On Pursuing A Creative Passion Full-Time, Whatever It May Be

Reflections after running "Data But Make it Fashion" full-time for one year.

I haven’t spoken much about my personal (or professional?) journey building Data, But Make it Fashion. However, earlier this month, I celebrated the one-year anniversary of leaving my corporate job to pursue this data-fashion-tech-social-media project of mine full-time. Naturally, this came with many thoughts and reflections.

I can’t say I always saw myself working in fashion. I was generally a quite unfashionable kid, and didn’t know the difference between Prada and Miu Miu, or how to pronounce Versace. I didn’t even know that brands appoint different creative directors to design their collections. These things are, today, quite essential for me to know. But when I was a junior in college and stumbled upon the McQueen documentary, I instantly became enamored with the fashion industry, and knew I had to work within it somehow.

I also can’t say I necessarily saw myself working in tech. Although I started coding when I was just thirteen years old (shoutout to my One Direction Tumblr days for introducing me to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript), when I arrived at university and struggled in coding classes among a sea of “tech bros” who seemingly weren’t-struggling-at-all, I didn’t think computer science could be a place for me, either.

Interestingly, today, I work at the intersection of the two, using data science to analyze and understand fashion brands, trends, and the industry at large. And, as I previously noted, the majority of the opportunities that I’ve been able to obtain as a data scientist have been due to me putting my work out there creatively on social media platforms, from Instagram to TikTok to, of course, here on Substack. So, although much of the work I do for Data, But Make it Fashion is objective and analytical, a lot of it is also creative.

And while I’ve only been doing this full-time for one year, and don’t know everything, below are some reflections on what it’s been like to dive in and pursue this passion project, which I hope will be helpful for anyone similarly interested in chasing a creative interest. Here we go.

YOU SHOULD BE VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT YOUR PASSION PROJECT

Data, But Make it Fashion certainly didn’t grow overnight. I officially started the Instagram page in 2019, as I was headed into my senior year of college and in the midst of a summer internship at Google’s New York City offices. Posting on Instagram felt like a fun (and free) way to share what tech skills I was learning both at my job and in my undergraduate computer science courses, and how I was trying to apply it all to fashion.

It’s important for me to mention that I had applied to five or six different positions at Google while I was in college, before I finally received an internship offer. When I got to Google, I learned that many other employees had also been rejected several times previously. Just a reminder that applying to jobs and hearing “no” is Very Normal and not indicative that technology isn’t for you.

While at Google, I was also blessed with a boss and team that actively listened to my interest in fashion, and helped me figure out how to do fashion-tech work as part of my internship project. Not everyone has to believe in your ideas from the get-go. Sometimes it just takes one or two people. And, I am nobody without the people who believed in and took a chance on me!!

Anyway, I did not expect Data, But Make it Fashion to exist today, seven years later, or that it would be something I’d pursue longer-term. Actually, I’m not someone who’s particularly good at even thinking long-term. (Commitment issues? Maybe.) But what kept this passion project going for so long was that it was…genuinely my passion?

Perhaps it seems odd to say, but initially, building Data, But Make it Fashion happened quite naturally. Playing around with data science and learning about fashion and attempting to merge the two was what I’d gravitate to during my free time. It was all I would think about.

When I ran my first half marathon in 2019, I did so while listening to two Business of Fashion podcast episodes (which I highly recommend, by the way, as I ran faster than expected). My first job out of college was in consulting, and though traveling nearly weekly to see clients was time-consuming, I’d scroll Pinterest while waiting for a plane to take off or when standing in the security line, searching for which fashion fad to analyze next. Not to mention, today, my screen time speaks for itself: I am always reading and thinking about fashion, or even fields completely outside of fashion that could help me understand shifts across greater culture, and eventually relate back to fashion. Yes, mom, I swear scrolling on TikTok is part of my job!!!!

Of course, having a passion project in addition to a full-time job is A Lot Of Work. And, there are only so many hours in the day. But if you do have the luxury of some free time, pay attention to what fills it up naturally; what you find yourself constantly thinking and wanting to know more about. Watching sports? Reading non-fiction? Curating endless interior design inspiration? Even if it’s hard to conceptualize how it would function or turn into a full-time job (that part can come way later), follow and nurture that passion as much as you can.

HARD WORK, TALENT, AND GOOD LUCK

As I’ve mentioned, I started posting data-fashion insights more consistently in early 2023. And people are really on to something when they say, in social media, consistency is key. But consistency is really the tip of the iceberg here. The reason it works is because, often, and especially when you are building something more nontraditional, there are things you quite literally can only learn by doing them, and adapting based on how people respond.

Most importantly, however, in 2023, it felt like the fashion industry was warming up more to technology. Luxury brands were finally realizing, on a larger scale, the importance of investing in tech and data science, and consumers, too, were demonstrating growing interest in following fashion content from a more objective lens.

This timing and greater industry-wide shift—which was entirely out of my control—gave Data, But Make it Fashion a foundation to grow. And while there were ways I could increase my chances at good luck (like the whole posting-consistently thing), remember that just because something doesn’t take off overnight doesn’t mean it never will. The timing needs to align, too.

IN CONCLUSION…

Of course, these reflections and any advice are based on my own personal experiences, with more information and nuance I could add in the future, too. And I’m still constantly learning how to do this as a job, and adjusting as I go.

But I hope this is somewhat helpful for anyone interested in pursuing a creative passion (or any passion), and reassure you that many entrepreneurial journeys are nonlinear, don’t happen overnight, and require a lot of throwing-stuff-at-the-wall-to-see-what-sticks. In the meantime, I wish you the absolute best.