Jennifer Chuu The Comic Artist

00:00:00:01 - 00:00:37:18

Ibi

Hello and welcome to IV’s Digital Nomad Stories, featuring real conversations with professionals who have cracked the code to sustainable, nomadic lifestyles. These people aren’t beach and Wi-Fi chasers. They’re building competitive advantages that traditional employment could never match. Global mobility, income diversification, and the freedom to capitalize on opportunities anywhere. I’m Amy Malik, your favorite digital nomad consultant. And today I’m joined on the show by Jenny Chu, someone who proved you don’t need travel to escape your work.

00:00:37:18 - 00:01:08:07

Ibi

Sometimes you need travel to feed it. She’s a comic artist and the strangest part of her story. She was inspired to go nomadic by one of her own characters. She drew a boy named Leo who lured a content Little Mermaid out of her fish tank to show her the world beyond, and somewhere in that drawing, she realized that she was the little content mermaid, and she had to leave to discover the world beyond her fish tank.

00:01:08:09 - 00:01:34:08

Ibi

Now, six years, she’s into her comic, The Witch and the bull, and she travels everywhere that the Mediterranean Sea touches. Not to escape her work, but to deepen it. Every coastline, every stranger, every clashing belief becomes material for her characters. The world in her comics is now built from the world she is living in. This is a masterclass in living your own story.

00:01:34:08 - 00:01:46:10

Ibi

When you stop protecting your comfort and start collecting experiences, you don’t just create a story, you become the story. Here’s Jenny. You write comic books.

00:01:46:12 - 00:01:53:12

Jennifer

Yeah I know. Yes, I write comic books. Yeah. And I also draw them. Yeah.

00:01:53:13 - 00:01:55:04

Ibi

Are you drawing right now?

00:01:55:06 - 00:02:07:13

Jennifer

The Witcher, The Bowl, which was a series I’ve been working on for like, the past seven years already, Seven years? No no no. Six. Six. I’ve been traveling for seven years, but I’ve worked on this title.

00:02:07:14 - 00:02:10:13

Ibi

What did you do in the first one year before you started working on this book?

00:02:10:14 - 00:02:13:05

Jennifer

I was coming up with an idea.

00:02:13:07 - 00:02:16:00

Ibi

How could you afford the travel.

00:02:16:02 - 00:02:20:04

Jennifer

From, like, previous, previous works? Because I.

00:02:20:04 - 00:02:21:16

Ibi

Used the previous works.

00:02:21:18 - 00:02:29:06

Jennifer

Well, actually, technically from the previous previous works. Because the previous work didn’t make that much money.

00:02:29:07 - 00:02:31:05

Ibi

I hate those previous works, damn it.

00:02:31:09 - 00:02:40:14

Jennifer

I do love the previous work. So like I was working as a game artist in New York for eight years.

00:02:40:16 - 00:02:43:00

Ibi

Doing what? What does a game like this mean?

00:02:43:00 - 00:02:58:19

Jennifer

You just like, create like assets and like art, like characters. Sometimes you have to do like UI, like icons and stuff. Sometimes I do animation. I hate doing animation, but I did a lot. Okay. Yeah.

00:02:58:23 - 00:03:05:19

Ibi

Okay. All right. So you do all right for a specific general game or like generally or you freelance two games.

00:03:05:19 - 00:03:14:17

Jennifer

Or what? Originally I wanted to do like more like 3D, like triple A games. But then I ended up being in do you know, Zynga?

00:03:14:19 - 00:03:15:10

Ibi

I think I’ve heard.

00:03:15:10 - 00:03:27:18

Jennifer

Of it. They made Farmville five. So like I later on got into this company and I started doing like like 2D assets. So it’s nothing 3D. So it was like making like 2D stuff.

00:03:27:19 - 00:03:30:17

Ibi

What was the favorite thing? Your favorite thing that you designed?

00:03:30:19 - 00:03:32:10

Jennifer

My favorite thing I designed.

00:03:32:15 - 00:03:34:18

Ibi

Like a certain character called Bob or what?

00:03:34:19 - 00:03:51:03

Jennifer

No, but I was like, I love designing, like, because we were making this game called Dream Pet House, and then I love designing the pet houses. Like their environment, their habitat that they’re like living in on the tree house. This game doesn’t exist anymore.

00:03:51:05 - 00:03:53:08

Ibi

But did you make one for a cat?

00:03:53:10 - 00:03:59:15

Jennifer

There’s so many different kinds of cats too. So I made a lot of cat like habitats.

00:03:59:21 - 00:04:01:08

Ibi

Oh.

00:04:01:10 - 00:04:02:09

Jennifer

It’s fun.

00:04:02:10 - 00:04:03:11

Ibi

I want this job.

