💧 NO BIDET. NO GLORY. 💧

When you join GUT, there are a couple of things you’re expected to do:
1. Do the best work of your career.
2. Bring your full self to work every day.
…

But here's the thing, how can I “bring my full self to work everyday” when an important part of my life was missing?

What part you might ask? Bidets.

So before leaving my GUT summer internship, I whipped up a deck to pitch my final proactive idea: Making GUT Miami, the first Bidet-Friendly agency in the USA.

And on my last day at it, history was made! 💧

LUCKY ME GOING VIRAL ON LINKEDIN AND GETTING A SUMMER INTERNSHIP AT GUT MIAMI OUT OF THAT!

MY LESS LUCKY ART DIRECTOR BUT WE WENT THE EXTRA MILE TO GET HIM THAT EXTRA STAMP AT MCCANN TORONTO ANYWAY!

It's the Vietnamese tradition to invite a "special guest" to enter your home after Lunar New Year's Eve to bless you with good luck for the year to come, as we call it "First-footing" (or Lunar Housewarming).

And because study-abroad me and my friends don't have a home right now, we decide to move our home online, on Google Slides, and invite you all to come in, first-foot, celebrate Lunar New Year, and spare us some luck! 🏮🏮🏮

Our address is here: https://bit.ly/deckwarming

‍We're open 24/7 so please visit (with your laptop) at any time! And if possible, please leave us with a "Wish comment" on Slide 29!

It was my last day working at Dentsu Redder Vietnam and I really wanted to make it last. Then as I was dressing up, I glanced over my childhood shelves and found my 7-pound 1120-page Math Textbook that I have studied my ass off for years as a math majored student. That was the norm for smart Vietnamese kids like me, until I found Advertising.

But as painful as it might recall, I can’t never get rid of the book. Good or bad, in there was just so many teenage years and memories of mine. So now, as I’ve moved on with advertising and stopped learning all these Math lessons and principles, why don’t I let my creative colleagues and mentors rewrite, bless, and teach me with new ones 🤔

STEAL AT APPLE

It’s not everyday you get to present at Apple, so I used that opportunity from the Marcus Graham Project this summer,

To steal from 'em!

Stealing inspirations
Stealing creativity
Taking over stages, captivating hearts
And stealing mentors, dance partners (watch till the end), and smiles :'))))

My heart now goes out to all the victims and their families at Apple, because we all now have become part of the fam!

They said that "Burglars never hit the same house twice." But for this host, I would definitely find my way to return, for more!

Until then, keep stealing!

BUSY NEW YEAR 2023

It was New Year Eve 2023, and because young, aspiring creatives like Sandy & I wouldn’t be around Times Square counting down, but rather working on our next student spec work, we create this “face reflective shot” deck to make it quick and easy for us all to have a moment to celebrate & post on our Insta in the New Year before getting back to work.

ONE IDEA SPARKS THE NEXT

"Don't just learn from Vietnam advertising, we're only 25 years old. Learn from the world's best out there instead, it's so free!" my Creative Director told me this on the first day of my internship at TBWA \ Vietnam while passing me Austin Kleon's Steal Like An Artist.

And so I tried to learn, steal, and copy so much that I failed and found my own voice.

EXPOSING MY CREATIVE DIRECTOR’S LIFE OUTSIDE OF ADVERTISING,
for his birthday.

Thanh Ngo is my boss, the #2 hottest Vietnam creative, idol/ mentor of many young ones. He always tells us to live life outside of advertising, to make great advertising, ironically, it’s him the one who made his colleagues and juniors think that he doesn’t have a life outside of work. It’s always about the work, the industry, or… the future of Vietnam Advertising during work-break-and-bar hours.

So for his 28th birthday, I teamed up with other mentees of him to collect and create an Exposed Case of moments of him living outside of advertising to wish he would enjoy more of those moments in his new age!

ISA Sonadata

For my favorite Information System & Analytics teacher, the Mozart of IT, the source code’s conductor, Dr. Skip Benamati.

CHEERS TO THE BEST PARTNERS,
FOR LIFE!

Role: Concepting, Editing, Digging, Wishing

It was my cousin’s engagement party for a 10-year-long friendship turning lifelong partners… but I couldn’t make it. So I dug social posts of the two from way back and wrapped them in a story of a friendship that lasts a lifetime

Get to know my little sister a little better

Role: Directing, Being a good brother

Studying abroad all by myself made me realize how shallow I’ve lived for the last 20 years. So shallow that even my sister is only 2 years younger than me, I have never actually got to know her that well. So I’m glad that I had this experience of helping her with the art direction/ production for her spoken word poem video series - Whisper

Proudly Sacrificed In Vietnam

Role: Concepting, Designing, Honoring unsung heroes

Covid-19 hit and I had to fly back to Vietnam and spend 2 weeks at the Quarantine camp upon arrival. And those 2 weeks were some of the most memorable and heartwarming ones when I really got to know very dearly about the incredible contribution of doctors, nurses, and volunteers there at the front line.

So moved by their heart and care, I took on Biti’s Hunter concept and redesign one that was dedicated to honoring their sacrifices

Summer was coming, and the first thing I thought of was Phineas & Ferb and their endless songs of inspiration. As a fan of P&F, everyone wishes to write their own song someday, me included. But as we all knew, the summer of 2020 hit differently, especially for young people.

Having decided to take a gap year in Vietnam, super grateful for the safety of me and my family, I was motivated to do something for good. And with positivity as my drive, my quarantined room as my studio, and P&F’s opening song as my flow, “I know what I’m gonna do today!”

And so I turned my story of coming back to Vietnam, self-quarantine for 14 days, self-assigning myself projects to keep me creative,… into a song of encouragement. 

Since my discovery of magic, my life has pivoted in directions full of positivity, meanings, & miracles.
Magic can be anything and it is in everyone. You just have to believe and show it to the world!
Spreading this idea, I founded Define Magic Club with the motto: Define You!
To help others find themselves through the marvelous glance of magic.

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