Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amanda Pham. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Amanda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
The best thing my parents have ever done for me was being supportive of my creative endeavors.
When I was in my senior year of high school, I had to make the big decision of what I wanted to be. It’s not easy being a 17 year old and feeling like this decision could potentially change the entire trajectory of my life. I remember knowing that I wanted to pursue some sort of creative career and when I looked up “art jobs that make money,” graphic design was a career that had come up. At the time, I didn’t even really know what graphic design was, but I felt compelled to pursue that as my career path because it was creative and it seemed to provide a form of stability. Being Asian American, I couldn’t help but think about the judgment I would receive from my parents because I wanted to be an artist. I clearly remember the day that I told my mom my decision. She had her back turned away from me as she washed dishes from dinner and I said, “Mom, I think I know what I want to be.” “Yeah? What is it?” she said. “I want to be a graphic designer,” I replied with a bit of hesitation. “Does that make money?” she asked. “Yes it does,” I said. “Okay.” she replied. It might not sound like much but that “Okay” was all I needed to feel confident in pursuing this path, so I kept going and I never looked back.
Fast forward almost 10 years from that day, I graduated college with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. I currently work full-time as a graphic designer, occasionally take on freelance projects, run a small business, and I make social media content to post about all my creative ideas and hobbies. I also dabbled in creating Youtube videos, mostly about my life and art tutorials. When I first started making these videos, I was embarrassed to show my parents but they have been overwhelmingly supportive. My dad was always first to watch and hit the like button and when my mom introduces me to her friends she says, “she’s a Youtuber!” before even mentioning I am a graphic designer full-time. My parents’ support gave me the courage to believe that I had what it takes to become a successful creative, and I will always be grateful for them believing in me.
Amanda, 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?
Hello everyone! My name is Amanda and I’m a graphic designer by day, a small business owner at night (and weekends), and an all around creative person with too many ideas and hobbies. I have always been creative from a young age, so I decided to pursue a career in Graphic Design. I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design and since graduating, I’ve worked with various small businesses on freelance projects while working full-time as a graphic designer for companies. I currently work at a non-profit that helps children in foster care and my design skills are used to help raise money for our organization, bring awareness, and develop our overall brand.
My true passion though is running my small business called @dailypenpals! Dailypenpals is a collection of cute, funny, and relatable animal characters that I’ve created myself. I sell items in the form of stickers, coloring pages, art prints, and more! While I love the stability of a 9-5 job, my real dream is to run my own business someday. As I’ve worked on a variety of projects throughout my career, I realized that nothing brings me more joy than creating something from the heart and sharing it with the world. I love to document and share my process on Instagram, Tiktok, and Youtube and it is heartwarming to see how I can bring joy and inspire others with something that I create.
I currently spend my weekends selling my products at local markets and events in Southern California. Something that stands out about my brand at these events in particular is my bright red sticker vending machine! You know, those machines where you can put in 2 quarters and get a sticker or temporary tattoo from? Yeah, that’s the one. A couple of years ago, I had a random idea of buying one of these machines to sell my original art out of, and I was lucky enough to stumble across one on Facebook Marketplace. I was already selling my art at these events, but I wanted to find a way to make my booth unique, so I created my first set of mini art prints priced at $1 each and I made a Tiktok talking about my process and to come find me at my next event. I was a little bummed that the first day I posted the video it only received 500 views, but I also believed in what I was doing and knew that with time, people would recognize these unique ideas I had. The next morning, I woke up to the video with 40,000 views and it continued to grow. Now, that Tiktok has amassed over 2.7 million views! This was a turning point in my small business because that event was the first time I sold out of an item. It was surreal seeing the amount of people that came specifically for me, and I was overwhelmed by the support from people online. I am always coming up with new ideas to share with the world and I can’t wait to see how I grow my small business in the coming years.
As I’ve gained more experience in my career and my personal life, something I’ve learned to appreciate about myself is my determination to stay authentic. I believe that everyone has something unique to bring to the table so why try to be someone else when the true gold is within. Naturally, I am inspired by so many other creators that I see online and meet in person, but ultimately it’s my unique thoughts and ideas that set me apart from others. Some advice I’d want to tell any aspiring creative is to believe in your work, trust the process, and be open to making changes. While life can be unpredictable, I have seen time and time again that following my heart and believing everything will be okay has guided me to the life I have today, and I am so lucky to have the life that I do.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I had already been posting about my art on various social media accounts for some time, but when I started my brand dailypenpals in 2022, I decided that I wanted to start fresh. I started with 0 followers on Instagram and Titkok, and while growth was slow, I began to understand what type of content people liked to see from me. I now have several viral videos on both platforms! For anyone starting to build their social media presence, my advice would be: understand what value you bring with your content, find ways to engage with your audience, hook in the viewers within the first few seconds, and create content that is authentic to you.
We have to understand that all viewers want to get something out of the content we put out. That being said, you can bring value in many different ways. Is your content helpful? Is it satisfying to watch? Is it relatable? Is it unique? What brought attention to my brand dailypenpals was the addition of my red sticker vending machine. While I was never the first artist to sell my art out of a machine like that, the video reached a huge audience and so many people found it to be such a unique idea and a lot of people also talked about how nostalgic those machines are to them.
Viewer engagement can be really difficult depending on the type of content you make. One way I get viewers to engage with my content is by taking their suggestions and letting it guide my next video. A viral series I created on Tiktok was How to Draw Animals. I started by creating one animal and asked the viewers to suggest what I should draw next. Content like this brings in an overwhelming amount of comments and engagement because people are eager for their voice to be heard. I really enjoy making content like this because I want to help others with my tutorials and make people feel acknowledged.
One of the struggles of content creation is trying to understand the complexities of algorithms on various social platforms. With an infinite amount of content to scroll through, it’s important to hook someone in within the first few seconds of your video. This can be done in a few different ways, but what I found works for me is having text on the screen and doing voiceovers to tell a story. Having some form of text will immediately give context to your video and the viewer can decide if this is something that would interest them. When I do voiceovers for my content, it typically involves me talking about my process as a creative and it helps people feel a little more connected to me as a person and my work.
Lastly, create content that is authentic to you. What works for some creators may not work for you and that’s okay! I enjoy making voiceovers for content while others absolutely hate hearing the sound of their own voice. With time, you’ll learn what content you are comfortable making and I truly believe that when you feel good making your content, others will recognize that and feel more connected and invested in what you do.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I am constantly in awe when I think about the creation of quite literally…everything. How on earth did someone take an idea from their mind and invent amazing things like a microwave, the internet, and my favorite thing ever, Cinnabon! A lot of things we possess on this earth was created by someone at some point in time. I think the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is taking an idea, making something from it, and seeing how it can impact the world. Being a creative is my identity and I feel the most alive when I take a thought and bring it to life. The satisfaction I feel when I create is my personal way of spreading my positive energy to the world and those around me.
One of the most rewarding and life changing aspects of choosing to pursue a creative path is being able to meet all the amazing people in my life! I met two of my best friends in college as we all went through the graphic design program together. We often talk about our different small business ventures and our creative aspirations. When I met my partner for the first time, we instantly connected over our shared feelings about being creatives and the uncertainty that comes along with it. Now, we are able to support one another in our different creative journeys and I’m looking forward to see how we will both grow into the creatives we are meant to be.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailypenpals
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/mandateee
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@dailypenpals
Image Credits
Alvin Dang