00:04:03:14 - 00:04:13:05

Jennifer

You know what my favorite one is? A Dutch hound, and he’s a detective, so his house is like a detective house. I’m not sure.

00:04:13:05 - 00:04:14:21

Ibi

Why, detective Dutch Hunt.

00:04:14:23 - 00:04:17:22

Jennifer

I think you can name them.

00:04:18:00 - 00:04:20:02

Ibi

I love that. I love to name everything.

00:04:20:04 - 00:04:26:16

Jennifer

Yeah, I cannot remember, but, like, this game is, like, dead now. Like it’s not on the market anymore. You cannot play it anymore.

00:04:26:18 - 00:04:28:15

Ibi

Did you play Stardew Valley?

00:04:28:17 - 00:04:30:01

Jennifer

I have not.

00:04:30:02 - 00:04:32:17

Ibi

I love that game. It’s kind of like Farmville.

00:04:32:20 - 00:04:36:20

Jennifer

Yeah, but I think it’s. I think it’s more than Farmville now.

00:04:36:21 - 00:04:39:15

Ibi

I love it like it’s a full on, like, game game, but.

00:04:39:16 - 00:04:52:13

Jennifer

Yeah, yeah, I think there’s more passion goes into it. You know, I don’t I don’t want to say that because I think a lot of people actually put in a lot of like passion into their work. I just haven’t met them in Zynga.

00:04:52:15 - 00:04:58:04

Ibi

I’m getting I get this feeling. Okay, so that was the previous previous job. What was the previous job?

00:04:58:08 - 00:05:21:23

Jennifer

Okay, so after I left zinger, I was doing like freelance work. And because I got laid off and like the first thought, I was like, I have a dream. I want to be a comic artist full time, so I should chase after it. Now I have savings, which is like the first reason why I become a game artist, just to, you know, accumulate like some savings so I can invest in my dream.

00:05:22:00 - 00:05:24:07

Jennifer

But now I don’t have a job anymore. I can.

00:05:24:08 - 00:05:25:04

Ibi

Actually have time.

00:05:25:04 - 00:05:26:05

Jennifer

It’s a perfect timing.

00:05:26:06 - 00:05:27:02

Ibi

How old were you?

00:05:27:03 - 00:05:40:07

Jennifer

I was 25. 26, I think. No no no no. That’s when I started. So I think like, I was like 23 or 24 when I got laid off.

00:05:40:11 - 00:05:44:14

Ibi

And you must have started working so early.

00:05:44:16 - 00:05:54:13

Jennifer

Yeah. Like, you mean like in terms of, like, going, like, stop studying and go to work? Yeah, yeah, because I don’t want to go to college. It’s four years is too long.

00:05:54:14 - 00:05:56:00

Ibi

So you didn’t go to university?

00:05:56:00 - 00:05:58:20

Jennifer

No, it’s too long. I like the idea. Just like.

00:05:58:22 - 00:06:03:09

Ibi

You can’t do it the same. University either.

00:06:03:14 - 00:06:18:22

Jennifer

Yeah, but I went to an institute called Vancouver Film School, where I studied game design for one year. Okay, so because I wanted to know everything about game design before I even work in the industry. Okay.

00:06:18:23 - 00:06:26:15

Ibi

Yeah. All right. So you went and you studied game design for one year and you didn’t do the full course, and then you went and did your thing, and then you got laid off. But now you had some money.

00:06:26:18 - 00:06:50:05

Jennifer

Yeah, money. Some time. I can do some freelance on the side. And then so I enter a lot of like contests, like manga contests around the world. So yeah, international one, some of them in Taiwan stuff because like Taiwan is where I came from, where I grew up. And eventually, like my parents were, kind of worry about me.

00:06:50:05 - 00:06:59:18

Jennifer

They were like, so like, what is it going to be like? Are you going to find a job or are you going to be a comic artist? I say like, give me one year.

00:06:59:19 - 00:07:04:00

Ibi

All of them. I’m to find a job and become artist all at the same time.

00:07:04:01 - 00:07:29:15

Jennifer

Yeah, exactly. Then that’s what happened because I promised in, like one year and then I get it done within one year. I wanted to debut myself in Taiwan as my first, like, full time comic artist. Officially, yeah. So I created a series about, like, this kid got on a circus train and to chase after a mermaid so that I drawn for like about two years.

00:07:29:15 - 00:07:33:03

Jennifer

So that’s starting from, like when I was like 26.

00:07:33:08 - 00:07:34:19

Ibi

But that was in Taiwan.

00:07:34:20 - 00:07:39:07

Jennifer

That was that was like in Taiwan. But I was living in New York at the time.

00:07:39:09 - 00:07:41:20

Ibi

So it was a Taiwan publication. But you were living in New York?

