Show Notes
In this episode, we’re joined by an extra special guest, ONCH, a multi-talented artist and jewelry designer based in Los Angeles.
We chat about:
- The power of dreaming and creating a vision of our future
- Using a dream diary to record, capture, and realize everyday dreams
- ONCH’s journey from Taiwan and finding oneself
- Setting intentions and manifesting reality
- Upcoming collaborations coming to life from dreams
- Becoming fearless and dreaming for a brighter future
Learn more about ONCH:
You can follow me at:
- Website: yellowglitterpodcast.com
- Instagram: @stevenwakabayashi
- YouTube: @stevenwakabayashi
- Subscribe to my weekly newsletter: mindfulmoments.substack.com
Show Transcript
Steven: Hi everyone, my name is Steven Wakabayashi and you’re listening to Yellow Glitter Mindfulness Through the Eyes and Soul of Queer Asian Perspectives. This episode were joined by our extra special friend ONCH is a multi-talented artist and jewelry designer based in Los Angeles. His unique pop aesthetic blends elements of pop culture, fantasy, and humor in unique highbrow kitchen Designs that captivate the imagination ONCH often features whimsical characters and unconventional materials, such as candy toys and found objects.
His work has been featured in museums such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art and worn by celebrities like Paris Hilton, Kate Moss and Nikki Minaj.
Hi ONCH, welcome back.
ONCH: Hi, steven. How’s it going? I miss you.
Steven: I’ve missed you too. I remember last we had you on, it was during the pandemic and it’s been a while since then and the world has changed and I’m so glad and excited to sit with you in conversation again.
ONCH: Likewise. I feel like we’ve all grown and you know, we’re just grateful to be alive.
Steven: Yes, absolutely. And I thought you had some interesting things that you were chatting to me about that I was like, we have to make this episode into a podcast. And I think one thing that has stood out to me, especially with you, is really this aspect of dreaming and the concept of embracing dreams.
And I thought it was really interesting how you told me about this activity that you do after you sleep about capturing your dreams and this thing that you call a dream diary. Could you explain to listeners what that is?
ONCH: Yes, of course. So well, when I’m awake, I have a visual diary, which instead of writing in it, I would draw in it.
But when I’m asleep, I decided that I should basically document what I’ve dreamt throughout the evening. So I’ve trained myself to wake up. Middle of the night and write down whatever happens in my dreams, key points and key elements and colors and feelings, and when I’m awake, I will do a deep dive on what those elements and things mean.
Steven: Wow. So I have so many questions about that. The first is just how do you get better at that? Because I know sometimes for me, when I go to sleep, I don’t have a dream necessarily. And I’m just curious if you were always dreaming every single day, or is that something that you kind of had cultivated within yourself?
ONCH: You know, I think that in general, I dream a lot, both daydreaming and dreaming at night, and it’s one of those things where I had to really train myself to wake up in the middle of the night and immediately write it down before I forget it. Because I know that a lot of times after we wake up, within the first maybe three minutes, you’ll forget everything you’ve dreamt.
And to me it’s such a waste because those are really fun adventures and inspirations and might be also messages that your subconscious is trying to tell you. So I think it was in a span of a maybe three and a half month that I was able to really master that skill of waking up, writing it down, and training myself to fall right back to sleep.
And the craziest thing is, Steven, I’m able to jump right back to that same part of the dream and continue the storyline, if that even makes sense.
Steven: Oh yeah. Okay. Then question for you, what was the last dream that you had?
ONCH: Let me go check my dream diary right now. Gimme a second. Sometimes it’s hilarious and, okay, so the last one.
Okay. This one’s actually really scary and I’m gonna just read it to you. Okay. I wanted to control my car and make it crash, so I jumped out of it and told the security from my gated community to help me. I ran to the security guard and laid next to him,
While the car exploded.. Oh,
Steven: okay. What does that mean?
ONCH: You know, I actually did not deep dive into that one, but I can tell you the one that happened before. Which was kind of interesting. A friend of mine giving me Botox on my forehead while I drank black coffee. Okay. You know what? Maybe my dreams don’t make sense, but they’re interesting.
Okay. That
Steven: I, yeah, I could see it as just like random reels that’s just happening.
ONCH: March 23rd, Taylor Swift and I met on this set of music video shooting for a laundry detergent. I was about to take a selfie of myself and she thought I was about to take a photo of her, so she put up her middle finger.
And I told her, relax sis. I’m taking a photo of myself. Maybe we shouldn’t talk about dreams.
Steven: Wait, this is kinda fun. I
ONCH: No, but you know what? This dream actually gets better. Okay. I knew I’m gonna read it.
Steven: Ok. Read it.
ONCH: We went back to my place and she was playing with my full size sex dolls.
I had fives, said we held hands in bed and shared my wifi password with her. She was posting a video asking fans for melodies that they knew so that she could write it into a song.
