Sense of Soul - Leading with Passion

Episode Date: November 18, 2022

Today on Sense of Soul we have the successful entrepreneur and architect, Amanda Gunawan. She was named one of the Architects to Watch by Design and Architecture Magazine in 2022, and she is also the Co-Founding Principal of OWIU (The Only Way Is Up), a high-end architecture and design firm leading massive projects from the US to Asia.  OWIU has worked with brands such as Pepsi and Panda Express, and they recently finished the landscape design for the house of well-known actor Henry Golding. They’re also best known for infusing the Los Angeles landscape with their signature Japanese-inspired designs. At 29 years old, Amanda successfully helmed two other companies, Inflexion Builds, and OWIU Goods, that are proving to be a force in the LA architectural scene. Growing her architecture and design firm into a multimillion-dollar business over the past 4 years. Amanda joined us to offer a strong message to young women who are on their path to discovering their passion and purpose, demonstrating how she had the courage to start her own company in a male-dominated industry. Check out her beautiful pottery line and her websites here: https://www.owiu-design.com https://instagram.com/owiugoods?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= Visit Sense of Soul at www.mysenseofsoul.com Do you want Ad Free episodes? Join our Sense of Soul Patreon, our community of seekers and lightworkers. Also recieve 50% off of Shanna’s Soul Immersion experience as a Patreon member, monthly Sacred circles, Shanna and Mande’s personal mini series, Sense of Soul merch and more. https://www.patreon.com/senseofsoul Thank you to our Sponsors!   INTENTION WAVE: www.intentionwave.com Use code SOS15 for discount. KACHAVA:  https:// kachava.com/senseofsoul Use this link for 10% off

Welcome to the Sense of Soul podcast. We are your hosts, Shanna and Mandy. Grab your coffee, open your mind, heart, and soul. It's time to awaken. Hey friends, if you're looking for ad-free Sense of Soul episodes, you can find them at Sense of Soul Patreon. Become a monthly member at any level. You will also have access to our monthly SOS Sacred Circles, our mini-series, merch, and MuchBorn. And it's a great way to help support our podcast so that we can continue to bring you inspiring episodes twice a week with our enlightened guests from all around the world.

Check out our Patreon. Today we have with us the successful entrepreneur and architect, Amanda Ganoan. She is the co-founding principal of a high-end architecture and design firm leading massive projects from U.S. to Asia. Amanda joins us today to offer a strong message to other young women who are also on the path to discovering their purpose through their passion, demonstrating how she had the courage to start her own company in a male-driven industry. And we are so excited to have her with us today. Hi, Amanda. How are you? I'm good. How are you? I am good. Excuse the background. You know what?

We did a circle and I used this story of the Sultan house because it was in my family tree. And so since you're an architect, I went ahead and left it up. Oh my God. That's awesome. Yes. Where are you at? Los Angeles. Oh, okay. I am in Aurora, Colorado. Oh, okay. I've been to Denver once. It's like a, kind of like a stopover for a meditation retreat and so like I was there and I just remember it was so pretty and like the outdoors was so nice but I also like visited during the summer and you know how it's like cities are like deceptively like beautiful during the summer and you're like oh yeah I can live here and then you experience the winter and

that is not true well I would definitely say that the winter is beautiful too though oh really okay oh yeah wow I was just talking about taking a trip to Colorado you would experience snow on one day and sun on the next day and be all melted because that's how Colorado is yes yeah the sun will come out they it'll melt it. Oh, wow. Okay. But that's awesome though. Yeah. How are you feeling lately with LA? The homeless is so bad lately in Denver too. It just seems like it's getting worse and worse and worse. It really is. It's kind of odd because like, you don't really realize like how bad the situation is because so I grew up in Singapore and then I came to LA. Okay. And so I never really traveled the American cities until quite recently.

