Teresa Hsiao was born in Indiana and attended Harvard University, where she served on the board of Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business (HUWIB) and as editor-in-chief of Make It Happen, the organization's first national magazine. Hsiao co-founded Smart Woman Securities at the college with Tracy Britt Cool in 2006,[4][5] and earned her degree in Economics in 2007.[6]
Hsiao is the co-creator and an executive producer on the television coming of age comedy Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens.[8] for which she had been in development with Awkwafina since 2016. The series was renewed for a second season on January 14, 2020,[9] prior to the January 22 premiere of its first episode.[10]
More recently, Hsiao signed an overall deal with Sony Pictures Television to develop comedy and animation for streaming platforms via her Red 136 Productions.[11]
In January 2017, Hsiao was among more than 2,000 Harvard alumni to add their names to an open letter to fellow alumnus and Senior White House advisor Jared Kushner,[12] admonishing: "Truth. It is the guiding value of your alma mater; let it be a value in the Administration as well."[13]