It Girl | GRACE DUONG
The universe works in mysterious ways. Going to Forbes Under 30 Summit was seriously amazing. I was already super excited about attending but my jaw literally dropped when I reviewed the list of other businesses exhibiting in the summit. I had purchased my Mystic Monday’s tarot card deck a few months prior so seeing that their founder Grace was going to be at the conference, I was so excited! In February I was able to interview Grace about her business. Having previously dmed with Grace I knew Mystic Mondays was a one-woman show. I remember being hella inspired by her transparency and how established her business was especially as a solopreneur. Today, months later, I am excited to introduce you to Grace. She has actually been able to hire a team which is something she talks about in this interview. The power of manifestation. Meet Grace!
Name: Grace Duong
Age: 29
Pronouns: she/her
Job Title/Company: Founder of Mystic Mondays and Grace Duong Design Studio
Education Background: Temple University Graduate, BFA from Tyler School of Art For Graphic Design
Tell us a little about who you are.
Sure. I am an artist and author of Mystic Mondays. It’s a modern tarot deck and app that has expanded into a metaphysical brand.
I am an Aries sun, a Pisces moon and a Gemini rising.
2. What sparked your interest in starting your business(es)?
So since I was trained in graphic design, I think it was like a natural route for me to eventually go full time freelance, especially since I didn’t really like the nine to five structure and I just wanted more freedom in my everyday routines. And I think being at those full-time jobs also made me realize I wanted a deeper purpose beyond what I was doing at those companies. I’m grateful for that journey because I learned a lot and Mystic Mondays combined my interests of art, tech and metaphysics into its own product and it helps me feel fulfilled in the way where this product is helping people get in touch with their own intuition, which really spoke to me in my journey and why I decided to make these tarot cards in the first place. So that’s the operation behind Mystic Mondays so far!
3. If applicable, tell us about your fulltime job and/or any side hustles you might have.
I consider Mystic Mondays to be my full-time job, because I do it more than I do consulting for graphic design and illustration nowadays. So right now it just feels like I’m in an in-between phase of expanding into growing Mystic Mondays beyond what it is right now, which is a one woman team so I’m currently doing all the roles but I’m realizing that you can’t do it all alone, especially with a big vision. So I’m starting to branch out and to have more people on board.
4. Who are you most influenced by?
I can’t really pin it down to one person, but I love Oprah and Sara Blakely and, just any strong, powerful women that are impacting the world in positive ways. And a lot of my inspiration can actually come in a lot of different moments because for me it’s fairly easy to combine different inspirations and to kind of connect the dots. So, I always have a ton of different ideas. I can be inspired anywhere.
5. What was your first job and how long did you hold that position?
Let’s see... My first paying job was at Dairy Queen at age 14. And I was there for maybe a year. And that was awful. Then in college I had like three different jobs at the same time in the summer. I was juggling working at Macy’s, a catering job, and working at the Dean’s office for the Tyler School of Art as a front desk receptionist. Hustle, I’m very familiar with. I think that nowadays I’m more conscious of my self-care and not burning yourself out by spreading yourself too thin, which was definitely a hard lesson because I tend to burn out fairly easily, especially when I’m inspired by my ideas.
6. Can you share one of your proudest achievements with us?
Well, I think Mystic Mondays is one of my proudest achievements because it’s something that I feel like I birthed into the world and full transparency, I didn’t really know what I was doing. At the time, when I took on this project for myself, it was really to learn about tarot, and to fulfill a need. I didn’t see any colorful or modern tarot decks out there. So that’s why I wanted to create my own. And yeah, it was definitely not easy. Anytime you’re starting anything new, it’s not going to be easy because there’s a lot of figuring it out as you go along. I definitely think that is one of my biggest achievements because it also helps me fulfill my sense of purpose and that I’m helping women get in touch with their own intuition and that it was always just so important to me to have a strong purpose in whatever I’m doing.
“ I think that nowadays I’m more conscious of my self-care and not burning yourself out by spreading yourself too thin, which was definitely a hard lesson because I tend to burn out fairly easily, especially when I’m inspired by my ideas.”
