Meet Serena Chen

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Serena Chen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Serena, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

A couple of years ago, I felt completely lost and anxious about my life and future. That pushed me to reflect deeply on what truly matters. During that time, a friend asked me a simple but powerful question: “What are your three biggest core values?” That question became my lighthouse — something I return to whenever I feel uncertain.
To me, purpose is a journey, not a fixed destination. By staying curious, exploring openly, and returning to my core values, each experience — good or bad — brings me one step closer to understanding what truly matters to me. These experiences continue to nourish my growth and shape who I’m becoming.

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?

Hello I’m Serena Chen, a graphic designer and visual artist from Taiwan, currently based in San Francisco. Through my illustration, painting, and photography practices, I explore the imagery expression of stories, emotions, and memories, and weaving them together into layered meanings through visual language.

While my foundation is in branding and graphic design, my experience extends across retail visual merchandising, brand campaigns, art direction, commercial photography production, and prop styling. These diverse practices has shaped the evolution of my creatives and has allowed me approach ideas from different perspectives.

Besides creating visuals, I value sharing and connecting with other different disciplinary people, particularly supporting emerging artists and designers at the beginning of their journeys, because I believe open conversations and collaborations are vital sources of inspiration, bringing depth and richness to both the creative process and learning.

I am also drawn to interdisciplinary work from different fields that challenges me to reveals unexpected and fresh insights. Next week, I will be collaborating with a floral shop as part of an artist residency, exploring the intersection between their daily practice in floral design and visual storytelling, and examining how natural materials can embody concepts of time, emotion, and the cycles of life.

Curiosity and connection are the main drives for my creative process. Whether through design, fine art, or cross-disciplinary projects, I’m constantly searching for new ways to build meanings, spark dialogue, and create shared experiences with people.

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?

1. Stay Curious

I believe our creative growth happens when we dare ourselves to step out of our comfort zones. Often, the best ideas are born from unexpected ways. Staying endlessly curious means exploring what we don’t yet understand, learning from experts, from those we admire, and from the world and nature around us.

Whenever I encounter something I’m unsure about during my creative process, I like to begin by asking “What if…?”. That question keeps the imagination alive. It reminds us that creativity is about discovering different possibilities, and that there isn’t always just one right answer.

2. Have Confidence & Self-Reflection

During the creative process, a lack of confidence can cause us to miss out opportunities. Whether in design or any form of artistic creation, it’s important to believe in our work so that we can communicate our concepts clearly. Be confident but not arrogant. Stay humble, but also take time to reflect on yourself. Recognize your weaknesses and work on improving them. These habits will help us continue to grow both as artists and as individuals.

3. Be Resilient & Flexible

On the journey of creativity and life, things don’t always go smoothly or perfectly. Mistakes and unexpected changes—whether from ourselves or others—are inevitable. What matters most is how we respond. One key is to have the courage to make mistakes, the strength to overcome challenges, and the resilience to keep adapting and moving forward. Sometimes, setbacks can even lead to happy accidents. As long as we keep an open mind and stay calm, there’s always another solution waiting to be found.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

When I feel stuck, I like to take a few deep breaths or go for a short walk (maybe grab a cup of coffee) to help clear and reset my mind. When I come back feeling refreshed, after writing down the three most important things to focus on for the rest of the day, I also like to do a bit of inner shouting — “Yes, you can do this!” That little boost really helps me regain confidence, focus better, and think through solutions more effectively.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://helloserenachen.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helloserenachen/

Image Credits

Hsin-Yao Tseng, Serena Chen