What’s your historical San Francisco and New York connection?
It’s the classic tale of girl who grows up in the Bay Area who is attracted to the bright lights of the big city. I grew up in San Jose, went to undergrad at Santa Clara University and moved out to New York City two weeks after college graduation to take a job at The Economist Group. Now, all of my loved ones are either in San Francisco or New York and although they couldn’t be further apart, I couldn’t feel closer to home here in New York.

Describe your experience in SF and your experience in NYC.
SF: I live two parallel lives in SF. I commonly travel for work, which is a full day of business development meetings with some of the greatest supporters of social change. My opposing experience involves long dinners with my brother and his girlfriend, sleepovers with my mom, and of course rooftop conversations with everyone else I call family.

NY: New York is where I live and work, and have for the past seven years. I’m lucky in that I’ve created a new family away form home, and even a few of my Bay Area friends have followed me in the move east. While I have assimilated to the NYC lifestyle, I walk into every situation by saying the qualifier “I’m from California.”

How can NYC and SF best engage with each other?
I only fly Virgin America (Branson, send me some miles), and their flights could be cheaper. Secondly, New York has a great networking tradition that San Francisco has started to adapt in the last few years. Increasing the amount of community gathering spots and co-working spaces (Battery, Soho House, WeWork) provide spaces for people to collaborate and meet between the two cities will help grow this bicoastal culture.

Favorite SF secret spot
Pan E Vino. There are two things I like to do when in SF: drink wine, and sit outside. At this place, I can do both year round.

Favorite NYC secret spot
I have a few, and I reluctantly give this up, but Henry Public in Brooklyn.

If you were not working at PoP, what would you be doing?
I would be the lead singer in the biggest rock band of our time (after a significantamount of singling lessons) or a local politician advocating for public education and LGBTQ rights

Roadtrip Entertainment: tell us what song/album, TV show, podcast, or web videos you’ve been watching lately.
-Show: Veep on HBO, which I discovered on a Virgin America flight
-Album: Phosphorescent: Muchacho De Lujo
-Podcast: The Daily Bugle with John Oliver

From the 2905 Miles newsletter: connecting NEW YORK CITY + SAN FRANCISCO