Meet Andrea Luu

We were lucky to catch up with Andrea Luu recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrea, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

There comes a time and point in your life when something clicks inside of you and you realize that you still need to keep growing, even as you are midway through adulthood. This looks like learning new skills you didn’t think you knew you needed, setting aside your pride and ego, and unlearning behaviours/habits that no longer benefit you. One of those lessons involves practicing consistency, which will then allow you to be effective and successful.
The ways I’ve integrated consistency is in small everyday things; Consistently be loud about your values; Consistently advocate for yourself and others but also be consistent in allowing yourself to get comfortable making mistakes because that’s the only way you’ll learn; Consistently keep your focus on yourself and your growth, don’t focus on others and compare yourself with them; Consistently learn how to define your values and re-evaluate them from time to time.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m an artist and graphic designer from Toronto, most popularly known within my community for performing tarot readings, and creating sea glass art.

I jumped into this business just last year but I’ve been interested in the arts since I was 5 years old. Most of my drawings and muses have been the ocean, dolphins, and mermaids. Once I stepped foot into graphic design, I got to use both sides of my brain and that allowed me to incorporate, or at least consider, the mental health aspect into my work. It’s informed a lot of my art pieces.

I’m currently working on a few collaborative projects and releasing a set of Lunar New Year money envelopes for pop-up market events in the city, but my biggest pride and joy is having my first solo exhibition showcasing sea glass art and seascapes dedicated to my immigrant Vietnamese community.

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?

The top three qualities/skills that was most impactful to me is practicing consistency, financial literacy, and allowing opposite perspectives to coexist with each other.

I’m a bit old fashioned but I love going to the library. It remains one of my favourite places to go to because knowledge is easily accessible, you don’t have to purchase a class or course, you can borrow these resources for whatever you need, and they have a wide variety of perspectives. Please support your libraries, you don’t need to pay thousands and be in debt to classist institutions and you have a right to education!

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

There are actually two books that I highly recommend reading: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, and How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up not only helped me assess what things sparks joy in my life, but to also let things go with gratitude. This mindset expands beyond the material and goes deeper into friendships and work environments. At the time when I was adopting a minimalistic lifestyle, I thought I needed to get rid of everything that was contributing to my clutter, but if you actually read the book in greater depth, it’s more about making room in your life for things that actually matter.

How to be Perfect involves a lot of “what if” scenarios that are rooted in ethics. Think of the trolley question: would you save 1 person or 5? What if that one person was the love of your life, and the group of 5 were your family members? What if one was a doctor who is capable of saving lives, and the other 5 were cancer patients? It allows you to take a look at what you value and what your principles are. Plus, it gives a lot of insight into cancel culture and growth in making mistakes.

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Image Credits

Photography by AndreaLuuDesigns

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