7. What were your initial goals with your work? How have they evolved?
When I started with Mystic Mondays, it was definitely more about my own self journey with tarot and what that meant for me. When I was living in LA, I would go get tarot readings all the time as a form of therapy. When I started to make my own tarot cards, it was after a realization that I could connect to this divine feminine energy that we all have access to. And a lot of that really was related to the sense of receiving and asking for help, which I was definitely not comfortable with, but had to do because Mystic Mondays Tarot launched as a Kickstarter, and naturally in a crowdfunding campaign, you ask for money! So a lot of things like stepping into the spotlight, speaking up, and sharing the products, all of that I was initially really uncomfortable with but had to do, so a lot of this process took me out of my comfort zone.
My goals have evolved in a way and so has Mystic Mondays itself - it’s evolving to include more people and to create a community of people that really embody the ideals of Mystic Mondays, and to create a safe environment for women, especially to express themselves and to explore their own inner worlds. With the tools that Mystic Mondays can provide, which is tarot and the upcoming Crystal Grid deck that should be published in the fall as well as the app, which I’m also launching an IFundWomen campaign for the new app updates and should be about a month from now.
[You’re also like a tech founder, you know, like having the app that makes you like also in like the tech world, which I think is important to note. ]
I’ve definitely been pushing for the next version of the app to be out in the world. So that’s where I see myself - as multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional because I definitely come from more of an art background than business or tech background. But I also combine that with strategy and working at different advertising agencies and tech companies have helped me hone in my experience. I’ve learned how to tap into different industries, and how ideas can be communicated, but wanted to approach that in my own original way. I definitely see tech as a large component of Mystic Mondays. Everybody has a phone so it was really intentional for me to launch an app at the same time as a Kickstarter campaign in 2017. Just because I knew everybody had a phone, had I known that it would have grown as large as it had? Um, no, because I will fully admit I didn’t know what I was doing. I just wanted to launch an app. Now, there’s over 300,000 downloads and I am still in the process of bootstrapping everything. The app is expanding to include more features as well.
“I think whenever somebody transitions to something new, perhaps something that can actually better their lives, we experience a resistance in that change because we’re comfortable in what we already know.”
8. What do you think is the most important life skill you learned through your work?
The most important life skill I’ve learned through my work is perseverance because you have to keep going no matter what. And this is where I learned that it (your purpose) has to be bigger than yourself and you have to love it so much in order for you to keep going. And that’s what keeps me going because it’s not an easy road to take. But if you truly believe that what you’re doing is going to impact the world in a positive way, more so than how you entered this world, then I think that’s like the best reason to keep going because you know that you can make a true difference. Basically entrepreneurship is not easy. Every day looks different. Perseverance, you know, having that skill of tenacity and grit is something that can take you a long way.
9. Where do you hope to be in five years?
That’s a big one because I can see this going down many different ways. Like, I would love to have an expansive remote team of people working at Mystic Mondays, furthering the mission of empowering women to explore and listen to their own intuition. I would love to see the tech aspect of Mystic Mondays evolve, beyond an app. I think one of my big things in the past that I have overcome is fear of the future. So, what’s been really important for me nowadays is just to be more present and take it day by day because every step you make takes you closer to that big dream. And I’ve kind of let go of what that’s supposed to look like, and been more accepting of how it’s naturally evolving. So, it’s hard to say where I would picture this to be in five years, I’m definitely in the process of building a Mystic Mondays empire and I’m open to what that looks like.
10. What is a typical day like for you?
Well it is different every day. Now I’m realizing the importance of a routine. So, I’ve been much more conscious about my health and have been prioritizing my fitness and wellness this year. It’s only February, but like I would say for the past month or so. I have noticed that that makes a huge difference in my mental clarity and how I approach my day and my mood and basically everything. I would just highly recommend it for everybody to prioritize their health and wellness because I personally just went through some pretty bad moments of burnout and exhaustion. At the end of the day, if you’re not well, you can’t really make any productive progress on your business. So take care of yourself. That’s one. But my day, it just, really depends on what is coming up, you know? I have some long-term projects and then I have some short-term projects. So it just, you know, depends on the timing of it all.
