Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Lam.
Hi Nancy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m a California native, originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. I grew up in a one square mile town called Albany, where I was fortunate to have a well-rounded childhood. My parents immigrated from China in their teens and early twenties and I grew up getting the first-generation American experience of watching my parents work and build the life that they wanted for us. They have both always owned their own businesses and my dad particularly always wanted that for me. I don’t know that it was always conscious, but seeing their work ethic as well as feeling their support instilled in me the confidence to try things that might be scary.
On a trip to Disneyland as a kid, I told my parents that I wanted to dance at Disneyland when I grew up. I don’t remember saying this, but it did end up happening, first while I was in college for dance at UC Irvine when I was hired into the parade department, and then later on when I was able to be a part of the first company of Frozen: Live at the Hyperion. When the shutdown happened, I was in the final year of the North American Tour of Miss Saigon, where I was able to knock out some bucket list items like perform at the Pantages Theatre here in LA, the Orpheum where I saw my first musical in San Francisco, and even at the Kennedy Center in DC. Whether or not I will be able to resume with a performance career after this, I will be eternally grateful for those experiences.
With the live entertainment industry effectively shuttered for the time being, I found my old memories of my parents hustling and decided to try my hand at starting my own small business. Being at home all day every day had me thinking about making things that would make it more cozy to be at home, little luxuries like linen napkins, aprons, reusable bowl covers… I had the idea of making a home goods store called Roomination and floated the idea around friends and family. With the pandemic being what it was, the need for cloth face coverings grew, and I decided to make some out of this beautiful Japanese imported cotton that I found from this small business in Washington. I posted them on Instagram, and I ended up selling my entire first batch. Suddenly, the idea for Roomination took a pivot and for now, I have an online mask shop.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
You know, I’m blessed with eternal optimism, so even if things are difficult, I don’t know that I always notice. Roomination has definitely been a learning and growing experience, as I’ve never had to think about shipping costs or bulk orders, and really never did spreadsheets of costs or had to take inventory of much more than what was in my refrigerator. My husband used to manage wine cellars for some high-end restaurants around town, so he’s the one who is usually reminding me to remember the business end of things versus just the creative artistic side of things. That being said, he also does help with the creative side, doing all the graphics that you see on the website and Etsy page. Within the acting industry, I had a formative experience in my senior year of college that I think really helped me navigate my feelings about myself in the industry. I had written a letter to my favorite Broadway choreographer who had worked on a show that I was obsessed with called In the Heights, and in the letter thanked him for making new work that inspired a whole new generation of dancers. Andy Blankenbuehler, who of course now is best known for his work as the choreographer of the show Hamilton, responded to my letter and invited me to sit behind the table at a casting for the national tour of In the Heights while the casting team was here in LA.
On that day, while watching these stunning dancers audition for the show, he imparted on me the fact that oftentimes as actors and performers, we can be self-critical and take rejections as a comment on our own talent or worth. He explained how certain dancers, some of whom I was sure would get a callback, might not be who they are looking for on that day for one reason or another. He also pointed out specific people who were always at his auditions, showing up and doing their best work, and how whether or not they would get a job on that day, he knew that when the time came and a part was right for them, he would call upon them. That one afternoon completely changed my outlook on rejection, in the industry and in life. You cannot control the outcomes to situations, all you can do is your best on each day and allow that path to lead you to your next experience. So if you’re reading this, thanks again Andy!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I think of myself as a jack of all trades, master of none. I have had a lot of time to think about my place in the world, and I really enjoy being a lot of different things. As a musical theater performer, I am proud of my most recent work as a Swing in the tour of Miss Saigon. I got to travel to the United States and get to know different parts of the country that I might not have otherwise had the opportunity to travel to. I love hearing and seeing the stories of people who are different than me, so that was a real perk of the job. My actual job within the show was to be prepared to step into nine female ensemble roles as well as any of the male ensemble dance roles and be a utility player. My show day might be as easy as walking on to move a chair in a scene or as difficult as jump into full hair and makeup at the drop of a hat to continue the show for a performer who got sick or injured. Every day had the opportunity to be super exciting, and that was a true joy in my performance career. Nowadays, my life is completely different but no less exciting.
I am currently working on some holiday orders for some brick and mortar pop-up locations for Roomination, and that swing energy kicks in when my phone dings with a new online order to fulfill. I know that this is not the year that we all hoped for, so I love making masks that are beautiful and comfortable to wear, to hopefully bring a little joy into a situation that has been trying for so many people. I love getting orders from different states around the country and imagining the little adventures that the masks get to have after they leave my hands. Something else that I have been very proud of is the volunteer work that I have been able to do during quarantine. Two of my friends created a group called The Hive for Change, and that blossomed into another group called Art Save the Vote. We have been able to channel our creative energy and collective spirit to advocate for various causes. In this election year, a lot of our focus was in helping to ensure every citizen’s right and access to the vote. We have been putting on fundraisers, putting out information through art, and it was a privilege to be able fuse Roomination with Art Save the Vote in collaborating with them to make a mask collection that raised money for national voter turn-out efforts.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
After traveling the country, I have realized that one of my very favorite things about Los Angeles is our diversity, and especially the diversity in food! I love that on any given day, you can find food from almost any region of the world within our city. I also love the quiet pulse that we feel here. It’s not like New York City where you can literally hear the constant movement of the city, but Los Angeles has its own buzzy energy. Everyone here is working towards or for something, or they moved here to pursue or be something. It’s a beautiful feeling. What I like least about our city would have to be the lack of real and efficient public transportation. The small blessing, if I can call it that, of this lockdown is that we don’t have to constantly be fighting traffic and looking for parking. I would love for us to be able to figure out a way to have a more effective and greener system. We have just recently elected some interesting new people to our local politics so I’m excited to continue advocating for our community and see what changes might happen in the coming years,
Pricing:
- Roomination Masks $15-18
Contact Info:
- Website: www.roomination.store
- Instagram: store: @roominationstore personal: @nancylam
Image Credits
Eli Warren