And so like, you don't really realize it. My best friend moved to Austin. And so I visited her a lot and I realized that LA's homeless situation is actually terrible. But the thing is, when this is all you've ever experienced with an American city, this in New York, like you think this is the norm. Yeah, it's so sad. And like, honestly, it's probably one of the only, you know, issues that I feel like there's truly not a solution. Like it's so difficult. I've racked my brain, I've journaled on it. I've talked to friends that live in Denver that are dealing with it., you don't understand the depth of the situation. It's more than just providing housing. Like it's also, it's, it's a desire too, right? It's also like you can provide all of the housing necessary, but if the mental health, like the state of the mental health is not good, you can't force somebody to take that journey. What about the

tiny houses? Have you heard of them yeah tiny houses here in Colorado are kind of popular and I think they're amazing by the way my little brother has land and when we were looking for my mom a house I was like why don't you get one of those little tiny houses I mean inside of them are freaking amazing yeah yeah I love the a-lined ones I told Connor I'm gonna put him in one on the top of our land. Totally. So being an architect, I mean, the plan to be able to put so much stuff inside of this tiny little space. Like it's, it's a, it's a new thing, right? Like, I think it just started gaining traction. It's one of those things that I feel like historically, we've talked about this a lot, like during architecture theory classes, we learn about the primitive hut, which is just what you need, like the bare minimums that you need for housing.

And so now it's gotten like more popularity, obviously, because we are in a state where technology has made it so accessible to build. So like, yeah, like it's just very possible now to bring your ideas into life. I think it's kind of trending right now. Like these firemen and police that I'm friends with tell me that these younger generations are all about the simplicity and they're actually choosing that lifestyle. Yes. Totally. Totally. It's also like, it begs the question of whether that is out of circumstance because rent prices are astronomical at this point. Sure. There's something to do with inflation, wages increasing and stuff like that, but houses are not the same price that we can get them as our parents, right? So my mom's

she's like, my house is $40,000 with an interest rate of 9.2, which is a high interest rate, because I don't know if you guys saw but interest rates went up yesterday to 7.2. Which is insane, right? Yeah, I didn't go to went up again. Yes, it went up, which is like insane. Cause I just bought this house what year ago and it was 3.2 and now it's up to 7.2. My mom said in the 1970s, she originally bought it for, it was like 19% interest rate. Wow. Yeah. That's crazy I know I know I know it's so insane but anyway I got off on this little tangent I've just my heart's been super heavy with the homeless lately oh yeah especially like seeing my friend Brandy so she lives in Denver and she's so affected by it it's just right out her front door and then LA is so bad right now and how is she affected by

it like are they coming literally she has to step over them to get outside of her front door yeah and we're gonna have her on as a guest in a couple weeks but it's it's that bad in denver right right yeah and people are very judgy you know totally i can't believe that's the extent in which like the world has gotten into where the disparity and like lifestyles have become so contrasting that, you know, you're like stepping over somebody, you have a house to live in every single day. And then you have to go to that extent. Like it's terrible. It's so terrible so what kind of architecture do you do i wanted to ask because mandy and i had saw you know some pretty amazing brands that you've worked with and i'm like wait a minute they don't build houses which brands like i saw samsung that was when i was in architecture school so when i was in architecture school i created a lot of content kind of like a side gig, but also less for the money, but more for exposure. Like I went to a specialized architecture school. I didn't have like that college life per se, because everyone was just doing architecture. And I don't know if you had an architecture department, but people rarely go out it's usually like you're just stuck in your

studio and it's very dark and gloomy and it gets so depressing but and I came from Singapore right to LA and it was like this specialized architecture loved my school but everyone's just so hard working too hard working sometimes like there's this grueling culture of like work work work and so I like was very lucky to have Instagram as an outlet social media and so I would take a lot of photos and I would meet a lot of friends through there and one thing led to another and I became like I got paid for creating content for these brands and I got to work with these brands they They would fly me out. And so I had a life, you know, outside of architecture. And like, I think that was what it was never about the money, even though the money was nice. Like it was like a nice little side gig, but the part where I got exposed to different disciplines and different people, and I got to talk to them and like hang

