Let’s face it. 2018 has become the year of the woman even though every year should be the year of the woman, so to support that, I went to a women’s summit. Growing up as an Asian American female, I always wanted to feel like I wasn’t alone and that I was represented. When I was growing up, the only character I felt the slightest bit closest to was Mulan just because she was Asian. However, as the digital age has been growing, more diversity has been growing along with that. All different mediums like Instagram or Youtube are full of empowering and diverse women, so now everyone can find someone to relate to. So when I found out that there was a women’s summit in LA featuring tons of empowering, diverse, fashionable women, I had to go. Here’s just a quick recap of the best day ever.
After taking the train at 9am for the event, my besties and I managed to get to the event right on time and mingled with everyone else. Everything was simple, yet Instagram worthy in this huge, open studio full of color and trendy people getting to know each other. I was super nervous at the time and freaking out at seeing all of my favorite influencers taking photos in bomb outfits.
Yes! I met Buzzfeed ladies! Freddie and Kelsey were so nice while I’m like screaming about how happy I was to meet them and how excited I was to meet everyone else. It’s so surreal to meet people that I’ve only ever seen on a screen. After mingling for a bit, they eventually asked to take our seats (which were actually really uncomfortable unfortunately). The summit, besides meeting really cool people, consisted of talking from different creators and empowering women in charge that spoke about different subjects like camera gear for videos, how to create your brand, being a genuine creator, and other really important subjects. While I don’t think I’ll ever succeed as a Youtuber, it was great to at least get good advice about that type of content and feel confident about the artistic direction I want to go as an artistic individual. I think people, more specifically women, find it more difficult to excel in a creative industry and that’s what made it scary for me wanting to be a writer. But listening to these women, especially the women that lead talent agencies, big cosmetics companies, and have made a name for themselves in the entertainment industry was really inspiring and reassuring.
I wish I got better pics, but I didn’t want to stand and get in anyone’s way. What was also great about the event was the fact that they got a pizza food truck to serve us lunch and the popular ice cream shop After’s to come and give us complimentary ice cream for dessert. To be honest, I was running on too much adrenaline to want actual food, so I settled for ice cream and was not disappointed.
I had no regrets. Anyways, the talks continued and eventually it came down to my fave; the one I had been waiting for all day: Jenn Im. She was the first Asian American Youtuber I ever followed after I wanted to find an easy everyday makeup tutorial when I was in like middle school. I thought she was so pretty, had great style, and was super bubbly and sweet which I related to. I watched all of her videos from the time I found that makeup video and on and while I don’t aspire to be as trendy or fashionable, I loved seeing her style and her channel develop and grow.
She was actually wearing the clothes from her festival lookbook drop from her clothing line Eggie that would drop only 5 days after the event. I still have yet to get anything, though. Her talk about making your channel a destination was informative, quirky, and made me feel like she genuinely wanted to support all of us even if we didn’t want to become Youtubers. She was just proof that persistence and wanting to inspire people to find their style and be their own person does pay off. Her advice did apply to other fields like writing or blogging like making it your own and staying true to your message. That advice could really get anyone anywhere and was something all of the speakers really wanted to emphasize because like the event name everyone is Rare in their own way. And now, here’s just a few more photos of the other creators that were there that day.
(Sorry it’s a little fuzzy but left to right: Francis @flamcis, me, bff Brittany, Ellen @ellenvlora, Pau @paudictado)
(Jackie Aina, again sorry bad pic)
(Stephanie Villa @soothingsista)
(Creator of the Be Rare Foundation and Coordinator for the Event: Ashley Villa @ashelyrachel)
Boss lady Ashley Villa who’s actually Stephanie’s sister is Jenn and Stephanie’s manager. She started this foundation to bring women together to support each other and learn from each other about how to succeed in the creative industry. I can’t thank her enough for creating such a great event and partnering with the Ladies First marketing and event company created by women. This just goes to show that dedication to your work and aspiring to bring people together can make such a difference in people’s lives. I’m so grateful to her, the creators, and all of the event coordinators who put this event together and am so excited for A Rare Day part 2. And now to wrap it up, here’s a couple pics of my favorite moment from the event.
Honestly a dream come true. After years of following her, I actually met her and got to tell her how much I loved her and cried a bit like a crazy person. And yes, we did get really great gift bags with fullsize products. Also got a really cute top from Jenn’s clothing line since they had some of her line set up for people to get. Stay tuned for the details on that stuff. Anyways, that day was a great day. I’m so glad my two besties made the drive all the way down to come with me and spend a great day with me. Thanks Brit and Jaylin!! Love you both!! To finish it off, if there’s ever a women’s event near you, definitely go. Learn, get inspired, and meet people that could support you and make the difference for you and whatever you want to do. You can do it!! Thanks for reading!