{"id":188515,"date":"2022-02-17T08:00:38","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T00:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehoneycombers.com\/hong-kong\/?p=188515"},"modified":"2022-02-21T13:41:46","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T05:41:46","slug":"how-i-get-it-done-sophia-hotung","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehoneycombers.com\/hong-kong\/how-i-get-it-done-sophia-hotung\/","title":{"rendered":"How I get it done: Sophia Hotung, writer and illustrator"},"content":{"rendered":"

We love entrepreneurs and small business owners at Honeycombers, which is why we\u2019ve created Launchpad<\/a>, a comprehensive digital networking<\/a> platform (with IRL benefits, too) that encourages connection, business support and community. It is a privilege and pleasure to learn from so many talented and inspiring folks<\/a>, so we\u2019ve decided to share the love by interviewing some of the lovely Launchpad members. Looking for inspiration? Check out how the writer and illustrator Sophia Hotung, gets it done like a boss.<\/p>\n

How I get it done: Sophia Hotung<\/h2>\n

How and why did you decide to launch your business?<\/h3>\n

I didn\u2019t launch my business with a business plan or grand strategy. I launched my business after realising that I had accidentally started one. I graduated from university with a job in IT audit at KPMG. I didn\u2019t last long there, or at the crisis consulting job I had after, because I kept ending up in hospital. I have seven chronic illnesses. It got to a point in October 2020 where I stopped responding to treatment and ended up immobile in bed. From bed, I questioned what I was going to do as a 26-year-old crone who could barely sit upright let alone hold down a job. Come Christmas, my mum gifted me an iPad. I downloaded the app Procreate, started drawing, and within a year had created prints, a book, and merchandise based on Hong Kong versions of New Yorker magazine covers<\/a> I had made. I monetised my hobby as a means to feel agency, purpose, and independence again.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s been the biggest challenge on your journey so far?<\/h3>\n

\"how<\/p>\n

My biggest challenge so far has been to get people to rethink disability. The disabled community is vast and diverse because there are so many types of disabilities, and the experience of living with even one illness differs between patients. It\u2019s impossible to speak for all disabled people and I don\u2019t try to, but there is still value to being a disabled voice at the table. That being said, it\u2019s very difficult to advocate for disability without seeming shrill, oversensitive, unprofessional, or even incompetent. Disability as a topic can make people uncomfortable; getting people comfortable with that discomfort is a big task and one that sometimes seems futile and overwhelming.<\/p>\n

What does the Launchpad community mean to you?<\/h3>\n

I think the chances of being able to work in an office again are slim to none for me. But I did love my old offices. There was a break room, group chats, after-work drinks, lunch banter, mentorship opportunities, inside jokes about the hot chocolate machine. The Launchpad community offers a version of the camaraderie and community I lost when I left my corporate life. My fellow members are similar enough to me that we can relate to one another and get along, but different enough that I learn new things from them. The community feels more genuine than obsequious networking groups and more accommodating than professional societies with rigid rules and expectations. In all, the community provides everything that I would have missed from my desk job, while also giving me more.<\/p>\n

How I get it done: Lightning round<\/h2>\n
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A post shared by Sophia Hotung \u4f55\u6167\u6069 (@sophiahotung)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n