Steven: This is so funny because I feel like the beginning of this podcast, it just felt like we were gonna go into and this has inspired me, this, but it sounds like this dreaming is just like all these interesting adventures that a little dark, a little quirky, bizarre, but know a little bizarre.
ONCH: Steven,
Steven: Yes?
ONCH: I think you, I don’t know if you guys know this, but, I just address you as multiple people, but I dunno if you know. Yes, but I don’t watch movies, TV shows, play video games, so I don’t have a form of escape. And my only escape is creating art and making fun stuff for myself. So for me, my dreams and these adventures that I go on in my dreams, Is my ultimate escape.
And sometimes they’re bizarre and crazy. Sometimes they’ll give me little pointers of what is about to happen in real life. And when I say that it means, cuz you know how there are key elements that sometimes would jump out at you and I’ll go and do some dream research on what these key elements might mean and a lot of times it really reflects back to what is happening in my real life.
Steven: Interesting.
ONCH: I was gonna say, like for example, in March 1st I was dreaming that I saved a lot of little tiny fishes and I was saving these shrimps and putting them back into the water. And the meaning of that apparently means when you’re just saving fishes, it means that in real life you are going through some kind of trauma that you are about to find a solution for.
And it’s interesting because that was what I was going through at that time in my life.
Steven: Interesting. Where are you going to do this research? I sometimes do this too, and I just Google it. And I feel like I get like so many websites. I’m curious if you have one that you’re like, ooh. Or you just generally just Google it too?
ONCH: You know, the truth is Steven, I will go through all the websites and I’ll see all the different meanings and mentally I will eliminate all the meanings that are bad and I will absorb all the ones that are good, if that makes sense. So for example, if I’m eating a Mandarin orange and some people might reinterpret it and say that, that is good luck and yeah. You know, there’s prosperity. I will take that and if some, website said that, oh, it’s because you’re about to die. Then I will pretend I never read it and it never happened.
Steven: That works.
ONCH: But I do believe in you have the power to change your destiny and your life. So you can choose to believe, the bad or the good. And I think that I choose the latter
Steven: kinda everything everywhere, all at once. The possibility of different multiverses, the pathway, the infinite possibilities of universes and pathways that exist with all around us, you know?
ONCH: Yes. Vary that.
Steven: Yeah. And I’m just curious, what has your relationship been to dreams, especially as you were a kid? Was this also something that you embrace as a child or is this something that you grew more into?
ONCH: Yes. Dreaming has always been a big thing for me, cuz I think that, I feel like one of my superpower is my imagination and being able to dive into my dreams and daydream away and just kind of set intentions on what I’d like in my life, what I wanna be as an adult and how I wanna manufacture or create this character for myself was always something that, it was a constant act of, how would I say that it was a constant thing. I’ve always dreamt a lot and I do also have recurring dreams that happened when I was a child and it’s very bizarre and I could, maybe this is the first time I’ve ever even vocalized it. I would dream that I was a tire that is on the ground and a bunch of trucks will drive past me. Oh, sounds like a fever dream.
Steven: And do you feel like life is passing you by? What does that mean?
ONCH: I don’t know what that meant, and I actually have probably should go dive into that because that was a recurring dream that always happened. And another dream that always happened was I would be a little bird and that little bird would be in a nest alone and looking out of the nest, which was really high up looking for my parents, it was a recurring dream. And I think for that dream specifically, I had that dream all up until years after I moved to America. And I think it could also mean that, I’ve al I’ve always been very independent and I’ve always lived alone. So I was probably looking for security and my family and when I, me and my family meeting my chosen family. Yeah.
Steven: That’s so fascinating cuz I had another guest on this podcast, haka and she is a visual artist and she actually wrote stories about her being transported across countries and oceans with also the mythical figure of birds and dragons and creatures of flight. And I find that interesting, especially for you having come from Taiwan when you’re also a little kid.
ONCH: Yeah. I think that I wish I had this habit. Of creating a dream diary as a kid because I think a lot could be, explored through the messages that I was given or the feeling that I went through, for my transition from being in Asia, coming to America and trying to find my authentic self cause it definitely wasn’t easy being in a culture that was so uptight and living in this little box where you’re trying to please your parents and coming to America where I was, Free to do everything I want and I guess reinvent myself to the person I am today.
Steven: Yeah. And coming out of it, or, I’m just curious, like we’re on the, we’re on the same thread of family. Do you have other family members who also
engage in this practice of just dream writing and dream embracing analyses? Or do you find that is something that just came naturally for you?
ONCH: I actually always tell my mother about my dreams and she would be fascinated because she can’t remember anything and she’s very surprised that I’m able to remember very just intricate details of everything that happens, including the colors and the patterns and how it made me feel and the smell of my dreams. And I will tell her about things that she would just be surprised. For example, there was this one time, this was after my grand great-grandmother have passed away.
I dreamt that she called me on the phone and she told me about this wedding that we have to go to during, our summer vacation and we have to go visit. And I woke up and told my mom about it. And she had no clue what I was talking about. But that exact summer, so this was three months after the dream happened, we went to my great-grandmother’s great grandson’s wedding.