out and see the world. Luckily, like I wasn't just cooped up in like architecture school. Do you feel like artists do that? Like that's a similar personality trait with artists. They do kind of stay more inward. I feel like it's more architects. Like I don't think it's more inward. I think there is a toxic work culture. I think as an industry for us, I feel like we haven't really moved up in terms of welfare. I think a lot of like industries have started fighting for their rights, especially creative industries. But with architects, we spent five years to do an architecture degree. We spent like an X number of years to get experience, to get a license. So we actually like, we work as hard as like a doctor, right? Like these degrees, they stand for that. But the average like pay for

an architect is actually very low compared to like all these specialized like fields, like lawyers or doctors. And it's kind of like, it's a weird statistic, right? But nobody has been able to do anything about that. Because I think that there is this tendency for architects to undercut each other. And also, because of that, like, because everyone's so desperate for the job, and like, you're undercutting each other, you're not really valuing yourself. There's this competitive culture. Everyone's like not in a healthy mental state. Like we're not really moving up as an industry the same way that all the other fields are. I wonder why that is. I mean, I guess it's one of those things that like people take it for granted, you know, maybe. I know nothing about like architecture. What I do know is that I value it more as I get older.

Being from Singapore, the architecture there is fucking amazing. Right? It is. But also there's also like stuff to be said about that. Right? Like, I don't know. But like when my husband went and traveled there, he sent it to me and it felt very like futuristic.

Like, oh, absolutely. It's a lot to keep up with it is definitely a country that really values architecture like they pay for their architects but even that comes with its own things where like my conviction in coming to Los Angeles or like studying in America was that as a local architect or a local brand, you're not as regarded, you know? So in Singapore, you have all this money, you have an X amount of budget to spend on architecture, and you're always looking for like foreign architects. I don't know why there's a stigma. And the crazy thing is like the local architects have to basically accompany these like big,

like celebrity architect names to create like these projects, but they're basically doing all the work. So it's just a weird thing of like, why aren't the local architects also like being awarded these projects? I want to go back to being an artist because my daughter's an artist. So everything that she does goes inward. Yeah. And so because that she's not out there going, look at me, look what I'm doing. You know, she's just not,

she's that type of personality. And so, and sometimes I'm like, Oh my God, this is so beautiful. I want to show so-and-so. She's like, no, you know, you don't need to show my stuff. And actually none of my other children are artists like that and so they were like when they did something good they wouldn't need to show everybody you know what I mean so I just wondered if maybe that had something to do with it you know if it's that type of personality or maybe I'm totally off and it's just my daughter's personality but I just think that art in general because you also

look at like advertisers right even that kind of goes a little bit under the wire right well like I think that like with the creative industries like there tends to be this thing where because it's service oriented people aren't exactly used to paying for it. And so like one of the things that I feel like we face as like an industry is that there's this stigma, the same way that like, and I always ask people this, I'm like, of course you have to pay for consultation with a creative in the same way as an architect. We also, we hold a specialized degree. We went to school for this and in any creative field actually. But for some reason, like when people go to the doctor, when people go to the lawyer, they understand that there is a consultation fee, but like they can't seem to quantify or

justify like paying for that purchase when it comes to a creative field, because they think that, well, you know, like it's not work. You're just telling me stuff, but it is work though. Like we did go to school for this. Well, my friend Liz is going to love this episode because she does art. Her and I were just talking about this, even just some preliminary ideas, you know, I mean, all that takes so much time. Totally. Totally. It's like, it's like hours of work, right? But people don't really, they, they don't understand how much you had to study to give this professional advice. It seems like just advice. Do you feel like you have a harder time as a woman or do you not find that

