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

TC, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

In business, it’s important to ask yourself what you want to do rather than what you have to do. That way, you’ll be able to apply your creativity and passion in a way that makes sense for your career. For example, if you love designing greeting cards, but also want to open an interior design firm, you’ll need to figure out how to balance both passions so that each aspect of your business works well on its own and together as a whole.

Launching a business requires three main elements: production, administrative functions, and business development. As a small-business owner, you’ll likely have to handle all three areas yourself. But with a good team and the right professionals on hand for consultation, you can be a triple threat and do the best you can do.

Ultimately, you have to consider who your audience is. For example, if you’re designing an interiors project for a client, you must consider the people who will be using the space–if it’s a restaurant, customers come in to eat; if it’s an office, employees come in to work; and if it’s residential, people live there. Every decision we make must be tailored to this audience because some types of inspiration won’t work well in different spaces–for example, fashion or art might be inspiring for one person but wouldn’t work well in the same commercial space if that owner also lived in a residential home that had those same types of inspirations.

And when it comes to stationery (Benji’s of Brooklyn)…it’s actually a very good getaway for me. We’re starting with a blank card, which means there’s no message – let the art speak for itself, and have the audience appreciate that. Our original concept for Benji’s greeting cards was to have it as a communication tool, and users can make our cards their own by adding any messages they want, as a media to talk to another person. Our cards are like a messenger…that was the very beginning of our idea. Most of my sketches and inspiration were things that were around me during the pandemic…what I see, what I know, things that are very close to my core. Like all the botanics, the birds in my backyard…the architecture in New York City…and that’s where the inspirations all came from.

TC, 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?

With his roots in fine arts as a distinguished painter, TC Chou is a designer in every sense of the word. He has a broad range of experience from luxury high-end interiors to sprawling urban landscapes to detailed furniture and lighting. His education began at one of the top design programs in Taiwan, Tung-Hai University. His desire to travel and experience the West led him to Columbia University where he completed his Masters of Science in Advanced Architecture and Urban Design. While at Columbia, he was awarded the coveted Lucille Smyser Lowenfish Prize for his final thesis project.

Upon graduation, TC quickly established himself as a presence in the New York City design world. Through his work with a top interior design firm in New York City, he worked on large-scale retail projects as well as projects for leading financial and investment companies. His experience broadened to focus on high-end residential projects through his work with internationally recognized clients.

Both a designer and an artist, TC merges these two facets within himself at all times. His paintings have had numerous showings including an international showcase at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office. These unfiltered expressions of life experiences through color and canvas influence his interior design and allow him to achieve a level of freedom in his work. His unique perspective and attention to detail also shine through his furniture and fixture design. His custom approach and use of natural elements have led him to create popular work for various furniture retailers.

As the Managing Director and owner of his own interior design practice, Design Determination, TC has been responsible for the substantial growth, both with clients and talent, over the past decade. The expansion fell perfectly into place as the firm reached across the country and internationally to Taipei, Bali, Shanghai, and Seattle, in addition to its HQ in New York. Recently, Design Determination’s Taipei office won the prestigious iF Design Award 2022 for a residential project in Yilan, Taiwan. TC and his team are thrilled to have received global recognition for their work, as this serves as a prime example of our commitment to design and sustainability initiatives.

In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, TC launched Benji’s of Brooklyn—a stationery and gift company. Benji’s of Brooklyn was created out of love for two things: fondness for still-life pencil sketches, and the desire to keep in touch with loved ones.

He started to freehand-draw his GoldenDoodle named Benji for friends and relatives and sent them as greeting cards. By request, he also accepted “pet portrait ” commissions, which he still does today for private clients. In under two years, from its humble beginnings as a creative side project, Benji’s of Brooklyn has become a full-fledged venture with greeting cards stocked at Shakespeare & Co. bookstores and Museum of Arts and Design Shop in Manhattan. The company is now exploring the opportunities of expanding the brand into jewelry, NFT, and even AR filters. This has been an incredibly exciting project from the start!

In every project, TC is guided by the philosophy that art and creativity are essential to the human experience, and that true art is possible only when it serves a purpose. He believes that business acumen can be used to create more value than just profits, and that the act of creating something beautiful is the greatest joy in life.

