Episode 1: Janny's Career Journey

Welcome back fam!

This episode will be covering who I am today, and my career path for the past 10 years. 

I will be discussing about my hardships and emotional stress, how the pandemic affected my life and the decisions I had to make to better my future. 

I discuss my journey from working numerous customer service jobs to how I eventually landed to what I am doing now. 

Hope you're all ready for it! 

XOXO,
Janny

IG: @janeration.pod
FB: facebook.com/janny.nguyen
AZLO Lashes: www.shopazlo.com

Transcript

Episode 1: Janny Today 4/27/21

Hi everyone! 

Welcome back to Janeration, with your host, Janny Nguyen!

I’d like to start off by thanking all of my listeners out there who listened to and downloaded 

my intro episode and for subscribing to my podcast! I am beyond grateful for your support! 

There were over 300 downloads and I couldn’t have reached that without you all, so again, 

Thank you soooo much! 

Today’s episode will be covering who I am today, and my career path for the past 10 years. 

Can you remember where you were at 10 years ago? What were you doing? Were you in school? Already working? Struggling?? Don’t worry, me too. 

However, before I get started on the juicy contents of this episode, I wanted to take a minute to explain how I will be transitioning into different parts of my stories. Instead of finding a cool song or short sound byte, I decided to make my own unique sound! 

I came to this conclusion because I spent a lot of time trying to find the perfect sound slip for transitioning into my topics. 

But, HOW was I supposed to know what sound/song was right? 

I had no idea what I was looking for in terms of tune or melody, so I had to really think about how I can showcase myself and be authentically ME! 

It took a really long time to figure out what to do, but I finally came up with using the sound of rain sticks to create calming, asmr/nurturing sound clips for transitioning into the next portion of my podcast! 

I mean, who doesn’t like the sound of rain? It’s so soothing… 

AND the BEST part is that I made these rainsticks myself!

Here’s a lil sample for ya (play sample of rainstick)

ALSO! I mentioned in my intro episode that I’ll be ending each podcast with an oracle reading, or describing a gem/stone, or meditation passage, BUT I also wanted to add a little more asmr at the end of each podcast with the sound of a singing bowl. 

This is another element of my spiritual self, and I want to share this with you. For those who are unfamiliar with singing bowls, let me give you a brief description from the boxes that mine came in.

“Singing bowls have been used in religious and shamanic practices for well over 1500 years and have been associated with Buddhism since the 8th century A.D. Singing bowls produce sounds which invoke a deep state of relaxation naturally assisting one in entering meditation, the ultimate goal of enlightenment. In recent years, singing bowls have been used in holistic healing, chakra healing, sound therapy, reiki, and fengshui. A singing bowl is played by resting the bowl flat on the hand and rotating the stick around the outside rim of the bowl.”

HOWEVER, I wanted to inform my listeners that if you have sensitive ears, PLEASE lower your volume (ESP if you’re wearing earbuds) or simply end the podcast when my last words are said.

I will be playing the sound at the end to close out my podcast because I feel it’s symbolic to who I am spiritually :) 

These singing bowls are also very special to me because they were gifted to me from my older sister, Thuy. 

Now that we’re all aware, I’ll play it at the end, that way--my listeners who have sensitivities or may not want to hear the singing bowls can omit the sound. 

OKAY! Let’s get to it! Episode 1: Who I am today 

*play rain stick sound byte*

Alrighty, you all already know that I am making this podcast to share my life stories and talk about topics that are important to me. 

BUT the biggest reason why I decided to make this podcast is because I am now aspiring to be a voice-over actor! I have always been into animation and would LOVE to be a little cartoon character! 

It’s been a dream of mine since I was a child. 

I always wondered how movies decided on WHO to cast for these roles, and now I’m doing the motions to get myself there! 

I want to document my journey of starting something new and show that it's okay to go through struggles and growing pains. BC that is how you grow! 

That is what makes everything you do worth all the stress, sweat, and tears!