00:07:41:21 - 00:08:01:20

Jennifer

Yeah, it was a company that was from Japan that has a office in Taiwan. And I was doing the Taiwan platform. Yeah, but that’s just like kind of like more like because I wanted my first work to be published in Taiwan instead of anywhere else.

00:08:01:22 - 00:08:03:05

Ibi

Okay. Yeah. Okay.

00:08:03:06 - 00:08:14:06

Jennifer

Why is just for the novelty of it, the money. The money is not not good. But but the novelty is like, great.

00:08:14:07 - 00:08:22:01

Ibi

All right. So you were like, I’m gonna go get a job and I’m gonna go and publish a publication in Taiwan.

00:08:22:02 - 00:08:23:10

Jennifer

Is a job.

00:08:23:12 - 00:08:25:18

Ibi

But I can employ a job. Is it an employer?

00:08:25:19 - 00:08:28:04

Jennifer

No, it’s a contract. Yeah.

00:08:28:06 - 00:08:28:18

Ibi

Okay.

00:08:28:19 - 00:08:51:09

Jennifer

Yeah, a contract and not a lot of money. But then, like, once I get that done, I published the books as well. So it was like a digital format. It’s like called webtoon. Okay. So it’s a long format where you like, scroll down. Okay. Yeah. And then you read a whole story. So we have to like redo the layout again for it to publish into books.

00:08:51:09 - 00:08:54:16

Jennifer

So I publish that in Taiwan.

00:08:54:18 - 00:09:00:11

Ibi

Yeah. So it’s like a digital format that it’s just like one, one page and you just keep trolling down to it.

00:09:00:12 - 00:09:00:16

Jennifer

Yeah.

00:09:00:16 - 00:09:03:17

Ibi

Yeah, yeah. But then you turn it into an actual physical book.

00:09:03:19 - 00:09:12:22

Jennifer

Yeah, exactly. That’s all. You have to take all the panels out and then redo the layout again to fit into pages, and then make it a little better as well.

00:09:13:03 - 00:09:16:10

Ibi

This is a full on creative start to finish project.

00:09:16:11 - 00:09:23:03

Jennifer

Yeah, that was really fun. I was not redoing the layout. I was I was not the one redoing the layout. Someone else did.

00:09:23:04 - 00:09:23:20

Ibi

No, but I mean.

00:09:23:21 - 00:09:24:18

Jennifer

Like someone else.

00:09:24:18 - 00:09:29:20

Ibi

So you did this whole publication that was digitally and physically published? Yeah.

00:09:29:22 - 00:09:30:20

Jennifer

It’s really fun.

00:09:30:21 - 00:09:33:16

Ibi

Was that that was your first freelance?

00:09:33:18 - 00:09:55:05

Jennifer

No, it was my first contract as a comic artist. Yeah. So basically how comic artists work is, like, you pitch an idea and editorial team likes it, and they greenlit it and was like, okay, we’re going to we’re going to get this made. And then when you pay you like per episode and then you get some revenue share whenever we make money on it.

00:09:55:05 - 00:10:20:08

Jennifer

But at the time in Taiwan, there’s no revenue share on that because they just started out in Taiwan. That company, which right now that company doesn’t exist in Taiwan anymore. Rep. Yeah, but after that whole project, that series is done. I decided I was like, you know what, I know English. I’m gonna, you know, work with like somebody in the US.

00:10:20:09 - 00:10:29:12

Jennifer

There’s webtoon and that’s what I was aiming for. And then that’s where I pitched my next idea. And and it worked fantastically.

00:10:29:14 - 00:10:32:06

Ibi

So you pitched it and you got the pitch. Yeah.

00:10:32:07 - 00:10:36:07

Jennifer

Yeah, I got it. And I’ve been working on the same title for like six years already.

00:10:36:08 - 00:10:52:23

Ibi

My god. Okay, so tell me about the pitch. Like what was the like, what did you need to do? Like you’d had this experience for two years, but you did your thing. Plus the graphic, the game design, you had all of that and you had the hunger and the bravery to do it and to submit it to webtoon.

00:10:53:00 - 00:11:00:22

Ibi

Yeah. And so what did you do? You like I’m going to come up with an idea and I’m going to send them a deck or what? Yeah, yeah.

00:11:00:23 - 00:11:16:17

Jennifer

I had a contact of the chief editor at the time, so I just tell him I’m not crazy. I’ve done this before. You know? I want to put your idea. And if you if you don’t like it, it’s fine, but I’m going to put you something. So I pitched in and he’s like, you know what? It’s pretty good.

00:11:16:17 - 00:11:28:08

Jennifer

I’ll bring it to the meeting. And then my editor picked it up. He’s like, oh, I want this. And then so like he picked it up and then we start working on this project together.

