Hi friends! My name is Shirley and I’m a 17-year-old college freshman. If you don’t see me stressing over homework, I’m normally caught with a camera held up to my face, capturing moments that I want to remember. I love editing and creating content that I find beautiful. I also love talking about positivity and how important it is to stay persistent with your goals.
Inspired by a fellow classmate and the growing blogging community, I started my fashion blog in February of 2011. In 2012, I finally did what I’ve been dreaming about doing for the past year. I started my Youtube channel. Since then, I have been juggling both creating video and written content, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Oakmoss: What are some ways that you like to get creative?
Shirley: I’ve started to bring around a journal to everywhere I go! I’ll jot or doodle while I’m waiting for my food to come at lunch, or when I’m waiting for class to start. When I’m in a creative slump, I like to go somewhere new, and spend more time by myself. I find that just by being alone with a book, a cup of tea, and music in the background allows my creative juices to flow.
OM: Who are some of your greatest inspirations?
S: In all honesty, so many different individuals have inspired me, so it was hard to narrow it down to a few! But lately, Emma Mercury and Zoe Suen have been huge inspirations for me. Emma is part of a blogger duo for The Messy Heads. I’m obsessed with her writing style and her unique mindset. She’s such a cool gal-I’d love to meet her and grab lunch one day. I think I’ve been following Zoe’s blog for a couple of years now! Her posts are always so interesting to read and I love how creative she is with her photos.
OM: What is one piece of advice that you've been given that has really helped shape who you are today. or something that you can give to other creatives to inspire them?
S: I think that something people always say is to never give up and to stay original/true to you. It’s definitely easier said than done, but I always kept this thought in the back of my mind. Just a couple months ago, it finally clicked for me. I was creating video content that I didn’t really like, but I did them because they were popular and generated more views. You can definitely tell the difference in filming and editing from my old videos to my most recent ones. They don’t have as many views, but it doesn’t bother me too much anymore. I want to create content that I can re-watch over and over again, feeling proud every time. And now I can!
OM: What is one way that you like to enjoy time in nature?
S: Get outside!! Take a hike with some friends! It can be super simple too. I love going out into my front yard or the park with a towel, some water, my journal (or a book), and a pen to unplug from my electronics.
OM: Where is your favorite vacation spot?
S: I love Italy and New York! I was actually so close to going to NYU for school because I love it so much there. And call me crazy, but I love the subway. New York is super fast-paced and exhilarating that it made me so motivated and inspired to work harder on all of my STUFF.
After going around most of Europe, Italy still has my heart. The people there are the absolute sweetest and are so charismatic. Italians are so chill and welcoming; I’m almost always in a good mood there! And it doesn’t hurt that the people there are gorgeous. OH and the architecture. Yes. 10/10
O: Describe some of your favorite work as a creative!
S: I recently started to edit my photos as if they were in a scrapbook, and I’m in love! Granted, it takes me about 5x longer to get out a blog post, but it’s so fun and I always end up staring at my creations for an unreasonably long time.
