Meet Shengxiao Sole” Yu | Social Justice Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shengxiao “Sole” Yu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shengxiao “Sole”, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My business, Nectar, was born during the second year of the pandemic. I often think about author Arundhati Roy’s words that the pandemic is a portal, “a gateway between one world and the next.” These words were a grounding force to propel me through the portal and create Nectar – a space dedicated to our collective liberation.

Throughout my career, I have worked in a variety of nonprofit and social sector spaces. My jobs have given me many opportunities to learn from grassroots community leaders and organizers. The more I learned, the more clearly I was able to see the intimate connection between the nonprofit industrial complex and the systems of oppression operating in our world. I realized that philanthropy relied on structural poverty and exploitation in order to exist. I also saw many organizations within our social change movements that were replicating the same problematic dynamics that we see in our larger world.

I felt very burnt out in 2018 and left my full-time job. I reflected on my skills and experiences and what brought me joy. I realized that I love public speaking, facilitation, and writing. I enjoy discussing political frameworks and theories and understanding how they apply in our world. I am captivated by good storytelling and believe that we heal through stories and community.

In my last job, I developed workshops centered around teaching college students the systemic causes of global health disparities, which are intimately linked to structural racism and colonization. I was very good at explaining historical case studies, contextualizing them, and turning them into political education. I started a job search in late 2019 with these ideas in mind.

When March 2020 came around, like many others, I felt extreme urgency and anxiety. I started to channel these feelings into offering zoom workshops and creating social media posts educating folks about the social determinants of health. I was already developing a curriculum on racial justice when George Floyd was murdered and many in our communities were grieving and seeking education. I launched a class on systems of oppression in the summer of 2020. Later in the fall, I also teamed up with two other facilitators and created an Asian American history and emotional and somatic healing community class.

These experiences helped me to realize that I was already doing the things that I wanted to do, and I did not have to apply for a job and get someone else’s permission or platform to continue doing this. With support and encouragement from my community, I created my own business, Nectar, a home for life-affirming experiences for liberation where I teach workshops, write articles, speak at events, and create community resources for all.

What should our readers know about your business?
The mission of Nectar is to “ignite our desire and grow our capacity to live in liberated ways.” I am proud of how I consistently practice doing business with the same values as the ones that I want to see in the liberatory world that we long for. Everything about my business is rooted in anti-racist and anti-imperialist values. I practice transformative justice principles in how I treat my collaborators, interns, and community members. I practice anti-capitalist values in how I run my business and deeply believe in investing in authentic relationships and connections. I say practice because it is an ongoing practice – there are so many days and moments where living by my values is incredibly difficult – but I am proud of my commitment to the practice and grateful for my community who holds me accountable with tenderness.

Looking back on my journey, I see many moments that led me to where I am today. I first encountered the U.S. immigration system at age 8 in the form of family separation when my dad was the only person granted permission to live and work in the U.S. My mom and I didn’t get the chance to come to the U.S. until I was 11, when I became a child of the diaspora who holds a complexity of identity, loss, and longing.

I first became politicized when I took Spanish classes in high school. I learned about the Dirty Wars in Argentina and Chile, the moms of Plaza de Mayo, the storyteller Isabel Allende and her invented country, the role the U.S. government played in military coups and the destruction of Latin American communities. I started to question why we didn’t learn about any of this in “world studies” class. I started to realize that “world studies” in my high school just meant the study of and glorification of European societies, with erasure of colonialism, imperialism, and other forms of empire violence.

This led me on a political journey that took me to places including the White House and grassroots communities, all of them making up my journey of coming more fully into my being. Every day, I continue to learn, teach, and do what I can in my small pocket of the world, through Nectar, to bring more liberation into my life and my community.

Running Nectar as a one-person business is far from easy. When I first started, I heard advice from people about how hard it can be to do taxes or to run a marketing campaign. And yes, these things are indeed difficult for me. But by far, the hardest thing about being a soloprenuer is that there is no escape when it comes to my own healing and growth. The traumas that I have not processed, the toxic emotional patterns that I still rely on, and the shadow parts of myself that I try to keep buried will come up again and again, in all kinds of contexts, until I truly commit to doing the hard inner work. And this inner work is a life-long journey.

I also know that we cannot do our inner work alone and must be in relationship with our community in order to heal and grow. At this time, I want to call more people into my life to be my chosen fam, especially in Los Angeles, as I cultivate my LA community for liberation.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I moved to Los Angeles for the weather, access to the ocean and mountains, delicious foods, as well as for the deeply entrenched Asian American history and community organizing. As someone who has lived in both Asia and Latin America, I feel held and understood by the city itself – a place with a long and complex history of relationships between different communities that has given us both joy and heartbreak.

If my best friends are visiting, I would take them to Malibu, Descanso Gardens, Huntington Garden, my favorite plant nursery The San Gabriel Nursery, and various hiking trails. I would also treat them to the best soup dumplings and boba in the San Gabriel Valley. I would want to sit for hours over hotpot and Korean BBQ, and I would want to tailgate with a dozen al pastor tacos and aguas frescas in front of the dino mart at Leo’s gas station taco truck. I will also take them to Villa’s Tacos in Highland Park and to an Angel’s Tijuana Taco stand location.

If my friends wanted to venture outside of the city, driving up to see the sea otters and down on PCH would be my top choice. Alternatively, I would take them for a night of stargazing at Joshua Tree.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
It is always difficult to acknowledge explicit lineage because we have all been influenced by so many people and ideas in our lives. While it is not possible to name all those who have guided me, I do want to shout out my gratitude for the wisdom and gifts from my ancestors: both blood ancestors and movement ancestors, both living ancestors and the ones who have transitioned, for guiding me inspiring me. Their names include Grace Lee Boggs, Angela Davis, Mia Mingus, adrienne maree brown, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, rupi kuar, Nayyirah Waheed, Cathy Park Hong, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, bell hooks, Paulo Freire, Audre Lorde.

I also hold deep gratitude for many community leaders in Peru, Guatemala, and El Salvador who opened their doors to their homes, shared meals with me, and invested time, energy, and love in sharing with me their stories, their politics, and their spirits. It is an honor to learn from them and to move through the world carrying the impact of their work.

I also exist in deep relationship with the souls known to me in my personal life. I learn from them and co-create with them.

Website: https://www.lifeaffirmingnectar.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeaffirmingnectar/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/shengxiaoyu

Youtube: http://youtube.com/@lifeaffirmingnectar

Other: Tik Tok: @lifeaffirmingnectar