BIOGRAPHY

My name is Yufeng Xiong. 

I go by my preferred name Bryan. I am 23 years old. I am Hmong-American, born and raised in St. Paul, MN. I come from a big family of 10. I am a student at the University of Minnesota, currently studying for my Bachelors of Arts in Psychology. My goal in school is to have an education about the brain and the study of people's patterns and habits. 

As a side grind as an entrepreneur, I am a life insurance agent with Freedom Equity Group, leading the crusade to help protect and insure people with their lives with products that include tax-free retirement, living benefits and much more; I also lead a group of 10+ individuals who are very passionate about the same dream to build generational wealth and financial freedom. My goal is to share this opportunity with as many people as possible, because to keep it short and simple: Life insurance is extremely important.

When I am not working or in school, I also have a few hobbies as well. These things include photography, videography, playing instruments, drawing, and music production! I also enjoy playing basketball, volleyball, hiking, and weightlifting. I attend church at Eaglebrook Church in Woodbury as well, because faith is an important aspect for me as a Christian. Like life insurance, it is another very important thing that I really am passionate about sharing to people as well. 

I love delicious food and it kills my diet plans every time. I love game nights, bonfires, vulnerable conversations. I enjoy building and creating new relationships with people as well. I pride in being weird/funny/silly. I love smiles, dad jokes and laughter, and puns. I think that building interpersonal connections with people is one of the most beautiful things that we can do as human beings. I look forward to new opportunities and aspire to bring and build leadership! 

One day, I asked a friend named Jack to see if he'd be interested to make music together. Little did I know, he brought me to the studio. The first thing that brought a lot of attention to me was taking off our shoes and replacing them with sandals. It brought great humor to me because I was intrigued that they have a tradition in place.  He shared to me about the story and mission of In Progress and why they do what they do. How did I not know about a place like this meant for aspiring artists like myself, who seek mentorship, access to resources, and a space to feel invited to learn and grow?! Jack gave me a little tour, showing me from space to space, equipment to equipment. That's when I decided I wanted to become involved and also share about this opportunity to others as well. 

What I hope to get out of IP is an opportunity to be coachable and learn as much as possible in the field of Arts, in hopes to someday recreate the same opportunity for . I have a huge passion for music, photography, videography and so many more arts. I want to become well-rounded in these particular fields because I know that these skills will go a long way. To get there: 

As an artist, I've created projects that include wedding videos, short videos, and creative music pieces. I also have been hired for photography sessions and music gigs as well. 

I'm working on building my technical skills to advance my professional projects and am currently building my own business. I am currently working on creating music projects, photography sessions, and much more! 

What I would like to be doing someday is teaching my skills and being a resource to people-- especially to those of low income households and minorities. I want to be able to impact and close the achievement gap that is found in these fields of arts. I want to help children to dream big, learn the skills and knowledge of entrepreneurs, and become confident with knowing that there are people who really care and are passionate in supporting their goals in the future.

Aside from that, I also really enjoy weddings as well. I previously worked as a DJ Emcee for weddings and I found my love for them. In the near future, I want to capture all the elements of weddings through video, photo, and music. I want to build a team of passionate videographers, photographers, DJ's, emcees, wedding coordinators- essentially build a team to help make the wedding day and night very successful for the bride and groom, and the

Qualifications

• photographer

• singer

• songwriter

• softwares: Garage Band, Logic Pro X, Ableton, Adobe Audition, Adobe Photoshop, etc

CONTACT

 Email: xiongbryan17@gmail.com