Creative Minds: Yuchien Wang on the path from classical music to copywriting

Place of origin: Taipei, Taiwan   

 

Places lived and worked: New York City, USA; Taipei, Taiwan  

 

Pronouns: She/her    

 

CV: 

 

1. How did you end up being a creative?

 

I grew up playing the cello, so I think there was a part of me that was interested in the arts. In school, I did fairly well in most of the language courses. Quite early on, I found my love for writing. So, when it came time to pick a major for college, copywriting was a fairly obvious choice.

 

2. What’s your favourite piece of work in your portfolio?

 

Play It Forward. My team and I created this piece for Cannes Future Lions, and it got shortlisted. This Spotify feature turns streams into donations. Artists can donate by uploading an unreleased track to any Play It Forward playlist. Listeners can simply stream the playlists to donate. Each playlist is linked to a charity. 

 

 

3. What’s your favourite piece of work created by someone else?

 

This is a 2011 ad created by Droga5 for Puma. It found a niche audience, the 'after-hours athletes' who play darts or pools at bars, to speak to. The writing is spectacular. It’s just a list of characteristics. Everything was very tight and to the point. 

 

 

4. Who's on your dream dinner guest list?

 

I’d invite E.B. White to the dinner. I’m a huge fan of his book Here Is New York. The writing is not only moving, but also depicts the city very well. Also, he wrote Charlotte’s Webb, so what’s not to love? Apparently, according to his contemporaries, he was quite a mysterious person when he was a staff writer at The New Yorker. So, I’d love a dinner with him just to ask him to show me some of his unpublished work. Respectfully, of course.

 

5. What career did you think you'd have when you were a kid?

 

I thought I’d be a cellist. I was trained in classical music. I practiced long hours because I wanted to join the music academy in Taipei. After I auditioned and got in, I decided to turn it down. It was through the preparation of the audition that I realised I loved classical music, but not to the point that I’d want to do it at this intensity. But the cello remained a huge part of my life. In high school, I joined a jazz band. It opened up my world. A completely different genre with a different history. It was very freeing. It brought me true joy practicing with my bandmates. To this day I still play the cello. I’m happy to be a copywriter now. Everything worked out.

 

6. Do you work best under pressure, or when things are calm?

 

I prefer to work when things are calm, but unfortunately, the best performance does come out when I’m under pressure. When I worked at CuboAi, a tech startup, being their creative lead for product launches and major campaigns—I was bound to have to deal with last-minute curveballs. I remember when we launched Sleep Sensor Pad and found out last minute that the Amazon Storefront was missing a few modules. We had a big checklist of all the things that needed to be done for the product to go live, and we did check everything off the list but too bad, the modules weren’t listed. The designer on our team had to quickly resize some images. Eventually, everything was live on time.

 

7. What really motivates you?

 

I ask myself this a lot too. I’m motivated by two types of goals—more personal ones and ones that are bigger than myself. For instance, I’d love to take my parents on vacations. This is entirely personal. Then my bigger, more cathartic goal is to make the world a better place. I often think about those times when I needed help and people gave me a helping hand, which felt like lifelines at times. Be it a mentor in advertising, or a friend that helped me through a tough time in school. People came into my life and made it better. I wish I could one day make work that alleviates the pain and fear for others. Such as giving marginalised groups a voice or providing resources for afterschool programmes. The desire to make our world safer and better motivates me to create meaningful work.

 

8. What would you do on your perfect day?

 

I just had quite the perfect day today. I started the day off with a book. I’m currently reading My Year of Rest and Relaxation. Then I made coffee. Sat next to my dog and we just cuddled till he wanted to go outside. We took a stroll at the park across our street. Came back home and did some work. Had curry for dinner. I felt very calm and content today. That’s perfect for me.

 

9. What food can you not live without? And what food would you be happy to never taste again?

 

Eggs. It’s such a versatile ingredient—you can make so many dishes with it. Scrambled, fried, or boiled. Can you imagine cooking a bowl of instant ramen and not able to crack an egg in it? That’d be devastating. I’m good with never tasting durian again.

 

10. Cat person or dog person?

 

Dog! I have a Taiwanese Mountain Dog, called Ahu (阿琥) and he’s very cat-like. He is so aloof. You’d be lucky if he greeted you with a wagging tail. Taiwanese Mountain Dog's are known to be quite skittish. But Ahu isn’t even skittish, just weird. Pets that have their quirks are best.

 

11. Early riser or night owl?

 

I’m a conflicted night owl who would love to be an early riser. This is a constant battle of my life. Getting up early in the morning has all these perks: more productive, more time to read, get to enjoy a cup of coffee. Overall, it gives me a better chance at start the day right. But, for some unknown reason, my brain just works sharper at night. Once I started working on my projects at night, I wouldn’t want to hop off that train when I’ve gotten the momentum going. Then, it eats into the morning. I prefer to be an early riser, but my lifestyle seems to lean towards me being a night owl.