to be an issue? Charging or? Just kind of getting out there and, you know, just overall in your profession? I would say that as a woman in any field, I'm sure it's harder to get your opinions heard, especially I think people tend to associate women with this very traditional belief of like they are not as able to do as men you know it's it's the doing part that they tend to think like women are like it's especially in traditional asian culture so there's the yin and the yang like everybody needs a fine balance of both and it shouldn't be tied to a gender everyone needs a good balance of both. But traditionally, people think of the yin because it's white, right? Like it's more feminine. And you kind of use this to describe the yin, like it is a feminine energy, but it doesn't mean it's gender related. It's feminine. A feminine thing does not have to be gender related. The same with young and young is more thought as something that is

more masculine. And so especially people in Asia, they tend to associate like this is something that it has been like patriarchal belief that's been there for a long time, like they believe that the spirit of yin is kind of like tied to the feminine energy, therefore tied to women, where all they do is kind of like they allow, they allow things to happen. But the doing part is more masculine and more related to the men. So people are always assuming that women aren't able to like perform in that sense, right? Like they aren't able to execute. And so I had a hard time in Asia, for sure. Not so much in LA, like, definitely when it gets to like, a little, like, a higher level, like there are things where, like as a woman, like in the construction industry, for example, when it comes to the nitty gritties of construction,

like, I definitely get looks, I almost like I don't belong there. When I say certain things, like, it's not really met with anything. Initially, I really have to prove myself before, like my opinions get heard. But in Asia, I think for sure, like not just in the construction side, but also in like a mundane day to day, they always just assume, okay, well, because you're a woman, I'm going to associate you with like someone who isn't really able to execute, like you're just emotional or something. I don't know what they have in their heads, but I've had issues where I would have discussions like with people, like a panel or something about like with clients and stuff. And my partner is a male, right? And it actually got to a point where

I had to write a set of notes for me and for him. So we both had the same set of notes, but they were mine. Like they were some, they were things that I needed to say. And so I needed to hand him one to make sure that it was going to be heard. So I had to accommodate in that sense, because I knew that if it was coming from me, it wasn't going to be heard. It was almost like I had to adapt to that. I just got so tired of like having to do 2x amount of work that I was like forget it like you do it and which kind of sucked because it all played out that I was right and then I kind of realized that wait a minute that's kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy a little bit right like I'm not playing my role as a woman by giving up in that sense and saying like go ahead like you you do

all of this like if this if it's to be said it's like it needs to come from me because those were my ideas so how does that feel though for your self-esteem that you have to do that I mean like really for myself you know I feel like I grew up in a pretty masculine world, you know, having the masculine be, you know, like the, you know, the provider, you know, just like the typical thing that you would, you know, see back in like the fifties, you know, the mom stays home, raises the children, you know, cooks the food, cleans the house, which is, is crazy. I actually came across something just recently doing some ancestry I was looking for this lady and I found her in a newspaper and she was teaching a class and this is in the 50s it was in the newspaper that she was teaching a class on how to be a

proper wife oh wow you know I mean yeah in the 50s, yeah. It was in New York. It was on ancestry. It was when I was researching and I found her name in an article and she was teaching on that. And I just thought 1950 is not that long ago. It really isn't. So we have, you know, come a long way in a short amount of time where you are today, which I'm so proud of you for sticking with that and facing those things and adapting. But I mean, how do we have to adapt? You know what I mean? Like you were saying earlier, it's not shouldn't be so much about the gender and we all should have the balance of both energies. And we do. We just need to tap into them.

You know, we have need to tap into them. But it's, you know, we have quite the ladder to climb. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, it definitely did not feel good for myself as team, especially knowing that everything that I had predicted really did happen. Right. Like I tried to say it did not get heard. And then he said it and immediately was like, oh, that's a great idea. And so coming back from that, like, I definitely thought about that. And I was like, is that the person that I want it to be? Right. And for all of the things that I would preach about, like, leaving things for the next generation, Is this the way that I wanted to leave things for my next generation? And I know it might be like a very small minor thing, but it sets the tone,

