, especially when they took their first vacation in four decades.

Meanwhile, Liana Fang, whose parents Wesley and Jie Mei Fang founded Sing Cheong Yuan Bakery, assists in running the business.

The pair bought the bakery from its original owners and then expanded it by bringing in more goods. The homemade goods were prepared using original family recipes that they later improved.

The 27-year-old claims she adores Chinatown but acknowledges that she is more passionate about cooking than baking. “It’s so authentic. I love Asian food, the fresh markets, the mom-and-pop shops,” she said.

Completing the list, the 33-year-old daughter of Sun Chong supermarket co-owner Ann Sung also contributes to management of the business.

Sun helps them sell their products and other items by marketing it online and by helping accomplish other stuff needed in the business.

Sun, who grew up at the shop with her cousins, said that their business is like a thread that can connect generations. She also claimed that coming home after studying abroad was like paying back her mother, who had done everything for her. Sun plans to update and improve her mother and aunt’s traditional business structure.

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29-Year-Old Drift Racer Sara Choi Excels With Prowess In Male-Dominated Industry

Sara Choi, a South Korean drift racer, is one of the rare female drift racers who compete on an equal or even higher level with men in the automotive industry.

“Men have egos. Men have pride,” says Choi upon knowing that some guys dislike her. 

The 29-year-old was taken care of by a gang of automobile kids after leaving her Hawaii home at 15 and this is when she first acquired her curiosity and passion in cars.

Cool as she is, Choi drives a car at 70 mph while it “drifts” due to oversteering and also has to deal with microaggressions and crude remarks about her body as a drift racer.

Being one of the few women of color who is so skilled at it, vehicles are more than simply a hobby, a source of celebrity, or a source of income to her. Not only did she find a great deal of thrill when she drives sideways at high speed, but a new family as well.

“In Hawaii, we only have three freeways. Every Wednesday and every weekend, they would host a “car cruise meet” at the military base, which was everyone—sometimes up to 200 or 300 cars—going on the freeway and just racing. I would always go with my friends to that,” Choi said in Cosmopolitan. 

When Choi got her first full-time work at a tuning shop, she got a 1999 Civic through her boss, which she paid for with every paycheck. This marked the beginning of her passion for cars. 

After being introduced to drifting, she traveled to Japan, the country where the practice first emerged, years later. After completely experiencing the pleasure of drifting there, she grew passionate about it to the point that it became not only a hobby but a career.

Choi revealed that she is still debating whether or not to compete because it is a male-dominated field and that she is experiencing psychological difficulties.

She is currently concentrating on running racing events to keep the fire going.

One big achievement she had in the arena was when she created the Acura mod, a vehicle she worked on for three months for the SEMA exhibition in Las Vegas.

Additionally, Choi encouraged other women who want to pursue drift racing to “Just do it,” adding that they should put themselves out there to connect with individuals in the field.