The three good friends found they shared the feeling of growing up without seeing themselves represented in media. "Magazines and everything that's been celebrated as, let's say, what's hot, what's sexy, what's desirable and it didn't look like me. It didn't look like us," says Gurung. "I had to define my own worth. I realized nobody is going to give me my worth. So I was like, 'You know what? I am hot. I am sexy. The world just needs to catch up to me.'"

The world is finally catching up, albeit very slowly. There was the massive success of last year's Crazy Rich Asians, a rom-com all three believe was a step in the right direction. And just this year at the Oscars, South Korean director Bong Joon-ho won big for his movie, Parasite, nabbing four awards including Best Picture. It was the first time a non-English speaking movie won the top award in the history of the Oscars. But with every step forward, there’s a step back. In the excitement surrounding Parasite's win and what it means for Korean cinema, there was still the question of why none of the movie’s actors were nominated. And that’s not even mentioning Chinese-American actress Awkwafina's Oscars snub right after she won Best Actress at the Golden Globes for Lulu Wang's beautiful film, The Farewell.

Lim notes that while racism and bullying are obviously hurtful, feeling unseen can be just as difficult. "Words hurt and the lack of words hurt," he says. "We speak about words thrown at you, but when you also don't receive words of affirmation, you're like, 'Where do I belong?'"

Leaving the next generation better than they had it is something important to all three. "Every opportunity you can, you show up. You speak up. You pull the chair out for each other," says Lim. "There's no such thing as a guaranteed free lunch right now for people of color or minority groups."

Gurung believes their job as creative people is to "heal by representation." It's bigger than them because they're the privileged ones now. "We all have a platform and success. It's not for us," he says. "It's not for us because it is given to us. Success is given to us, I feel, by the universe. It really tests our characters. What are we going to do with it? Are we going to keep on building a yacht and buildings and buying apartments? Or are you really going to affect a community? Are you really going to make a change for a person who has no access? One person. That's all it takes."