As a LGBTQ Asian-American business owner, TC is constantly aware of the intersections between his personal and cultural identities and his work as an architect-designer and illustrator. As a teen, he moved from Taiwan to the United States; this was a pivotal moment in my development as an artist. His cross-cultural experiences have helped me develop his unique design style and working process, which are key to both of his businesses.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

There have been a few major pivot points in my career and life. The first was when I studied abroad and moved from Taiwan to New York; this was a major change in language, culture and environment. The decision was made by choice: when I was younger, this pivot was very naive and not properly thought through…the motivation was simply to explore the world and whatever opportunities presented themselves.

With my life so far, I can clearly see that it doesn’t matter what kind off pivot in my life or business, I think I’m always following a very good sense of path and rules…and maybe my Golden Rule is try not to aim for the best in the world, but aim for what is the best available to you at that moment and make the best of it. So for example, when I came to the US to study, I had a few schools that I could pick from, but with the time and resource available it as best for me to be in NYC – and it wasn’t about scholarship or the name of the school…I was actually more focused on my time and the environment that would be good for me. And that was my first pivot to NYC as opposed to other cities in the US. There really is no right or wrong in all this…but if you are clear of your intentions, then you don’t have to second guess later…you’ll be able to accept what you’re receiving in your own choice.

When I make a pivot, I always ask myself what is the best choice for my life or business at that moment. And the best choice is not necessarily the most prestigious or well-regarded option; instead it’s what is best for you at that time based on your resources and circumstances. For example, when I was choosing which schools to apply to in America, there were many options available to me but it made more sense for me to attend school in New York City because of the resources available that would help me build my career. This was not any sort of grand plan on my part; it was simply the best decision given what I knew at the time. And if you make decisions with clarity about your intentions, then you don’t have to second guess later…you’ll be able to accept what you’re receiving in your own choice.

The next pivot in my career came about 10 years ago, when I was given the opportunity to start my own business for interior design and decorating. This was a pivotal point in my life because it meant that I no longer had to work for other people–I could work for myself. Changing from being reactive (only taking on projects as they were handed to me) to proactive (taking on projects that I wanted) helped me motivate myself.

(The third pivot is a side hustle that became another business…see next response)

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Finally, the third pivot was more about life than work. I believe that Benji’s of Brooklyn was not by choice but by necessity. During the pandemic our design office slowed down and we needed a project to work on. Benji’s of Brooklyn became a project to help the company go through a difficult time.

I wanted to focus on the art of sketching and illustrations. So I picked up my sketchbook and reconnected with my passion when I was younger, when I used to sketch while traveling or in school. The pandemic gave me a chance to develop this skill into something fulfilling. Like a startup business, you have to start somewhere…and the beginning of this was creating a workflow using all the resources in the office that were already there. Even though it doesn’t make sense to use my hours to do something else, but it made sense to use our existing resources to start a stationery company. This last pivot is more about community and life, doing something as a team in the office.

When the market came back, my interior design practice became busy again. During the pandemic when Benji’s got started, we were establishing a business when there were no other work coming in and it seemed to be taking a life of its own. At the time, the choices were to focus only on the interiors or continue doing that while also focusing on our new business. Everyone in the office had a more emotional attachment to continue doing that.

At the very beginning, an organic growth into art fairs and markets led to the Museum of Arts and Design Shop and Shakespeare & Co. in New York City. These opportunities became good exposure to the right audiences that we have today—and these are key milestones that when you realize that people do appreciate and want to sell your products, you feel like you have accomplished goals for the business. In terms of scaling up, the next step is to organize our finances and how to use our spare time during our busy schedule – plus scaling up inventory so we don’t have to print by demand (in small batches) anymore. Once production is settled, then we can focus on additional product development and creating more artwork self itself.

Finally, one of the most interesting milestones was integrating augmented reality (AR) into our design process. This attracted me to work on it because I wanted to be part of a project that was new and innovative. Stationery industry is very traditional, with many thinking of it as a dying industry, maybe a lot of people are no longer using this as their main mode of communications anymore. But in a way, this has made greeting cards more special and very personal. With the younger generation – they’re more attracted to interactive elements in their everyday life – especially with the pandemic and quarantines – people are looking to reconnect. One of my first ideas was inspired by someone who suggested that I should be showing my sketch process on social media…so I posted a video while traveling in Paris. That got me thinking: instead of showing a process shouldn’t we tell a story from our art? And that got me engaging with AR. Ultimately, I feel the art I create should be telling a story.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://designdetermination.com and https://www.benjisofbrooklyn.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/design_determination/ and https://www.instagram.com/benjisofbrooklyn/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DesignDetermination and https://www.facebook.com/benji.brookly
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tc-ta-chiun-chou-leed-ap-b402875

Image Credits
Anastassios Mentis