Storytelling to Build My Brand

On May 8, 2023, I got a chance to speak with a cohort of Taiwanese American small businesses and startups with SPARK Accelerator about how I use storytelling to build my brand. It was a unique chance to see how I could provide value in this space as an artist.  At first, I honestly didn’t think I would have much to say. Truthfully, I just draw things, tell stories, and hope for the best with a lot based on instinct over strategy. But putting this talk together helped me sort through that chaos and find throughlines and themes throughout my career thus far.

Below are highlights from the talk with accompanying visuals that share how storytelling is an integral part of everything I do.

Why is storytelling important to me?

Storytelling shows who I am, what my values are, and gives people a reason to care about what I make. It builds trust, community, and brand recognition. Storytelling is important to me because I create to connect with people and explore my place in the world. I draw to make the world I want to see and share what matters to me, and I have three main reasons why storytelling is integral to my work.

1. Storytelling to share more about me. Who am I as an artist and why should people care?

• #100DAYSIANS (2016) - I made 100 illustrations and stories about my upbringing that other children of immigrants (and not just Asian Americans) found relatable. What started as just personal storytelling morphed into a bit of community storytelling, and this project was effective in that my stories felt both specific and universal. This project also gave me a voice to carve space for myself in the Asian American creative community in New York. Most importantly, it helped me develop a sense of self and set a foundation to always remember I’m a human before I’m a brand.

2. Storytelling to share value. How do I build trust and brand recognition as both an artist and business without always selling or promoting my work?

• Model Minority Myth Straightjackets (2017) - These three pieces are thoughtful examples of using art to depict a complex topic like the model minority myth. These works showed I can use art to be an advocate for the Asian American community.

• Asian American Still Lifes (2018 - 2019) - This series was inspired by famous Western works with my own Asian American spin. This series showed that I care about depicting my lived experiences, I appreciate art history, and I love using color. I used recognizable works to share specific stories to me, which was effective storytelling in that I was able to show instead of tell.

3. Storytelling to build community. How do I find collaborators and build a community of customers and super fans?

• #SupportChinatown (2020) - In 2020, I made line drawings of Chinatown storefronts that felt personal to me and those who love the community. People also have a lot of pride in their favorite neighborhoods and this was particularly effective during the pandemic and rise in anti-Asian sentiment, especially with its simplicity. This lead to client work, partnerships, and inspired Bay Area Chinatown artwork in 2021 and 2022.

Storytelling is a skill and muscle I’m constantly working on, and there’s added patience when also trying to cultivate a community. But with time and consistency, I could convert those in community to be customers too.

How do I use storytelling to build my brand?

While it was straightforward talking about storytelling through my projects, I had to noodle a bit on how I actually use storytelling to build my brand. And it came down to two things. I’m specific and I use every platform to tell a story.

Specificity helps me stand out. Specificity makes stories feel real to people. In order to tell a good story for the masses, I try doing it for one person instead, even if that person is me. Almost everything I draw is something that started with what I thought was important, or great, or silly, or hilarious at the time. Sometimes they are ideas or feelings that have been sitting with me for awhile, and I was finally able to put it on paper. If the personal work I share doesn’t truly resonate with me, it usually never lands with an audience.

• Taiwanese Journals (2022 - Present) - These brightly colored sketchbook spreads started as food diaries in Taiwan, which I thought it would be too niche to find an audience. But I’ve found an incredible Taiwanese American community in the Bay, New York, and Taiwan, which may have stemmed from me sharing this series. The community really shows up for each other, especially if your work celebrates what being Taiwanese means to you. 

Every platform is a stage to tell my story. That includes social media, my website with project descriptions, my blog, and anywhere else where I share my art. Even the item descriptions behind each listing in my shop has a story. I never know who will be finding or reading about my work, so I learned how to tell my story on different platforms and how to tell it well. Many artists I admire like Timothy Goodman, Lisa Congdon, and Andy J. Pizza have all spoken about how storytelling has been key to their careers (and their sanity too, since this is a tough industry).

And lastly, I ended with saying that it’s important to have fun with storytelling. This is the part of my business to experiment, to be me, and to share how I feel. It’s the chance to dream up and write out the future I want for myself, so might as well making it something I enjoy to do.

Zoom screenshot with my talk with SPARK Accelerator. The 2023 cohort includes: Empress Hot Sauce (their pineapple miso sauce is excellent), Ada Lip Beauty (Fan Favorite Winner), Trwl Milk Tea (Judge’s Pick Winner), Creobase (not pictured), and Alaskan Salmon Company (not pictured).