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

Alright, Amy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

As a freelance storyteller working across journalism, film, podcasts and content marketing, the kindest thing a friend or former colleague can do is recommend you for projects. When I’m close to finishing up a contract with a client, I start searching for my next gig. It’s a bit of a rollercoaster ride of emotions as it can feel like you’re always chasing for your next paycheque. But timing can be funny. There are periods when I’m at capacity with what I can take on and a great opportunity comes my way! I always grateful for the connection, but pass it onto other freelance folks and hope it helps them with their career goals or financial targets for the season.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Amy Chyan and I’m super T-shaped journalist that makes podcasts, films and writes about food, culture and the Asian American experience. I also moonlight in B2B SaaS content.

I grew up in the Canadian multicultural suburb of Markham, Ontario, where instead of a winter formal at my high school, we had a South Asian fashion show with bhangra music performed by the students. As a young immigrant learning English, I was enamoured by the storytelling in shows like Yan Can Cook, The Price Is Right, The Simpsons and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. As a result, I learned from television. I observed Western mannerisms and collected pop culture references. At the same time, I fell in love with reading novels like The Baby-Sitters Club. Then I started writing my own stories, scribbling down ideas on sheets of lined paper stapled together to resemble a book.

In parallel, I consumed a lot of Mandarin and Cantonese media in the form of newscasts, newspapers, TV dramas and variety game shows. Naturally, my identity became very “third culture” and I think it’s what has guided my conviction to give shine to diverse stories and voices, even during a time when that wasn’t prevalent in media.

In university, I produced a Japanese inspired studio gameshow that included a segment of “human tetris.” In fourth year, I produced and edited an award-winning documentary about karaoke culture in Toronto. I finished my studies at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, specializing in broadcast and documentary production.

My career trajectory has brought me all over the world – anchoring live radio, reporting from Taiwan’s presidential office, dispatching stories from Japan’s Toshijima island, being a fixer for documentary film crews, academics and magazines in Taiwan as well as breaking Canadian news stories.

I have more than 10 years of production and editorial experience in radio, broadcast news and TV as well as online publishing. My written work has been published in NBC News, CBC Life, The Globe and Mail, Refinery29 Canada, The Toronto Star, Flare, Chatelaine, VICE, VICE Sports, VICE Munchies, Al Jazeera English and Mashable. I’ve been featured as a guest on CBC’s Fresh Air and Metro Morning. I was also a stringer for Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal in Taiwan and contributed to CBC Radio and The Economist while based there.

Some of the podcast clients I’ve had the opportunity to help develop, produce and edit for include: Harvard Business Review, PRX (in partnership with Stanford Business School), The Globe and Mail, Cisco and Katherine Wu of Archetype, formerly Coinbase’s Venture Lead.

Recently, I made an award-winning film called “Threads of Love.” Following a Canadian scrunchie company that went viral on Tik Tok, it explores the love language (acts of service) of East Asian parents, the expectations immigrant children burden themselves with and finding balance when confronting the Asian-Canadian identity. For this doc, I’m the producer, director and editor.

My clients have trusted me to stay extremely organized during our projects, to bring a diverse viewpoint and have fun while working together. In my work, I like exploring the authentic, tender and heartwarming moments in life.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Pivoting to a full-time freelance career in 2020 was a big risk! Especially because that meant I was resigning from a full-time role with health benefits during the start of a pandemic. However, I believe taking big risks if you’re able to and seeing what reward you get from that journey.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I think having a community or group of supporters that are also creatives is so important. Whether it’s asking about resources, advice or just sharing the good, bad and ugly when working on a project, it’s easier to “talk shop” with people who know how everything works. Seek for these folks in local organizations, online communities or through friends in the industry!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amychyan.com
• Instagram: @amychyan
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amychyan/

Image Credits
Amy Chyan