right? Psychologically, like the type of genetics, I mean, you break it, your child breaks it, you know, I mean, this is how that shift happens that, you know, we're evolving. And when I think about like how much harder you probably feel like you have to put your work, you probably put so much into it because you maybe have to just a little bit more. Exactly. That credibility. Yeah. Yeah. Like you're right. Like I put like extra into my work to get there, like versus a man. And, and then I still have to do all these little things to kind of adapt, which to me is just like, yeah, I think about that all the time. And I'm like, and the whole epigenetics thing, right. Is that really the way, like, do I really just want the

patriarchy to absorb me like that? And basically render like every, all the hard work that I've done kind of obsolete, right. To still say that just because you're a woman, like, even though you've worked twice as hard as like a man, like we're still going to like silence you in that way. The journey that I've been on, it's always wisdom behind the doing and the wisdom is the divine feminine. Yeah. Right. Yeah, absolutely. Hey listeners, have you checked out intentionwave.com where you can transform the sound of your voice into a meaningful jewelry piece. When you visit their online store, you can record a voice directly on their website and transform it into a unique sound wave frequency pattern and engrave it on the jewelry

piece of your choice. You also receive a unique QR code that you can scan whenever you want to listen to your special recorded sound message. This is a perfect gift for Christmas for your loved one. So get online right now and order your special piece. Go to intentionwave.com that's I N T E N T I O N W A V E.com to order your special and unique gift that will last forever. So do you have like a woman that you look up to like that role model? Because I think that's important too. I do. I actually like, it's good that you pointed that out because I discovered that need the beginning of this year. Yeah. You know, in sports and stuff, there's so many, you know, big role models, but do they have some big role models for you, even in your industry that you can look up to as a

woman, you know, who is. Yeah. Yeah. There are like, I don't know them personally, but there are, there are for sure. I mean, Oprah's mine. I don't know her personally, but I, I sure do look up to her being African-American, a woman and being in her industry at the time and just keep going, keep going, keep going, facing all the things that she did. I look at women throughout time and I'm just like, wow, she must have been something else to be, even if she was hated. Absolutely. You do, right? Like, I mean, she really existed in a time where it was much

more difficult for women. Mine was Madonna, but she kind of fell off. I don't know what happened to her. I mean, I just love that she owned her sexuality and before that shit was even heard of and that she just was like, bam, this is who I am. Yeah. She was brave. That's the word I'd use for Madonna is just brave. Yeah. No, I like that. And it's definitely, I feel like it is the patriarchy, right? It makes us think a certain way and it even pits us against each other. Politician, women, yes.

Right? Yeah. So over here, especially like, I always feel like I live in a bubble here in Los Angeles, because we have it like relatively good compared to other cities. But then when I go back to Asia, like I would say the feminism culture is definitely a lot more backward. It's things like, like you say it out loud, right? Like you, you would say out loud that you, that you support women and stuff like that. But I sometimes wonder if that's true because the actions speak otherwise because they're so covert. It is like this concept of being a girl's girl. I think that like, when I have a daughter, like I want to raise them with this, like with this concept, right. Of like

being a girl's girl like that to me is like that's what you want to be you want to be a girl that other like other women look up to like you have the backs of other women versus like simply a girl who exists for a man for example like the covert things that I was talking about is like this competitive culture where we're pitted against each other. It's already tough being a woman in society. It's tougher. It's much tougher than being a man. Right. Because not only are you expected to you're just expected to do everything. Think about it. If a man does everything everything this man is like like amazing right he's like a like a saint

it's even a bonus right like you would have like a woman's husband does everything and go you're so lucky but like a woman does everything just the general consensus yeah it's so true and you know I feel like you know we have a woman vice president. I mean, all of those things are like notches in history. The divine feminism is rising. And this has been a huge part of my journey over the past few years, like understanding that. And at first I felt like man hating. And then I found like this piece one day, it was like a specific moment that I felt it wasn't so much about you know women have to be stronger better rise let's protest you know it was more of a no we just need to meet each other you know we just need that balance I love that meet each other