And I wouldn’t have known about it because, that is such distant family and when I was at the wedding reception, I told my mother, I said, mom, remember I told you this was happening? And it’s just kind of fascinating how I feel within, your dreams. I feel like people that are with you or in a different space are able to communicate with you in a way where I don’t think that they could have, with a medium or ouija board or anything of such.
Steven: That’s fascinating. It’s forecasting the future dejavu.
ONCH: Yeah. Yeah it’s very strange and it’s happened a couple of times. There was another time where we went on a family vacation and we went to this hotel and I told my mom, I said, mom, I’ve been here. And it was impossible cause this was this new place that, you know, none of us have been. And I told her, I said, when you walk all the way down, there’s a fountain and when you turn right, there’s a gift shop.
And that gift shop has a puppy inside of it. And I basically described everything and she was very surprised that I was on point with everything I described. So I definitely do feel like in your dream state, not only do you live this fantasy life, but you might also be living in a different dimension and you’re able to relive that in your awaken life.
Steven: Interesting.
ONCH: At some point.
Steven: Fascinating. And I’m just curious, and you mentioned this earlier, which is around like shifting and changing your destiny. Do you feel like you have also done the same with your life?
ONCH: I think so since I dream so much, and I don’t know if this is called manifestation, I don’t know if this is called setting intentions, but I definitely dream things into reality.
Where there are companies and people and friends that I have wanted to be part of their life so badly and I would dream about them all the time that it comes. True. And I think that would, for example, I would dream about working with Keith Haring, which is my favorite artist on the whole, this planet.
And I would dream about working with Tokidoki and different brands that I love so, so much, and in real life. It manifests itself and it happens. I don’t know if it’s the way I set my intentions. I don’t know if it’s because I always truly believe that whatever I, my heart desires and whatever my dream, I guess I, whatever I really dream of, it always comes into fruition.
Steven:Yeah, that’s interesting. Let’s talk a little bit about your collaborations. And I’m just curious, you’d mentioned, especially with this project with Keith Haring, my question to you is, what about Keith Haring made you really interested in collaborating with them and what are you working on together?
ONCH: So as a young kid, I would go through these Keith Haring books and I would be captivated by his drawings. It’s ver and they look like comic doodles and the colors that he uses, and just the simple shapes that would really represent. Dancing men and glowing babies and barking dogs that I was so inspired by him without really knowing the story behind this wonderful man to me, they were like comic strips, but in a very artsy way. And when I was in my teens, my mom gave me a couple of Keith Haring books, and that’s when I started realizing, I was like, wow, this guy is amazing. He has done so much for the LGBTQ community. He’s done so much for the AIDS foundation and really helping a younger generation to appreciate art and bring art to the masses.
And when I realized that I was just so blown away by the power of one person and how much a guy with a dream can change the world and change the way people viewed art. And with that said, I’ve always dreamt that I would live in a time where him and I could interact. So what I actually, as a kid would dream about, hanging out with him and drawing with him and dancing around in his studio, just playing with paint, which is so bizarre when I think about it, and I was approached by the Keith Haring team. Licensing team, I would say maybe eight or nine years ago. And we discussed on potentially working on a project together, and it never came into fruition, which was a little heartbreaking because he is the artist that has inspired me growing up. A lot of the ways that I draw and illustrate was highly inspired by him.
And last year at a licensing expo, we reconnected. And now we have a jewelry collection coming out that would be for the Broad Museum cause he’s having a retrospective art show over there. And I am just so over the moon that this has finally come full circle and that I’m able to create something that I think will make him proud.
Steven: Yeah. And can you also share a little bit about maybe what are you working together on
ONCH: For this project we’re creating necklaces. So we have five different pendants and they are featuring the Keith Haring iconic art on it, along with liquid that is floating inside of it. And the reason why I designed the pieces that way is because to me, Keith’s art really shows a lot of movement and it’s alive. So if I want to create an art piece wearable art for Keith, I think that it should be alive in a way. So when there’s floating liquid inside of a necklace, whenever you are wearing it, it always shows movement and it’s ever changing, which I really think represents what Keith Haring’s art is about.
So it is my first time creating anything like this. It was quite the challenge, when there’s a will, there’s a way. And I am so proud that. It will be featured in the Museum’s gift shop and it’ll be available for all the Keith fans to purchase.
Steven: That’s so cool. It reminds me of the, when you said liquid floating, liquid and necklace. I don’t know why. I just thought about when Angelina Jolie was wearing the necklace with, what’s his name?
ONCH: Billy Bob Thornton.
Steven: Billy Bob Thornton’s Blood,
ONCH: or, you know, we could tie it back to Liquid Dreams. You know what I mean? There’s so much we could talk about there too.
Steven: Oh, that’s so funny.
Yeah, it’s, I think that’s super cool and just this ability to bring to life what you’re imagining. And I think a lot of the times too in working with people to
envision a new future or a new career or going somewhere completely different than where they are, there’s this fundamental need to have to be able to imagine that.
