🤦♀️ What got me here won't get me there
Turns out, I’d been scaling a version of me I’d already outgrown.
For a long time, I thought I had to prove myself to everyone—especially the ones who doubted me or, worse, didn’t see me at all. You know, the people who looked at me funny, asking how old I was and what school I went to, when I said I was building a media company.
I thought I had to earn the right to dream big. That being taken seriously meant dressing up, toning down, over-preparing, and over-delivering. Basically, acting like a corporate intern with a God complex.
That I had to present myself as polished, professional, and unshakably capable—because that’s how you get respect when you come from nothing.
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Or so I thought.
That belief got me through the first three years of building Screate. I ran on sheer will, scrappiness, and a burning desire to show I could do this on my own.
As an agency owner-turned-startup founder with no safety net, I made things happen from what I had. I learned fast, worked harder, and polished my story until I could say it in my sleep.
Funny little story: literally once, I pitched Screate to a total stranger I met at one of my hidden favorite local spots. He was struggling to pay for a banh trang nuong (golden Vietnamese street food, ugh!), I stepped in to help him translate, and he was super grateful. I walked away, but he chased me down to say thank you.
Turns out, he was a C-level exec at a Korean elevator ad agency, in Vietnam for work, and that kind gesture just got a business meeting with him.
Or so I thought, because later, after my pitch, I got him to say my work was brilliant, and he might or might not have asked me to be his girlfriend lol.
I meant business, and I thought he did, too. Turns out, only one of us was on fire, for real.
It worked—until it didn’t.
Lately, I’ve felt stuck. Not in vision, but in execution. I kept repeating my story in DMs and intro calls, pitching the same dream with less and less energy. My systems felt clunky. My results weren’t matching my effort.
And the real kicker? I’ve done hard things before. I know I can execute. So why did everything suddenly feel so… mediocre?
Turns out, I was running on an old operating system.
I’d outgrown the version of me who built from fire.
The one who thought she had to prove her worth.
The one who shaped her style to be taken seriously—who equated polish with credibility.
That system got me here. But it won’t get me there.
This shift hit home when I retook the MBTI test and found I’d gone from ENTJ (“Commander”) to ESTJ (“Executive”)
I used to lead with charisma and chaos. → Now? I crave clarity, structure, and systems.
I’m no longer addicted to the thrill of starting. → I want to scale. To build things that last. To grow in a way that aligns with who I actually am—not who I thought I had to be.
Yes, even if that means saying no to shiny things and yes to spreadsheets. Growth, baby. And no, I don’t need to dress like a tech CEO who just stepped out of a TechCrunch feature to be taken seriously. I know that now.
Now as I am writing this, I am wondering if this is one of the deep-down reasons why I was motivated to start building the Dear Buddha app, to help get people (like me) in the flow state easier.
Yesterday, I met one of the most unconventional artists I’ve ever known—someone who claimed he was 200 years ahead of his time (yup, he has the talent to back it up.)
He was wearing the cool cat shirt, and he might have given me one of the best pieces of advice yet: “Don’t think. Follow what guides you.”
To be honest, he only gave me that advice after I asked him “how to be more artistic” like him, not that he was dishing out unsolicited wisdom.
Then he said: “Your vibe is just your soul on the outside. The ones who look artistic are just brave enough to be fully seen.”
That hit.
That’s because I’ve been hiding.
I’m vibrant, weird, deep, and, joyful. My friends see it.
But when I meet someone new? I default to business mode. I polish. I shrink. Like a tropical fruit trying to be a corporate apple.
No more.
I’m not here to perform. I’m here to build. To express. To lead with presence, not perfection. And honestly? That’s way more fun.
Screate is shifting because I am. I’m redesigning our systems, brand, and offers from the ground up—not to chase louder growth, but to create truer resonance. The kind that scales because it’s real.
What got me here was fire. What’s taking me there is flow.
And no, I don’t mean “go with the flow” like I’m kicking back on a yoga mat waiting for inspiration to strike.
Flow is that deep, locked-in state where effort feels like play, time disappears, and the work pulls you instead of you pushing it. It’s not soft. It’s not passive. It’s a zone of presence, clarity, and momentum, without the panic.
Where fire was about chasing external validation. Grit, proving myself, urgency.
flow is about internal alignment. Less sprint, more rhythm.
Still intense—just more sustainable.
🌀 I’m curious: What part of your identity or system is no longer serving you? What do you need to shed to lead from truth?
Tell me. I want to know I’m not alone in this. We got this, guys.
Let’s grow in public together.
Until next time,
Hien*
*Yup, I’m starting to use my legal name everywhere instead of Sailee, so you know I’m real and where I’m from (Saigonese, born and raised proudly 🇻🇳)