My ultimate goal is to be a character on the next series of “Avatar: the last airbender” “Legend of Korra”, whatever the next one will be! 

I’ve heard some rumors, and seen videos on youtube, but can you imagine another one? 

It would be sooo dope to play a part of that cast!!

Anyhow, I finally came to this realization of wanting to push a career in voice acting with help from my little sister, Christina a few months ago. 

As we all know, 2020 was a shit show and we all suffered from the pandemic; socially, financially, mentally, etc. 

We were all stressed out from being stuck at home, some of us not being able to work, or having too much work. 

However, it gave us all a chance to do something with that time. 

Maybe it was productive, maybe it wasn’t; but MY time at home definitely helped me understand what I needed to do to make myself happy and healthy during this time. 

You know the cliche saying “ there’s pros and cons for everything?” 

Well, that is definitely the case with this pandemic. 

Aside from wearing masks, over purchasing household items and groceries, socially distancing, and the unreliable sources of media, I feel like it gave me so much perspective.

Some of the good things that came out of this pandemic was that I was able to build stronger relationships with my family and friends. 

I also became a very good at cook during this time!

But cooking for me has always been a family experience.. It was something that I missed during this time..

Being at home with my family, all crazy in the kitchen, yelling, laughing, and eating in good company. 

My sisters and I  grew up being woken up by my mom saying “get up and help me cook! 

You have hands and feet too, I'm not doing all this myself!” LOL! 

But as much as I hated being woken up throughout my childhood, I am forever grateful mama, 

bc now I’ve developed her kitchen skills and can cook for myself!

As I mentioned before, I come from a huge family. 

Being away from them for so long was definitely not easy. 

It’s always someone’s birthday or some kind of celebration. 

So my sister, Christina and I made the most out of this time by cooking meals that gave us that bonding experience again. 

We swapped recipes and guided each other through each step of the process. 

The first dish we cooked together was our mom’s Chicken Curry! 

And man was that an accomplishment for me! I was so proud of my first batch!

We would schedule cooking dates together via FT; and it was so fun cooking the same meals together, while being miles apart. We bonded and got so much closer-- I truly appreciate our sisterhood. 

There was also one time where two of my other sisters chimed in and we all made egg rolls together with my mom! She was so thrilled and proud of her daughters!

I have also cultivated the best of friends during this time and feel so blessed to have such a close-knit group of friends. This was extremely important to me because I had just moved to a new home, in another state, away from all my family and friends. 

But we tend to be  more selective with who we choose to spend our time with as we get older, right? 

So I took the time to really digest and got to know the people that I truly care for and it resulted in the most fruitful, heart-warming friendships. You guys know who you are ;)

*rainstick* 

Some of the bad things that happened during this pandemic was that my business was struggling, which affected my financial and mental state, which then impaired my relationship with my boyfriend. 

Let me explain.

My company, AZLO Lashes, was founded 5 years ago by myself and my business partner, Brianna. 

Our goal was to create a product to help encourage self-love and empowerment through wearing our cruelty-free, vegan, false-strip lashes. 

We have 6 different styles and named them all after positive affirmations / personality traits; 

classy, elegant, sassy, fierce, resilient, and radiant. 

Our first 3 years weren’t the best--building your own company takes a lot of time and dedication, and at the time, we were both working women, and didn’t even live in the same city. 

However, prior to the pandemic, our sales were consistent, our engagement was better on social media, and we had help from an SEO marketing company that helped propel the business forward.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 ended our streak of consistent sales. 

AZLO Lashes were losing followers on IG, engagement was low, and sales dropped. 

Since our sales dropped, we were barely able to stay  afloat to pay the monthly bills. I was so stressed.. I felt like there was nothing we could do at the time since A LOT of people were basically going through the same thing. 

My business partner and I were out of ideas to promote sales and fell into a hole. 

We both felt drained from the weight of our business not being successful and both decided that it’s in our best interest to let our baby go at the end of this year. 