And it’s funny cause I was just doing a talk with my organization a few weeks ago about the power of also creativity to our historically marginalized community. And why it’s so essential in shifting our community’s narrative is because creativity is exactly what we need as individuals to be able to change.
The trajectory of where we want to go in the future versus right continuing down the path of like a job, being a doctor, lawyer, whatever it is, right? That your parents wanted to or charting something new, brand new that really intrigues and interests you. And I think there’s so many ways we can slice and dice this, but there’s just so much to be said about how important it is to dream, to be creative, to do all these things that help us deviate away from maybe getting stuck right in a routine that has gone on way too long, or we’re just not changing the trajectory of our lives in the way that we want it to.
ONCH: I agree and you know, I get it, and I think we all get it, that being a doctor is important. We need doctors around, but we need creative people too. That’s how we’re able to escape. That’s how we’re able to really dive into our imagination. Video games are created by artists. I think a lot of times people don’t realize how important what we’re doing is for the community.
Steven: Absolutely. Yeah. And let’s touch on another collaboration, right? So what is another collaboration that you did recently within the past few years that you’re also really proud of that encapsulates dreams, creativity, all that stuff.
ONCH: I’m working on a Hollywood 100 project, so this year is the hundredth anniversary of the Hollywood sign and it’s also, it also marks the 20th anniversary of me living in America. And to me, I am living my American dream and being able to work with the city of Hollywood and create a bunch of capsule collections with brands that I love, I feel like is my dream, like my ultimate dream come true. And I remember when I was back in Taiwan as a kid, I’ve always thought how cool it would be to just live in Hollywood and live in Los Angeles.
And I didn’t know what I would do here. I thought I was gonna be a mermaid, to be honest. But, after coming here and building my career and meeting so many wonderful people and realizing that my true calling is being a designer and creating products that will allow people to have a mental escape and live their fantasy life, being able to create so many different capsule collections with Hollywood, the city that I love has been so surreal and I feel like it is years and years of dreams that all gathered together, and now it’s all just blossoming into
what we’re creating this year. So for a lot of the collaborations that we’re create are working on Includes Tokidoki, includes the Creme Shop, Mova Globes, all of these companies that I’ve loved and adored so much throughout the years and have dreamt of working with and it’s all coming together.
It feels like all these puzzle pieces from all over are finally fitting in into this giant picture and a giant sign that spells Hollywood.
Steven: Yeah, it must be quite a milestone, right? I think being able to move from this space where you are collaborating with individual brands, now you’re basically helping to curate this larger scale project, bringing on other collaborators, other people that you admire.
I think it’s such a beautiful way to really push your capacity of just your creativity, inviting others, this collaboration aspect, but also I think it’s a great timing with, did you say 20 years in America?
ONCH: Can you imagine 20 years. I definitely feel like America is my home. And I think another thing that you know, fills my heart with gratitude is that I am a person of color that have moved here to live my Hollywood dream. And to be chosen to be the, the collaborator to work on this project meant a lot to me. And I think that we’re in a place where I see change in the way Hollywood is navigating.
I am the living proof that Hollywood is shifting towards a direction that is more inclusive, and that is amazing. We never saw that back 20 years ago.
Steven: Yeah, 20 years ago. When you got your start in Hollywood, it’s gonna be such a blast to see everything also come to life. And I think also some of the stuff that you created is just so unique, so playful, so dreamy.
And I’m just curious also, now moving away from like the collaborations and all this stuff. I love some of the fun kitchen things that you make. Like one of my favorite pieces that you’ve done is like that gold chicken wing necklace.
ONCH: Are you hungry right now?
Steven: I’m kind of hungry, which I think is so iconic and I just, it’s just some things that I just haven’t seen out there. And I think especially when it comes to jewelry and self-expression, so often people just want those like solid simple things and what I do appreciate about your work is it’s just fun. It’s childish in a good way. It’s capturing the whimsy of a childhood, and the carefree and playful nature of i
also creative folks, and I’m sure you’ve faced this dread of just like maybe like creator’s block, right? Of just like moments when you’re like, okay, I’ve created all these amazing things, collaborations.
I’m just curious if you’ve one, ever faced any creative roadblocks on the way to making some of these really interesting things. And if you have, do you have any tips for people on how to just get through things
ONCH: when you’re going through a roadblock still continue to create. Just like how when an artist or a person that is trying to illustrate something, an idea concept, when they go through a creative block. They should continue to still make it a habit to, to write down, draw, illustrate doodle every day because our brain is a muscle. You have to keep on working that muscle. I know that I do that when it comes to creating stuff. I have maybe 25 sketchbooks. That are filled with different ideas and concepts.
Some of them are great, some of them are trash. But out of all the designs, out of the 50 trash designs that I’ve created, there’s gonna be five or six that are so amazing and at some point I could utilize that and bring it to life. And for my friends out there that are going through that right now, one thing that never failed me is food.
