As AAPI Heritage Month comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting not just on where I come from—but on the legacy I carry, and how that legacy shapes every bottle of Karviva we create.
My story didn’t start in a lab or a boardroom—it began on a quiet beach in southern China, generations ago. That’s where my great-grandfather, still a child, was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Philippines and later Indonesia. He survived. He built a business from the sea’s offerings that sustained our family. That resilience became our inheritance.
My grandfather carried that same grit, but his gift was healing. As a respected practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine, he helped neighbors and strangers alike, using herbs and intuition passed down through centuries. I grew up immersed in his stories and deeply influenced by my uncle—a pioneer in studying acupuncture through neuroscience—and my aunt, a renowned scientist in herbal medicine and women’s health. Their work, their remedies, and their reverence for nature’s power to restore balance left a lasting impression on me.
Even as I pursued a Ph.D. in pathology and later an MBA, I never forgot how my grandfather made people feel—seen, healed, and whole.
When I immigrated to the U.S. in 1996, I brought more than ambition. I brought tradition. I brought the understanding that wellness is not a product—it’s a practice. That belief became Karviva.
Karviva is a fusion of modern nutritional science and ancient herbal wisdom; of clean, sustainable ingredients and the soul of food as medicine. It’s a love letter to my past and a gift to the future.
And speaking of the future—nothing inspires me more than watching my own children define what legacy means. My daughter, Jacqueline, is a young artist passionate about mental wellness in children and a gifted storyteller who recently wrote about our family’s history on her blog. My son finds grounding in music. In every note he plays, I hear the same spirit that has carried our family across oceans and generations.
This month, as we celebrated women’s health across cultures and lifespans, I was reminded that healing is a lineage. We pass down strength, wisdom, and nourishment—not just in genes or recipes, but in how we show up for others.
Karviva exists because I believe healing can be inherited—and that each of us, with intention and love, can pass forward wellness instead of wounds.
Thank you for being part of this journey.
With gratitude,
Angela Zeng, Ph.D., MBA
Founder, Karviva