It was a bittersweet moment for us. 

We loved what we built, how much we both grew, and appreciated each other so much throughout the 5 years of building our brand, but it was time to let go and start something new..

*rainstick*

Nevertheless, it was also the most difficult time to start something new. 

I had no idea what I wanted to do OR  what I “should” do.

This is bc for the past 2 years, I have only been working from home building AZLO and also assisting my bf, Jeff, with his work. We are both entrepreneurs who work from home, and from an outsider's perspective, it seems like the most laid back relationship and lifestyle. 

But the pandemic happened and, being at home so much together; we began bickering ar each other about stupid things and ultimately, began fighting about MY finances. 

This led to me doubting myself, feeling insecure about my skill set, and questioning my entire career! 

Since AZLO Lashes didn’t reach its fullest potential, I felt like a failure. 

I had so much anxiety and began to panic. 

I realized I haven’t gone into a work place in over 2 years and questioned if anyone would even look at my resume. So, I turned to my little sister, Christina for help. 

She is a career counselor for college students, so I figured I’d call her and slip into one of her time slots for a counseling session to help me figure out what my next step was going to be. 

I initially asked her to fix my resume, but after numerous rejections from work places such as assistance in healthcare, clerical work, grocery store, restaurants gigs, etc. 

No one hired me, and I cried my ass off about it to my little sister. 

I questioned my ability to get hired at any job, because I felt like me being out of a workplace affected their judgement on how dependable or responsible I was. I couldn’t understand why I was being punished for not physically being in a workplace, bc I still worked from home trying to build my own company!

This was one of the most embarrassing times of my life. I couldn’t get hired for ANYTHING! 

I felt like such a loser and I didn’t know how I was going to pick myself up from this pity party. 

So I called my lil sis again. Christina heard me out, then smacked me with words and made me take this 16personaltilites test to help guide me in the right direction. 

It took about 10 minutes, but the results literally helped me understand myself in a different way and it led me to this point. 

I was amazed. I learned so much about my personality and work ethic. 

We honed in on the things I wanted to accomplish and I had to learn to not compare myself to others. My results told me that I am a “protagonist” or ENFJ-A. 

Here’s a short synopsis from the 16personalities website,

“Protagonists are natural-born leaders, full of passion and charisma. 

Forming around two percent of the population, they are oftentimes our politicians, our coaches and our teachers, reaching out and inspiring others to achieve and to do good in the world. 

With a natural confidence that begets influence, Protagonists take a great deal of pride and joy in guiding others to work together to improve themselves and their community.”

Like WHOA! WHAT?! I realized that ALL of my work history involved working with people, helping them in whatever category in customer service I was in at the time. 

What’s also cool about this, is that it also shows you people in this world who have the same results as you! Some of the people listed under my “protagonist” personality are: Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, Barack Obama, Morpheus or The Oracle from the Matrix, Skyler White from BB, these are only a few examples.

After graduating from UCSB, I got a job at a Taiwanese bakery called 85 Degrees and held a leadership position as supervisor for two years. 

I even dabbled in a little network marketing at the same time! Being a part of these network marketing companies helped a lot with my self-development and skill set for business, but it didn’t last for too long bc you know how those things get.. Relationships/friendships get a lil messed up lol. 

Anyhow, I then went on to work and study under a physical therapist, bc at the time, I wanted to pursue a career in physical therapy--

Rehabilitating patients and being the person who helped them overcome their injury so that they can live in a happy, healthy body was my jam at the time. 

I also  juggled working at a vegan restaurant in dtla called Au Lac, where I educated and served organic, healthy living foods. I learned so much about gluten-free, raw, vegan cuisine and being the person who gives you an amazing food experience made me content at the time. So did the tips ;)

I then went on to work for/with my other sister, Thuy. I helped her build her own nail shop in our hometown from the ground up, called The Cosmo Studio! I know what you’re thinking, how/why would I work with family? I initially declined, but at the end of the day, she’s my sister and I will do anything to help my family succeed.

