We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Audrey Okeya a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Audrey, so happy to have you on the platform and I think our readers are in for a treat because you’ve got such an interesting story and so much insight and wisdom. So, let’s start with a topic that is relevant to everyone, regardless of industry etc. What do you do for self-care and how has it impacted you?
Self-care is such a slippery slope for most artists and I certainly feel that way too! But what I’ve learned through all the years of burn out is that you HAVE to take care of yourself and your heart first! After all, if your heart and mental health are not doing good, it will show in your work.
A good example was when I first moved to SoCal with my husband 7 years ago, my mental health was not the best and I was not taking care of myself at all! But then I decided to try out therapy, and that REALLY changed my life forever!
in short, if you take care of YOU first, the work that you do will reflect that!
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I run an online shop where I sell all my whimsical & quirky stationery that I illustrate myself! I’ve had this shop up for almost 5 years now and till this day it just amazes me every time I receive an order. In my mind I’m like, “Someone paid money for the art that I made, WOW!”.
I’m also half of Okeya Stationery Co.! Which is me and my husband(Jon Kenzo Okeya)’s stationery cart business that we do. Imagine a travelling, wooden Japanese Ramen cart; but instead of ramen its stationery & art that we sell! We sell everything from journals, stickers, washi tape, to desk mats!
It was born from Jon’s crazy idea to make a Ramen Cart style booth because he wanted to promote his Youtube Channel called “The Shokudo Series”. This series is about the Japanese American culture and how it is so important to represent it through the food & the stories that each guest on the show talks about!
We are excited to also share that the Shokudo Series will be having a Grand Premier Showing called “Showa Alley” with lots of amazing Japanese food stalls & our Stationery Cart as well at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute (GVJCI) on April 13th, 2024 Saturday.
If you want to follow me & my husband Jon’s art & events please follow us at our instagram & youtube pages!
Audrey Okeya @audreyokeya
Jon Kenzo Okeya @kenzo_illustrations
Okeya Stationery Co. @okeyastationeryco
Youtube Series: “The Shokudo Series”
To buy tickets to the Showa Alley event: https://www.jci-gardena.org/gvjci-upcoming-events.html
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Communication, Kindness, & Courage!
Communication – Because early on in my career, the easiest thing to forget is to FULLY communicate to your clients about the projects that you are working on. You wouldn’t want to deliver something that was not really what the client wanted but you THOUGHT was good in your mind! So learn to be more communicative & honest and they really appreciate that more that being withdrawn & secretive!
Kindness – This is a big one! You HAVE to be kind to YOURSELF on this journey we call LIFE. Because we tend to be so hard on ourselves, with the pressures of social media & life & family, we want to keep working and pushing and burning out but this is not the way! You can only do the BURN OUT cycle for so long until it starts to affect your mental & physical health, so be KIND to YOU.
Courgage – Keep in mind that this one is one of the hardest ones to do, it takes guts to pursue something that you know might not succeed or its such a crazy idea that people think you are nuts! But its with these big & bold courageous moves that you might be able to push past that comfort and start growing in an amazing direction in life! You never know what doors might open when you just take that first step!
Even just one of these things will help you move forward with your creative path in life because skills can be learned and practiced but you as a person should be able to practice the 3 qualities mentioned above in my opinion!
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
The Creative License by Danny Grerory
Is hand down my GO TO book when I feel like I’m stuck in a rut or art block! It is a book that instructs the reader to not be afraid of making mistakes or failing. And I love the process of which he guides you through his journey as well with such vivid and wonderful illustrations!
My take away from the book is definitely the pushing past the fear of failure and making something too ‘ugly’.
Just GO FOR IT!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://audreyokeya.shop/
- Instagram: @audreyokeya
Image Credits
Photography of Audrey Okeya in Cart by Rob Yamamoto
