Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Marya Nguyen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Marya thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Starting my web design business was a huge risk! I had just decided I wanted to go freelance and do something in social media after working with small digital marketing agencies. And before I knew it, I lost my first client because the covid-19 lockdown happened and I just pivoted into web design.

Suddenly, like millions of people, I was left trying to cope with how to pay for my bills as well as just cope with what was going to happen to life as we knew it.

I grew up as a first generation Vietnamese American in a single parent household – we didn’t have a lot. And at this point in my life, I was already thousands of dollars in student loan debt. There was no financial fall back plan if things went wrong so they only had the option of working out.

I decided to take a risk because web design was something I really enjoyed. But things didn’t really change for me until two things happened. The first, was when I started to identify as being a web designer and business owner even though I was new to it. Sometimes it didn’t feel like I was who I said I was. I know a lot of people can relate to imposter syndrome. But I believed in myself, and voted for her through my actions. The second, was when I realized my purpose was to help other business owners get their business online and figure out how we could solve their challenges together.

It was incredibly worth the risk to be able to do what I do today.

Marya, 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?

Yangu Web Studio crafts user-friendly sites designed for the do-it-all conscious creative and entrepreneur ready to build an easily managed and profitable business online. I specialize in Squarespace site designs, redesigns, and small projects from refreshing landing pages to integrating scheduling features, and more.

Our collaboration is more than just launching or relaunching a site. It’s an open dialogue of clear communication to bring your vision to life with a high-quality, aesthetically pleasing design. You will never be left wondering what’s happening since I plan to work with you step by step as we explore your design with a digital marketing strategy in mind.

If you’re a human that serves other humans or you create/craft intentional goods for purchase, I got your back! Something I pride myself on with work is my ability to actively listen and understand the challenges you have in managing site content, or being able to book more appointments or aligning the look and feel of your site to your brand vision. I know as business owners we get in our heads about having to do it all, but the best decisions I feel have been those made in knowing full well that you can rely on a team to help carry the project forward. I can be part of your team in that way, and provide recommendations for that bigger picture of growth you have in mind too.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

This summer was one of the toughest summers in business. It was painfully slow, there weren’t a lot of projects I was working on and for a moment it hit me hard. I debated on if taking the risk to do web design full time was a smart financial decision. It’s not a secret that it can be unpredictable but I knew that at the end of the day I was meant to connect with people for a reason. And that’s when I decided to create a campaign for the summer, I called it Summer Creatives and I took on 5 projects at a pay-what-you-can rate. I wanted to give back even though there wasn’t a financial promise to receive but that’s not what matters. I knew I could get by (financially) but the true value in my campaign was reigniting my purpose in business.

Your purpose matters, and call it crazy but I think when you live your purpose – things work out. I made it through the summer and I met some incredible people that shared their own journey with me. I’m deeply grateful to have developed a skill set that allows me to genuinely connect and serve others.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A concept I am continuing to unlearn is that I need to be anyone but who I am now in order to do anything.

If you’re a recovering perfectionist like me, you’ll understand this. Maybe it’s to lighten the perceived impact of failure or insecurities. But for awhile, I felt like if I wanted to do this big risky thing of starting a business, I needed to know everything from web design (but not just CSS, but also Javascript AND HTML), as well as learning about pricing, and being an accountant, and learning how to sell my skills, and making social media content, and….

It is and will be a never ending list of things you tell yourself you need to know. And don’t get me wrong, these are actually all things that matter. But it’s the perspective of you needing to be all those things first, before you even just try to design for your first client.

It’s a mindset of showing up for yourself everyday despite this and that, and it’s the progress that matters. Every action you take is a vote for the person you’re dreaming of becoming and you are capable and competent as you are today.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yanguweb.studio
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yanguweb.studio/, https://www.instagram.com/maccuddles/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marya-nguyen/

Image Credits
Katie Flom, Jay Brown