I began as her receptionist and left as the salon manager. Working definitely wasn’t easy, but I really appreciated how much we both learned from each other, and about running a business. 

We grew so much closer, and operated one of the most successful nail salons in our community. 

While working with Thuy, I developed AZLO Lashes and eventually left the salon to pursue the company on my own.

*rainstick*

Flash forward about 3 years later, and here we are! 

After analyzing all the work I’ve done, I realized I love to lead, influence, and spread positivity & wellness whole-heartedly! 

I came up with the idea of creating a mental-health and wellness center where people can come in to unwind and meditate, by participating in a group or individual guided meditation. 

You can have space to yourself or come together as a group! I have so many more ideas for this!

BUT how am I going to get the money to invest and make this happen? 

Well, I told myself that if this is really what I want, I gotta go after it and make it happen. 

This was when I had an epiphany to wake up and live my childhood dream as a voice-over actor! 

I could use the money I make from voice-acting gigs to pay for this grand wellness meditation center!

With the pandemic happening, I can develop my skills at home and work at something I’ve always wanted to dive into. 

So I immediately began research on the industry, took some online classes, and educated myself on the best way to fulfill my duties as a voice-over actor. 

I told my bf and a few of my close family and friends about my new venture and they were all so supportive! I got the same reactions from everyone I shared the news to. They all unanimously said this is perfect for me! 

So here I am! Doing my thing, making a podcast and sharing my life with you all! 

Doing this podcast will help develop my voice, as well as help me practice speaking to an audience for feedback on voice-over work. 

My focus is animation, but I am open to any suggestions if you all have some! 

I can’t wait to share my first piece of work with you all! I am so excited for this new journey!!

So today I challenge you to think about something you’ve always dreamed of doing in your life!

Will you pursue it? What is holding you back? Can we work around that problem? 

Maybe try taking the same test I did to help guide you through it? www.16personalities.com

*rainstick*

As I end this first episode, I realized that I am wearing a rainbow moonstone necklace, so let’s get into it’s properties. 

Visually, a rainbow moonstone is generally a creamy translucent white stone, that features occasional iridescent or multicolored (especially blue) flashes with transparency that ranges from opaque to semi-translucent. Rainbow moonstone is best seen in natural light for its play of color.

When I bought the necklace, I was told that its properties were to help with focus and mental clarity. But when I looked it up, there were other properties that made more sense. 

Here’s what I found online https://blacktreelab.co/blogs/news/benefits-of-rainbow-moonstone-and-how-to-take-care-and-wear

Moonstone is one of the Ancient Gemstones in the world. 

Thousands of years ago our ancestors noticed unique Moonstone benefits and its connection with the Moon. Ancient Romans, Greeks, Chinese and Indians appreciated Moonstone and considered it as a source of feminine energy and love and treated it as a gemstone of peace and good dreams at night. 

It’s Calming Energy heals emotional traumas and brings balance to the person's life. 
It calms down emotions and strengthens good relationships with people around. 

Like whoa there, this gem was literally perfect for this episode! 

I definitely went through an emotional roller coaster! 

But after sharing the past 10 years and coming to this point, I have a lot to be thankful for.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed my first full episode of my podcast!

Again you’re listening to, “Janeration” with your host, Janny Nguyen! 

This episode basically covered my life after college, so my next episode will cover my life BEFORE college!

If you liked what you’ve heard so far, please make sure to visit my website at https://janeration.buzzsprout.com where you can follow and subscribe to my podcast!

Don’t forget to also follow me on IG under @janeration.pod 

OR on FB at www.facebook.com/janny.nguyen

Thank you again so much for listening in!

Stay tuned for episode 2! Talk to you all soon! 

Xoxo,

Janny 

[whisper] Here comes the singing bowl sound.. Get ready.. 

*singing bowl*