00:11:28:09 - 00:11:32:23

Ibi

How did you get the contact of the Chief Creative?

00:11:33:00 - 00:11:34:17

Jennifer

I don’t know if I can say this.

00:11:34:22 - 00:11:47:23

Ibi

Okay, fine. You don’t have to tell me. Interesting. Okay, so you got this contract, this contact through some means, and you put it together and you send it out there. Okay, good.

00:11:47:23 - 00:11:50:18

Jennifer

Yeah. You know, I just thought, like, I’ll give it a shot.

00:11:50:19 - 00:11:51:06

Ibi

Okay.

00:11:51:07 - 00:11:51:18

Jennifer

Yeah.

00:11:51:19 - 00:11:54:11

Ibi

And then what happened?

00:11:54:13 - 00:12:18:02

Jennifer

And then I since I was already a digital nomad at that time because I think like it was like the previous, like work makes me feel like I don’t want to, you know, like, like living New York anymore because there’s no point of because I was already working remotely. And so I was like, traveling. Right? So I was in Croatia and I came up with this idea, and then that’s why I got greenlit.

00:12:18:02 - 00:12:43:05

Jennifer

So I was like, you know what? I’m going to travel to more places for this title because, like, the whole world is kind of like built on like this, like world that was inspired by the Mediterranean area, the region. So I was like, I’m going to go wherever the Mediterranean Sea touches. So that was my plan. So I did that.

00:12:43:07 - 00:12:51:12

Ibi

What inspired you to base the comic on a travel?

00:12:51:14 - 00:13:13:20

Jennifer

It’s because I want to travel. Oh, actually, because the reason I wanted to travel was actually has to do with my previous series that I published in Taiwan, The Mermaid one, because like the main character, he wants like freedom, you know, he wants to discover himself. He wants to chase after what he like. He thinks that he wants he wants the mermaid.

00:13:13:21 - 00:13:19:20

Jennifer

That’s what he thinks. So he get on the circus and he started working with the circus. And they start traveling.

00:13:19:20 - 00:13:21:12

Ibi

And circus. The traveling circus?

00:13:21:13 - 00:13:28:04

Jennifer

Yes, exactly. And then I was just like, you know, wouldn’t it be nice if I can also travel and work like he does?

00:13:28:04 - 00:13:30:12

Ibi

You were inspired by your own character.

00:13:30:13 - 00:13:33:17

Jennifer

Yes, I often do.

00:13:33:19 - 00:13:43:17

Ibi

That’s amazing. Yeah, I love it. Oh, okay. So what was the mermaid’s name? Yvette. Yvette. So you were inspired by Yvette?

00:13:43:19 - 00:13:49:19

Jennifer

No, I was inspired by the. The boy who was in love with Yvette named Leo.

00:13:49:21 - 00:13:51:00

Ibi

Yeah.

00:13:51:02 - 00:13:55:14

Jennifer

Yeah. Event is in a in a fish tank most of the time.

00:13:55:16 - 00:13:56:18

Ibi

For your pet.

00:13:56:20 - 00:13:59:10

Jennifer

I know she doesn’t feel like she’s poor, though.

00:13:59:13 - 00:14:00:12

Ibi

Okay. All right.

00:14:00:13 - 00:14:03:13

Jennifer

Fair enough. Interesting. Interestingly.

00:14:03:15 - 00:14:05:03

Ibi

Why?

00:14:05:05 - 00:14:32:15

Jennifer

I think so in the story. Like, because she was, like, kind of living in her fish tank. Kind of like a closed society. She doesn’t. And she’s already pretty happy about it. So it’s almost kind of like me. Like not when. Before I even leave Taiwan. Even before I even know what’s going on outside in the world, I was like, I can just like I wanted to finish high school.

00:14:32:15 - 00:14:54:08

Jennifer

And at the time, like when I was still in high school, I was like, maybe I can go to college, you know? And then I’ll find a job and I’ll stay in Taiwan. I’ll buy a house in Taiwan and I’ll like blah, blah, blah. Everything in my mind was in Taiwan. I wasn’t thinking about anything else outside, but because like, I in the end, like didn’t want to study for years in university.

00:14:54:11 - 00:15:16:20

Jennifer

That’s why I went to Vancouver, and that’s why I get a little bit taste of like what it what could be like outside. There are some things I don’t know outside of my own country. Yeah. Even just Vancouver is already very exciting. Yeah, but the thing is, like when you don’t know a lot, when you don’t know how much, you don’t know.

00:15:16:22 - 00:15:25:02

Jennifer

A lot of times I you’re really like, content and you’re kind of okay with like settle whatever you have. So that was kind of more like.

00:15:25:02 - 00:15:27:08

Ibi

That content was content.

00:15:27:10 - 00:15:27:16

Jennifer

Yeah.