Because food inspires me so much, and that’s probably why you brought up the chicken wing. Food is a universal language. You could have people from all over the world sit at a dining table and if nobody speaks the same language, at least you could speak the language of food. So I always say my fallback for anything is create something inspired by food.
That is something that I feel like I’ve mastered. And I will continue to create food inspired jewelry and accessory and designs.
Steven: It’s like, now that you say it, I’ve actually done the same where I’ll just write random things together. I’ll take pictures of random things, and when it comes time to the posting or just like putting out into the real world, I’ll go through the Rolodex of all the things that I’ve done that maybe at the time I was also being a little bit too critical, right? Or it’s just there’s a lens to something that didn’t allow me to get it out, but somewhere down the line I’m like, actually, that wasn’t that bad. Let me like work on that. Tweak it, get it out. And I think that, like what you said is just opening up a lot of thoughts for me of just like the words of like compassion come to mind, especially with our creativity. Mindfulness of our creativity. Not having to judge it. Just being able to create.
ONCH: Yeah. And you know, Steven, I don’t know if you do this, but I used to do this. This was a really bad habit of mine as whenever I drew something that wasn’t perfect, I would throw it away. I would trash it. And I realized that there’s no bad drawings, there’s no bad ideas. It’s just you are exercising your creativity. So now whatever I draw, whatever I create I keep everything. I don’t throw away anything so borderline a hoarder, but I would say that’s the kind that you probably wanna be.
Steven: I think that also kind of ladders up into your activity of your dream diary, right? It’s like you’re like, I had this dream. I’m not gonna judge it. I’m just gonna write it down. Just observing what’s happening and then just embrace it. I think the creative process that you’re explaining kind of feels the same way, where it’s like putting something down, manifesting it into like a physical thing, whether it’s like a drawing illustration and just letting it be and not having to judge it, not having to have some thoughts about it.
ONCH: Yeah cause you never know. Maybe, we’ll write it into an awful one day. Could you imagine a novel about Taylor Swift giving me Botox
Steven: while you’re drinking coffee?
ONCH: While drinking black coffee? Yes.
Steven: I think it’s so funny you have those like little details. It’s like not just a drink,
but it’s,
ONCH: no, it’s black coffee.
Steven: Black coffee.
ONCH: It is shooting a video with Taylor Swift about a laundry detergent and by the way, Steven, you taught me one thing a couple of days ago when we were on the phone. It was about manifestation and setting intentions. And you mentioned there is a difference between those two and I’m just curious as to what they are and I think that people need to know.
Steven: Yeah. So I hear the word manifesting a lot and I think for many years I had been sitting with that, but also sitting with like, how do we also recognize and call forth privileges access that people might have that is different from other people and I was trying to also find a word of how do we articulate the way in which we leave the door open for us to invite a different future to
receive, change trajectory to dream, like you mentioned, and the word intentionality came up versus manifestation, and I had watched the video. Have you ever watched the video? What was it with Oprah was in it and it was called, yes. It was all about manifestation and yes. What was that called? The Secret?
ONCH: Yes.
Steven: It was the secret and I had watched it.
ONCH: I watched a secret, met multiple times. It was one of my favorites Netflix thing,
Steven: and I was like, for many years I was like, okay, this is interesting.
Tell me more. But when I sat with them more and more, there’s a few things that. Shine very glaringly. Most of the people are white, straight male. And something that I was like, huh, this, especially in my work in social activism, what I recognize more is there’s just some identities that end up with more privilege, not because of themselves enacting it, but because societally we put different identities and a pedestal, and I think the part that I started becoming more aware of was the fact that maybe some people have privileges that they’re masking behind the word manifestation. And yeah. And especially when TikTok was blowing up a few years ago, I had watched all these videos of people on TikTok going I just manifested it.
And it’s like, okay, break it down. And especially in my work with the nonprofit and figuring out how are we creating pathways for queer BIPOC folks to break into the creative industry, I can’t just be like, okay, just believe it and it’s gonna happen. But I have to actually try to figure out how we can move the needle for people.
And so, oh, I do think a part of it is shifting our belief system. I do think there’s a part of just acknowledging and articulating like what is actually happening, right? And so I think the one word that I’ve been kind of landing on has been intentionality, right? Being more purposeful with how we think about ourselves of others, the work.
Are we setting intention before we even conduct business moving forward with our life? And to me, that word has been so much better than just manifestation, because I feel like manifestation could also be really lazy in itself, right? It’s like as long as you believe it’s gonna somehow happen, but with intentionality, it’s actually it’s not just the fact that you believe, but it’s the fact that you have to set forth a purpose.
Yeah. And the vision you have to. And then once you set it on the ground, then you can allow that to plant into the garden. But manifestation, to me it felt more like if I just think about a garden flourishing, it’s gonna somehow flourish. But you didn’t see like 50 people come by till the soil and plant the seeds for you.
