We were lucky to catch up with Sia Fang recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sia, 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?
For me, confidence and self-esteem were things that I was lucky enough to gain in a more natural way at a very young age. The confidence and self-esteem that came naturally really encouraged me to pursue what I was passion about. After years in fashion design and experiment with all the materials and textile that I wanted to experiment, I was able to produce works that made me challenged and proud. Therefore, I decided to farewell to my very first and oldest passion in life and moved on to explore other things in my professional life.
After I left school and took a pause in Fashion Design, I started working as an in-house curator for an Anthropology and Contemporary Art institution as I grew up with a very immersive fine art and art history education. I also picked up Experiential Design for creative business, which was something that I gained interest in from my first internship in Shanghai. On the side, I also started working as a freelance costume designer in Film & TV. I have been interested in the film industry since I was serving as a costume designer for student films during college because of my fashion design background. All these different things are very new to me, although the industry, the fields, the expertises and the skills required to make things work are nothing new. When you are given responsibility in new things that you are able to do but have not gained a reputation in, there is naturally doubt coming from within and out. This is also the moment that my “undefeatable” confidence and self-esteem starts to be shaken a little. There have been moments that I felt defeated in a way that I have not felt before, but I am also aware that I am learning and growing faster than ever in those moments. The ache of growth does not end when adolescence ends.
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 the co-founder of ANG Concept, an experiential agency based in
ANG Concept was founded to reshape the event experience of the creative community in NYC by reuniting and facilitating multidisciplinary collaborations. By reimagining the nightlife, funlife, daylife scene in the context of fashion, art and producing in-house events and fresh experiences, we aim to bring together extraordinary talents across different parts of the creative industry and building a new standard for the creative experiential production, pushing forward the expertise and craftsmanship. I am also the in-house curator of ModA Curations, an institution bridges Anthropology and Contemporary Art.
Currently we are preparing for our upcoming Lunar New Year celebration at ANG Concept, which is one of our in-house programs where we produce experience and open up to the public. We have designed the event around the Lunar New Year themed decors and there will also be a series of Spring Festival inspired gigs and games.
For ModA Curations, we are preparing for our bi-annual shows in NYC and LA in 2025, but there are also a lot of off-the-calendar projects that we are looking forwards to, including a few upcoming curated shows abroad and curated public programs that everybody will be able to see on the streets of LA!
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?
Assertive, Attentive, Curious.
To deliver in the creative industry, being assertive about yourself and your work is very important. Meanwhile, being attentive to other details in a collaborative project is also key. Keeping up your curiosity about the unknown will really help with solution finding when it comes to challenges and difficulties.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
It is very common that I have multiple projects going on at the same time and it is also becoming common that all these different projects could be going wrong all together. I believe that when there is a problem, the priority should always be problem solving, but sometimes when there are way too many problems waiting for you to resolve, it could become very overwhelming. When that happens, the best thing to do from my experience is trying to resolve those problems you could resolve on your own first, and give the other things you are waiting on interference to find a solution some room, some air and some time, and let things unravel naturally.
People tend to feel overwhelmed when responsibilities and boundaries are not clearly defined. Ambiguity can contribute to a lot of mental baggages that we were not obligated to wear.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sia-fang.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whereissiafang/
Image Credits
Bobby Chiu Pok Kwan
Christy Wang
Agen Xin
Xing Chen Lisa
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
