Biography

Cynthia Mun immigrated to the US when she was six and a half years old from South Korea. She grew up in a working-class family near downtown Los Angeles. She graduated from Tenth Street Elementary School, John Burroughs Jr. High School, Westridge School for Girls, and Yale University.

Cynthia studied both Fine Art, specializing in Sculpture and Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry at Yale. After graduating from Yale in 1990, she moved to San Francisco, where she couldn’t find a job. Cynthia started her career as a copy technician at a local copy center for $5 per hour with the condition she could use their computers for free. (Computer rental was $20 per hour.) She also worked at Macy’s as a sales rep. She landed her first marketing job as a marketing assistant seven months after graduation at Calyx & Corolla that launched the first fresh flowers-by-mail concept. Since her first marketing job, Cynthia has held every marketing position in a corporation.

Cynthia quit her first marketing job only after a year because of family obligations and moved to Las Vegas to raise her younger brother and sister for four years. While in Las Vegas, she was part of the opening crew at MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. After her siblings went to college, Cynthia moved back to San Francisco to resume her marketing career.

In Silicon Valley, Cynthia worked mostly in emerging technology sectors as an executive strategic marketer. She implemented the first San Francisco prepaid phone cards for tourists working with Mayor Willie Brown’s office. She launched the first e-Book at NuvoMedia/Gemstar TV Guide that was the precursor to Kindle and was employee number four at Pandora.com, aka Savage Beast. More recently, she held executive positions at MGM Resorts International, Tropicana LV, and D&B.

Today, Cynthia is finally taking time to write stories she hopes her son and other children will enjoy. She writes fantasy for middle-grade readers and contemporary young-adult fiction. She splits her time between Las Vegas and Miami Beach. When she is not writing, she is busy serving the writing community as the Regional Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators in Nevada. She also volunteers as the ASC Director for undergraduate recruitment in Nevada for Yale University and is the past President of the Yale Club of Nevada. Cynthia was appointed Commissioner of Nevada Tourism by two Governors and served as the Vice-Chair of the Commission until 2022.

When time permits, she enjoys speaking at high schools regarding her experience growing up poor in inner-city Los Angeles and getting into Yale.