We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nathalie Tran. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nathalie below.
Hi Nathalie, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
After decades being controlled in some way that I never had to actually decide what I wanted to become growing up, it was a long journey trying to discover myself. I realized that I have many passions and abilities, but I never had to opportunity to tune these all up. I’m first and foremost a cinephile. This will never go. But I didn’t want this passion to become a burden if I turned this into a job. So, I tried thinking what else I could do. I wasn’t very creative, especially after seeing everything so many talented people do, I thought I could never do that. I’m mostly a ‘follow the rules’ girl, which is the opposite of being creative. I tried looking elsewhere, dabbling until coming back to something creative, despite never having drawn nor doodled in my whole childhood. But I adored writing, calligraphy and beautiful pens. And I noticed I also loved organizing myself. Little did I know all of these passions would be matchable.
When I first got my iPad Pro with a Pencil, I thought this would be magical. But then, I opened the Procreate app and didn’t what to do with that blank page. I started focusing on creating my digital planners yearly only for myself. Then, I created an Instagram account and started sharing my very first drawings. It was 3 years ago.
It’s still not comparable to anyone that keeps drawing daily and learning new tricks. Imposter syndrome is truly damaging. Finding our own style is time consuming. I thought it would never work. Along the few friends I’ve made, and the unwavering support of my husband, we concluded that it would be our first business to create, to become independent, no matter how long it takes.
So currently, he’s developing the website himself while I create digital products, with the aim of personalizing and organizing your life.
I became a mother and started thinking it all differently. I’m the only ‘me’. Even if my designs may be useless to a lot of people, I have hope some will find meaning in those. And my daughter would be someday proud of me despite it all. I also considered making it all about education too, to help fellow parents, kids, students, even teachers. I still don’t know today what will my purpose really be, as we all evolve.
What I know for now, is I will keep trying and doing what I love. And this is the only advice I can also give others : always keep trying. As long as you’re doing something in the right direction, it can only be better. Keep questioning yourselves, see how and what you can fix, and take action.
I figured that looking for your own purpose is like looking for love : if you keep looking specifically for one thing, it won’t happen and you’ll waste time and energy. This will actually come naturally as long as you keep doing what you love and be positive. And this is also automatic. If you don’t think about what you should do, and just observe yourselves doing things, you’ll realize what you really love to do. Only then will you be able to discover a purpose.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Currently, I’m creating a website njaeink.com, that my husband is developing himself, selling digital products. I’m the one drawing those products, and it’s just beginning. I don’t have much time daily as I’m taking care of my daughter, so it will definitely take time, but my goal is to keep drawing and start selling those to help you organize yourselves with a little cuteness along the way. I’m designing digital planners, templates, stickers, and also Procreate brushes. I’ve made a few fonts too but decided that will be a future add-on, after I consider having made enough of the others 🤣. So far, nothing is happening, as my art may be too ‘realistic’, but I figure that if I like it, someone else might too. So I keep going and who knows, as I grow, my art might change too. I’m also very aware that this is an area of the world that is overcrowded in competition, and most people prefer those products to be free – I mean, who doesn’t ? – but despite all that, I still want to carry on.
I still have other hobbies that may eventually become side hustles, however I still want to enjoy them as they are and keep exploring.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
If I must reduce my lessons to three most important words, I think these would be determination, perseverance, overcoming. First, when you’re so lost that you don’t even realize what you love to do, and panicking, you start spiralling, overthinking and losing self-esteem. You’re doing everything you should not do, and while you will get out of this, it will take time. This will add on new fears that you’ll need to fight more to finally free yourself.
As easy as it is to say, it is true that you need to follow your heart. Once you see what you love to do, you need determination to start the process of doing, creating a new habit out of it, and ignoring all the nay-sayers, the competition, the comparisons, everything that will come as obstacles to stop you from achieving your goals.
Determination is just the start, the moment you say “ I want to do that, let’s go”.
