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

Hi Allison , thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

When you have passion, anything is possible. A person who has zero connection with their role and is confined to seeing their work as only work will be restricted in how much success they meet and what they can accomplish in that field. However, someone with passion will have the will and emotional connection which inevitably pushes them to find ways to make things happen. People with passion and values towards their goals will be pushed to be creative to carve their own paths towards success. When we become doubtful in our capabilities and whether something is truly in the cards, tangible, or realistic, our passion is what tells us to go after it anyways. With passion, the sky’s the limit.

Allison , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have always been a writer at heart. When I was younger, I enjoyed reading the Rainbow Magic Series by Daisy Meadows, which often sparked my interest to create spin offs of the antagonist, eventually leading to me filling composition notebooks with drafts of a hypothetical sequel. In the same instance, with Kleenex tissue and cereal boxes, I created YouTube videos. As a second grader, I would cut the tops and sides of leftover cardboard boxes to create brand new homes for my Disney Tsum Tsum figurines. Then, I would use scrapbook paper to cover the walls, build my own custom wooden furniture with popsicle sticks, and utilize fun bracelet charms to decorate. “Wouldn’t it be so cool if this room had a fireplace? Eeyore would love that!” Day by day, I added cardboard fireplaces, pools with plastic to emulate water, and many other features made from unconventional items. I wanted to create new fun things for my Tsum Tsum figurines so they could live their best lives. Using my imagination, I loved to find an alternative purpose and strength in everything regardless of size or perceived value. I always had a strive to be creative whether that be through writing or creating aesthetic homes for my toys.

I was truly so lucky to have so many friends come together and be a part of the mission and vision of the Imperfect Zine. When I was thinking about the baseline for what I wanted the Imperfect Zine to be, even the smallest idea I had, received such great feedback. Since I was already friends with my team, it was easy to work together and my team understood the assignment all the time without me even having to explain. I named this literary magazine the Imperfect Zine, because I wanted to erase the stigma of needing to be perfect. A lot of the time, we feel like we’re performing on stage with everyone watching our every move and the need to be absolutely flawless, but this mentality is so unproductive. The truth is the little mistakes and flaws we have connect us together. Though we might not mirror the exact same experiences as someone else, every person you walk past on the street has experienced the emotions you have felt– happiness, sadness, jealousy, etc. These feelings help us relate to one another and create these meaningful, fulfilling relationships. We think these flaws pull us apart from each other, because we believe people will judge and critique us for our mistakes over our successes, but our imperfections actually connect us.

Part of the reason why I wanted to create a literary magazine is because perspective is so important to me. In the face of adversity, I always strive to approach with compassion and understanding first. Perspective allows us to bring clarity and learn how to overcome the hurdles in life. After reading the Imperfect Zine, through the art, writing, and photography, I want people to feel they have not only walked away with comfort in their own being, but also new knowledge.

That being said, beyond knowledge, I continue to use the world around me as a fountain for new ideas and concepts. I remember drawing inspiration for our third issue Lucid Dreams from AESPA’s comeback Armageddon, which I was taking dance studio lessons for at the time, and their song Pink Hoodie, which I was performing with my dance crew for my school’s Lunar New Year Festival. From watching c-dramas When I Fly Towards You and First Frost, I was able to collaborate with our magazine friends at the Etoile Gazette and create a mini issue that encapsulated the sweet and heartwarming atmosphere of those shows. Inspiration is found when you begin living outside the safety of your own bubble.

In the end, the Imperfect Zine is the result of every life experience I ever had. With all the ups and downs, we are all mosaics of everyone we ever loved.

How did you build your audience on social media?

With the Imperfect Zine, my best friend Nina was our content creator, producing reels with her face lip syncing to various trending audios. She became a face associated with our brand and helped develop the identity of the Imperfect Zine, which created a relationship with our audience. Building a brand is especially important on social media. Being consistent with distributing content, having an aesthetic, and color palettes can help build your brand and make people remember you. These features all together allow your audience to easily distinguish your content and associate your brand with positive attributes that connect to your mission. People want to follow people they can relate to and gain inspiration from. By selectively creating relatable content and picking specific trends in your favor, you can grow your audience even beyond your target demographics. Creating a positive persona online provides great assistance because people want to follow people that radiate that vibrant and down to earth energy that they want to channel in their own lives.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Sometimes it’s not writers’ burn out or a lack of ideas that stops us from being creative. It’s the fear. I find that the start is the hardest part. It’s so easy to get lost in wanting to fit in with societal expectations and completely push aside your desires to go after what you really want to do. Always follow your callings and intuition. When I doubt what I want to pursue, I think about how I don’t want to be haunted by what something could have been. When creating the Imperfect Zine, I did think to myself, “What if nobody cares about this?” and “Is this embarrassing?” but I found that my friends and classmates were incredibly supportive. Sometimes we get so caught up in our head that we miss out on the chances we didn’t take. Everyone starts somewhere. All things considered, if I never took the dive, the Imperfect Zine would not be where it is today, so I encourage you to take the jump into cold water and swim towards your dreams. Your dreams won’t happen overnight and don’t let something as silly as fear and ego prevent you from living the life you want.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theimperfectzine.carrd.co/
• Instagram: theimperfectzine

Image Credits

1. The Imperfect Zine and the Étoile Gazette Flaws and Stars Cover
2. The Imperfect Zine Issue 3 Lucid Dreams Cover
3. The Imperfect Zine Inside My Mind Cover
4. AESPA Pink Hoodie Lunar New Year Performance (Photo by: Junye Studio)