Satsuki studied music at USC and graphic design at Otis College of Art and Design and then launched her own design studio. She’s always been an over achiever, always on the go, and always working. One day, she had vertigo, and her doctor advised her to rest and not do anything for two days. For a person who has always been active, she had to stop and could only think about what to do now. She finally stopped to reevaluate the way she worked, her design process and how she interacted with others. She realized that everything she’s learned and thought up to that point was the opposite of what she felt she should’ve been doing. Here are some lessons that she shared.
1. More is not better, more is just more.
Society teaches that being busy and doing more are more exciting and suggests that one is doing great things. While Satsuki’s vertigo went away, she continues to have head fog and can only concentrate on only so much every day. She realized that the past year was her best year, and she was least busy. While she’d balance 8-10 jobs concurrently before, now she needs to consider each job before taking it as she can only concentrate on 1-2 projects at a time. She evaluates what the project means to her, and only chooses projects which are worth spending her time and energy. She noticed by concentrating more on fewer projects, her client relationships have become better. She’s developed a niche market, and people notice and go to her with work. By not being busy, she does better work, is paid better, meets better peope, and has more time to live life which leads to lesson two.
2. Take time to live life, really!
Satsuki thought that by doing work she loves, she is living life. However, she wasn’t enjoying the moments or noticing the little things. Living life matters, esp. to creatives, as it lets you gain new perspectives. Creatives rely on storytelling and communication. By living life and learning from others, you develop new ways of seeing and communicating. More importantly, you get to know yourself better and learn how you process, work, and interact with others.
Me-Time: for Satsuki, she takes time every day for walking, meditating, playing with Skippy, reading, and napping. She uses a plant seed metaphor for approaching projects. Instead of executing an idea immediately, she implants it as she takes time to experience life during which the idea becomes a mega idea thanks to other people and experiences.
Satsuki Shibuya
Born and raised in the tree-filled foothills of Los Angeles to a French chef father and adventure-loving mother, Satsuki’s escapades thus far have included studying music at the University of Southern California and graphic design at Otis College of Art and Design, pursuing a career as a singer/songwriter, delving into hand processes such as pattern design and sewing, launching a design studio, as well as raising a dog that loves treats and naps a little too much. Her recent pursuits involve activities such as creating one-of-a-kind art/objects, consulting, food experimentation, visual curations, paper creations, and special edition collaborations.
Take a moment to listen to your intuition/gut/spirit – it already knows the answer. Before Satsuki considered money, fame, and recognition as ingredients for success. Even if her intuition tells her not to take the job, she’d take it. She suspects that she got vertigo when her two halves – intuition vs logic – finally split. She needed to be truthful to her intuition, which is important for branding. With social media, it’s best for everything to come from one source that is genuine.
3. Explore, frolic and follow you passion
What you learn/explore is infused into your work. Exploring brought her to create a home goods line (oldbrandnewblog.com) and brought her back to her old love, music (check out her music track, NEKO). Exploring and being open led her to launching Dream Coop, her current project which is a creative consultancy where she gets to see others grow and achieve their dreams.
4. Run at your own pace.
Out of all things learned the past year, this was her most important lesson. We’re all different; don’t compare your success to others, esp. what others portray online. Success is not following someone else’s path, but braving
“The Road Not Taken” – the title of her talk and the title of Robert Frost’s poem.
– By Diana Banh @dibanh
