Life & Work with Shawn Tran

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Tran.

Hi Shawn, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Shawn, I’m originally from the Bay Area but I moved out to LA to study music industry at USC. I’m a first generation Vietnamese American; my parents both came here on a boat escaping the Vietnam War. Growing up in the Silicon Valley, coupled with the immigrant parent experience, really pushed me to strive for academic success. I’m grateful for the way I was raised, but I realized halfway through high school I was not built for a technology or science based career that many of my peers were on. I also resented the fact they pushed me hard to pursue a STEM based career, but I understand that everything was for my own security in life that they escaped their home country for.

Music became a big part of my life when I joined high school marching band + winter percussion; performing quickly became one of my favorite experiences in the world. Indoor percussion especially emphasized performance since it was just the percussion ensemble; our high school program was very rigorous so it taught me a lot about how to express myself through playing. My peers I met through the program were also extremely talented and inspired me a ton to simply love music and the spirit of the jam.

After high school, I went to community college because I wanted some time to figure out what I wanted to do. I started working for a show booking company, where I booked rap shows around San Jose and Oakland while working at Peet’s Coffee. Talking with so many different kinds of artists helped develop my ability to code switch and network with many types of people. It also built my confidence a ton knowing what I was capable of. In addition, the Peet’s I worked at became a formative part of my life too because our team built such a strong community at our store – it was such a pleasure knowing damn near all the regulars and their orders while having fun making their drinks.

I craved that sort of community after moving to LA for school. Lowkey, USC was a huge culture shock and for the first two-ish years I was starstuck by the pure amount of talent I was surrounded by. I felt uncomfortable for a while trying to fit in, but I eventually found my people. I realized fast there was no kinda community cafe near USC, so during the pandemic my housemates and I started Cup of Troy, a completely student run, popup coffee shop out of our front yard.

Cup of Troy was started out of our kitchen when I bought an espresso machine for the house – we thought buying a coffee machine would help us stop buying energy drinks. After making drinks for my friends and housemates, people said they would pay for this. The idea of selling coffee came up, so after some deliberation and brainstorming, we came up with the name Cup of Troy and the logo! We opened one weekend and around 15-20 people showed up so we knew this was a viable idea. Since then, we have steadily been growing. We started introducing live music every time we open, which engages people and the community while also giving artists opportunities to before. (Plus having live music on our front lawn is amazing). A consistent place for coffee and music is a place I would want to go to, so I decided to create it myself.

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?
I wish life has gone smoothly, but I’ve learned to adapt to any situation I’ve been in. My family situation is extremely complicated, so that impacted my outlook on life significantly. Overall, I definitely struggle with hyper independence; I moved out of my parent’s place when I was 18 so since then I’ve had to deal with life on my own with little to no support – not because there wasn’t any, but because I feel like I needed to do things on my own. The reality is no one can go do this life thing alone. Asking for help when I truly need it has been a work in progress for me.

When it comes to running the business, it has definitely has not been a smooth road. There have been so many problems that have come up that I did not even consider when starting out – inventory management, equipment upkeep, cash flow management, etc. Also, finding social media content to engage people and post is hard. I’ve been struggling recently to organize the team and have deliverables every week to alleviate the stress of doing everything a couple of days before we open. I have really high expectations for myself and what I can realistically do in a given amount of time; trusting the process of consistent effort is what I am striving for.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Right now, I’m a senior studying Music Industry at USC – for the past 4 or 5 years music has really become my passion: working with artists, producing music, or performing. I’ve been the drummer for different artists in my hometown, and I’m also a snare drummer in the USC Trojan Marching Band. There are so many amazing opportunities that I’ve gotten through the band – some include playing with the Flatbush Zombies on the James Corden Show, being in Ben Affleck’s film The Way Back, and being on HGTV, I’ve also had the privilege of playing dozens of 10 piece gigs at assorted parties, weddings, and other events.

In terms of my professional career, I’ve worked jobs/internships in almost every aspect of the music industry – show booking, PR, A&R, data analysis, and creator services. Right now, I’m working with Clarissa Reformina at Raedio building pitch decks for their brand partnerships arm. Working in the music industry is really cool, but at the end of the day I want to work more on the artist/creative side to apply all the knowledge I’ve learned. I think my specialty is bringing people together to create something we couldn’t do on our own. Making music with friends then applying what I have learned to elevate them to their full potential is extremely fulfilling. Building community through music is especially my passion. I am probably most proud of Cup of Troy so far, but I plan on taking it to even bigger heights. I think I’ll never leave the state of constantly exploring new avenues of careers though.

What makes you happy?
I’m the most happy when I execute a vision or idea that was intangible before – satisfying intrinsic goals rather. I’ve actually studied the subject of happiness many times through high school and college, trying to figure out what life is really about as opposed to achieving it through external things like material things and jobs. I constantly crave the flow state that I’ve really only found through music. Playing with musicians where everyone is super locked in, or making a song then playing it back knowing it’s fire are the best experiences. I’ve been trying to find joy in little moments like that in my day to day life too– being present and aware that I exist at all is helpful. After all, the past and future exist in our own heads, so I’ve been trying to focus on the now as much as I can. I’ve also been trying to be more grateful for all the blessing that have come my way. When i really think about it, I wonder how the heck I ended up at this point in my life in the first place but we can only move forward!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: Instagram.com/shaw00p
• SoundCloud: SoundCloud.com/shaw00p

Image Credits:
Breeanna Lynn Mitchell Alcoser Shawn Tran