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

Isabella, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I grew up in a predominately white area, which meant I was one of three Asian American kids in my grade, and probably around 10 in my school. I also am heavily involved in my culture which meant I grew up living in two different worlds at home and in school. This lead to a general amount of bullying when it came to being prideful in my culture.

For a while I wasn’t allowed to be on social media until High School. During my middle school years I dove into Youtube and found a community of Asian Americans. Those asian americans consistently spoke about representation and the importance of being on screen or sharing there stories. I remember every Sunday watching “JkFilms” and seeing people make videos that I related to because it was struggles I faced in my reality.

At this point in my life all my comfort revolved around these little videos where I felt seen and heard. Then when I joined the social scene in highschool I made videos for my friends and family. They were mostly random, but one day they blew up and I knew this would be my one chance to create the representation I would want the upcoming generation of asian american creatives to have.

Which in short led me to take an undergrad internship in Junior year of highschool, which projected into freelancing full time by the age of 19 and getting opportunities to work within film, sports, music, and basically anything I could get my hands on.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I work within the means of social media and filmmaking. I started out as an influencer turned editor turned videographer and social media strategist.

I’ve accumulated probably over 15 million+ views over multiple platforms for multiple brands as well as myself. Since I’ve been working in social media for the past 6 years I not only create content for myself but other brands as well as help strategize what they need to be doing to create a social platform/campaign.

I play all aspects when it comes to socials and filmmaking. Not only do I work in front of the camera sometimes modeling and influencing but I work more often behind the camera, whether that be shooting, lighting, editing, direction, producing. Its a space I’ve explore everyday and consistently work on.

On the filmmaking/content creation side of my life, my proudest moments have been shooting in SXSW, Vera Y Productions, Underdogs, A Philly Special Christmas, Philadelphia Eagles x Budlight (project coordinator), NSWL Orlando Pride (Draft Picks), and various other brands. What fulfills me the most during these projects are creating something bigger than I am and working with people who I passionate about what they do .

On the influencer side, I am most proud of representing my culture and my. people by working with Disney on “Turning Red,” and highlighting Simu Lui’s book “We Were Dreamers”. Being able to promote those two specifically reminds me and grounds me of my goals overall.

Overall taking on all these different hat as a creative entrepreneur allows myself to jump into different worlds and paint my influence as a first generation asian american creative tackling the industry in the only way I know how to. Which is to me showcasing my journey to not only look back on but help whoever comes behind me

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Growing up in a first generation traditional asian household is not built for the weak. Typically children of these households often go into a STEM industry, I did not. This created a lot of friction between myself and my family.

I grew up with a lot of people telling me I needed a “plan b,” “[I] wasn’t good enough,” “[I’ll] never make it” and just pushing me down everyday. That was not easy to hear, especially since I started at such a young age. But I had this determination and fire in me to push myself and follow my passions and dreams, as cheesy as that may sound.

Now looking back, it may have been all the videos I watched talking about the need for representation in media. Either way, I continued to do what I love and learn how to do it well and the consistency and discipline I put in over the years I see the outcome everyday. So although I had a lot of people tell me I couldn’t I proved to myself that whatever I put my mind to I could, despite whatever was happening around me.

Overall, I fought tooth and nail for every opportunity I’ve ever gotten because theres just a level of gratitude I carry everyday to be able to pursue a career like film.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Personally, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is being around passionate people. Blissfully so, the crews I’ve been on, the clients I’ve worked with, and the companies that have taken me in have a strong purpose and wake up with a passion to create.

They either are passionate about their skills, passionate about the stories they tell, or passionate about the work they make and being around that energy fills my cup.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.izzyngov.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/izzy.soo.dizzy/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabella-ngov-995568202/
• Youtube: Izzy Ngov
• TikTok: @izzy.soo.dizzy

Image Credits
AyooKanon, Kevin Kilkenny, Ray Ermel