Daily Inspiration: Meet Lisa Kay

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Kay.

Hi Lisa, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today. 
I am currently freelancing in production as a production coordinator, and I also own an apparel brand called “You Will Be Okay.” To put it in chronological order, I was interning at a media company in Tokyo, Japan during college, and that’s how I got into the media industry. I was first in a production company in Los Angeles after college to start off my career but I soon realized that being confined in a company wasn’t my style. I was then lost, lost in life – didn’t know what I wanted to do. I started babysitting as my side hustle. The dad just so happened to be a producer, and he asked me if I could help in the office to prep and on set since I already had experience in the media industry. Not knowing what I was getting myself into, I gladly accepted (You really don’t know how or when opportunities are presented in life!) – and that is how I began my freelancing career in this industry, mainly focusing on commercials and music videos. I started from ground zero as an office PA, getting coffees, lunches, all the runs that needed to be done. Shout out to all my production assistants out there – because without any of them, a shoot would definitely not run smoothly.

As I kick started my freelancing career, covid hit. The world was on pause, not being able to talk to people in person – this was a time for me to really reflect on life. I recognized the importance of connecting and interacting with people – that feeling of loneliness, just being in your head all the time, not having a place to express or be vulnerable, was frightening. I realized that sometimes in life, there’s things like covid, where you can’t talk to people, or things happen in life where you don’t want to talk to people about – and sometimes in life, all you need to hear are the words, “You will be okay.” This is why I made my brand – “You Will Be Okay.” I want my brand to be there for others when they need to hear those words. I don’t want a toxic positivity behind it, but more like a message of you’re not alone.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’m still figuring out the balance of this freelance life in the production industry and owning a company. After COVID’s restrictions lifted, my production work picked up – and I worked my way up as a production coordinator. I enjoy the production work – working on different projects every month, meeting people, seeing the commercial/ music video I worked on on screen. It’s a rewarding job, but it’s not an easy job. Freelancing in the commercial and music video world, they’re mostly a month-to-month job. I have to hustle. I have to give my 120%, so I get called back to work again. I have to keep getting job offers, so I can survive. Because it’s not a stable income, I was accepting every job offers I would get and putting my brand aside, which I’m really not proud about. “Being too busy” is really just an excuse that I’ve been telling myself, but I want this year to be different. You heard me say it here! To be honest, I’ve been very stagnant on my brand – but I want that to change. I’m at that age of “quarter-life crisis” and figuring out what I truly want for my life, and what I want to prioritize. I’ve come to a conclusion that I believe my passion is to uplift people. Right now, “You Will Be Okay” is an apparel brand, but I want to venture out to do different things to spread the message. Putting aside what is comfortable and taking that leap of faith isn’t easy. The shift is surely difficult, but I have exciting things in store for my brand. I am so happy that I have supportive friends and family that want to see my brand and myself grow.

I also really appreciate Voyage LA for giving me this space to talk about it as well, so thank you  I hope when people read this, they’ll feel like they’re not alone on this journey of feeling stagnant or feeling like “what am I doing in life?” – because we all have our own pace and path, and there’s always something to be proud about. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Being in production basically means we make it happen. We make the shoot happen. From booking the location, ordering gears, hiring casts and crews, making sure there’s a bathroom on set, food on set, tables, and chairs so people have a place to eat, pop up tents so people don’t sit in the sun, etc. all the logistics to run a shoot – that’s us. If any problem comes up, we solve it – but we solve it within the budget. It’s a fun job, but it’s definitely a job that you can’t keep going unless you love it. And I am so grateful to be doing what I do, but again – this year, I want to grow my brand. “You Will Be Okay” helps me bring out the side of me that I don’t usually show to the world. I am very thankful for my brand putting me in a position to push myself to step out of my comfort zone and share my vulnerable side. I was never really the type to, but we all need to know that we are our own selves – no need to compare with others, because we are all different, we all have a story, and that makes us all amazing.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I grew up on a beautiful island of Guam. I absolutely love the fact that I was raised on an island, being surrounded by nature and that island life chillness is something else – but growing up on an island did make me curious about the world because we didn’t have easy access to many things, like how we do in Los Angeles. It was always, “What is it like living outside of this “rock?” This definitely made me into a very adventurous person. I always liked trying something new, so I didn’t have a “set” passion like how some did growing up. Though I didn’t know what I was “good” at, which was one of my insecurities – but I realized that it allowed me to explore and be where I am today 🙂

Contact Info:

• Website: https://justknowyouwillbeokay.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ywbo.official/

Image Credits
Nobu Emura
Welkin Tang
John Duch