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

Hi Joanna, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Ever since I can remember, I’ve always loved fashion. From the runway shows to Nordstrom’s semi-annual sales, I felt so inspired by different trends that’d come and go each season. When it came time to think about my future career goals as a junior in high school, fashion was all I thought about. Until it wasn’t.

My family never believed in pursuing careers in art. Like many Asian families, I was steered towards STEM paths. I ended up pursuing a career in pharmacy.

While in pharmacy school, I started to feel sad when I thought about the future. I’d often ask myself things like “what if I never get to do what I actually love?” I was always the most overdressed among my peers and decided to start an Instagram logging all my outfits. Eventually, I gained a modest following and here I am!

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

I’m a pharmacist who currently works at a health tech company. In the field of pharmacy, a pharmacist working at a tech company is pretty uncommon. And a pharmacist who creates fashion content is even less common. I’ll briefly talk about how I got into health tech as a pharmacist.

Pharmacy school prepares you for 3 main paths: retail/community pharmacy (like CVS and Walgreens), hospital pharmacy, and pharma (or pharmaceutical companies, like Pfizer). That’s it. As someone who really wasn’t into any of these fields, I reluctantly chose to work at a retail pharmacy.
The 1.5 years I worked for a retail pharmacy were the unhappiest years of my life. While I loved my coworkers, I hated the idea of patient care being turned into something very corporate—the way pharmacy staff is treated in retail chains can be compared to mice running on a wheel to generate electricity. [PSA to be nice to your local pharmacists and pharmacy techs] Creating content was the only thing that made me happy and kept me going during this rough patch.
I eventually pushed myself to look for other jobs and was hired by a health tech start-up that was originally hiring for a social media manager, but saw my resume and created a new role suited to my abilities. This new role was looking for a pharmacist who was (1) experienced in content, (2) experienced in patient care, (3) passionate about social impact, and (4) growth-minded/willing to learn new skills. It was, and still is, the perfect role for me!
TLDR: I was able to leverage my skills in marketing/content creation and pharmacist experience to get my dream job in health tech.

Here are the 5 lessons I’ve learned so far in my professional journey:

1) Don’t let others (i.e. your professors, your peers, yourself) box you in. Your career is as flexible as you’re willing to be.

2) No one will create value for you. You need to know your worth and be able to pitch yourself to potential employers, brands, etc.

3) Learn new skills because there’s nothing worse than a one-trick-pony. Our personalities aren’t just one-dimensional and our careers shouldn’t be either. Just by adopting one skill that most professionals in your field don’t have, you’re already differentiating yourself from the pack. You can try starting a blog, taking coding classes, or learning a new language.

4) If you want something, go get it. This may sound simple, but think about all the times you hear people talking about something they want—this can be something as small as buying a cute $300 dress from For Love & Lemons or as big as a purchasing a $1M home. How often do they create a plan to get it? Probably not often. And how often do they actually get what they want? Even less often.

5) If you’re the smartest in the room, leave the room. It’s hard to grow as a professional if there’s nothing more for you to learn.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Los Angeles & here are some of my favorites!

Eat/Drink:
– For fancy dates: Geoffrey’s Malibu, Inn of the Seventh Ray
– For cute brunch: Openaire, The Terrace, Cara Restaurant
– French: Republique, A Food Affair, Croque
– Italian: Forma, Uovo, Osteria Momma
– Asian: FurAiBo, Izakaya Gazen, Woon, Mian, Max’s Restaurant, Pine & Crane
– Sweets: Hui Lao Shan, Sul & Beans, Salt & Straw, 7 Leaves (the mung bean drink with boba omg)

Visit:
– Shopping: Century City Mall, Rodeo Drive, The Grove, Santa Monica Promenade, Melrose Ave (Wasteland is my fave), Melrose Trading Post, Silverlake Flea
– Fun: Two-Bit Circus, Disneyland (of course), Universal Studios, bowling at The Spare Room
– Entertainment: comedy shows at Laugh Factory, Alamo Drafthouse, IPIC Theatres, concerts in nearby venues
– People watching: Venice Beach & Abbot Kinney, Echo Park

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I wouldn’t be where I am today without my mom. My mom has gone through so much hardship in her life, but has always stayed positive. I will never be able to understand how she’s able to embody so much mental and emotional strength.

Website: https://www.instagram.com/dearjoannaa/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dearjoannaa/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannatam17/

Image Credits
Andrew Lee (my boyfriend)

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.