We had the good fortune of connecting with Quavondo Nguyen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Quavondo, what are you inspired by?

The main inspiration and spirit behind what keeps me motivated is my mother. We immigrated to America from Vietnam when I was 7. She was a single mom with five children, a language barrier, and no family in a new country. Despite the baggage, she managed to work from the ground up to make a new life for us all.

Her bravery inspires me daily to take risks and follow my dreams and intuition. Anything less would be a disservice to her sacrifice.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

When I started out in photography, the recommendation was not to be a jack of all trades and a master of none. Solid advice, but why can’t I be a master of more than one? All it takes is time, effort, and dedication. Now I’m proud to know that I’m able to make a good living shooting people, food, products… and I’ve expanded my repertoire into directing and screenwriting along with being the Editor-in-Chief for ClicheMag.com. So when people try to set limits in your life, don’t listen. Anything is possible.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

If you’re a friend of mine, you must love magic. So I’d start off at the Black Rabbit Rose for some drinks, amazing Thai food, and close-up magic. After the warmup, we’d go straight to the Magic Castle. The rest of the week includes: It’s Pho for some amazing pho without going all the way to Orange County, Hae Jang Chon for some delicious Korean BBQ, Universal Studios for some wild rides, Palm’s Thai to spice and celebrity sightings (I’ve seen a few), Mama Shelter for drinks and sunset, Tao for some sushi, Breakroom 86 to relive the 80’s, The Roosevelt for some old-school bowling, El Compadre for habanero chips and salsa, Dakokuya for the most amazing ramen and pork bowl, W Hotel for some live music, and if they aren’t wiped out after this, then I give up.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

I would love to shout out to an amazing photographer, Joni Kabana, who let me tag along on shoots before I knew that I could make a living as a photographer. And last but not least, Jaclyn Robyn (IG: @jaclyn_robyn), for being everything I could ever ask for in a partner. We are a perfect fit in work and in life.

Website: www.quavondo.com

Instagram: @quavondo

Linkedin: Quavondo

Twitter: @quavondo

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/headshots-by-q-los-angeles?start=20

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