You’re like, don’t happen. But intentionality is okay, what am I wanting to happen and the purpose behind it and how do I put forth that?
ONCH: The hard work.
Steven: Exactly.
ONCH: No, I think that is so accurate. I think that, I don’t know if it’s a Gen Z thing, but a lot of them are sitting back and relaxing and just manifesting their life away and just hoping that by saying it out loud, things will just happen and it’s not the case, at least not for me. And I don’t think it’s for you too, cause I know how hard you work to get to where you’re at today.
Steven: Absolutely. Yeah, and I think there’s so many things too, of just like trials and tribulations, especially when we’re underrepresented in the industry.
Like especially for you in Hollywood and just being surrounded by all these people. Especially even like fine arts. I feel like the representation of Asian fine artists, queer, Asian, fine artists who are even like jewelry designers here in the United States, I feel like it’s not that popular and common.
And I’m wondering, my question to you is, especially with, setting up the vision and all this stuff and setting forth dreams and intentionality, how has it been for you in your journey? Like, has it been easy? Has it been a lot of work from my journey till this day?
ONCH: I feel like I’m still taken as a joke. I’m still within my industry of fashion and jewelry and accessory. I’m still not being taken seriously, but that’s okay. It’s okay because I know where I am taking myself. I know where my intention’s at. I know what my end gold is, and I don’t mind what other people say. I don’t mind what they, cause they, everybody can have an opinion of me and what I do.
I’m just the guy that creates chicken wing necklaces. I’m just the guy that puts a giant ice cream cone on a neck. But what I realize is I’ve set trends and I’m
changing the way people view fashion and accessories. And I know what my end goal is. My end goal is to create a, not just a huge company that you know will sell internationally, but my end goal is I wanna be able to continue to inspire younger artists and creators to have the confidence of stepping outta the box, creating weird, quirky things, and knowing that what they’re doing Is considered art and at some point they will find success through that.
I feel like, one of the things that makes my heart smile is to know that I’ve inspired another creator. Not by just my art, but also with inspiring them to be true to themselves. cause I feel like I live a very authentic life where I am out there frolicking, wearing some rainbow outfit or, doing my gym times and, doing what my heart pleases at that moment.
And when I have different personalities that would message me via DM telling me that I’ve inspired them and I have inspired them to come out of the closet or start their transition and all of that. To me, I, it makes me realize that what I have done in my sacrifices were all worth it.
Steven: Yeah. I love waking up and saying, you 5:30 AM good morning. It’s, I know, I really love that. I’m like, it’s important.
ONCH: Yeah. It’s important for me to, hold myself accountable too, because I do wake up at five every day and I want to hopefully inspire others to do the same and not wake up that early, but meaning, wake up and smile and know that today is gonna be a great day because I do believe that you have the power to change, at least the energy that you’re putting out there and change the day. Yeah. You might live in the gutter, but if you wake up happy living in the gutter, then. You know, the rest of the day is gonna be pretty great cuz you are content. And you are, I guess, surviving with a smile. It’s choosing to see if the glass is half full or half empty.
Steven: Yeah and you are very inspirational and since I’ve known you as a friend over the past, it’s been a handful of years. Many years actually. Hold on times flies so fast.
ONCH: You know, restaurants that we used to go to are no longer, they’re all shut down.
Steven: What’s that salad place? We used to love soup plantation.
ONCH: It’s closed.
Steven: It’s no longer. Wait, and then we go like a vegan restaurant that closed down and we’re at one point we’re like, we need to stop going to places cause they can’t
ONCH: Cause we’re ruining it. Yeah.
Steven: Oh, so good. What I was gonna say was just since I’ve known you, I think you’ve always carried yourself as a very authentic individual and almost so childlike in the sense of carrying your heart on your sleeve, but just so also genuine in that way. And compared to many people I know who you know, aren’t very in touch with their emotions, but also have so many layers to their personality, I feel that you’re one of the very few people that I know that. You’re like, this is me. This is all you get.
ONCH: Yeah. Nothing more, nothing less,
Steven: nothing more, nothing less. And I really deeply appreciate that about you.
ONCH: Thank you. I think social media especially is so toxic with a lot of personalities and creators out here. Yeah. Only showing one side of their life. And that’s just unrealistic. I want to always showcase what’s real. When I’m going through a shitty day, you’re gonna know it. When I cry, you’re gonna see it, you know? And it just so happens that most of the time I’m pretty bubbly and upbeat. When those dark clouds hover above me, you will know that I am not having it today. But I am doing my best. To try to see the rainbow through the clouds.
Steven: Yeah. Yeah. And I think the things that you’re also setting forth is just really intentional as well. And I’m just curious, looking into the future for you, what’s coming up? What do you have in mind? It seems like you have so many exciting things that are also coming up and you also have planned all the way, like into 2024 and beyond.
ONCH: Yeah. I think by this time this podcast is out, we would’ve already announced the Teletubbies collection for 2024.
Steven: That’s so exciting.
