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h3llosunshin3-blog · 10 years ago

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Happy #MMRSproject88 Day!

Apologies for missing last week’s post, but I didn’t forget about this week! I’m a little late, but I do hope you enjoy this week’s question and response. With it, I wanted to share a bit of my testimony due to the capacity of the question. Enjoy!

TODAY’S #MMRSproject88 QUESTION:

What are your dreams and passion in life and how are you taking the steps to pursue it?

RESPONSE:

5 years ago, I graduated from college with my B.S in Marketing from Cal Poly Pomona. [Woot! Go Broncos!] Coming out, I had a plan: Take the Summer off, find a job in Marketing in September, work for a year, go to grad school. Boy, was that plan shot out the window from the get go. I also ended up moving back in with the parents, so you know how that turned out.

What really happened was I took the Summer off and then started my job search in August. Since 2010 was a pinnacle year in the economic crisis, jobs were very difficult to come by. I was a brand new graduate competing with people who had double my years in age and experience. I was scrambling for any job at this point even if it meant take a job with a Pyramid Scheme who would only pay me on commission. Lucky enough, I had friends who knew me better than that and offered to ask his boss to have me intern with their company. This served as a catalyst for a variety of emotions, in addition to shedding light on what I strongly liked and disliked about working in the corporate world.

During this time, I was also introduced to the world of Christianity. I started attending church and getting more involved with the Young Adults group. This interaction and new discovery into Jesus’ realm was a huge impact on my life and will soon forecast my life 5 years later.*

After working at the internship for a couple of months and dealing with issues at home, I soon fell into a state of depression. With no real passion for life, I left the internship and became a recluse, segregating myself from the real world and becoming best friends with Hulu and Korean Dramas where I developed a love for Kpop and all things Korean, but that’s a story for another time. For many who knew me, this was a complete 180 from my usual happy go lucky self and it turned into a deeper issue I had to overcome. I went to church breaking down into tears, something I rarely did. I no longer felt close to God, I yearned to be close to him, but felt hollow inside. I strayed so far, yet still maintained a Consumer Christian mentality of praying in hopes, He would do something for me without my giving glory to Him. I called this period of my life, “My Dark Days.”

9 to 10 months later, I find myself breaking down into tears and praying to God to provide me with a job, not necessarily knowing 7 months later I would again be dissatisfied with the job I had been provided. (God provides in His timing & I was so quick to doubt it that I went for any opportunity that was in front me even if it was too leave my own morales behind)

Fast forward 2 years (2012), 4 internships and 4 jobs later at a job where I completely where I didn’t think I’d be again: Interning with a part time job in retail. (I was 23 at the time) At this point, I had left my job as a customer service/retail rep with no clue what to do. By the grace of God, I was presented with an internship opportunity the following day after I quit to work as an operations and events management intern with Wong Fu Productions and Far East Movement’s company, ISA, that worked with up and coming Asian American Youtubers and other celebrities. Through this internship, I rediscovered my love for production and behind the scenes work. I was able to create connections and contribute in developing ideas and turning them into reality.

During my time at ISA, I also knew I needed funding to help me get back on my feet again and that was when I got a message from my friend, Matt from college about an opening at Quiksilver in Downtown Disney, where he was at the time working at.** Initially, I received a phone call asking to go in for an interview at first, I declined. You’re probably wondering “Why would you do that? !” I’ll tell you why. I had just been given a job at another retail store across the way. It wasn’t necessarily the job I wanted with the company I wanted, but it was a job nonetheless. Of course, 15 minutes of kicking myself for not taking the interview, I call Quiksilver back and ask to take the interview. Long story short, I got hired after the initial interview.

This was where I met some of the friendliest, least understood, most inspirational, most motivated and passionate group of people in my life. To this day (2 years and 10 months later), I still thank the Lord for placing me at such an inspiring place even after my doubts and concerns. Everyone at Quik Disney impacted my life in a multitude of ways, but there was always that one moment I look back on that resonated with me most and I dubbed it the foundation changer in my life.

My manager at the time, Aubrey is one of the biggest inspirations in my life. He was non traditional in thought, his methods of teaching were beyond outrageous at points, his love for people exuded as he walked in and out of the store day in and day out. Many people didn’t understand him, nor did they ever stop to think how insightful he really was. However to our young team of 18 to 20 something year olds, he was the sliver of glue that continued to hold our foundation together. One day he took our team aside and told us something we would be the best advice anyone could ever give,

"You can come in day in and day out, fold tees all day and not care what type of impact you make here at Quik. However, you also have the choice to take your opportunity here at Quik and impact lives, continue to learn new things, grow into someone you aspire to be and do it with the biggest passion. We could sit here and complain that we aren’t where we aspire to already be, but in this moment, we are here at Quik. If you don’t love what you are doing, get out and go find passion in something else."