yeah I like that too I think in in both sides there's this stigma of like that's how people portray feminism but i like i'm i'm absolutely with you on that like i'm so i'm i'm curious like what gave you that was it your parents was it your father was it like was there some figure like shanna talked about like a woman that you looked up to that gave you that oomph to drop into an industry that is mostly dominated um it was truly passion like i would say that how does that passion start that like an art thing necessarily an art thing i think like i always kind of like viewed the world like i think all of us like analyze things and then we have our modes of expression mine was always visual and so like I really like the balance of like systems with like a creative

expression like I wanted to impact on like a spatial level and that's why I chose architecture what about being an Asian woman here in America um Again, I live in a bubble. I think Los Angeles is a bubble. So it's not like I'm- Do you want to live in a bubble though, Amanda? No, I don't. It is the case though, right? But I don't experience it daily. I'm not exposed to it daily. But what I mean by I live in a bubble is that I don't experience it on a daily basis. But of course, there are moments that I do, especially when I step out of the city. That's tough. It's been interesting for me to see like my husband's sales team, like he's in robotics.

It's been hard for him to hold women in his sales team. He tries so hard to hire them and have them on his team. But we're emotional beings. Most of us women are very emotional. Like we feel from our hearts, like we're more soul than we are ego. And so that's hard for someone that is so number driven and so data driven and that engineer mind. Does that make sense? Yeah. But I feel like there's a place for everyone, you know, like I, like, I believe this this even as I'm running my company right like that I would never try to change someone so yes everybody has a role

in like this ecosystem like you allow a fish to be a fish like you don't tell the fish to try to be something else you allow them you like leverage on their best skills yeah and if you're looking to hire fish then you have to learn how to adapt to the fish. Exactly. Exactly. And I think that we are seeing men getting a little more vulnerable,

a little more into their feminine selves. But I don't know. It's interesting to see someone that wants to value that, but doesn't know how. We had a conversation about it last night. Yeah. I don't know.

And then you add on to it, Amanda, that you're drop-dead gorgeous. Thank night. Yeah. I don't know. And then you add onto it, Amanda, that you're dropped at gorgeous. Yeah. So, you know, I mean, just like that, you don't want to be recognized as being dropped at gorgeous in your industry when you're trying to prove to someone your talent. Yeah. But that also probably is a challenge. Yeah. Yeah. I would say like I was one out of three girls and I was the youngest. And so it's been imbued in me since very young. So my father has always been like all about the girls. I've, I've had him as like the main guy in my life for a long time. And as a sample of like what men would be like, and he was always pro go get an education,

like whatever you want to do, whatever dreams you have, they're never too small. And so I was very lucky with that. And I grew up with that. And I always had all his words like ringing in my head as I'm like chasing all these things. My God, I love that. Yeah. What would you say? Like if you could pick one project that you did that was like your proudest project, what would it be? I would say at the moment, like I really like biscuit lofts. Yeah. It was one of like the very first projects that we designed and built. So like, we were like hands on about it. And the whole team like really, like got their hands dirty to build this. And, but ultimately, it was also a project in which we like really learned the ins and outs of construction so it was a crazy learning curve

for everyone you said you like to travel earlier when you said you you know you got to see different places and all the things do you still like to go around travel and see like all of the wonders of the world that are seem impossible to do when you talk about absolutely absolutely yeah it's become so much harder and um but I think like the good part about it so I used to travel a lot before COVID like it was almost like one of those things that really I don't know how to put it but it really fed my soul right it's it's money well spent to travel because you gain so much from it. And so I used to travel all the time to all these different cities before COVID and then COVID happened. And like out of circumstance, like I just could no longer have that same lifestyle. And so what happened was I actually

ended up traveling the U S a lot. And that was really nice because like, I still had that same sensibility and approach to traveling, but it was now like in the U S and I got to learn like so many things. And a lot of the things that happened was that I actually became more connected to nature because the best parts about the U S I would say are the national parks. Have you used Mesa Verde? I haven't. Oh, I was just thinking about that recently, how I haven't taken my kids, which is so crazy because as a child, that was such a great memory of mine. It's over near the four corners, right? Shanna? Yep. Over in the four corners of Colorado, not far. Let's go girl. Yeah. And you you know it's just amazing because it's like how did they build