ONCH: I’m really excited about that. I grew up loving Teletubbies. They were my just everything. And we are actually making them queer icons for Pride 24, and to work with a company that is so ahead of their time and is willing to really step out of the box and allow me to create a different narrative for their intellectual property. Really makes me so, so happy. And we were actually just on a conference call yesterday and I was thanking the team, for taking it there and for allowing us to go there without holding us back, without, telling the creators that this is the only thing you can do because this is the story we wanna tell.
And I think that we all have different experiences and different dreams that we wanna take, our childhood favorites. I’m sure you want take Johnny Bravo somewhere that Johnny Bravo probably would not be taken me know by Disney. And for me it means a lot to be that person to help.
Tell a different story for Teletubbies. So that is for Pride 2024. And I’m gonna put this out there since we’re talking about the future. Okay. So one of my main goals and dreams is I wanna be a creative director from Moschino at some point. To me that would be really fun to reimagine a brand that I grew up loving.
And to see Jeremy Scott take it to a place where idolize and I think is so amazing. I wanna have my part in that too.
Steven: Oh, setting the intention.
ONCH: Setting the intention on Yellow Glitter.
Steven: On Yellow glitter. You heard it here, folks.
ONCH: Yes. And another company that I would love to work with, and I’m just setting another intention now, is Mattel Barbie.
I think that growing up I was definitely highly inspired by Barbie and what I love about Mattel, Is that they’re so inclusive and they are doing their part to make all the kids and young adults and well full grown adults to feel like they are being seen. And I appreciate that and I support a company that sends out that message.
Steven: I love it. I hope something comes your way. Sending
the intentionality.
ONCH: That would be great. That would be great. But with that said to 2024 is gonna be another big year. I’m working with brands that I personally love, including Pinks hotdog. Do you remember Pinks Hotdog?
Steven: Yes.
ONCH: It’s very iconic in LA Yeah.
Yeah. So we’re working with Pinks hotdog to reimagine the brand in a way that it is not just a food, like guess a delicacy, it is gonna be a fashion experience. Let’s put it that way.
Steven: Ooh, that’s fascinating. Yeah. I think they’re one of the first viral food places in LA, right?
ONCH: I think so. Yeah. Yeah. And at anywhere you go in Asia, if you mentioned Pink’s hotdog, they’re gonna be like, oh yeah. The best hotdog on the planet. And it’s just very exciting to work with. I love food, so it just makes sense.
Steven: Oh, that’s awesome. That is wonderful. And I wish you all the best with those and can’t wait to see what you come up with and all that. You also create and place into the world, which is your intentionality, and also your manifestation of your joy and your authenticity.
And as we get to the end of our podcast episode, I have a few quick questions to ask you.
ONCH: Yes.
Steven: Yeah. One. What is something that is bringing you joy lately?
ONCH: The one thing that brings me joy lately is to live in the moment. That’s something that I never did in the past years. I always lived in the future and lived thinking of what is next and what I have to do after, and it’s always living a couple months ahead.
And I think during the pandemic it taught me that our life is so short, we need to live in the now. And enjoy the moment that we’re in. And whenever I’m spending time with my friends or my dogs, or going on a hike or just going to get coffee by myself, enjoy that moment because you never know if it’s ever gonna come back ever again.
Steven: Yeah. I think we’re still seeing, that’s from Covid and it’s just one thing that I learned, especially in the mindfulness practice, we don’t have. The future, it’s never here. We can’t live there. Yeah. We also can’t live in the past cuz the past has already happened.
ONCH: Yeah.
Steven: And the only real. Tangible, actualized thing that exists Is this Very second. This very moment?
ONCH: Yeah. Like right now I am just grateful. I’m talking to my friend and talking about dreams, talking about the salad place that’s called, talking about the multiple restaurants that we’ve closed down together.
Steven: Yeah, it’s the side note with the soup plantation. It’s not a great name and I’m glad they canceled themselves before they got canceled.
ONCH: I missed a salad and
Steven: so cheap.
ONCH: The soup bar was amazing.
Steven: Oh my God. The desserts and the cookies.
ONCH: Do you remember when I used to go, when we used to go? I would go to get the chicken noodle soup and just pick out the chicken.
Steven: Yeah. For three, four hours and just eat and just pick out.
ONCH: It’s probably why they’re not opened anymore. It’s people like us.
Steven: Oh, that’s so funny. Okay, question two. What is something that you want listeners to take away with?
ONCH: I think I would love the listeners be bold when they dream and dream big.
Because I know that when you’re bold with your dreaming and when you’re bold enough to dream big, you are gonna work hard to make it happen. Because that’s part of your dream.
Steven: How do you know if it’s bold enough or big enough?
ONCH: I think when bold enough and big enough, just. Don’t be afraid, don’t fearless and just, you know, a lot of times we get, we hold back from dreaming cuz we feel like it’s unattainable.
