Sweetheart of the Month: Joanne Nguyen

Sweetheart OF The Month:

-Joanne Nguyen-

1) Please introduce yourself! We’d love to get to know you.

Hellooo, I’m Joanne and I’m an extreme hobbyist. I dabble in so many hobbies because I like to challenge myself and see if I am good or bad at new things. I’m a designer, content creator, a photographer, a blogger, a cat mom, and a coffee addict.

2) Where do you call home? How do you stay rooted?

Greenville is where I’m living at the moment, but Charleston is where I became who I am. Even though I was raised in Greenville, I like to call Charleston my true home. I lived there for six years (four years for college and two years after that because I love it so much), and that was where I met my best friends, learned who I am as a person, and grew into the creative person I am now. I like to give appreciation to the wonderful creatives I’ve met through IG in my hometown to keep me rooted. Thanks to them, I’ve seen Greenville in a different light. I explored my creativity in Charleston but I didn’t in Greenville until I stepped out of my comfort zone and met many wonderful people through IG who taught me how to love my city.

3) What is your favorite piece of literature and why?

Oh man. Let me tell you a secret. I’m a huge fan of teen fiction. There, I said it. I’m an English Major, so I’ve read plenty of books in my life but what I thoroughly enjoy the most is my teen fiction. It ignites a feeling in my soul that I haven’t felt since, well, I was a teen! It takes me back to simpler times and grants me a longing feeling of simple romance; where your biggest problem was getting into college, or boys. No adulting. Just teenage boys, and teenage romance, and teenage angst. My favorite books are written by Sarah Dessen! “The Truth about Forever” is my favorite book written by her and, oh my gosh, the nostalgic feeling of being a teen is hidden in those words and pages.

4) The Sweetheart persona is all about kindness. Who has had the biggest influence in your life when it comes to being taught how to be “kind?”

My dad. My dad is extremely way too kind. He believes in the best of people. Being Buddhist, he believes that being kind is the way to live for you will be rewarded when it is your time. He lives his life simply, and kindly and does not ask for much of anything. He has his family, his job, his morning coffee, and that’s what makes him happy. He’s a simple man and it’s the little things that makes him happy.

5) The Sweetheart persona is all about being in good company. What is your favorite memory with your friends?

I have so many! My friends and I take “friend-cations” probably once or twice a year. My favorite memory is when we went to St. Augustine at one of my friend’s beach house, and we went to explore St. Augustine together. It reminded me a lot of Charleston and the friends I went were from Charleston so we kind of felt like this was another version of ourselves. No stress of college, or homework, just enjoying each other’s company, and breathing in the new salt air. We had family dinners and family board game nights, then at night, we’d go down to the beach and walk along the shore sharing stories and feeling the warm sand between our toes and just be thankful that we’re alive and have each other in our lives.

6) What makes your heart beat? What do you believe in, stand for, and want to tell others about?

The little things. I believe the little things make up the bigger things. Birthdays, holidays are all the big things and don’t get me wrong, they should be celebrated. But I also believe that the little things should be appreciated and celebrated. Like how my S.O makes me a cup of coffee before he goes into work every morning, or how my sister sends me a text every day to remind me to drink water, or how my mom changed her cooking habits to accommodate my pescetarian diet, or how I get random texts from my friends telling me they appreciate me. Those are things that need to be celebrated. I live for these small moments that make up someone’s day. I give daily advice to a friend who’s going through a tough time, I once sent flowers to my best friend out of town because she was feeling a bit down, I send gratitude cards every once and awhile whenever I’m feeling full of it and can’t contain it. My advice to others: appreciate one another and tell them.

7) What do you do? And what led you to choose this path?

I’m a designer, and a novice photographer. I’ve always been a creative person (there’s a baby picture of me holding a giant crayon!), and I knew I wanted to do something creative growing up. When I was in college, content creating wasn’t exactly a job title yet, and I wish it had because I would have pursued that with all my might, but I found love in writing and reading. I love all things creative, and I appreciate it so much. So, I wanted to be able to produce beautiful art, and beautiful photos too. I want to be proud of what I do and what I create; I want to be able to take someone’s vision and make it come true. I believe that’s why I do what I do. Also, I’m a new photographer and I have much to learn, but I want to capture candid moments that show the raw happiness, and emotions whenever I’m shooting someone and I want them to see themselves how I see them; beautiful, courageous, and authentic.

8) If you could describe your ideal day, how would it go?

Oh man. My ideal day would be to get brunch/breakfast at a small, local place, and sit outside. It’s in the high 70’s, and I have my future golden retriever with me and my S.O. We eat, then we walk the streets of Charleston to the Farmer’s Market and grab local coffee. Eventually, we’d stroll around the streets, walk along the Battery, maybe even go to Magnolia Plantation and just enjoy being outside and feeling the sun on your skin. Maybe later, we’d hit the beach (it’s ideal beach weather), and walk along the shore. For dinner, we’d get tacos! Because tacos are amazing. We end the night at one of my friend’s place and play board games. It’s a simple day, but it’s full of things, and people I love.

Sweetheart OF The Month:

-Joanne Nguyen-

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