Meet Irene Wu

 

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

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Irene with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

Growing up in an Asian household it’s pretty typical to hear that no grade is ever good enough unless it’s an A+. This was pretty true for me. If I ever got an “A-” my parents would always ask me why there’s a minus “-“, what did I miss, and how could I do better next time. My parents always wanted me to be “studying” or “do my homework.” I just wanted to relax. I hated having to go home and do more homework. I remember during classes, we would get a syllabus for the week and our teacher would give us homework we’d have to complete for the week. I wanted free time to just relax and do nothing so I would finish all of my homework for the week on Monday. It felt like an efficient use of my time because then later in the week I could just watch TV and my favorite shows since it was one less thing my mom could nag me about.

At school, I remember I was always bullied by kids since I was 6 years old telling me “hey I look like you” and they would pull their eyes to the side so it looked “asian.” The girls and boys would always see me walking into school and scream “she’s coming!” and literally run and hide from me. I was always confused because I never thought I looked any different and I never really understood why kids would pick on me.

Never feeling good enough at home or being accepted in school, I really felt like I had to try extra hard in order to gain respect from other people. I just wanted people to like me. Eventually, I figured out that I because I would finish my work earlier than a lot of kids because they were procrastinators / lazy they would ask to copy my homework to which I would share because I thought if I’m nice… maybe they’ll be nice to me. I think I learned it during a summer I was in catholic school “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It actually worked, I used my homework as social currency. People were nicer to me because they needed something from me and I really liked that. I liked that people weren’t mean to me.

Eventually, time management just became a habit of mine and it’s what I wrote about in my UC college essays. I would say my work ethic is something I pride myself on because it is something that is completely mine.

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

Professionally, in my day job, I work in entertainment marketing. I knew at a very young age I always wanted to work in entertainment. I loved the glitz and the glamour, but behind the scenes it’s really not all that glamourous. It’s a lot of hard work working with a lot of personalities. I know I couldn’t do a regular job without entertainment because I would be bored. I’m extremely extroverted so I get energized when I’m around people and it excites me to talk about entertainment. I could talk about it forever.

On the side, I love making content for fun on instagram and tiktok. I make food and UGC videos. It challenges me to read a brief and brainstorm on how I create a video that helps a business. Usually for my food content, I don’t go in with a plan, I just order what I like and then script up a voiceover based on what I captured that day. For my UGC videos, I put a little more thought on how I can create a video that feels organic to my brand and their brand. I try to keep everything entertaining, informative and fun while also being on trend and relevant.

Other times I just post content that I feel like whether I see a trend or if I can convince my friends to make content with me.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Honestly, not caring what people think about you really goes a long way. I think I would ruminate in an almost unhealthy way of caring about the negative things people said about me or thought about me and it would prevent me from wanting to go outside of the box that people tried to put me in. The more attention I put into other people the more I felt uneasy with myself. The more I found myself not caring or ignoring the negative and really focusing on myself and doing what made me happy I felt more at peace. Everyone will always have an opinion or something to say about you. You can’t control anyone but yourself. So, who cares. Do what makes you happy. Only what you think matters. Don’t prevent yourself from doing something that matters to you.

Doing things right away. Consistency is key. It really helps with time management. It has been a life saver for me. It’s just about getting into good habits. Sometimes people will ask me if I’ve done a task and I’ll freak out because I don’t remember but past me always did it right away so the task has been done. That’s a skill I’m really thankful for continuing and sharpening. Because now I’m really quick/fast at creating content or finishing a task.

Being open-minded. Not being closed off to new experiences or new ideas has opened doors for opportunities. If I said no to every email that came into my inbox, I wouldn’t have been able to build a portfolio. I’m grateful for every experience and opportunity I’ve been given and I know there is still more to come because I’m open to it!

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

One of my coworkers gave me some really good advice. She’s so calm and I’m more of an emotional person. BREATHE and check in with yourself– where in your body do you feel the stress and focus on that and take care of yourself. Sometimes it’s okay to just relax. I have a hard time relaxing so it is a lot easier than it sounds but my fiancé tells me sometimes what my body needs is to do nothing and that’s okay.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Productivity
Where do you get your work ethic from?

We’ve all heard the phrase “work hard, play hard,” but where does our work ethic

Productivity
Tactics & Strategies for Keeping Your Creativity Strong

With the rapid improvements in AI, it’s more important than ever to keep your creativity

Productivity
From Burnout to Balance: The Role of Self-Care

Burning out is one of the primary risks you face as you work towards your