Kevin’s Story
Why I Write ✍️
I write to grow 1% through inspiration and exploration of the world.
Writing helps me stay rooted in what matters. It’s a practice of clarity, one page at a time. Through my reflections, I hope you find something that supports your path of meaningful, exponential growth.
“I can be a world builder.”
— Kevin T.P. Tran
The more extended version of my story?
I grew up in Mukilteo, a small town in Washington state. I studied Applied Math at the University of Washington, then stepped into the tech world. First as a cloud consultant, then as a Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services, working with enterprise clients.
From the outside, I had “made it”, but on the inside, I was unraveling.
In high school, I struggled with suicidal thoughts and spent hours in the counselor’s office trying to make sense of it all. It didn’t stop there. In college, I buried myself in academics and activities. It helped me stay afloat, but the burnout came in waves, and it followed me into the workplace.
At some point, I had to stop and ask myself:
Is this what I really wanted?
So I left. I packed a backpack and traveled through Southeast Asia and Oceania, chasing curiosity and, more honestly, healing. I explored new cultures. I sat with stillness. I started asking better questions.
That journey eventually led me to life coaching, then podcasting, and finally, back to the one thing that always felt natural: writing.
Through it all, Sprout Notes and The Explorer persisted. Writing became the way I returned to myself and offered something back.
Now, I continue to write through these newsletters, sharing book reviews, personal reflections, and lessons I’m still learning. I don’t have all the answers, but if something in these words helps you grow with yours, then I’ve done what I came here to do.
“Remember to enjoy what you created”
— Kevin T.P. Tran