This post is part of a weekly series in which we get to know Sifties.
Quan Nguyen is a Senior Product Manager who has been with Sift Science for seven months. If he could eat one type of food for the rest of his life, it would be Vietnamese – because there are so many different types of foods you can enjoy from different regions.
If you could pick only 5 words to describe your life, what would they be?
Active, grounded, intentional, kind, curious.
What superpower would you want to have and why?
I’d like to teleport, because I’ve been traveling a lot and have friends all over the world. It would be great to not have to sit on an airplane and just immediately be at my destination.
Do you speak another language?
I speak Vietnamese and Spanish, as well as bits and pieces of other languages like French and German…but just enough to order a beer or know what food I’m ordering.
What did you want to be when you were a kid?
Either an astronaut or a pilot. I love flying, space, constellations, and being outdoors. When I was growing up my dad and I would go to air shows and I had binders where I collected data sheets on airplanes. I love the idea of being an astronaut and am fascinated by how small our world really is in comparison to everything else.
You’re a board member at Family Dog Rescue — tell me more about it!
When I first moved to San Francisco, I was looking to stay active. I also knew that I loved dogs, and that I missed having a dog in my life. I met the people behind a dog running group at Family Dog Rescue and signed up for an orientation (I went to the wrong orientation but it all ended up okay), and then I started volunteering with them. What’s better than starting each day cuddling dogs?
I started spending 2-4 hours a week volunteering there…then 6 hours…then 8 hours. At that point, I joined their volunteer committee and this last spring they asked me to join their board. It’s been great to have an impact, and I get to use a lot of my skills as a product manager there. I love to see the dogs grow, adapt, learn how to trust, and then get adopted out. Last year we adopted out 800 dogs!