Today we’d like to introduce you to Thu Nguyen.
Thu, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was that pre-med that didn’t seem like a pre-med student. My extracirriculars included running the campus fashion blog and shows and the Vietnamese Student Association, working with a local Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) civil rights organization and working on art projects with friends. Chemistry was something I was good at in high school but when I discovered sociology, that’s when I really grew and learned most about myself and the world we live in. So it was without surprise to my friends that I quit the premed track my senior year of college and took a job post-graduation doing communications for OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates.
The intersection between my advocacy work and creative outlets resulted in Rice Paper Houston, the local magazine I produced with scouted friends and strangers. (Volume 2 is scheduled to release by this December, and we are releasing details about submissions to Volume 3 in November!) While at Rice University, I realized that there wasn’t a dedicated platform to promote the voices and accomplishments of AAPIs in Houston. Our community is vibrant with entrepreneurs of all types, artists of all mediums, and talented writers, and young folks like myself or my sister needed to have more role models!
I lived in Washington, DC for two years, and now equally split my time between the two cities. While in DC, I learned from incredible community leaders here who are both small business owners and advocates: Seda Nak at Shopkeepers, Les Talusan, Simone Jacobson at Thamee, etc. While in Houston, I’ve also been able to seek inspiration and advice from the folks of Sunchild, TOMO Mags, Myth & Symbol, Awesome Bites Co., Montrose Shop, and many more.
Being the daughter of a staple Montrose nail salon, I’ve been able to have an extremely well-rounded experience of what it means to make space, build community, advocate for others, all while running a business. This has given me the ability to take part in, and lead, various community events that has promoted sociopolitical dialogue, art and design, food, or all at once!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The biggest, if not only, obstacle has been allowing myself to take risks and believe in my abilities. Spacemaking (through art shows, dinners, workshops, magazines, etc.) is the best term to describe what I do but it’s such a brand new concept that’s vaguely defined as a career let alone its acceptable success measures. It’s a struggle seeing funding come in slowly on a Kickstarter of an idea you thought was amazing, or get ghosted by a potential mentor you sought. However, good ideas eventually catch on, and I have been blessed with an incredible network of friends and other mentors. Knock on wood, but the road has been mostly smooth!
Rice Paper Houston/Thudawin – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Rice Paper Houston is an Asian Houstonian cultural and lifestyle magazine dedicated to uplifting the voices and talents of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Houston. We are print-only and volunteer-run!
thudawin is the moniker under which I produce events since I mainly use Instagram as my marketing and outreach platform. With one foot in the civil rights advocacy world and the other in the creative/food scene, I’m able to make space for folks to have a dialogue about identity, food, fashion, politics, or even just get crafty and make zines and collages!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I think my definition of success evolves as I age and evolve. Currently, at the age of 23, my current markers of success are: paying bills off, growing a savings account, growing in my career, and developing my hobbies while maintaining healthy relationships with my family, friends, and myself.
I’d say that right now, I’m about 80% successful. It’s been tough trying to balance out having a savings account, maintaining relationships (ahem, going out with friends) while working my dream non-profit job. Ha!
Contact Info:
- Website: thudawin.org
- Email: thudawin@gmail.com
- Instagram: @thudawin, @ricepaperhou
- Twitter: @thudawin
Image Credit:
FYP-DC
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