Edit June 4, 2024 — It has recently come to my attention that this article is now offline. Luckily, I have a copy of it to share here instead!
Hi Kelli, you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?
Recently in my life I have come to realize that I truly value my relationships with people in all areas of my life. This includes my family, friends and even coworkers. I am very others-focused which I believe is what makes me more inclined to be a generous person. The root of where I think this stems from is both the example set by my parents and our faith. One of the golden rules says to treat others the way that you wish to be treated. Whether it’s dedicating my time to help someone or just spend time with them. I also love giving gifts and making things for people. I never expect things in return. I believe that giving fulfills me more than just serving myself. So try being generous and see where it takes you!
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
By day, I am a graphic designer at a local university. By night, I am an artist. If I’m being completely honest, “artist” is a title that I’ve only recently started to call myself. Since my personal art doesn’t pay the bills, I struggled to call myself an artist for a while. Yet, I’ve recently realized that regardless of the medium or purpose, if you’re creating, you’re an artist. Period.
Art has always been a part of my life in some shape or form. My favorite medium is to draw with pen and ink, but I find a lot of joy in trying out different techniques and forms of art. overall my style tends to gravitate towards making things cute. I’ve never perceived myself as cool or sexy, so I think that reflects in my artwork. Cute and colors make me happy; I’m pretty much a child. Over the last several years, I have submitted my artwork to be put on display at various art pop-ups in the San Diego area. Through that I’ve gained a number of connections within the local art community. The university I work at has also given me opportunities to both sell and display my artwork on campus.
The reason I applied to work at a local university was because I personally had a great experience in college and I wanted to be a part of helping to shape that experience for current students. Though my current position has given me the privilege of a full time creative gig, the university has also opened doors to many other opportunities. What I find to be the most rewarding is working for an organization that has a purpose that I can get behind. We get the privilege of helping to nurture our future. I even have the privilege of mentoring a student myself! I have had a varied professional background, and being able to share my experiences to help teach someone is really humbling.
Another opportunity that came my way was the chance to be on the executive board of our Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Faculty-Staff Association. Through this experience I’ve been able to connect with so many different people across campus. It also gave me an opportunity to get plugged back in with the APIDA community.
My goal with my work experiences and my personal art life is to be able to bring them together somehow. I want to be able to support both our students and our faculty and staff in some capacity and hopefully bring art into the mix. I’m already seeing a lot of intersecting points, and so I can’t help but imagine the possibilities! In fact, one of my upcoming art shows that I’ll be participating in is an Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) art show for the month of May at Thumbprint Gallery in La Jolla, CA.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities that I believe helped me to get where I’m at today are Adaptability, Taking Initiative, and Interpersonal skills.
My adaptability makes me a flexible individual. It has helped me to learn new things and adjust to many different job settings and tasks. I also tend to go with the flow a lot, so I don’t rock the boat often and am always a team player.
Being adaptable also helps to support my interpersonal skills. Through all of my jobs, I have learned to work with a variety of people from all different types of backgrounds. Because of this, I have been able to maintain positive relationships with people both at my current and past jobs. People are willing to vouch for me even after I leave because of the trust and reliability that I’ve built up with them.
Lastly, taking initiative. I have a lot of ideas that I am not afraid to share or lead to implement if given the space. I am willing to step up and go the extra mile at my work when needed. I also took the initiative back when I was starting out to take up volunteer positions to help boost my portfolio and make connections with people in the community.
My best advice is to lean into the fear of getting out of your comfort zone. I am naturally an introverted person, so a lot of these skills took time to gain. With more practice and exposure, you can eventually find the right groove for yourself. Just don’t give up!
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I want to continue to build up connections with local art communities in San Diego or just Southern California in general. I’d like to see if there is a way for us to connect and collaborate to help support the students, faculty and staff on our campus through art.
If there is also a way for me to get connected with Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) communities and organizations in the local region, that would be great as well! Thinking even more specifically, any form of art (visual, dance, song, music, film, etc) that also is linked to APIDA culture would be amazing.
In general I am looking to build a network of strong relationships that can be mutually beneficial. If you want to get in contact with me, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
ORIGINAL POST
It’s been quite the year so far, but I just wanted to share this article that I wrote with Bold Journey about what I’ve been up to and what I’m looking forward to working on soon.
Recently in my life I have come to realize that I truly value my relationships with people in all areas of my life. This includes my family, friends and even coworkers. I am very others-focused which I believe is what makes me more inclined to be a generous person.
By day, I am a graphic designer at a local university. By night, I am an artist. If I’m being completely honest, “artist” is a title that I’ve only recently started to call myself. Since my personal art doesn’t pay the bills, I struggled to call myself an artist for a while. Yet, I’ve recently realized that regardless of the medium or purpose, if you’re creating, you’re an artist. Period.
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