We were lucky to catch up with Lina Liu recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

The first time I knew was most likely 2 years ago. My full time profession as a psychologist can be very overwhelming and emotionally draining. I started to clay craft my own character designs 5 years ago as an outlet for me to reduce my stress and I have always enjoyed crafting. I opened an etsy shop 5 years ago just as a hobby to share my clay character designs. Overtime my character designs became more and more popular on instagram, but I couldn’t keep up with the demands of hand making my products anymore, so I took some time off and came back with a new plan for my art shop. I changed my business strategies and switched my store from handmade crafts to mostly manufacturing my character line. With this, I saw a huge growth in my brand and found more inspiration and motivation through my work and relating to my customers. It was then that I realized that my professional career could not exist without my art shop, and my art shop could not exist without my professional career. So I made the difficult decision about a year ago to step down from my full time position as a medical staff psychologist to open my own private practice and to run my art shop professionally.

Lina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Lina and I am the creator and founder of Lulu Sweet Kawaii Shop, a woman and Asian owned cute accessory shop where I makes cute plushies, bags, pins, stickers, and lifestyle products based on my own original character designs and asian influences, with a dash of mental health flair. I am also by profession a Health Psychologist and some of my art is influenced through my work as a mental health advocate. My goal was to create cute lifestyle products that would inspire, motivate, and uplift the soul. I believe my products are unique because they are relatable and bring together culture and community.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me it’s the freedom to express myself and to be totally free . I consider my art as an extension of myself, and I have the ability to explore new ideas and techniques, and to create something that is truly my own. Being an artist I also have the ability to inspire and influence others in powerful ways. Whether it’s through conveying important messages or simply bringing joy into people’s lives with my art, being an artist you can have a positive impact.

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

For the past 10 years, I have worked full time doing the 9-5 grind as a medical staff psychologist at a local hospital, while operating my art shop on the side as a hobby. During this time, I became increasingly overwhelmed with trying to find balance in my work/family life. Covid also hit and the mental health field was slammed with more cases of depression, trauma, grief, and anxiety. I also became increasingly unmotivated in growing my art. It wasn’t till about a year and a half ago that I made a difficult decision to step down from my full time position at the hospital, in order to achieve better family/work balance and to focus on growing my art brand. It became one of my best decisions I ever made. I have now been able to successfully run my little art shop part time and grow my brand, while opening up my clinical practice as a psychologist servicing Asian and Asian American communities and the medical population.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lulusweetkawaiishop.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lulusweetkawaiishop/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lulusweetkawaiishop
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lulusweetkawaiishop/

Image Credits
Lulusweetkawaiishop