Rising Stars: Meet Jessie Kate Bui

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessie Kate Bui.

Hi Jessie Kate, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As an aspiring designer, I struggled with imposter syndrome. And as a professional with an inconsistent process, I struggled to stabilize my work.

So, when I discovered that a deeper understanding of storytelling could help me find confidence and inform a reliable design process, I thought I had cracked the code. My insights led to working at one of the most prestigious design schools in the nation and the publication of a highly acclaimed educational design process book that is already being used to train students and professional artists in the entertainment industry…

I worked as a…

PROJECT DIRECTOR & CO-AUTHOR OF TALKING THREADS: COSTUME DESIGN FOR ENTERTAINMENT ART
CO-TEACHER AT ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN
IP DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN MENTOR
& BRAND STORY COACH FOR ENTREPRENEURS

I had everything I needed to succeed!… Right?

But despite my progress, my personal life was in crisis, and in the midst of the pandemic, I was fighting back depression and experiencing anxiety attacks as buried emotional trauma started coming to the surface. Unless I addressed it, I risked compromising everything…my personal relationships AND all the progress I had made in my professional life.

In my darkest moments, I was able to draw on the power of storytelling again. My professional art and story tools empowered my therapy sessions and revealed a deep sense of purpose.

So, I decided to combine my insights with my experience creating processes to develop a holistic storytelling and design methodology that tackled both professional and emotional challenges at the same time.

Now, I run Hedge Studio, where I use my signature methodology to help underrepresented storytellers use their craft to find, fictionalize, and rewrite their personal narratives so they can become protagonists in their own life.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Outside of the personal struggles that made for a very bumpy road in my life and career, my lack of knowledge about business strategy and branding made it hard to build momentum toward my long-term goals. I was spending countless hours testing and tweaking my content to fit the needs of my mentees and clients…I kept finding new solutions that were exciting but they also added to my confusion about what to prioritize. I was buried in options.

Ultimately, I was able to work with an amazing brand strategist Hilary Hartling, who not only helped me understand business and branding, she helped me tap into my own self-trust so I could make confident informed decisions that aligned with what lit ME up. She also helped me simplify my methodology, making it more accessible for a wider audience.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Cultures throughout history have used fictional metaphors and symbols to help guide us to overcome challenges in life. From Shamans to Storytelling to Psychology, it is a reliable method to speak to our collective consciousness and heal humanity. Diverse nuanced perspectives and powerful metaphors can help break down the lies in societies that lead to stigmatization, unstable homes, broken relationships, and loss of personal expression.

But too many underrepresented storytellers are not only struggling with limited opportunities, they are facing mental health challenges and damage to their self-image that makes it more difficult to create with confidence.

‍We need to heal our storytellers to heal the world.

Hedge Studio lies at the intersection of Entertainment Story/Design, Mental Health, and DEI. Helping underrepresented storytellers build the craft and emotional skills they need to be confident and empowered to heal the world with their diverse perspectives.

To do this, I create transmedia storytelling that inspires them to overcome their fears, educational courses that equip them to create more powerful original stories, lifestyle products that activate their creativity and nurture self trust, and provide consulting services to help them bring their ideas to life.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Building a business during the pandemic and starting to offer services to entertainment creatives in the midst of major strikes and mass layoffs has been a bit of a timing nightmare. However, it also led me to extend my beta tests (courses and trainings) and partner with a non-profit, Rise up Animation, to offer more scholarships to support the struggling community while I readjusted strategies. As a silver lining, between the extended tests and the partnership, I’ve been able to discover much clearer ways to position my content and have had the opportunity to meet amazing creatives who have inspired me with their own stories.

I was also lucky enough to stumble onto LinkedIn when many other professionals were offering their mentoring and advice to struggling creatives during this chaotic time. I was able to chat with amazing community connectors Christian Santos and Marie Benigno Ablaza and discover Amir Satvat’s fantastic resources, all of which helped me find even more mentoring opportunities and feedback for my own media projects.

Pricing:

• 1:1 Mentoring/Consulting: $100/hr
• 12 Week Group Courses: $600
• 12 Week Group Courses + Weekly 1:1s: $1,200

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jessiekate.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hedgestudio.official/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessie-kate-bui-1141a363/
• Other: https://www.artstation.com/jessiekate

Image Credits
Photo of Jessie Kate Bui by XO Kelley Raye Artwork by Jessie Kate Bui