00:15:27:17 - 00:15:28:13

Ibi

I was like.

00:15:28:15 - 00:15:32:11

Jennifer

Yeah, like my fishbowl. Don’t drag me out.

00:15:32:15 - 00:15:34:16

Ibi

And Leo was he’s like.

00:15:34:17 - 00:15:46:09

Jennifer

Yeah, I’ve been living outside. You should check it out. We should go on a date. That’s why he said, okay. Yeah. So that’s what they did.

00:15:46:11 - 00:15:54:01

Ibi

And how did the travels.

00:15:54:03 - 00:15:56:18

Ibi

Further your perspective?

00:15:56:20 - 00:16:15:13

Jennifer

I think it’s like got back to like the same point as, like the more I travel, the more I realize how much I don’t know and the more stupid I feel, but the more I want to create something that opens like people’s mind and perspectives.

00:16:15:15 - 00:16:20:23

Ibi

And do you feel like you can explore that then through your new work or the work that you’re doing right now? Yes.

00:16:20:23 - 00:16:22:22

Jennifer

Yes, I think I did.

00:16:22:23 - 00:16:24:11

Ibi

How can you give me an example?

00:16:24:11 - 00:16:52:06

Jennifer

So the work that I’m working right now, like so, the story happens to be humans and witches, that they live in this world, but they don’t get along very well. There have a lot of like, history. They have a lot of fights in the past. There’s a lot of like, manipulation between each other, like these two to kingdoms, like these two race, these two group of people.

00:16:52:08 - 00:17:08:08

Jennifer

And. But through the story progresses like these characters inside, like, learn to step into, like, each other’s shoes and then understand each other more. And to.

00:17:08:10 - 00:17:11:01

Ibi

This is like meeting new people on travels.

00:17:11:02 - 00:17:26:16

Jennifer

Exactly. Yes. They do meet a lot of different people on their travels. Yeah. And they self discover on their own because they in turn reflect and ask themselves like questions that I never asked before.

00:17:26:18 - 00:17:33:08

Ibi

Like what? Like what? Like what questions do they ask themselves like. So soul searching, inner questions, that kind of stuff.

00:17:33:09 - 00:18:00:14

Jennifer

Yeah. It’s like the believes that you used to believe in, like true or not. And what is the power of belief? Like, if you think you’re a good person, you could actually become a good person. If you think people are trying to harm you, then they are actually harming you. Things like that. So like they ask questions as they’re trying to discover themselves.

00:18:00:18 - 00:18:24:23

Jennifer

Yeah. Also like when the so for ten the main character he always like thought like which is are just like you know like evil and because like he has been like he has passed that was like haunted. And you know, he had really heartbroken stories that has to do with witches. And like, his father was eaten by the witches.

00:18:25:00 - 00:18:25:05

Ibi

Oh.

00:18:25:05 - 00:18:33:14

Jennifer

No, because his dad got turned into a sheep. And then they made it into a touching.

00:18:33:16 - 00:18:38:01

Jennifer

Of course. Why? He’s mad and angry and, like, hateful. But how does he change that?

00:18:38:02 - 00:18:39:20

Ibi

I would never eat until Sina.

00:18:39:22 - 00:19:11:19

Jennifer

Yeah, but like. But like not all which is are bad and from why do they do that? There’s also a question to ask, right? Like why is the villain doing that? Like what grudges does she hold? These are the questions that tan as a character, he has to dive deep into discovering and to able to do that, he has to be open minded to accept whatever answer that comes and then not get controlled by his emotions.

00:19:11:21 - 00:19:20:12

Jennifer

He was actually in the beginning. A lot of readers really didn’t like ten as a character, but now a lot of people actually really liked him.

00:19:20:14 - 00:19:24:03

Ibi

Do you feel like he gained some social skills on his travels?

00:19:24:05 - 00:19:29:14

Jennifer

I do, I think so I was very I was very shy in the beginning.

00:19:29:16 - 00:19:31:12

Ibi

But then you tell.

00:19:31:14 - 00:19:39:18

Jennifer

Me, oh, are you talking about me or are you talking about that tan? Oh, yeah. His social skills definitely got better.

00:19:39:20 - 00:19:42:13

Ibi

I mean, maybe for you as well. I was for me, for.

00:19:42:13 - 00:19:44:20

Jennifer

Sure, but for ten. Yeah, definitely.

00:19:45:00 - 00:19:46:09

Ibi

Is there a connection?

00:19:46:13 - 00:19:52:22

Jennifer

I definitely think, like, I have connection with all the characters. They have a little bit of piece of me everywhere.

00:19:53:00 - 00:19:54:05

Ibi

Of course you made them.

00:19:54:06 - 00:20:03:18

Jennifer

Yeah. There are like little molecules of me. Imagine if I take my I make it into a character. That’s one character.

