Daily Inspiration: Meet Kelvin Chung

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelvin Chung

Hi Kelvin, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Professionally, I’m a graphic designer. Personally, I’m a husband, father of 2, and a Southern California native. I graduated from Cal State Long Beach with an art degree and immediately started an internship designing digital assets such as flash banner ads and MySpace pages at Geffen Records. Like most young creatives, I was eager, broke and willing to work long hours with little to no pay to build up my skills. That internship turned into an opportunity to work at a small marketing firm that specialized in entertainment and music, specifically Snopp Dogg’s music and his E! Entertainment properties. I continued to pursue marketing and entertainment jobs because, frankly, that’s where I thought the “fun” and exciting clients and projects would be. I transitioned into ad tech as the marketing landscaped shifted to digital and social media. I adapted my skills to web based formats and kept chasing advancement in my career. By the start of 2016 things were going great. I was married, had a house, a 2 month old baby and was promoted to Creative Director at the company I was at. I felt proud, having achieved a measure of success that, I felt, all of my hard work had led to.

Then everything changed in May of that year. Right before her very first Mother’s Day, my wife felt a lump on her breast and doctors confirmed it was Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer. We were terrified, but were determined to put up whatever fight we needed to make it through this. Unfortunately the fight only lasted 2 months and she passed away on July, 2016. 7 months from being on top of the world, I was now going thru hell. A few months after that I was laid off as the company I was working for had went through massive downsizing due to lack of revenue. To be honest, when I think back to that time it’s still a blur as I was trying to make it day-by-day, as a single father, providing for a baby with whatever unemployment checks and small freelance projects I could get. My days were long and exhausting, filled with stress, and my nights were restless and filled with tears. I went through every emotion of grief, while trying to put up a front for my baby that I could handle everything and be both Mom and Dad to her. At my lowest points, suicidal ideation leaked into my thoughts. I needed help.

Focusing on the promises and obligations I made to my daughter and my late wife helped me focus when I needed to. I leaned on family and friends when I could, found a support group, and eventually started going to therapy for grief counseling. I slowly started to get my confidence back, started to enjoy little moments in life again. I spent a lot of time on my mental health and, serendipitously, I found a design job working in public health, with a heavy focus on mental health. I opened my heart back up and realized I had the capacity to fall in love again and eventually remarried. My wife has been my biggest support, accepting and loving all of me and now we have a family of 4.

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?
Definitely not. Like I said previously, I had my entire life turned upside down and had to learn how to live again. An experience like that really helps you put things into perspective and I realized before all of that, my struggles were my personal views on how I should measure success. I wanted to have the type of career with big name clients, and projects that I could show off. I had to learn the hard way that a measure of success can come from anywhere, and personal fulfillment and a great work-life balance where I can be fully present for my family is paramount.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’ve been a graphic designer for about 20 years with most of my experience in marketing and branding. I’ve always found roles where I’ve been the “jack of all trades” designer/artist so what I’m mainly known for is my versatility. I’m comfortable designing logo marks and brand packages for corporate companies but also love small, independent projects that allow me to think uniquely and utilize my other artistic skills.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Try to narrow in on what you value most. If you value high profile clients and large budgets then go for that; tailor your work and your portfolio towards those companies. If you value your free time, then find a balance between being creative and allowing the time and space to recharge from those projects. Your job, title, and salary don’t have to be the most important aspects of your identity. As long as someone finds value in what you do, it can be worth doing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kelvinchung.com

Image Credits
portrait: LINDSAY NEWTON PHOTOGRAPHY
family photo: TIFFANY LUONG PHOTOGRAPHY, LLC.