However, most people give up after the first two obstacles. That’s when you need to persevere. This whole new process will bring up changes, challenges, like everyone in the world or even the Universe will throw everything they have to make you stop. If you give up, it will just a be a dream you had but didn’t want to put in the effort, and you will end up regretting this as you grow old. Unfortunately, life will always require effort. But it doesn’t have to feel like it if you love what you do. That’s the whole point of it. So keep going, persevere. There will be ups and downs, it’s okay. You might not recognize your whole life during this all, and that’s fine too. But as every creative person says : trust the process. It will be messy, hideous even, you might even lose track and sense of it all. But the worst that can happen, is you deciding to deviate a little and change your goal because you discovered something you loved more. In the end, you’ll have the satisfaction of having actually achieved something with your life, and committed to it. So while determination is the first push, perseverance is the continuous effort to keep your machine running so you can effectively go from point A to B.
The last one, overcoming your fears, may go with perseverance but I still consider it to be different. This whole change will bring up new fears, new obstacles. You might even take a step back, grab a few bad habits along the way, and start spiralling down again. In the artistic world, most new fears include your skills and talent you might compare too much with others, how it’s hard to live from your art as there are too many others ‘more talented than you’. This is easy to give up after that. Then other fears will develop, each more crippling than the last. While perseverance is to keep going when things are good or bad, and remembering to still try, while ensuring you still love what you do, of course, overcoming your fears is a whole other category in my opinion, in a sense that this implies having different other processes and goals you have to achieve in order to successfully carry on your main path to your main goal. Overcoming your fears will be work you have to do in parallel to your main work to ensure a safe way forward. Every new achievement will bring out new questions, new habits to create, new reactions from you. And this will need constant questioning from and for yourself. Just like another checklist, aside from your main goal, to grow as a human and to make your purpose grow as well, with you.
If I could use a metaphor, I’d say determination is when you put the key in your car’s ignition and turn it on after having prepared yourself safely to start driving, and then pushing your foot on the pedal. Perseverance, is when you’re driving, you decide you need to keep going, even after every stop, every red lights, every pedestrian or animal you see that made you stop, because you know your destination and need to get there. And then, overcoming your fears would be everything you never expected while driving, as there are too many factors you need to consider. Say there are many accidents, caused by humans or anything else, you know it and you still decide you have to drive. After doing the same travel many times, you relax a bit thinking nothing will happen. And then, unexpectedly something does happen. You survive, become stronger, but develop new fears. These will make you see things differently, and only you can overcome them to keep going. Every new obstacle that you didn’t think about or imagine will require a reaction from you, and only you can decide which is the best way you want to live with, from the choices you’ve made. Never leave sight of the last thing I didn’t talk about yet : after this intrepid journey comes the actual destination. You may take turns, stop a while to rest, even break a tire, but as long as you decide to act and keep going, you will end up achieving this. Imagine the satisfaction in the end. That’s your aim. And after that trip, if you loved it, you might even decide to do another one. No one said to stop at one.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
That one is easy ; my husband has been the most supportive person ever. We’ve been together since highschool, so we grew older together, and know each other very well. We’re very complementary, so it’s easy to achieve whatever we need together. Although I’m a lazy person, and his unconditional love may make me question if what he says about me is actually true (I know it’s true to him, but his opinion about me is subjective), he’s always there to hold my hand. He knows I do all the questioning myself, constantly, so he doesn’t need to do that, but when I’m starting to spiral down, he’s the one to remind me of our common goals. He also did everything to make my life easier, and is always on board when I want to learn new skills, including online courses. He reminds me that it’s okay to be different and every person adds something special to what they do. I may not have a popular art style, that’s what makes me different. I’m more mathematical and less free-styling, but somehow, this too is needed. Everyone has a place in what they want and love to do. Stop comparing yourself, it’s important.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.njaeink.com
- Instagram: @niniefydesigns
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathalie-tran-ink
- Youtube: @Niniefytutos
- Other: Pinterest NJAE Ink : https://pin.it/50OIF14qJ
Image Credits
All images are from me : Nathalie Tran (or Niniefy)
