Tien Chiu

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October 6, 2018 by Tien Chiu

More than my weight in weasels

101 days ago, I was a couch potato. Today?

Tien squatting 195 pounds
Tien squatting 195 pounds

That’s me squatting 780 weasels (195 pounds) – more than my body weight!

And here’s me at 99 days, deadlifting 700 weasels (175 pounds):

That kind of improvement exceeds my wildest expectations – in fact, it sounds like something you hear about in an ad on late-night TV. You know, “I was a 48-year old couch potato…but after 101 days of Weasel-Power! Boot Camp, I was squatting over 780 weasels!” That would totally have me going out and buying their Weasel-Power video series and their “Weasel-Flex” exercise widget! (For the more gently minded, of course, there would also be “Weasel Yoga – Make yourself supple as a weasel!”. Or – for you digital folks – the electronic game with social media leaderboards, “Wea-Fit”.)

But the amazing part (to me) is that I’ve made this massive improvement without a single injury. I’ve had plenty of muscle soreness, and I’ve tweaked my wrist, shoulder, etc. a few times, but no major injuries and no soreness lasting more than a few days. This kind of improvement isn’t my expertise and certainly isn’t luck: it’s having an excellent trainer. Touissant has done a fantastic job of encouraging me to push as hard as I can without going beyond my physical limits (general or from minor injuries), and helping me improve my form so I can lift more efficiently while staying safer.

Just as importantly, working with Touissant has gradually enabled me to trust that I’m not going to hurt myself lifting, which has enabled me to put everything I’ve got into the workout, rather than worrying about whether I’m going to hurt myself this time. I have a long history of overdoing it exercising and then losing months to injuries – now that I can trust him to watch out for me, I don’t have to unconsciously limit myself and can put everything I’ve got into the task at hand.

Another thing that’s made rapid progress possible is that Mike and I are working out together. We get fewer exercises done total, but it’s more fun to be able to work out with a friend and partner, so I’m more comfortable working out and more motivated to show up.

All of which has made me realize how important having a mentor and a peer group is to learning/doing anything new. People have asked me how I learn each new medium with lightning speed. I’ve always said, “Because I focus obsessively on things and I read a lot,” but I’ve also realized it’s because I reflexively seek out mentors and social groups that can answer my questions, encourage me, and keep me from getting frustrated when I tackle my super-over-ambitious projects.

I think this is true for others as well. So the online course I’m developing will offer both direct mentoring (from me, of course) plus a forum where students can interact, encourage each other, discuss the exercises and their current work, etc. Because, especially for people who are nervous about a new topic, having someone to guide, encourage, and support you makes learning much easier (sometimes it’s what makes learning possible at all!), and having a peer group to work with helps you put that learning into practice once class is over.

Speaking of the class…I’ve been pretty quiet about my teaching business for the last few months, mostly because I’ve been hard at work on it! But I’m getting closer to releasing my class. Close enough that I’m comfortable divulging a few details.

The class is going to cover the essentials of color in handweaving. The first part will cover basic color theory: the fundamental properties of color (hue, value, and saturation), how colors interact when interlaced in cloth, and a brief discussion of color mixing.

The second part talks about design: How to set the mood of a handwoven project by controlling drama, energy, and ambiance with color.

And the third part walks you through the design process: Choosing and using a warp color, weft color, and draft to achieve the mood you want.

The class will be offered in two formats. One will be a 1-2 hour streaming video plus handouts. That will (cross fingers) be released in November.

The other class option will be a full online course, with a discussion forum, exercises, feedback from the instructor (me!), etc. I’m planning to open registration in mid to late November, with the first session starting in January.

Here are two slides from the section on the design process:

Designing with Color - design process slide #2
Designing with Color – design process slide #2
Designing with Color - design process slide #3
Designing with Color – design process slide #3

 

I hope that, once my course is released, my students will be making weaselly fast progress with color!

By Keven Law (originally posted to Flickr as On the lookout...) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Keven Law, via Wikimedia Commons

Filed Under: All blog posts, Warp & Weave, weaving Tagged With: color study, powerlifting, Warp & Weave, weightlifting

October 10, 2017 by Tien Chiu

A slight shift in (blog) direction

Ah, the irony.

