We recently connected with Jing Huang and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jing, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
Growing up in an Asian culture, you’re always being told that you’re not good enough so you can constantly improve, and that’s exactly what I had to do. I never received any compliments when I was younger and even when I attended the best college in China, that didn’t earn any compliments from anyone either. This was a big lesson for me and it helped me realize that I needed to build my confidence to be stronger. Right now, I’m still in the process of building my confidence and self-esteem but a huge factor that is aiding to my confidence build are my clients. My clients give me a huge confidence boost because they: always love my work, they travel miles and miles just to get a tattoo from me, and they share the most beautiful stories with me during our sessions. They also reach back out to me to let me know that they receive so many compliments on their tattoo, so that feedback also gives me the confidence to continue going. Another benefactor to helping my self-esteem and confidence are the people I’m surrounded by; my support system.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a fine-line tattoo artist based in Los Angeles and have been tattooing for the past five years. One of the most exciting and special things I love about tattooing is the story behind each of the designs I do. All of my clients share a beautiful, meaning story behind their ideas and for me to be able to co-create and design something for them and have it come to life is so rewarding to me. I love seeing their reactions from the beginning of our appointment when we talk about the design to the stenciling and placement, and the final result. To see them fall in love with the tattoo is so heartwarming to me.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Three qualities and skills that were the most impactful for me in my journey are: working hard, thinking about other people, and working smart.
With working hard, a lot of people see and think that tattoo artists have a fancy life due to what they see on social media, but what you don’t get to see is the time and effort we are putting in our art. The amount of hours we spend designing, reviewing, and designing again to perfect a drawing. I always recommend to every artist who is starting out to do their own work and do the best you can, and then it will naturally come to you.
In terms of thinking about other people, I always tell everyone to be kind to others – myself included. I think when I got older, I realized that when I want to do a project, or anything really, that is so large scale, I can’t do it alone and I need other people’s help and support to get it done. Being kind to everyone goes a long way in life as well because you also don’t know what someone is going through, so to me it’s easier to be nicer and kinder to everyone.
Lastly, working smart. I personally think every work, project, or anything you do has a main system or an ideal core behind it and you have to understand it in order to get better and improve. I think we need to focus on the main core or ideal and not focus on the smaller things because that would lead us to distractions from the main goal at hand. An example I can think of that perfectly executes this idea is a tree. There are multiple branches in a tree but the main core is the root, which sprouted and grew the multiple branches. Once we focus and work hard on the main idea [the root], other ideas will flow freely [like the branches] to all come and form as one idea.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
As a first generation immigrant woman, I question and doubt myself quite often when it comes to doing something new. I know I have the capability to do something, but sometimes I can’t help but think to myself if I can really do it – which then leads to the doubt and hesitance I have. However, something that has helped me overcome my doubt at times is being in this country. One of the things I love about living and being in this country is if you put in the hard work and effort, and if you have the ability to do it, you really can achieve the American dream. I think that’s inspiring and motivational for me as an individual to work harder to achieve the goals we set for ourselves.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.firstjing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstjing/
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