After my first year as an architecture student, I found myself scrolling through Craigslist (does anyone still use Craigslist for job searches anymore?) looking for summer internships. It came down to two options: interning at a Manhattan hospitality architecture firm or a textile designer’s studio in Brooklyn. As a student of architecture, I felt an unspoken pressure to choose the architecture firm—after all, that’s what you’re “supposed” to do, right? So, I took the position, spending the summer immersed in vinyl baseboards and designing floor plank layouts for hotel ballrooms.

Anyone else out there a recovering perfectionist? 

When I was sixteen, I was awarded a scholarship to attend a summer program at California College of the Arts for drawing and printmaking. This experience was a turning point in my creative journey, marking the first time I was encouraged to stop trying so hard. It wasn’t that the work required no effort—it demanded intense focus and presence of mind—but it was more about getting into that elusive “flow” state and embracing the unexpected. It’s the classic “90% preparation, 10% magic” equation.