11. What was the biggest obstacle you’ve faced so far in the process of pursuing your goals?
What has been coming up lately is since I am introducing some new habits into my daily routines, that some resistance has been coming up. I think whenever somebody transitions to something new, perhaps something that can actually better their lives, we experience a resistance in that change because we’re comfortable in what we already know. I’m just noticing in myself that there may be subconsciously like a fear of change and wanting things to stay the same because we’re comfortable there. So I think it’s just about like having that awareness within ourselves and moving beyond it anyway.
12. What is the best piece of advice you have received?
A stranger once told me to put my art out there. Or she said something along the lines of make your art and put it out there because the world needs to see it. And at that moment in my life I was really trying to figure out what my voice was and how I could contribute to society and the world in my own unique expression. I always knew it was going to somehow involve art. Even as a child. I knew art was part of my path. That was very profound for me when she said that because I was literally trying to figure out what my voice was. So that was really important to hear at that time.
13. When do you get your best ideas?
It really depends, I’ve gotten some ideas in the shower or when I’m walking. Honestly, like now that I’m thinking about it, I think like every time I step away from the computer is when I get my best ideas because I’m in front of the computer so much. And I think when I’m in front of the computer, it’s mostly production mode. And then we need to give ourselves space to be creative and to think beyond, you know, taking action is important, but we also need to have time to daydream and be creative. So I think anytime I’m doing some sort of activity outside of being at the computer has been really helpful.
14. Can you share with us one time that you failed and what you learned from that failure?
I guess something that has been coming up is for the original Kickstarter deck, one of the cards is missing a wand. And I, you know, I didn’t realize it because I was just trying to get all the cards done and send it to print and I gave myself a crazy deadline. For some people, it actually takes years to create a tarot deck and then I condensed it all in probably like six months or less if I combine all the time together. It was very stressful for me to meet these deadlines that I made for myself. I just wish I gave myself more time to be careful about what I was doing because I didn’t really realize how that would impact other people, but also to be kind to yourself when these kinds of things happen because I did have the best interests at heart . That was definitely a mistake on my part but at that time I was so stressed out, I just, I did the best that I could, you know. But it’s forever, you know there’s a thousand decks out there missing a wand and that’s just something I’m going to have to live with.
15. How do you unwind?
I love to just hang out with friends and just catch up, especially since a lot of my work can sometimes feel really solitary. I am an ENFP, so I just like to be with people, but I also need time alone to recharge. I also love to travel. I was in Costa Rica for 20 days in December. And I always feel like travel just always resets my mind and helps give me a new perspective on how I’m living my life.
16. What do you hope people take away from your story?
Well, I am a first generation, Chinese American and in a lot of ways I had to find my own path because my parents immigrated to America in the 80s. I’m grateful because there were a lot of sacrifices made. I would implore for everyone to explore their inner world, because that often reflects in your outer worlds. For the past four years, well even maybe like six, seven, eight years, I don’t know actually, maybe even before… I’ve always just been searching for my own truth and, because I was taught with all of these different values from my family that I had to go on my own journey to figure out what was true for me. I think the more that we get to know ourselves better, the more that we can show up as our full selves in the world. It’s important that we take care of ourselves and that we become our best friends and we do the healing work that we need to do and take responsibility for our emotional selves because nobody else is going to take care of us in that way because it’s our own responsibility. My message with my story is that we can become our most empowered selves when we decide to take responsibility for our own experiences.
17. Anything we missed that you would like to share?/how did you, like what was going through your mind when you decided to leave your fulltime job and like, how did you know it was time for you to leave?
Well, in most of my previous full time jobs, I’ve always found a reason to hate it. So I knew it was time to leave because I felt really unsupported at that job because I felt like I was overworked and undervalued. And so I gave my two weeks and I quit. What was going through my mind was a lot of fear because I didn’t really have a plan when I quit, I just felt like it was like the right time for me. I will say that the cycle would have continued had I gotten another full time job because it was just not my path to work in place like that. But yes, a lot of fear, a lot of uncertainty but you just have to move through all those feelings and keep going because it ended up being totally fine.
image by https://www.instagram.com/__solg/