Today we’d like to introduce you to Cindy La.
Hi Cindy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Ever since I was little, I’ve always had a keen interest in designing and was constantly thinking of creative ideas. I wasn’t the best drawer, but I loved the idea of colors and patterns coming together to make anything more aesthetic. For the longest time, I thought that I wanted to be some sort of designer, but growing up, there weren’t many successful Asian creatives to look up to. Not only that, I had no idea how diverse a role in design could be.
The growth of Instagram really inspired me to create and share content through my own lenses and tell my own story. It was so inspiring to see other content creators showcase their version of ‘aesthetic’. I started to share my own local hidden gems around the city through my food Instagram, along with other passions of mine, fashion and makeup on my main lifestyle Instagram.
Soon, I started collaborating with brands and shared discount codes and new finds with my audience, which helped me grow, but I definitely still value quality of my collaboration and authenticity in what I share. It’s important for me, not only as a creator but as an audience of other content creators, to be able to see transparency in what is shared.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My accounts came to a slower pause as I started pharmacy school. However, once I got further into the program, I realized that it wasn’t my true passion. I felt very uninspired and knew something was missing. One year into pharmacy school, I had stumbled upon a career called UX Design. It was intriguing and I dived deep into researching about the career and immediately knew it was right for me. It combines my two interests, psychology and design, to make technology not only aesthetic, but more user-friendly to everyone. And after some serious planning, I went for it. It was a drastic career change, but to say that it was a breath of fresh air would be an understatement.
I began my journey into UX design, and haven’t looked back since. With this change, I felt inspired to revive my content creating on Instagram again, and even started content creating on TikTok as well. There is a huge difference in the content I create now, as it’s much more authentic and much more me. I love sharing with my audience my latest finds, favorites, and recommendations in my life because I feel like it’s the best way that I can give back to what content creating has given me. I do think it’s always scary to make a career change, but there’s no better feeling like unlocking your true passion and chasing what makes you happy.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I think what makes me passionate about my content is that I am not driven by the glamour side of “influencing” and the expectation of immediate growth, rather, I let what makes me feel excited drive my content. Sometimes I have so many content ideas in my head that I have a huge bulleted list of them in the Notes app on my phone! I don’t ever feel burnt out about it either, it’s just fun to create constantly.
Just from my page, I think it’s sort of obvious I love anything colorful and vibrant, pastels, and lots of clothes and jewelry. I think colors and accessories say a lot about a person, and giving attention to the smallest details are my favorite thing to do. I really hope to inspire people to think positively and chase their dreams. I usually try to share positivity or humor through my captions to make at least someone’s day better from my posts.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I think recently, there has been an upsurge of brands and accounts on social media constantly looking for ambassadors and influencers, so much so that there are more scams out there than there are real offers. I don’t see this slowing down anytime soon. Everyone constantly wants to be the next influencer or the next side-hustler-turned-self-made-boss, but it’s important to take a step back and ask yourself, what type of content creator do I want to be? How do I stay true to myself? What makes me excited to share this?
As for UX design, I’m so excited that more companies are realizing and acknowledging the importance of the role in their company. The growth of the field is amazing, and the fact that the role can be relevant to anything you can think of, makes me very excited to become a UX designer one day.
Contact Info:
- Email: cindyyyl24@hotmail.com
- Website: https://linktr.ee/cindyy_rella
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cindyy_rella/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@cindyy.rella?
