Amila Li is a PhD student of English Literature at the University of British Columbia. She holds BA (Honours) and MA degrees in English from Simon Fraser University as well as an ARCT diploma in Piano Pedagogy from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Prior to her academic pursuits, she dropped out of cosmetology school. Through lines in Amila’s research and thinking are beauty, performance, and relationality, especially as they pertain to gendered and racialised labour. Her work is possible thanks to funding by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, nourishment from her communities, and the random fortune of access.