00:20:03:20 - 00:20:07:16

Ibi

It would be cool. Jennifer.

00:20:07:18 - 00:20:11:00

Jennifer

Jennifer.

00:20:11:02 - 00:20:13:07

Jennifer

Jennifer, left, and Jennifer right.

00:20:13:08 - 00:20:17:01

Ibi

Jennifer, left. And Jennifer right. You can make a rap about that one.

00:20:17:06 - 00:20:21:13

Jennifer

Yes. I’m not good at rapping, though.

00:20:21:15 - 00:20:39:22

Ibi

Interesting. Okay. Wow. All right. And how has the Nomad perspective kind of changed the way that you.

00:20:40:00 - 00:21:02:17

Ibi

Like? Six years is a long time. Yes. That you’re working on one thing. Yes. But I can see if it’s a journey where you’re learning things and your perspectives of changing, and that changes the characters perspectives. And as you go through that journey, the characters must also evolved with that perspective.

00:21:02:19 - 00:21:06:00

Jennifer

Yeah, I definitely I definitely see it.

00:21:06:02 - 00:21:17:07

Ibi

So how does the connection go between you learning something and the characters learning something? It’s like, do you see something? And you’re like, wow. And then it finds a way into your characters?

00:21:17:09 - 00:21:48:13

Jennifer

I think it often does that, like simultaneously, I think. But I don’t know. I don’t know exactly how to articulate this because a lot of them are in the writing itself, like in their dialogs, like the way they talk, like the way they confronted a problem. Like it’s kind of like it used to be more simple. But I think, like now there are more.

00:21:48:15 - 00:21:56:13

Jennifer

They used to be more like simple like like they thought. And then they get into action. And now, like, they are more vocal about things, which.

00:21:56:13 - 00:21:58:00

Ibi

Is.

00:21:58:02 - 00:22:31:08

Jennifer

I’m not sure. Like, this is still something I’m trying to figure out, like, because it’s a mystery to me that I have just I find more connections now with my characters than I had before. Maybe it’s the time that we traveled together for so long, for like six years, but also it maybe it’s just like I’m just a different person now than I started the whole series, because before I started a series, I think I was in a very different.

00:22:31:10 - 00:22:54:09

Jennifer

Chapter of my life. And also there’s so many things I just haven’t experienced yet. Like, I have not really been on like a real date and stuff, but I’m already like coming up with a story that includes romance, which I don’t have much to. I don’t have much idea about, like real life romance, you know, until I started, I was like, you know what?

00:22:54:10 - 00:23:18:13

Jennifer

Like I’m traveling. I became more bold and more willing to try new things, and therefore I open another, like, whole like world and angle in, like, the romance part of my life. And then I have more things to say in terms of, like the romance part of the story.

00:23:18:15 - 00:23:32:15

Ibi

Do you think that sometimes. Do you think it’s sometimes the character in the story leads with something and then you follow? Or do you think sometimes you lead the story and then the character follows?

00:23:32:17 - 00:23:59:17

Jennifer

Not both. For instance, like for Leo, the previous from the previous work, like I definitely followed his footsteps. Right. He inspired me. But then, like, sometimes, like in my travel, like some people that I’ve met and some like things that we’ve done, like I was like, okay, I need to like, my character needs to play this stupid game that we just played in the bar.

00:23:59:19 - 00:24:24:09

Jennifer

And then so that happened. Yeah, there was a game about like, cups and then like cups and names, like, you take a cup and then you’re like, oh, this is this is Natalia, this is Stephanie, this is a B. And so what is this? And then people are very confused about it. And I was like, and for two days we couldn’t solve the mystery of like what is the rule of the game.

00:24:24:10 - 00:24:32:01

Jennifer

Eventually when we solved it was like, oh my gosh, I need to put this in the in the background of the comic, stuff like that.

00:24:32:03 - 00:24:33:06

Ibi

I love it.

00:24:33:07 - 00:24:35:06

Jennifer

Yeah.

00:24:35:08 - 00:24:42:09

Ibi

This is awesome. How does it feel to have so many worlds contained within you?

00:24:42:11 - 00:24:47:00

Jennifer

It just makes me feel like.

00:24:47:02 - 00:25:14:01

Jennifer

Like every each of us are our own, like little universe. Does that make sense? Yeah. I think is that like. Oh, that’s hard to put this in words, It’s like everything can be true and false at the same time in the same body. So like.

00:25:14:03 - 00:25:37:16

Jennifer

Like maybe like just like a simple statement, like, my favorite color is green and my favorite color is not green. These can these two statement can both be true in the same person in the same body. So when you have like a story there is like maybe like a core message of it, but maybe you have another story that has like a core message that kind of contradicts this core message.

