Poet Karina Hsieh Aims To Stop Asian Hate By Generating Love

Karina Hsieh is a poet, entrepreneur and self-love coach. She published her first book of poetry, Loving Yourself Into Being, on Valentine’s Day 2020. Then, with thousands of devastating attacks on Asian Americans across the United States since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, she felt inspired to create Generate Love, a t-shirt campaign to support the Asian American community and #StopAsianHate. Hsieh felt that bystander intervention training would be the most effective and hands-on approach to helping keep the Asian American community safe. Generate Love therefore donates 100% of profits to Hollaback!, an organization that offers free bystander intervention trainings.

Generate Love was born in just three weeks. Hsieh gathered together designers, creators and dreamers from across the globe to generate more love in the world. Since launching on April 15th, 2021, the company has raised almost $4,000 for Hollaback! “We fully support the #StopAsianHate movement, which raises awareness of the violence against Asians. And we aim to add onto the conversation the idea that we should also #GenerateLove, focusing on what we want to manifest on this planet,” says Hsieh.

After graduating with a degree in psychology from Harvard University, Hsieh went to work in Silicon Valley as a “Happiness Engineer.” Then in 2014, she was walking to work one morning when all of a sudden, she felt as if she had been struck by lightning. “Every cell in my body tingled. In that moment, I knew my purpose in life—to spread love in the world, especially self-love. I knew that as long as love was my North Star, whatever I chose in line with that vision would be right for me.”

At that time, Hsieh says, she didn’t love herself or believe that she deserved love. She understood that if her life purpose was to spread love, then she had to first figure out how to love herself. So, she decided to take off on an 18-month-long solo backpacking trip around the world. “This would be my opportunity to learn to love myself, self-soothe and become my own best friend,” she says.

At the start of her trip, Hsieh began working on a book about her travels. But more and more frequently, she began waking up in the middle of the night to write poems. Finally, she decided to focus on poetry as a way to help others heal and love themselves more deeply. Now, she conducts poetry readings, speaks on podcasts, and runs self-love workshops in addition to engaging in other entrepreneurial endeavors such as Generate Love.

Hsieh definitely faces challenges carving out her own direction without any signposts to guide her. She doesn’t have the stability that many of her contemporaries do, and she has to stay consistently self-disciplined. However, she loves waking up every day knowing that if this were her last day, she would have no regrets, as she is doing everything she can to make the world a better place and living according to her highest values—love and connection.

With the Covid-19 pandemic triggering attacks on Asian Americans, Hsieh felt called to do something to help her community. Generate Love t-shirts revolve around the theme, “One heart" (一心) and Love (爱), the everlasting bond that connects us all (∞),” says Hsieh. “In these difficult times, we must remember that we are one. Humankind. We are both. Human. Kind.”

Hsieh encourages young people looking to tap into their life purpose to ask themselves, “What makes me come alive? What lights me up? What do I love to do in my free time?” Then, she says, “Become your own best friend. I’ve found that by spending time with myself, I’ve learned how to better listen to my intuition and heart. Block out an hour or two on your calendar to spend time doing something you enjoy, where you can quiet your mind. In the slow moments where we can just be we really hear ourselves and what our hearts call out for us to do in this life.”