I’ve been toying with the idea of doing some sort of a Q&A column for a while now but I’ll be honest with you: the thing that was holding me up was that I couldn’t think of the perfect name for it. It’s ironic because the bulk of this particular newsletter is about shaking free from perfectionism’s relentless chokehold on every one of our creative endeavors, so I decided to listen to my own advice, just give it a whatever name, and get on with it.
To start I’m answering three questions: one about me, one about printers (lol), and one about how imposter syndrome is keeping a lot of us from trying new things (like starting a Substack). I’m putting the last answer behind the paywall (it’s very long), and as an added bonus for those who are paid subscribers, I’ve included a link to download the template I use to plan my Substack posts. It’ll make sense why when you read the answer.
Alright. Let’s get started!
ON WHO I EVEN AM
Maybe it’s just because I’m a new-ish subscriber, but I would love to know more about you! Where you grew up, how you got your start, etc.!
A good first question, no? And a big one! I’ll give you the highlight reel:
I grew up in Orange County, California—yes, that Orange County—where I lived from ages 0 through 22. If you’re picturing The O.C. and are using that as a reference point for my upbringing I’ll help you out: I certainly grew up with a handful of Marissas and Summers, but I was more like a character who would never have gotten any screen time because she didn’t even know those people and was probably doing her homework at the kitchen table while they were at The Bait Shop.
But anyway, the arts had a big presence in my childhood and my sister and I were always encouraged to draw, paint, dance, decorate, and play make believe. Both of my parents are very creative, as were their parents before them, and I didn’t realize how special that was until I was much older and could appreciate how they’ve influenced so much of what makes up my life now.
I studied graphic design and minored in English lit in college, but I really waffled between film, journalism, and several options in the arts program for a while before I declared a major. I’m someone who ruminates and goes back and forth on things until someone gives me a nudge of confidence, so luckily towards the end of my freshman year I had a film professor that suggested I look into design. I walked straight from class over to the registrar’s office and switched my major right then and there.
A quick run through my resumé: I interned at FILTER Magazine (RIP) in college, then interned again at an entertainment-focused design studio for a summer after I graduated and moved to LA. I was freelancing for a few months during that time and one of my clients was a brand called ban.do, which I ultimately went on to work for for 8 years. In 2020 I left that job to start my own studio and here I am!
Now I live in LA, work for myself, write this newsletter, and spend a lot of time eating, cooking, and drinking wine with my friends. There’s a lot of other stuff in between it all, but I’ll save it for the next Q&A!
ON PRINTERS
This is very specific but what printer do you use to print out all your images for your mood boards?
This IS a very specific question but one people ask me ALL THE TIME. And the answer is unfortunately not all that helpful: I currently have a Canon PIXMA MG3620, which is just a cheap printer I got on Amazon and frankly, it absolutely sucks. Lately it’s been printing streaks no matter how often I clean the whatever-needs-to-be-cleaned, so I’ve been sending my mood board images to my local Office Depot for print. I’m not sure what my long-term solution will be—I really need a printer that works at home—but for now this is my truth! If anyone has printer recs to share, please drop them in the comments. The people need to know!
ON SUBSTACK, STARTING A THING, AND IMPOSTER SYNDROME
Writing a newsletter is a huge commitment to your audience and also to yourself. What is your process or system to stay consistent [with your] writing? Do you plan your publications well in advance? An extra question: how do you gain self-confidence with what you write (ie. overcoming imposter syndrome)?
I got a few variations of this question, including some Substack-specific ones but a lot that were more broadly about imposter syndrome. So I’m lumping them all together into this one answer, which I hope will address most of it.
Starting something new is so vulnerable, and I’m pretty sure that perfectionism and imposter syndrome team up any time I think Could I do that? to convince me that No, you absolutely can not, why would you even think that? They’re very rude, yet they’re probably who I spend the most time with.
I, like many of you, don’t like trying a new thing if I’m not absolutely sure I’m going to be at least pretty good at it. Logically I know that “perfect” is a myth—my therapist reminds me that there’s no such thing on a weekly basis—but my sick, melted-by-the-internet brain is still convinced that there IS such a thing and that if I just try hard enough I can achieve it! (And if I don’t, I’m a fraud and nothing I do is of any value or importance.) It’s this thinking that keeps me from trying new things, putting myself out there in certain ways, and believing that even if I’m a total failure at something to begin with, I’ll likely get better with practice. But there are ways to fight this.
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