00:25:37:17 - 00:26:09:12

Jennifer

But since you have like the both story, you have both perspectives. So you have both of these knowledge in you. So you are more open minded to both of these statements that are that can contradict each other, which is like you can also be, if I put it more extreme, like you can be far right and you can be far left at the same time, because you understand both of these values of why they’re important for each party and why they choose that.

00:26:09:15 - 00:26:42:15

Jennifer

So once you understand these two things and then you just put yourself and you’re like, well, I’m like a little universe, I the more I know, the more I can like, you know, create like space for these knowledge. And then on its own. There are their own like little worlds, but they can all coexist within me. And the more I think about this, the more I feel like this world can also coexist with different ideas and different opinions, and nobody actually has to fight.

00:26:42:17 - 00:26:45:15

Jennifer

But maybe this concept is a little bit like a vague, but I’m.

00:26:45:15 - 00:26:56:00

Ibi

Not sure. No, no, it makes sense of sense. So it gives me the question how do you.

00:26:56:02 - 00:27:03:18

Ibi

I don’t even know how to phrase the question. Okay. So you.

00:27:03:20 - 00:27:09:00

Ibi

You come across this very like your heart is light.

00:27:09:01 - 00:27:26:21

Ibi

And yet you have all of these worlds inside you and these contrasting opinions which could be inside you. How do you separate yourself from it? That it doesn’t overwhelm you?

00:27:26:23 - 00:27:56:11

Jennifer

I think, well, you know, there is. I really hate this line, but be true to yourself the moment except changes that comes. And don’t be like I used to be a person. I’m like really stubborn. I was like, no, no, no, no. Like nobody can change my mind about like this, like believe that I have. But now I’m like starting to get into this.

00:27:56:13 - 00:28:17:19

Jennifer

This feeling which is like I kind of like my mind being changed. Like change my mind. Come change my mind. I love that because it used to be very uncomfortable. But through travel, as a nomad, I go to uncomfortable places, right? I get out of my comfort zone, do things that I wouldn’t do. I try to do the things I used to hate.

00:28:17:19 - 00:28:30:21

Jennifer

But then I started to like it. Or I do the things that I wanted to like. But then I realized I hate it. Yeah. And then all these things, like, makes me so uncomfortable that now the unconfirmed has become the new comfort zone.

00:28:30:23 - 00:28:34:21

Ibi

You’re comfortable being uncomfortable? Yes.

00:28:34:23 - 00:28:37:11

Jennifer

Yes. This chair is not comfortable, by the way.

00:28:37:12 - 00:28:47:11

Ibi

I know, but the other chairs like weird angles, so it looks like one person is a lot bigger than the other one. And I got told by the editor.

00:28:47:12 - 00:28:54:02

Jennifer

But I’m enjoying it anyway. My butt cheeks are saying like, but I’m like, yeah.

00:28:54:03 - 00:28:55:07

Ibi

Oh yeah.

00:28:55:09 - 00:28:56:02

Jennifer

Go for it.

00:28:56:03 - 00:28:59:08

Ibi

Oh yeah. I just lean into it, lean into it.

00:28:59:09 - 00:29:28:23

Jennifer

But I think it’s because these unconfirmed brings a new experience. And that’s why I started to like that. People try to change my mind or events try to change my mind. So I’m no longer saying like, I don’t, I don’t like I’m not settling in. One believes anymore. Like I’m craving for changes, like new things. I want to absorb new things.

00:29:28:23 - 00:29:34:12

Jennifer

And this in turn will help me in my creative journey as well.

00:29:34:14 - 00:29:38:03

Ibi

Do you feel like you have infinite capacity to absorb new things?

00:29:38:05 - 00:29:48:15

Jennifer

Probably not. I’ll probably forget things as well. I’m very forgetful sometimes. Me too. I never learned my lesson. I missed my flights twice.

00:29:48:16 - 00:29:50:06

Ibi

No, Renee.

00:29:50:08 - 00:30:03:08

Jennifer

The first time I cried, it was like, oh my gosh, I missed my flight. In the second time I was like, oh, I miss my flight. That happened before. I guess I never learned time to book a flight before it’s too late.

00:30:03:10 - 00:30:04:06

Ibi

There you go.

00:30:04:07 - 00:30:05:13

Jennifer

Yeah.

00:30:05:15 - 00:30:08:21

Ibi

As you can say, that ship has sailed or that plane has flown.

00:30:09:00 - 00:30:10:05

Jennifer

That plane has flown.

00:30:10:11 - 00:30:11:16

Ibi

Plane has flown.

00:30:11:16 - 00:30:19:23

Jennifer

Sometimes I’m just glad I’m not in the plane that I shouldn’t be on. Maybe like the person next to me just keep farting, you know? You never know.

