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

Yiqing, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

I made my first paycheck at 7 when a short story I wrote was published on a local newspaper. I was born and raised in China so that story was written in Chinese. I was in first grade at the time, and couldn’t even write many Chinese characters, so the piece my mom helped me submit was a mixture of pinyin (the phonetics of Mandarin) and the characters. I went on and had many essays, short stories and poems published throughout my elementary school years. That experience made me asscociate writing with fun and money, and remains to be an inspiration today whenver I feel the needle is not moving for me.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Yiqing Zhao is an award-winning actor/filmmaker on a mission to tell cathartic stories of strong Asian women. While she “was supposed to be” a doctor, she dived into performing arts after getting her master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University, as she found her true calling in healing minds and souls through storytelling. Her directorial debut, “You & I”, has won her 3 “Best Short”, 3 “Best Actress”, 2 nominations, and counting. “Frapp Gab”, a short film she wrote, directed, and produced at the 72hr shootout challenge with Asian American Film Lab, won TOP 5 and was screened at the 45th Asian American International Film Festival, where she spoke at the panel. She is currently developing her first feature, an LGBTQ rom com called “Made in Heaven”.

She played principal and supporting roles in award-winning Film/TV/Theatre productions such as “Divorce School” ( Best Pilot @ Garden State Film Festival; Best TV Series @ Los Angeles Film Awards; Best Web Series @ New York Film Awards), “East”, “Little Sky” ( Best Student Short @ Cinequest, Audience Awards @ First Run Festival, HBO APA Visionary Finalist), “Mother Tongue” (nominee of CAAMFest, C.A.F.F, Asian Film Festival, etc) and “The Female Role Model Project” (Honorable Mention by Fast Company).

She is a certified life & career coach for artists and entrepreneurs, a rescue dog mom, a home chef, a yoga enthusiast, and a lifelong learner. www.yiqingzhao.com

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Being a creative is far more than doing what we love. It’s a way of living. A way of being. It’s about loving ourselves, loving humanity, and also transcending ourselves. We live in the heart space and always push ourselves to create something out of nothing and to keep improving our creations. As long as you stay true to yourself, there’s no regret. This process also cracks me open and helps me embrace more opportunities than I could ever imagine.

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

Multiple times! Life is all about pivoting and changing.

First, I decided to pursue acting after I went to medicine school in China and got my master’s in public health from Johns Hopkins, despite the opposition from my family. That was a big wake-up call for me as I realized my true callings was not in treating people’s physical bodies, but to heal their minds and souls through storytelling.

Second, I pivoted into writing/directing during the pandemic, when I realized I wanted to see more empowering Asian women characters and what I could do to make it happen was to CREATE them!

Also, pivoting is an essential process of creation. Pivoting is the way to find solutions. If whatever you’re working on is not working, you will have to examine your approaches and pivot. So there will be many pivoting moments, big or small, throughout the process. Face towards change!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @theyiqingzhao
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yiqing-zhao-329a11a6/

Image Credits
Mikael Arbach