My parents and older siblings were refugees of the Vietnam War. Being the youngest and the first born American in my family, there were high expectation on academics and obtaining a lucrative career. I didn’t have the same outlook in life or goals for myself the way that they did. From a young age, I had the mindset of working to enjoy life, goals of traveling and being able to see the world from which they came from, and more.
A consequence of being the youngest sibling: I spent a lot of my formative years alone. During this time, I naturally gravitated towards drawing and painting. I spent late nights up as a teen, immersing myself in cinema and messing around on Photoshop, hiding from my parents disapproval, and their urging for me to drop my passion.
Going against my parents wishes, I applied and was accepted into an art and design school in Boston. I was thankful for their financial support despite the lack of encouragement. I couldn’t let this stop me from pushing myself forward. This drive eventually led to my first internships and design job right out of college. Even with a steady paycheck, my parents were still skeptical.
When the company I was working for at the time tanked and I was laid off, my parents were quick to suggest a career change. However, I was determined and quickly landed myself a job that would take me out of Boston and bring me to where I am now, New York City. I was still struggling to find confidence and direction in my work, so I ended up freelancing for a year to gain experience in various design positions. Eventually, I saw an opening at NBCUniversal on LinkedIn and applied, thinking nothing of it. Next thing I knew, I was offered the position. For the first time in my adult life, my parents, in their way, showed me that they were proud. Although, at that point in my life, I didn’t need their validation. I have never felt so supported by such an amazing Creative Director and diverse team, creating work I am proud of with the encouragement to grow creatively outside of the office.
Despite the struggles in my career before landing my dream job at NBCUniversal, I still managed to keep up with one of my main passions: traveling. I find creative inspiration and ideas when I am abroad. My love for films from a young age, was the primary source of inspiration for me to pick up photography. I’ve combined the two and started my own photo series “After Dark”- capturing night time scenes in various cities, (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Tokyo, Bangkok) the cinematic look and feel inspired by Wong Kar Wai, Gaspar Noe, and Ridley Scott. I always worked better at night, when everything is quiet around me. I find comfort in late night walks, wherever I am at in the moment. Street photography happens fast, in one blink you could miss the scene you saw in your mind, so a lot of it is happenstance or by chance which makes it so much more thrilling for me to capture a unique moment the way I see it and share it with others.