I'm someone who can't sit still, and it's related to my family background.
Because my family had huge debts, my mom started various businesses when we were young. The earliest one I remember is a breakfast shop, then factory subcontracting work, serving as a foreman doing work like sorting or processing computer motherboard connectors. At one point, my mom had contracts with fifty or sixty locations, earning a net profit of 300,000 NT per month. We thought we could settle down comfortably, but with the "factory relocation to mainland China" trend at the end of the 1990s, the factory quietly closed.
↓From kindergarten through third grade of elementary school, I spent my after-school time inside the blue iron gates
After some time, my mom worked at a photo studio chain opened by my uncle. She spent five years learning all the necessary techniques, then found a first-floor storefront. In 2004, we officially opened. During the early operating period, my sister and I went around the neighborhood distributing flyers, asking if people could help us put them in mailboxes, even handing them out at campaign events. Since I was only in middle school, people were very cooperative and would help. So from a young age, I already learned how to do physical promotion, and as I grew older and worked part-time, I became excellent at distributing flyers.
Beginning 12 Years of Running a Photo Studio
Because of this shop, I began my "little photo studio sister" life, coming to work after school and staying throughout summer and winter breaks. At first, because I was only 14, I was shy about greeting customers and always looked grumpy, not knowing how to respond. When difficult customers asked for discounts or extra photos, I would refuse outright. There were many things to do at the studio: taking photos of customers, selecting photos, taking orders, occasionally developing prints, changing chemical solutions, and introducing products. The advantage was that it became easy to deal with strangers; the disadvantage was that I didn't know how to express myself to people I was familiar with. This is something I only realized as I grew older.
From my memory, I never had a real break during school. It wasn't until graduate school that I finally experienced what a long vacation felt like. The rest of the time, in elementary school I'd come home at 4 PM and help with manual work at the factory. In middle school I'd finish at 6 PM, complete cram school by 9 PM, then walk back to the photo studio to help close up. High school was similar, and university even more so. During summer and winter breaks, I'd be there from morning to night. Occasionally I'd go out to work part-time to earn pocket money, and the rest of the time I'd be at the photo studio.
I started working part-time right after finishing high school. Since I attended night university, in my sophomore year I became a work-study student at a TV station. My work hours were 5 AM to 2 PM. Because I also had a minor, my classes were from 3:30 PM to 10 PM. Combined with living in Xinzhuang, I was sleeping at midnight, waking at 4 AM, riding for an hour to the TV station in Neihu, then riding for an hour back to Fu Jen Catholic University in the afternoon for classes. This went on and on. Truly, truly exhausting. Those were days I can never go back to.
From Student to Workplace Novice, Starting a Slash Career
I was fortunate enough to have a fan page where I could share my life. Although I really didn't know what content to create in the middle and even considered shutting it down to end my second identity, because my regular salary was too low, I gained attention while documenting my work life.
Gradually, many different types of brands approached me for collaborations: cosmetics, skincare, product experiences. I started by only being able to accept articles as an anonymous regular person and as a contract writer, earning 500 NT per article at first, even getting my rates cut. Then as different brands approached with offers, articles jumped to around 1,000 NT, or I'd be paid by word count. Now sometimes people directly offer 10,000 NT just to ask if I could write an article for them, or opportunities for in-person speaking engagements come up. This past three years has been a difficult journey.
↓My First In-Person Speaking Opportunity
When we're in a slump, it's easy to feel like the world is against us. No matter how hard we try, no one understands, and our efforts don't yield proportional returns. This negative emotion is easy to fall into, and such thoughts can trap us and hinder our progress. But we must shift our perspective: "Your efforts now are all for the harvest later," and don't forget why you worked so hard in the first place!
Because you work so hard, isn't it all for the right to choose?
While others watch Korean dramas after work, you choose to take English classes to enrich yourself;
While others sing karaoke, have dinner, or drink after work, you choose to work side jobs to earn extra income;
While others enjoy their free time, you choose to learn an additional skill and develop a second life.
Although entertainment time decreases, "working hard is a long-distance race," and only by persisting, continuously enriching yourself, and making yourself like a sponge, absorbing everything, can you have the strength to meet opportunities that will "squeeze" you and let you always "produce water." You have real substance in your bones. Perhaps you're tired and busy, but remember: only through this can we avoid being chosen by others.