When I left my job at Google, I thought that not having a day job would free up more time and energy for creative work. How wrong I was!

True, my schedule is now more flexible, since I don’t have to go to a job from 9-5. But – because I am starting up a teaching business – I’ve been finding my time and energy totally consumed by the business, leaving almost no time for my own creative work. (Or, rather, my creative work right now is the business.) Thus, the dearth of posts here, on my personal blog. I hope to get more time to blog once my first course is launched in January 2018.

Starting up the business has been an interesting experience. On the surface, it looks relatively straightforward: put together some online classes, slap them up on a class platform, and open it up to students. Simple, right?

Well, no. There are a TON of new skills I’ve needed to acquire:

  • Web design/content – How to create a visually appealing website, and write copy that will sell people on your classes
  • Email marketing – How to write effective marketing and sales emails (there’s a lot more to this than you’d think)
  • Social media management – How to promote your business/classes effectively on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. (LOTS of etc.)
  • How to build a mailing list, and the mechanics of running one
  • How to build an effective online course: What platform to use, how to design/structure the class, whether to have a student forum (and what tools to use, etc. to create one), how to price it, etc.
  • Shooting video: How to set up a video studio, what equipment to use, how to edit video, etc.
  • Accounting
  • Various legalities of running a business, hiring contractors, etc.

And so on.

In addition to acquiring skills, of course, I actually need to do the work. Here is a small fraction of my to-do list for the next 7 days:

  • Put together a marketing plan for the business – target demographics, positioning, pricing, etc.
  • From the marketing plan, put together a social media marketing plan
  • Talk with and/or hire a potential social media manager (which also means researching how to hire a contractor, how to write a contract, etc.)
  • Weave three color gamps and write a blog post for Warp & Weave about why and how to use a color gamp
  • Weave three scarves and write two articles for Handwoven (deadline: October 26)
  • Start weaving the 53 samples needed for my first online color class
  • Figure out whether I want to switch email list providers – evaluate the pros and cons of two different providers and what it would take to migrate from one to the other
  • Fiddle with my course platform provider (Thinkific) and figure out the mechanics of putting up a class
  • Finish drafting the text for the last three slide decks for my class
  • Start planning for chocolate season

The list seems endless, and each item seems to spawn three other items. For example, the marketing plan and social media marketing plan were both precipitated by a huge stroke of luck – finding someone who might be the perfect social media manager for me. Of course, in order to hire her, I first need to know what I want her to do…and I need to be able to communicate to someone else all the marketing strategy that I have thus far kept only in my head. By Friday, because that’s when I’m meeting with her. (Etc.)

I’m not really complaining, as this is by far the most interesting and exciting “job” I’ve ever had. I’m learning a ton of new things, experimenting with ways to apply my new knowledge, and building something that is far more complex than anything I’ve tried before. Sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming – but this is my dream job! So I am grateful to be able to pursue it, and greatly enjoying the entire process. However, it does mean a lot less time to spend on my own projects. Pretty much all the weaving I’ve done in the past few months has either been my stole commission or for my Warp & Weave blog posts, upcoming classes, etc.

I hadn’t planned to blog about any of the business-building things, thinking that building an online business/Internet marketing is probably not that interesting to most of you blog readers. But then a friend pointed out that the process of business-building is an intriguing story in itself, and that many of you might be interested in doing similar things (starting an online fiber-related business). I also enjoy writing these blog posts, and it’s becoming patently obvious that I will have nothing to write about, if I don’t write about the things I’m doing for the business. So, in addition to the usual creative endeavors, I will be sharing some of the behind-the-scenes business-building stories here – I hope you find it interesting!

Meanwhile, of course, time is marching on, and chocolate season is approaching. (Yes, chocolate is that important to me. I’m considering the business more or less on hold during the month of November, in favor of chocolatiering – a girl’s gotta have her priorities!) The test kitchen for new flavors opens as soon as I get back – plus I’ll be placing my usual 100+ pound chocolate order soon – so stay tuned for details on that!

Filed Under: All blog posts Tagged With: Warp & Weave

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