**2018**

Well, a new blog entry is long overdue. I never really did get around to making more blog entries about what was going on with Esthetek........ because I decided to make a new blog on the Esthetek website! Check it out here!

So I'm going to continue using this blog to talk about non-Esthetek projects and more personal things. Hopefully I will get around to adding a new entry on the Esthetek blog tonight. It's almost an hour past midnight as I type this entry up but I've had really messed up sleep cycles lately....

Well what's new since the last post? I started a YouTube channel to upload some videos to. There's only a couple of videos there right now, but I hope to add some more travel footage in the future. I also wanted to discuss some topics but I think I will hold off on that for now. I feel like I need to focus more on building my business up as well as some other things before I go crazy with YouTubing @.@

Finally getting some healthier lunch options near my work. This poke bowl from CA Fish Grill was pretty good, though they specialize more in grilled fish than poke.

Like I said I will be talking more about Esthetek related stuff in detail on my other blog. But just to recap quickly here, things started pretty decently after the launch. But I ran into a wall when the people who made my t-shirts for me couldn't make them to the specifications I wanted to anymore. For about a month I was researching for a new company to work with, and for another month I didn't have anything to sell. So I just focused on drawing and developing new product. I took a little break, and when I came back there were delays in production. So I didn't really have any product until October....

Enzo helping my dad figure out his new tripod.

Once I had the product, I started working on marketing (Facebook, IG, a few collabs on Polyvore, and also got a Google Ads account started but no campaign running yet). But personal life took a a lot of drive out of me in all honesty. Two people passed away and while I don't want to speak too much in detail or openly display how it really made me feel-- it really sapped a lot of my drive. 

By the time holiday season and Q4 kicked off at work I was pretty swamped. Work was extremely stressful this year... This was my 6th consecutive holiday working in retail since holiday 2012. A lot has changed in the world. The economy is changing. The way people shop is changing. I'm not trying to present a negative outlook, I'm just saying that those of us in the industry will have to adjust accordingly. And I don't want to be alarmist but I hope the transition will be more or less smooth. A sudden collapse in retail could set off a chain reaction in finance, real estate, and even tech....

But I digress. The dust is finally settling on 2017 and I have some serious work cut out for me as far as marketing Esthetek. Other than that, there were a lot of good times with my family and friends. And in a lot of ways the personal crises brought me closer with them. Going into this new year I also hope I can get to know some people better.

Well, I was going to also write about something else I was thinking about-- another "analysis" of a bible story I used to like when I was a child. But I'll save that for another day...

Happy New Year!!! 

Esthetek, Unabridged: The Shoot

It's been a long time coming...

MY SHOP IS FINALLY OPEN!

Definitely appreciate everyone who made it possible. For anyone who is interested, my next few blogs are going to be about how it came to be.

Preparing for a photoshoot takes awhile, but the results are definitely worth the time. 

On the night of May 22nd I didn't fall asleep until a little past 3AM on May 23rd.

I got off work at 8PM that day and took Lyft home. I own a car, but anyone who lives in Daly City knows that finding street parking can be a nightmare on some nights (especially when there's street cleaning the next morning). With the shoot the next day, I didn't want to take any chances. After work I started steaming the t-shirts. It took a lot longer than I thought it would... 

*yawn*

Before I continue, let me just mention that there were a lot of delays and this phase alone goes back further than you might think. Believe it or not, the shop website was more or less done around September 2016. And at that time, I had all the sample tees already made, the custom tags were made. I was very close to launching at that time. I just needed to get some product photos.

Not the prettiest presentation...

Originally, I was going to just do on-hanger photos. Better than the grainy cellphone one above, of course. Or I was going to do lay-flat photos as an alternative. And I was going to do it myself, ask my dad if I could borrow his DSLR...

-___-

After some research however, I realized the best apparel websites show the product on-models. And that it if I wanted the best, I had better seek a professional. . .

Bye, bye old room!

Life had other ideas though X__X I took on a new full time job. Moved to a new place. Had some family things to go to. I put out ads on Craigslist for photographers and models shortly after I moved. But before I knew it the holidays had rolled around and things got crazy busy.

First Golden Wedding Anniversary I've attended, and (with the way my generation approaches relationships) perhaps the last...

Anyway. 2017 rolled around and I decided that I would focus on my job and get back on building Esthetek once taxes were done. March/April I started contacting one of the photographers again and trying to set something up. I also started looking for models. The models and "models" who responded to my ad weren't all bad. But none of them had that extra something I was looking for. 

Trying to hire through a modeling agency felt daunting, especially after looking at some of the fees they would charge.

I started browsing Model Mayhem. Site is a little dated and I remembered it from back in the dA days. But the plus side was that there's tons of people on there and it's pretty easy to browse through a lot of people. Initially, I was looking for an "alternative" type of model but then I figured it might overpower the tees if they were modeled by someone with too much going on. Started narrowing things down and I contacted a couple of models. 

Love the hand! *Illuminati*

Got a response from Julia (Saori) and things started to get in motion. More delays however, after the photographer and I just couldn't quite work things out regarding the location of the shoot. 

I started looking for another photographer but all the delays I had experienced started to get me questioning the whole venture... One day I was on my lunch break, just eating pizza and I got an email from Julia asking if the shoot was still on. I was glad to hear she was still interested in the job and I asked her if she knew any good people as I was having a hard time choosing from all the photographers out there (and there are A LOT out there, believe me). 

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

She connected me with a great photographer, Dennis, and an awesome makeup artist/hairstylist, Phi Phi. I got to the studio a bit early, and Dennis offered me a complimentary headshot to replace my old Colombian drug lord profile photo! 

He probably Photoshopped my teeth. I drink a gallon of coffee a day...

My friend that I invited to be the male model couldn't make it because he had a job interview. So I did some modeling myself while Julia was getting her hair and makeup done. Dennis was very efficient and professional.

For posterity...

It was a very fun shoot! I think the highlight was watching Julia try to blow a bubble for the picture of Inflation. Took many tries but I love the result. 

Remind me to wear heels next time...

I'm thankful that I got to work with such awesome people and I'm glad it all went smoothly. After the shoot I went to visit one of my colleagues over at Stanford Shopping Center. But what does that have to do with Esthetek?! Haha, I'm going to be posting more blogs about how Esthetek started in the future. Right now, I'm designing some new t-shirts. If everything goes well, I want to expand to doing hoodies, shoes, accessories, and everything else. I haven't stopped writing either! First short story is currently at 25,649 words. Hopefully will have the 1st draft ready before the end of this year but that's just something else I do for my own enjoyment. 

Anyway, I gotta do some social media stuff now. Thanks for reading!

End of Year Update

Really quick update here, currently vetting different photographers to photograph the products for my business, as well as looking for models. There's been some delays as I've been working full-time again, and moved to a new place. Been spending a lot of time settling in, updating addresses, and of course working! But I'm still working on my business and hopefully when things slow down I can get back to creative projects. I haven't stopped writing though and my work is currently a little over 20,000 words at this point. Wish I had more time to illustrate the characters too, but I'll get around to that soon enough.

Merry Christmas!