DREAMTEAM FEATURE // Mel Chau
Mel (she/her) is a Hong Kong born, Chinese raised Canadian of immigrants. The arts has been a part of her life since youth, and over the last 5 years, integrating more design thinking + empathy into her work has helped broaden and inform her current career in product design + tech. Currently helping out with the *GBF Dream Team* as the designer for the social feed, GBF came into Mel's life in the heat of the pandemic, and she took the Sharing Privilege course. It has opened up her thinking about systems of oppression, her own privileges and also how to reconcile and heal with the Asian community, specifically with the recent (and ongoing) targeted hate crimes toward – not a "visible minority" – but a *global majority* that's been difficult to process. She admires the mission that GFB stands for in their classes, the open inclusivity towards all human forms, body shapes and invitations to partake, scream, take up space, or rest within the broad definitions of "movement".
DREAMTEAM ROLE // Design support on the socials <3
ASTROLOGICAL BIG THREE:
Had to google this..? (Aries, Capricorn, Capricorn)
FAVOURITE SEASON:
Summer
A FUN FACT ABOUT ME IS THAT:
In grade 8 I had the opportunity to fly to Nunavut (near Iqaluit) for a homestay trip with a number of my classmates. This was around the time Nunavut became a Canadian territory (1999). Looking back this was an amazing chance to experience the true North, the (young) people who live there, and some of their struggles. One memory that stood out was being in a gymnasium setting where we witnessed a ritual of a caribou caught recently. They were cutting into its flesh and I was offered a small piece of fresh meat! (it was a cold/frozen temp). It was truly a special trip.
MY GO-TO COMFORT FOOD IS:
Asian soup noodles (Pho, Cantonese shrimp dumplings noodle soup, Northern Chinese noodle bowls), Chinese dumplings + Peking duck! Also all the healthy Cantonese soups (Tong) my mom used to make that I took for granted but realize it was (and is) our love language.
FAVOURITE FREE WAY TO UNWIND IS:
going for a walk without my phone
WHEN I NEED TO CRY I…
used to hide it but with the encouragement of my partner to show and speak more about my emotions, I just let it run with lesser and lesser shame/negativity around it.
CURRENTLY BINGE WATCHING:
Girlfriends (never knew - so good!) Also recently watched Chloé Zhao's Nomadland + The Rider (the better one)
MY TOP 3 GOODBODYFEEL CLASS STYLES (BESIDES MY OWN) ARE:
Be Dynamic, Be Vibrant, Rise + Thrive!
WHEN I AM NOT GBF-ING I AM:
Designing stuff, reading more books by East Asian authors, working on promoting my partner's mom's Punjabi Vegetarian cuisine business @meenas.kitchento - hit us up if you're in Toronto! <3
IF I COULD HAVE ANY SUPERPOWER I WOULD…BECAUSE…
Abolish the Bamboo ceiling because Asian folks work and respect the system too damn hard to be gaslit and made to feel small and Othered. We hold generational trauma by continually taking on the physical + emotional labour of White Supremacy, so let's work to challenge, help marginalized groups + dismantle that shit!