FULL INTERVIEW

As a woman, what are the kinds of struggles you faced in your everyday life or career?

Growing up as a Taiwanese-American girl, I struggled a lot with people telling me what I should and shouldn’t be doing with my life, especially by male figures (even ones I wasn’t close with).

Whether it was being told directly that I shouldn’t be pursuing my own passions or being told indirectly about how women shouldn’t wear revealing clothes, I’ve always felt like I had no right to speak up to them because my voice felt really small.

This continues to shape me into adulthood, and without realization, it affected every interaction I had. It affected the way I handled clients, the way I talked to my friends, and the lack of confidence I felt within myself and in my own opinions. 

I’ve always felt like I had to play the lower hand, give in to everyone else and what they wanted, instead of what I wanted.

How did you overcome it? Were there specific moments or decisions that helped you? 

If I’m being honest, I still am trying to overcome it. I’ve only recently started feeling strongly about being more confident in myself and my voice because I was just too tired of constantly being talked over.

There were days where I could only lay in bed overthinking about all the things I’ve said in the past, whether or not it offended anyone, or if I could've said more.

These days, I try to combat those anxieties by talking about topics I’m passionate about when I feel the spark of emotion. I try to build my confidence by addressing them through my vlogs little by little.

I definitely think they’re helping me build my confidence in my voice and my opinions because it is a space where I can practice and be myself entirely.

What advice would you tell your younger self and the young women who are reading this?

I would tell 15-year-old me to try her very best to fight for what she wants and believes in, even if some of her dreams are unconventional.

It will be really hard, and she will most definitely cry (I know myself too well), but she needs to try and build that confidence for herself.

Being submissive and hiding behind people’s backs will not make her stronger. I want to tell her to not believe everything that everyone says and to think for herself for once.

Most of all, I want to tell her that she is strong and capable of so many things. She just hasn’t found herself yet.