00:30:20:01 - 00:30:20:21

Ibi

This is true.

00:30:20:22 - 00:30:21:23

Jennifer

Yeah.

00:30:22:00 - 00:30:23:01

Ibi

Are you happy?

00:30:23:05 - 00:30:28:20

Jennifer

I’m really happy right now. Actually, I haven’t been so happy for a while.

00:30:28:22 - 00:30:30:03

Ibi

Why do you think that is?

00:30:30:05 - 00:31:02:09

Jennifer

I think it’s just because for the past, like, three years, I was a little bit, like, not just a little bit. I was very much bothered by my burnout. That happened three years ago. And then that created something that’s like, kind of like a lingering resistant to to work, which is something that I love deeply. It’s a very weird feeling that I was having for like three years.

00:31:02:15 - 00:31:23:15

Jennifer

Like, even though, like, okay, so the thing is, like I was in Greece and then I was working on season two of the which enable I was and I reached a point where, like, I feel like every time I go to my computer, I want to puke and I have a problem, like getting into work. I was have like this resistance of like wanting to work.

00:31:23:15 - 00:31:49:17

Jennifer

And I felt that was kind of scary. And apparently I was reaching to a burnout because I was chasing like weekly deadlines, because I used up all my buffer episodes and like, after Great weekly and the Wi-Fi wasn’t good, and I was like going crazy. And I remember I feel like the ants are crawling in my back of my, my brain and everything was like, everything feels uncomfortable.

00:31:49:19 - 00:32:16:08

Jennifer

So I say like, oh, I need to actually go on a hiatus, you know, take a little break. And so we ended the season, and then I took a break for like nine months or so. And then but ever since that burnout happened for the next few years, I just have such a problem. Like being focused on work as if like, my work has something to do with something that’s negative to me and I.

00:32:16:11 - 00:32:35:18

Jennifer

For a long time I didn’t know how to solve this problem. I tried to go back to my old manga that I created. I was like, I read it and I was like, I feel the sensation, but it doesn’t last long for me to go back to like a steady workflow. It’s like I’m cursed or something, I don’t know.

00:32:35:23 - 00:32:57:07

Jennifer

I was trying to figure out in so many ways I was like, what have I give myself? Like a very disciplined, like work time, like six hours per day from this time to time. Like it worked for a while, but it didn’t work long. So it was a mystery still to date to me until like recently, I went to LA, the company our partner with webtoon.

00:32:57:08 - 00:33:29:23

Jennifer

They hosted a creator residency program for like about. So for like 9 or 10 creators and then so we all I hang out there for like about ten days or two weeks. And then being in that environment actually somehow like helped me. And I think it has to do with being around people who are passionate about storytelling like I do, people who are constantly excited about new ideas.

00:33:29:23 - 00:33:56:02

Jennifer

It’s like it’s contagious. And I feel like I get that again from like the passion of like other creators and also like just to see the dedicated people who works in webtoon, you know, like my editor, I went on this trip and I form a bond with her. I actually feel like I’m more like friends with her now.

00:33:56:03 - 00:34:19:17

Jennifer

I have built more trust to like the people that I work with over there and everything. Yeah. And then there’s just like a lot happen. And it was just like I was just because of that trip, I became so happy with my work. Yeah, it’s very interesting. I just still today I was like, this is still a mystery to me, but at least I know now.

00:34:19:19 - 00:34:26:21

Jennifer

Like, I’m more stable towards my work, with my connection with it.

00:34:26:23 - 00:34:51:06

Jennifer

This is something that I love the most to do in my life, other than travel, is to tell a story and draw. So the fact that, like, I was feeling like I might start to hate this, it’s very, very scary to me. The idea because I cherish so much.

00:34:51:08 - 00:34:52:21

Ibi

My God.

00:34:52:23 - 00:34:54:14

Jennifer

My God.

00:34:54:16 - 00:34:57:18

Ibi

My God.

00:34:57:20 - 00:35:01:09

Ibi

I have so many more questions. But we’re at time.

00:35:01:11 - 00:35:08:12

Jennifer

Oh really? Wow. Well, too bad you can ask me any question any time.

00:35:08:14 - 00:35:12:09

Ibi

Thank you. You’re very inspiring person. Really? Yes.

00:35:12:09 - 00:35:19:00

Jennifer

Well, you are too, with your two microphones. Thank you. I don’t know how you carried us.

00:35:19:01 - 00:35:23:23

Ibi

I keep them in my pockets, ready at all times to podcast.

00:35:24:00 - 00:35:25:15

Jennifer

No wonder, no wonder I see.

00:35:25:15 - 00:35:27:03

Ibi

No thanks.

00:35:27:04 - 00:35:28:04

Jennifer

Thank you so much.