Throughout my time at Quik, I saw impactful moments, both big and small, people chasing their dreams, entering in with no real passion, but departing with more dreams and skills imaginable. This was the type of environment that prepared me to be the person I am today and without God’s timing, love and opening the opportunity up to work at Quik, I would have never learned the things I learned nor meet some of my closest friends.

Back to the Future

Currently, 5 years later at the age of 26, I have been humbled by how God has constantly worked in my life. Even when I didn’t feel Him audibly speaking to me, He found a means to anyways. ”In His silence, He is working the hardest” After all the issues and constant adversity I dealt with and are still dealing with to this day, He still managed to create passion, new opportunities and place amazing people in my life.

Now, I will be moving to The City of Angels, a place I found a deep connection with that people believed I should have moved to years ago, to pursue my aspiration of being someone who “helps turn dreams into reality.” Although, I am taking the risk going out there with no stable job or income, I know this was the move God was preparing me for and I can only pray for His provision and guidance in the matter. Praying that He has placed the love of LA on my heart, my move to RLA and everything else to come is all in His plan and I can only obey.

I currently work with RAW Artists, an organization that I started working with in April 2014, at their LA and OC location. Each event has helped me meet a variety of talented people and contribute to a platform to showcase their talents and help others recognize and appreciate art.

I was also presented with a variety of opportunities to jump on board a couple of projects they were still in the beginning stages of:

Good Vibes Retreat

A couple months ago, my friend Leo quit his job at Quiksilver and with no real plan in mind, bought a family camper van and decided he wanted to travel. During the process, our other friends Woody, Poi and Diggs did the same and jumped on board, forming what we know now as the Good Vibes Retreat formally known as Good Vibes Roadtrip. After a few months of travel and living in Portland, they are back to being Cali based and hoping to spread good vibes into the community. I was proposed with the idea of hosting a variety of community events from Leo a couple of months ago and with a team of our friends, we are now up and rolling. Still in the beginning stages, we recently hosted our first community event last night where we collected canned goods to donate to LA Regional Food Bank, in addition to donating part of the proceeds we made to a non profit called Funshine. We are still in the design process, but have so many ideas to help out with the community and I am so humbled and honored to be working alongside some of my closest friends.

Instagram: @goodvibesretreat

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goodvibesroadtrip

The Gem Collective

The Gem Collective is a group of women uniquely designed with a unique purpose — gems, unified with the commitment and vision of shining their God given light and using their God given talents and gifts to serve others in their community.

I was invited to join this group through my friend and sister in Christ, Caroline a couple of months ago and it was the best chances I ever took. We are currently in the beginning stages as well and have been working on fundraising events towards a couple of women empowerment events to help Christian women realize their worth, in addition to helping women in transitional homes come out into the real world. I am so lucky to be working with such amazing talented Christian women who have a heart for God and a love for style and artistic talent.

Instagram: #thegemcollective

Facade Magazine TV

Facade Magazine is a side project that my friend Randy, whose claim to fame as a high fashion photographer brought him into the editing side of editorial magazines alongside his friend Maee are working on. We hung out one day after months of not seeing each other and through conversation and sharing aspirations, he asked if I would ever go on camera and be an on screen personality. Many people on numerous occasions previously mentioned that I should go into that field, but due to my laziness and lack of video knowledge, I always put it on the backburner. I can now say I have one on camera interview under my belt and am so excited and happy to venture into the world of on screen personalities.

Instagram: @facademagazine

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/facademag

Website: http://facademagazine.com/

Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will” John 13:7 NLT

*My Christian Life:

I was not raised in a Christian household. My family were non practicing Buddhists devout to attending Temple during specific holidays. Growing up, I mainly just followed my family to Temple not knowing any better. I always knew there was a God, jealous of my Christian friends who had friends from church, who got to attend youth camp etc. and was quite intrigued at the mere thought of Him. In 2009, my Junior year of college, I was invited by my friend, Brad to attend church with him. We went to a couple services at Eastside Christian Church where he introduced me to his friends in the young adults group. After a constant battle with my family about my activities with the church, I then got involved with the Young Adults Ministry and October 2nd, 2010 I devoted my life to Christ and got baptized. I spent 2009 to 2014 serving in a variety of capacities at church from young adults min to doing the announcements on the big stage during weekend service to helping with community events and going on missions trips to San Francisco, Mexico and Thailand. However, I started feeling a disconnect with the church and God and I knew then I needed to change something about it. After church shopping for a bit, I took the risk of going to a church by myself for the first time ever. I am now attending regularly at Reality LA in Hollywood where I serve as a host, take classes and are in community with some rad Jesus loving people.

**To give you a little insight into Quiksilver and its role in my life:

Quiksilver was always a dream company to work for, I admired their passion for action sports, their photography, marketing and their clothes. I always aspired to work for them in some capacity just to say I worked for one of the top brands in the industry.

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