Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Sun.
Michelle, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Let’s rewind to five years ago – I was working part-time as a spa receptionist while studying for the GREs. My current “goal” at that moment in time was to become a Registered Dietitian – it was something that I assigned myself to do, but I wasn’t necessarily head-over-heels about the topic. While I was studying, I discovered a fashion account on the Explore page of Instagram, and I thought it was an extremely cool and unique concept to see a visual fashion diary on Instagram for the first time in my life. From there, I created my very own fashion account to keep me accountable for actually wearing the outfits that I bought from Forever 21 every month. This Instagram account served as the discipline that I needed to wear my cute outfits out, as I found myself gravitating towards my college sweats when I hung out with friends. I know, attractive, right?
By posting every single day, I naturally fell in love with the overall Instagram community and eventually found myself at one fashion blogger’s Instagram page. The day that I read her post, she made a huge confession – she had mentioned that she quit her full-time spontaneously because it made her unhappy and that she was just going to GO for it.
This fearlessness and spontaneity was the spark I needed in my life for the very first time, as I was always somebody who played things smart and safe. As soon as I read her caption, I knew that it TRULY resonated with me and I decided to do the very same thing that day.
For the next two years, I wrote 1 – 3 blog posts per week all the while creating fashion-oriented Instagram content and making Bay Area blogger friends along the way who shared the same interests as me. At the end of Year 2, I reached a low point in my life and knew I wasn’t happy. Thus, I spontaneously packed my bags and moved to Southern California because something deep down told me that this was the right thing to do. From then on, I never looked back.
In Southern California, you could say I was (or technically, I still am, haha!) the jack of all trades – I am a content creator, event planner, influencer marketing manager, and photographer. And what keeps me going, what keeps me exploring, and what keeps me trying is knowing that I am doing my very best to help OTHERS – whether it be business owners or the overall Instagram community. If my words and my voice could help just ONE person in the world, my job has been done.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Honestly, this road has been extremely challenging, and it still is to this very day! In fact, I’m learning something new every single day; however, I actually THRIVE off of the feeling of being faced with an obstacle and figuring out how to overcome it.
There is a countless list of struggles that I could name, but the main one I will address is the concept of short-term gratification versus long-term wins. A lot of us are used to receiving a paycheck every other week and the idea of receiving consistent income. When it comes to the freelance lifestyle, you have to book your own gigs and you are 100% responsible for how much you make, how much work you take on, and how often you get paid. Of course, there are a lot of other factors that come into play, but I just wanted to share the honest fact that if you TRULY want to be an entrepreneur, you need to learn that you may not get paid on time and you may not get paid the amount you want in the very beginning. This particular road takes a LOT of sacrifices, hard work, patience, and dedication before you see the results that you want. However, when you get to the point where you start to scale your business (increase your brand’s exposure, hire employees, work with clients repeatedly, etc.), you’ll know once you’ve made it.
My advice for other women, especially young women who are just starting their journey, is to just get out there and TRY something! If you even have a 10% curiosity over whether or not something is for you or if it could be a hobby or career, as Nike says – JUST DO IT! You never know until you try. For example, if I didn’t start my Instagram account five years ago, I wouldn’t have even connected with all of the amazing brands and people that I know today, and who knows, maybe I wouldn’t even be living in Southern California if it wasn’t for that leap of faith that I took that very day!
Please tell us more about what you do, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
A quick introduction about me – I am a positive, bubbly, hardworking, and outgoing individual who also knows how to keep things real (maybe a bit TOO real to the point where it may start to cross the shameless, embarrassing, and unfiltered territory, hah). But honestly, that’s the unique part of me – the fact that I’m not afraid to be 100% me; instead of shying away from it, I embrace who I am and hope that my followers stay along for the ride!
Honestly, I am extremely proud of where I’ve gotten since the beginning of my blogger/influencer journey because I wasn’t afraid to TRY new things out and explore more of what this field had to offer! From being a content creator to a professional photographer to an event planner to an influencer marketing manager, I’ve seen and done it all.
If you want to stay updated with my latest posts, be sure to follow my handles below!
Influencer/Blogger: @missmisschelle
Founder Of Infinite Potential Agency: @infinitepotentialagency
Photographer: @michellesunphotography
Do you think there are structural or other barriers impeding the emergence of more female leaders?
I’m actually going to approach this question in the opposite way. To be honest, I feel like these so-called “barriers” have grown to become weaker with time, as terms like “girl boss” or “boss babe” have been used more commonly on social media because of the ever-so-growing rise of female entrepreneurism. These days, I honestly do NOT see a barrier to female leadership at all. Not only am I a female entrepreneur, but I’ve connected with and physically met so many female entrepreneurs to the point where I don’t see any barriers, to begin with. Regardless of gender, I strongly believe that every single individual has a fair chance at entrepreneurism.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.missmisschelle.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/missmisschelle
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/missmisschelle
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/missmisschelle
- Agency: https://infinitepotentialagency.com
Image Credit:
Flower Field Photo: @munopia, Confetti Photo: @jackielovato, Overall Photo: @simplyevahxo, Indoor Greenery Photo: @hsiaoproductions
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