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

Priscilla, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

Feeling lost in my career at 27, I had a consultation with a career coach to help me sort out angst and the nagging feeling that there had to be something better than this. “What do you want?” she asked. “A baby” I said. “Yes, a baby will give you purpose,” she mused. Her dismissal and the missed opportunity to explore the feelings, responsibilities and work around having a baby continues to influence my career trajectory, mainly with the realization that the labor of care may be seen as purposeful, but not necessarily career-ful.

Priscilla, 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 Priscilla Hsu and I call myself a careworker. I support individuals and the decisions they make around their bodies, reproduction and sexuality. While I primarily support people as a birth doula with prenatal, birth, and postpartum support, I would also like to normalize care throughout all the phases of life in between birth and death, like post-operative and transitional. I’m also particularly excited about adapting traditional Chinese culture zuo yue zi practices to our contemporary world.

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

I’ve had to unlearn a lot of my (inherited) financial values. Do I know that my work has value? Undoubtedly. Do I know what to charge? Not comfortably. It’s been really hard for me to price for something I believe should be a right. While some things are beyond my circle of control – for example, receiving fair wages for the labor of care will probably take a mix of policy change and cultural shifts – what I can unlearn is the internalized message that love and money can’t mix. For various reasons, this is the message I absorbed as a child and I have seen myself get in my own way because of this.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Observation and communication. Every one of us has basic needs but the strategies we deploy to get those needs met is where we usually run into conflict. Whether nonverbal or speaking, the end goal is always the same: get my needs met. There are all sorts of best practices in every field but none of it matters if the people you’re working with don’t feel seen, heard or safe. This is especially true in care work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.IttyBittyCareCommittee.com

Image Credits
Gabrielle Chen Gracilla, Isabel Harbaugh Macdonald, Priscilla Hsu