But remove all those, scrap all that feeling. Go ahead and dream the most. If you want a private jet dream about that private jet. If you want to collaborate with Kim Kardashian, dream about collaborating with Kim Kardashian. If you want that, you are an owner of a restaurant chain. Dream that, and also be specific with your dreams.
Don’t make it so vague where you’re like, oh, I dream that I want a boyfriend, or I dream that I have a car. Talk about the boyfriend. I dream of having a boyfriend that’s six foot two that is a doctor that drives a Tesla. You know, be intentional and really dream big. I think that allowing yourself to do that is important.
So I would love the listeners to take away and go ahead and dream and be bold with your dreams.
Steven: Oh, I love that. I love that. I love that. Being fearless.
ONCH: What are you gonna dream about and of Steven, I wanna know about your dream.
Steven: Oh, what do I dream of? I have a lot of things that I wanna accomplish, and especially with the organization’s, the nonprofit, especially QTBIPOC design, I. Dream of us doing larger grander projects with big brands, big organizations in creating ways of empowering people who never had the access to do design and creative work. And so that’s on that board. And this year we’ve been able to cultivate a slew of amazing partnerships with the community organizations like Out in Tech, TransTech Queer Design Club.
And I think for myself, one dream that I’ve been cultivating has been just really helping to grow my business side, not just a nonprofit, but a business side. And for the longest time I had been working in right. A salary position and doing all these things as part of a company and helping companies develop and grow their backbone and standing them up in their creative teams.
And I think the scariest part was saying no, let me go do that on my own. And it’s definitely been a big learning journey in the process. It’s definitely not the easiest, but starting to see some fruits starting to pop up here and there. Though the asterisks is, I find myself doing a lot more sales work than the creative work itself.
But I guess that’s very much the nature of running a business and developing it, but just really excited for the challenges and the things that’s coming my way, but my dream for that is I want to have also thinking about the clients we bring on, shifting away from those who just have money to diversifying our client base, to include nonprofit partners, mission-driven organizations, and want to be able to figure out a way in which we can do some really cool creative work with some awesome brands that have a strong mission behind it to help others.
ONCH: I love that. This is another reason why I love you. You’re always trying to help others and that’s even part of your dream. And I don’t think that there are a lot of people out there that are like that.
Steven: Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. It’s, you know my story, right? It’s like going from like deathbed to coming back. Like I feel that I’m just so, I don’t know, like I still sit in gratitude every day. Like I’m just so grateful for my round two in life. And this whole wanting and desire to help others was not just this like facetious goal, but really I’m like, at least let my round two be impactful onto others, you know?
Yeah. And I had lived. Round one very much like, it’s all about me. Everyone look at me da. And I was just in the hospital for so long. During that one point in my life, I just reflected as to the purpose of my life.
ONCH: I wonder if you and I would have been friends during round one of season.
Steven: Ooh. I don’t know.
ONCH: I think we would’ve gotten along cause you know, I think we both have that side of us that is so fun and out there. Yeah. But I’m not sure if our friendship would be what we have, what it’s today. And I appreciate that our timing, where we aligned was, now. Perfect. Yeah.
Steven: Yes. Yeah. And I feel like you’re also going through a path of growth, self-actualization too.
ONCH: And we’re on this journey together.
Steven: Exactly. Yeah. And I appreciate that so much and I appreciate you asking me that question too. I had never really thought about it in that way.
ONCH: It’s important to dream and I just, I think that as an adult, a lot of us are afraid of that. It is scary though, because like you get Botox by, I don’t know, Taylor Swift and drink black coffee and eat mandarin oranges.
I’d be petrified too.
Yeah.
Steven: That is so fascinating. I wonder if it’ll happen in the future. We’ll, earmark it.
ONCH: You know what? I hope so.
Steven: Yes. And then last question for you. Yes. How can listeners find you?
ONCH: I think you guys should find me in your dreams, honestly. We should go on a little dream date together, holding hands and, talk about everything and nothing.
But in all seriousness, you could find me on my Instagram, which is @ONCH. You could check out my website, which is onch.us. Cause there’s a little bit of ONCH in all of Us and Twitter, which is also, ONCH and Facebook, which I think is ONCH Movement. Awesome. Should I tell Venmo also?
Steven: Yeah, drop your Venmo cash app.
ONCH: Love that. Steven, thank you for having this wonderful podcast. This is what a great space for just creatives to talk about all of their experiences and you are doing such a good job.
Steven: Thank you so much, so appreciated and appreciate you for being on. And also for our listeners, appreciate you for listening up to this point of the show and just appreciate cultivating community alongside us and being conversation. And if you wanna learn more about us, you can visit our website at yellowglitterpodcast.com. Just check out our newsletter to be notified of new episodes, and also check out our old episodes as well. And with that, thank you for listening. ONCH thank you for being here and from both of us here.
We hope your day can be a little bit more mindful, a little bit more creative, and dream on.
ONCH: Yes, dreamy for sure. Thank you for having me, Steven.
Steven: Yes, thank you and bye everyone.