this inside the mountains you know these houses yeah dogey houses like this whole community inside the setting of a mountain it's just amazing actually you know what i'm gonna get super on you real fast speaking of like amazing like, like architect. So what is your thoughts on like these pyramids that were built, you know, hundreds of years ago? Stonehenge. Oh, yeah, like Stonehenge. I actually saw Stonehenge in person. It's pretty cool. So in your mind, because this is what you do. I mean, is it far off to think that a normal human then did not have the technology to do this had it been some alien shit i don't know i have a lot of faith in like humans to be honest you do

actually i just heard recently that maybe that it was giants because i mean like they tried to redo it you know they tried to say okay well let's see if we could do it and they need cranes and they need machines, you know, they can't. No, but human beings are such a powerful species, don't you? Like, I feel like, like the evolution, like, like, there's so many things that like us as a species can do. It's pretty awesome. Maybe it just wasn't recorded. Yeah, well, you know what, I think we didn't have technology and machinery. let's see how amazing we are because we are so reliant on it but I think that's true end of the world yeah that's true I've

never thought of that definitely and it's possible you know I mean like with all the solar flares like one wrong solar flare hitting our system and it goes down. I've actually watched something that they were saying, what would happen in one minute? What would happen in five minutes in the afternoon? We'd be fucked. The whole world would go down. We wouldn't even be able to get gas. We wouldn't be able to pay anything. We wouldn't be able to talk to anybody. I mean, it would be like an apocalypse. I mean, it really would. Totally. We're so reliant on it, but you know, I, I do think there was ancient technology. I really do. You know, maybe it was the flood and then it was washed away. So I have to know, Amanda, were you like a Lego person when you were young? I love Lego. You did. Are people still playing

with Legos? Oh my God. Hold on. It's the only way I can get my child to hold still literally. So my daughter is always upside down, flipping cartwheels, handstands, swinging. She doesn't ever hold still like her. Of course. But Sloan, like you give her Legos and she will sit still for three hours and put it together. It's really beautiful to watch. You seem young enough to have played Minecraft. Did you do Minecraft? Minecraft or Roblox? Minecraft.

Oh, my God. I love Minecraft. If I showed you all my world, you'd be fucking impressed. I have like the best neighborhoods, houses. I have malls. I have like fast food. I have veterinarian. I have everything.

Me and my daughter would sit and play for hours. Oh my God. Oh, it's so fun. What did you say, Amanda? Do you guys share a city or something? Yes, we do. We share a city. And I know it's just, it's amazing I got so into it

with her because she was like let's create this and then she'd get mad she'd be like you're a better builder I don't want to apply anymore oh so cute if you could go back to like your first memory Amanda like where you knew this was going to be your job or your passion what do you think of I have like this little chair in the staircase of my house there's like this built-in chair it's pretty dandy actually it's like a it's a one-seater and it has a table attached to it and like if you flip it up like there's like a, like place to store things. And so I put all my crayons there and I would sit there for hours, right? It was like a workstation almost.

So I would really just, I would like finish dinner and I would go there and I would look forward to just sitting on my like little workstation and just sketch and draw and like do God knows what, like things that just gave me so much joy. Right. And so that's probably, that's probably it. Like that's probably that same feeling. I love that. You know, so sense of soul is a lot about people finding their purpose, you know, it's a lot about also spirituality. Yeah. Yeah. So like, do you feel like this career this passion is spiritual for you absolutely in the same way that like when I was a little child doing that I wasn't there was no sense of time there's no sense of like who I was or anything like that just in like a flow state

