From Side Hustle to Full Hustle: Tracey Nguyen

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Meet Tracey, our moderator. 

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I had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful young woman over a year ago. I came across one of her Instagram posts; something about the product placement, good lighting, and the book she was reading at the time (I believe it was Girl Boss) had grabbed my attention. I couldn’t help but look through her previous posts. I realized that this woman is creative, hard-working, and full of positivity. I wanted to reach out and tell her how much I enjoyed her Instagram feed and blog. I am so thrilled to share Tracey Nguyen’s story with you. I hope you're just as inspired as I was when I first heard it.

Tell us about your career in being a lifestyle blogger and branding expert.

After working in the corporate world for 2 years, I decided to start my own online business and explore the world of blogging. I officially walked away from my corporate job over 2 years ago to chase my dreams and build something of my own. It took me a while to build up my brand and find my passion for empowering and supporting female entrepreneurs. That’s when founded my second company called Lipstick and Muffin Media with another girl boss and blogging expert, Kate Bialowas. We never looked back since!

Working with Kate has encouraged me to continue to build up my lifestyle blog where I share things that matter to me as a young female entrepreneur.  My experience, my struggle and my honest thoughts on this incredible entrepreneurial journey has been my passion for my blog. On Lipstickandmuffingirl.com, you will also find skincare and beauty tips; as every girl boss would say “You gotta chase dreams in style!”

My branding career started off helping my friends, followers and audience who reached out to me and wanted to know how to build a brand through social media. At the beginning, I thought it was fun and awesome just to be able to help others from my own experiences because I had to build everything from scratch and little guidance that I found on Pinterest and Google. Good words started to spread and next thing I knew, I had a client base of business owners who needed my help. I guess that’s when I realized that I need to take my branding knowledge to the next level and run it professionally!

What made you want to pursue being an entrepreneur?

Believe it or not, I was raised with a heavy mentality of going to school, getting an education and climb up the corporate ladder. So, I did all of that!

After working in the corporate environment for 2 years I realized that there is more to life than just working for someone else. Empowered by a movement of other young entrepreneurs and mentors that I have around me, I decided that I should just go for it!

Were there any obstacles you faced during this new chapter in your career and how did you overcome it?

There were a lot of obstacles that I had to overcome. The biggest one was training myself to have the resilience and the mindset of a real entrepreneur. It’s not an easy journey but it is also a very rewarding one. Learning to surround yourself with the right people is the best thing I have ever done to get myself out of every single obstacle I faced. It is very important to build a supportive network of people that not only want to see you win, but will be there to encourage and lift you up when you feel down.

Name one of the important milestones in your career so far.

It was the launch of Lipstick and Muffin Media and hitting 500 members within a couple months.

Who is your role model that has helped you get where you today?

My mom, and my great friend and mentor Andrew. Their resilience to strive for more in life and their willingness to help, to give and expect nothing in return really helps me realize that there is much more to life than just working at a job and paying bills. Through them, I have learned that we all have the power to change life and make positive impact in society.

What’s next for you, Lipstick and Muffin Media/Girl that you want to share with us?

Kate and I are working on hosting more networking events and workshops for next year to bring more value to our community. As for myself, I am working on launching my own Instagram and Branding course online and I am super excited for that as well. In general, our mission has always been to help empower more and more female entrepreneurs to succeed and to provide them with digital marketing tools that they need to build their online empire. We are constantly on the grind to help and make more dreams come true!

What advice can you give other young women who want to pursue their dreams?

JUST GO FOR IT GIRL! Nothing can stop you if you don’t stop for nothing!