We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Frank New a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Frank , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
My resilience comes from learning how to take of myself and support myself from a very young age. I grew up fast because I had parents who did not support me so therefore I had to create the life I wanted (dreamed). I have worked since I was 15 years old so when it comes to resilience, I understand what it means to survive because you have no choice and making a ton of mistakes in the process has led me to where I am today. I regret nothing. Because of that foundation I know how to pivot and make it happen when something is not working, I do not dwell. To me to be resilient is understanding how to reinvent yourself and work through difficult situations where the only option is to come out on top.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Frank New is a queer, non-binary, multi-hyphenate artist based in New York. Frank is currently a PhD Candidate [Fashion Studies] at Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand. Frank holds a Master of Arts in Costume Studies from New York University. Frank’s research path focuses on Queer doll history, ‘Queer’ Barbie and doll play through a queer lens. Frank has presented various parts of his research on ‘Queer’ Barbie and Queer Doll History from New Zealand to France.
Frank has spent 20 years working in creative fields from visual merchandising, window display design, event producer, fashion stylist, set design, prop stylist.
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?
– Persistence, not taking ‘no’ for an answer and not waiting or expecting for someone to reach out to me. If you want it, take the time to follow up.
– Be prepared, always. Nothing screams “wasting my time” more then going into an interview or meeting with a potential client than not doing your homework on the company, the client, the project.
– Never assume. If you do not have the answer, investigate for yourself.
My advice to those early on in their professional journey is to take action. You can (day) dream all day about what you want or where you see yourself but if you do not take any form of action you will never know. Face your fears, it gets easier the second you do. Lastly, have a plan. But, allow that plan some wiggle room. I had in my head that I was going to do this one thing, that’s it. That one thing is so far from what I am actually doing today. Allow yourself to see what is happening on the sides, put those blinders down. Don’t expect something out of everything you do. If you continuously expect something you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Just show up, be a worker among workers.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
When I feel overwhelmed I tend to try to break things down to a simpler form. Take a deep breath. Do not feed into chaos if you can, stay calm. Focus on the end goal, how can I shift this to a positive, get back on track and not dwell on what’s already happened. What has happened, has happened. Keep it moving.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.FrankieNew.com
- Instagram: FashionQueerHistorian
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franknew
- Other: TikTok – FashionQueerHistorian
Image Credits
NA
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