Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Houa Vang. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Houa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers
I am very open and honest and I share stories about my mental health so that others don’t feel so alone, especially in the Hmong culture. Mental health is often not prioritized and taken seriously and so I aim to change that because I believe that we all suffer from some form of generational trauma. I often have followers message me and share their stories about their struggles. In 2022 I had a follower message me that she was struggling to leave her abusive husband and so I responded that I could help her by finding resources for her to get help. Shortly after I sent her some recommendations she sent me a message and said that she took the kids and ran away from home and was staying at a women’s and children’s shelter to get help. She told me that she had reached out to organizations and other people that had offered help but no one ever responded back. We had a long phone call in which she detailed her abuse and her husband’s constant cheating and so I decided to offer her some help. I asked all my friends for as much resources as possible and asked for donations through my page. To my surprise a lot of people were willing to help, we got close to $500 and a car full of donations from toys to clothing and household items. We had so many extra toys that we decided to donate the rest to the shelter she was staying at. This was around Christmas and so we wanted to gift the children some nice toys, they sent us a photo of all the kids with their toys that Christmas morning. After a few weeks she sent me a message to let me know that she applied and was approved for government housing and had also found a job. I was so proud of her because I’m not even sure if I could have done what she did.
Houa, 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 started out doing art when I was a child, but after being discouraged by my parents I decided to get into nursing instead. During my high school years, I was an introvert so being creative was my outlet. I started doing YouTube for fun, I tried my hand at makeup and so to capture the looks I was creating I started dabbling into photography. I kept getting questions about who took my photos and eventually, I started offering free photoshoots to better my photography skills. After I kept getting requests for sessions I finally started my business while I was in high school. At that time I was still pursuing nursing and had completed my high school program for it and went on to take courses in college, but eventually, I knew that my heart wasn’t in it. No matter what I did, I always came back to photography as an outlet. I tried my best to please my parents but in the end, I was only hurting myself. After my parents’ infidelity issues in 2016, I decided to move 3 hours away and started taking on retouching and photography gigs to keep myself busy, I was struggling at the time so I worked 3 jobs to keep myself afloat. I would work in the morning as a retoucher for a private studio and after that, I would have 30 minutes to drive to my other job which was also a retouching job for a school portrait studio, and on weekends I had my own private bookings for photography. I was promoted at both jobs and offered a higher position at the other but eventually, I knew that I wanted something more for myself. In July of 2017, I decided to move back in with my parents and pursue photography full-time because at that moment in time, I had nothing in my life to lose and so I gave it my all. I would often book out-of-state jobs for months at a time because being at home was too chaotic and ever since I left in 2016, home never felt like home anymore. I didn’t know the feeling of being homesick because no matter where I was there was no place that felt like home. I continued to book work trips after work trips, even though I lived with my parents I was home for less than a month for 2-3 years. What kept me going was my clients and the love and support they have shown me throughout the years.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
During the pandemic I started to notice a shift on all the social media platforms and that was the introduction of short-form videos. I knew that all the platforms would try to compete with tiktok and so that year I decided to dabble into videography. When the pandemic was over I started offering to do free reels for anyone at the Hmong New Year events and that was when my content really took off.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I started my social media journey by posting my self-portraits on various social media and art and photography sites. I would post collaboration works and submit my work to publications, I’ve had viral posts every once in a while and that would always bring in new followers. I just kept posting even if no one liked the posts and I continued to do that for years. My best advice is to do it because you enjoy it, if you only think about the money then you will most likely be disappointed. I’ve seen a lot of people come and go, the people that stay around the longest are the ones who have a passion for their craft and are always open to learning and growing to adapt to the market.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.houavang.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/houavangphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/houavangphotography
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/houavang
Image Credits
Models: Mai Yang Thao, Xeng Yang, Kimberly Vue, Frank Chang, Michelle Vang, Cindy Vang, Kue Vue, Linda Vang, Sam Ci Vang