New Year, New Challenges, More Recipes

In my last post, I wrote about how in February, I challenged myself to work every single day of the month, including weekends, sticking to a strict schedule. I stuck to the promise I made to myself and survived February! How do I feel? I feel pretty damn proud of myself! I tackled some pretty tough recipes and it was a lot of work! I have no idea how my mom was able to make some of these complex dishes as a single, working mother of 3 young girls. I also don’t know how she remembers the ingredients in all of these dishes. It’s so easy to confuse similar recipes. Good thing I’m documenting everything and creating a cookbook! I hope my sisters and my cousins appreciate all of this!

Even though February has ended, I’m still committed to working everyday. I mean, I need to. I want to. And I don’t really have a stable income. I need to keep it moving. After a month of working long hours every single day and all weekend, my body was starting to feel low on fuel. I felt so drained and tired. This month, I have tried to loosen the grip a little bit and have taken more breaks to rest. It’s hard to feel inspired and productive if you’re exhausted and overworked. I have to allow myself time to re-energize.

There are a few different things I’m trying to jump start at the moment. After 12+ years in the corporate world of the fashion industry, I want something different. I want flexibility. I have different passions and want to be able to do it all. In my experience with a corporate job that is unrelated to my other passions, it is difficult to find time to do anything else. I want to see if there’s a way I can pursue consulting on a part-time basis, which means I need to look for a client and reach out to recruiters, hiring managers, and others in my network. I also want to finish this cookbook and try to get it published. This means I need a publisher and I need to send out query letters to literary agents. Plus, I don’t know anything about publishing. I definitely have a lot of research I need to do. If all that fails, then I will need to look into self publishing. I also enjoy food styling, food photography, and sharing my journey of creating this cookbook on my Instagram. I completed my first collaboration for a brand recently (photos shown above). Food styling is so much fun! I have been getting invited to media night events as a blogger also. I’d love to connect with other brands for partnerships. This means contacting brands, creating a media kit, and sending out pitch emails.

To sum it all up, I’m searching for a new client for consulting, a literary agent, and a brand partnership while I’m cooking and writing for my cookbook. On top of all that, I’m also looking for a life partner. It’s a lot, huh?! But I think I can do it all! Hoping to at least finish all of the cooking by the end of this month. I’ve been attending various types of networking events to brainstorm with others and that has been helpful. Lets go March!

If you have any advice, suggestions, or encouraging words on the above, please send them my way!

P.S. I’ve gotten sick of eating so much of my own food. I need new non-Asian recipes. Help! Something fun and easy.

Finding Inspiration...

As I mentioned in my About section, I don't really know what I'm doing.  I have never made a professional cookbook before.  I have never not worked a corporate job before.  Making the decision to take the rest of the year off to work on a creative passion project was liberating, but also simultaneously terrifying!  At first, I was excited and inspired.  Then in the next moment, I felt discouraged and doubtful of myself.  It is difficult to make that first step.  Actually, I take that back.  It's fucking scary to take that first step.  But it's even harder to take those second, third, and forth steps!  The drive that forces you to make that initial decision is an adrenaline rush.  But then it wears off.  Somehow, you have to find the courage to push through your moment of self-doubt to keep moving and taking action.  And it has not been easy.  It has been a journey.  It has been a learning process. I've had lots of pep talks with myself.  My friends have had pep talks with me.  Who knew I needed so much support?!  And that's okay!  At least that is what I'm learning.  It's okay to ask for support.  I have often felt discouraged each time I encountered an obstacle.  But I have had to remind myself not to get overwhelmed with the bigger picture and to focus on that next step that I need to make in order to keep myself moving forward.  This week, I felt recharged after taking a break from my cookbook for one day to help my friend with her yoga photoshoot.  We spent the first part of the day at El Matador Beach in Malibu taking beautiful shots in the sand, on the rocks, in the water. We took a nice little lunch break at Malibu Seafood along the PCH.  I treated myself to a WHOLE lobster for lunch!  We then spent golden hour at Pan Pacific Park near The Grove climbing trees and doing yoga poses down in the dirt.  We ended the day sipping on wine on my balcony at sunset.  It may have been just one day of ordinary activities, but it was the fuel and inspiration I needed this week to keep moving forward.