“What’s in a name?”

So yes, my name, Chou Xiong. A bit tricky for newcomers (and many past teachers). So, I thought I’d start this off by helping you with the proper pronunciation for my name, which is “shoe” (Chou) see-young (Xiong). You’ll get used to it, I promise!

For a long time I debated about giving myself a westernized name for business purposes, thinking clients would be more likely to book with a Chloe X rather than a Chou Xiong. And then I realized I wouldn’t be true to who I was and if they loved my work they would be booking me for that reason and not my name. So yes, I’m proud of my Hmong name and grateful for all my clients who hired me for my work even when it meant putting in that extra effort to learn how to say my name. Thank you!