AAPI Heritage Month: Interview with Tommy Ho 

by | May 25, 2022

Celebrating May as Asian American Pacific Islander Month has become an important tradition here at .Asia. We are excited to present an interview series featuring some of our Asian American and Asian Canadian friends and partners from the domain name industry. Through this, we hope to highlight and celebrate diversity and inclusion in our field.

.Asia: Can you share with us a little about your background?

Hi, my name is Tommy Ho.  I was born in South Korea and grew up in NYC where I’m still based.  I spent time living and working in Korea and had so many memorable experiences.  I felt closer to my roots through this immersive experience, and hope that I left a lasting impact on those I still kept in touch with over the years.

.Asia: What is your role at GoDaddy, what is a typical day like for you?

My role at GoDaddy is managing registry partnerships. Based in NYC, a typical day starts with meetings with our product team in Europe planning new domain launches; then by lunchtime, our teams on the West coast join the back and forth.  By evening Eastern time, I’ll wind down after updates with Australia and partners in Japan.

.Asia: What is the best part about working with GoDaddy?

The best part is the people! Both at GoDaddy and the partners that make it all work in domains.

.Asia: What does being Asian American mean to you?

Asian American heritage is about inclusion.  It’s a description that cuts a wide cloth across a vast array of cultures and peoples, and it’s important to celebrate the similarities and differences.  I see that diversity represented within GoDaddy’s Employee Resource Group (ERG), and GoDaddy Asians are growing.  Especially during these unpredictable times, our sense of belonging that we feel through our groups helps to boost mental and physical health.

.Asia: What is the best piece of advice your Asian parents gave you?

From my Korean parents, probably the best advice they’ve given me was how they modeled their hard work ethic and turned that into success for themselves and our family.

.Asia: If you were a New York City Chinatown shop owner, what would your .Asia domain be?

It would be PearlPaint.Asia. Well, it’s gone now, but there was a large multi-story art store on Broadway in Chinatown called Pearl Paint. The red and white awning was painted the length of the four stories and it was unmistakable.

Related Asian American Heritage Posts

Asian American Sustenance

Asian American Sustenance

Asian American Food and Identity Food is a vital part of culture.  Through food we are joined via a shared experience.  It is a connection to our earliest memories, our heritage and some say, an intercultural communicator.  Asian American cuisines are a category onto...

read more
A Conversation with Director Feng-I Fiona Roan – Winner of HBO Asian American Visionary Award

A Conversation with Director Feng-I Fiona Roan – Winner of HBO Asian American Visionary Award

JIEJIE, Mandarin for sister, is directed by Asian-American writer and director Feng-I Fiona Roan. Her film won the prestigious HBO Asian Pacific American Visionary Award in 2018. At its heart, JIEJIE is an Asian American story of first-generation immigration experience from the view of a child. We caught up with Fiona to discuss what it was like growing up Asian-American in both Asia and the US, and her next big project – AMERICAN GIRL.

read more
Celebrating Asian Heritage Month in May

Celebrating Asian Heritage Month in May

May is a month for celebrating the many cultural and societal contributions and achievements of overseas Asian communities in North America. It marks the observance of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in the United States, and Asian Heritage Month in Canada.

read more
PROUD of your Asian heritage? So are we!

PROUD of your Asian heritage? So are we!

It’s been inspiring to read the outpour of support for Asian representation in Western pop culture since the Crazy Rich Asians movie’s blockbuster success this August. Dubbed as #AsianAugust, the summer of 2018 has seen more Asian actors celebrated in Western media than ever before. From the big screen to small screen, from movies such as ‘Searching’ starring John Cho; to Netflix’s ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ starring Asian teenager Lana Condor; to Canada’s ‘Kim’s convenient store’; Asian actors dominated conversations regarding diversity and representation in the West.

read more
AAPI Heritage Month: Interview with Mou Mukherjee

AAPI Heritage Month: Interview with Mou Mukherjee

In some ways, I abandoned my culture when I was young because I was trying so hard to fit in. My parents were, and still is very cultural. Growing up, there was always Indian music playing, our house was full of Bengali literature, my Dad’s hero was poet Rabindranath Tagore, and he also loved the films of Satyajit Ray. I was surrounded by culture and yet I couldn’t fully embrace it at the time.