in that same way like I still experience that when I'm doing the work that I do yeah I used to always do like crocheting and quilting and I just would get lost time would get weird you know that's a bad feeling yeah yeah I do that when I cook and clean which is weird yeah it's so nice it's like you're just exactly where you're supposed to be you had some beautiful pottery that I was looking at on oh my god I'm like I want it looks so beautiful so we're actually releasing our first line and all of it is inspired off of landscapes. So tell us about it. So what is it called? It's called, so the name of my firm is OWIU, which is only ways up. And so it's called OWIU goods. Oh, I love it. So, I mean, they're

beautiful. So how was it inspired by landscape? So know like whenever I would travel like I'd come back and I'd bring a piece of like pottery back home like this is just a thing that I do like I have like a plate from like just a roadside in Hawaii it's actually a bowl and then I have like plates from all over like Japan and but every single time I use them I know exactly where I got it exactly which shop exactly where I got it and the moment like I get taken back to that moment where I was in Japan to that country and my relationship with that country and it's amazing how like memories work that way right like it's like you can have like this physical object that like

makes you think of a certain thing kind of like beautiful in that way and but it's just like a quotidian like everyday object so like my thing was like I wanted to create a line of like home goods that basically would take you back to a certain type of memory. And so we created these glazes out of like landscapes. So there's going to be a forest one is going to be like a coast one. There's going to be a volcanic one. And then there's going to be a meadows one. So as you're using it, like we hope that it somehow transports you back to this experience whether it's for me for example like being in like the national parks in norcal so when i'm using like the forest dining

set i think about that experience the intention behind that is so freaking amazing oh my god when is this going to launch when you're going to have the actual pieces um so we should launch in December see I think that's that artist's mind right like that intention behind everything right I mean I know for myself when I'm doing art no one would know the details and the intention behind most of it I mean but to me there's so much there right I love that yeah I know that yeah I mean it's just it's sometimes so anal yeah I'm like oh my god no one's gonna know this you know or care about this but like for it to feel completed you know that one little detail that's you know so intentional right there that needed to be changed or added. But that's the best part, right? Because it's like, it's just between you and you.

Yeah, that's all it really is. Because no one else is just those details. Totally. Yeah. Yeah, I have started all over projects before. I mean, I've gotten a little crazy. I'll get through like where I'm crocheting a blanket and I get down to like halfway done and I'm like oh my god I look up and there's like one stitch that's like backwards or something oh yeah pull it all up no yeah it does I know or I'll spill my coffee on it. How long have you been doing this for your career? It's been four years. You've been very successful.

Thank you. You know, I have to be honest. I'm kind of envious because like, you know, I had to go through a lot of shit to figure out my purpose. So sometimes like I see women that are so like on their path that know at a young age what they're meant to do. And I'm like, damn it. Why couldn't I have had that? Oh, no, but it's kind of like a relationship, right?

You know what I mean? Sometimes it's good to also like, like experience all the bad ones before you know exactly what you want or who you want. Yeah, I agree. Well, you've been a pleasure. I just, I look at someone like you and I see the future and I'm like, go get them. I just like, look at the younger generations. And I just think to myself that there's a lot of hope for the future, especially with powerful women coming up, ready to step into just being who they are, you know, not having to adapt or being. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. I love that. Me too. Well, go ahead and let our listeners know where they can find you,

your Instagrams and all of your social media and your website and all that good stuff. Totally. So you can find me at my personal Instagram at AmandaGNWN or the firm's Instagram, which is OWIUDesign. Awesome. And now it's time for break that shit down. I think today has been like so much about purpose. So I feel like if anyone's like listening, I hope they get inspired to find that somehow. I think it's one of those things that you would spend the rest of your life trying to look for. Yeah. Do you want to know what I love about you

is like, you're just so chill. She's got her arms around her knees. She's just hanging out in her cute little room. You're just natural. And you, I love that. Yeah. It's such a nice conversation. It's also like chilly and early. Yeah, no, you're just you and I love it. I sense just true authenticity from you. So thank you. Thank you. Yeah, great way to start my morning. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, guys. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you. Thanks for being with us today. We hope you will come back next week. If you like what you hear, don't forget to rate, like, and subscribe. Thank you. We rise to lift you up. Thanks for listening.