Chasing Retail in 2025 A Year of Trying Learning and Building
Wrapping up 2025 feels surreal.
This year was full of adventure. I started a small business to challenge myself and ended up gaining far more experience than I imagined. The highs were high, the lows were low. I reflected on mistakes and how I could have done better, but I have no regrets about giving my full effort. I showed up, even when it was uncomfortable.
In 2026, I’m making a big transition. I’m stepping away from retail spaces and focusing on my online shop and in-person markets. Along the way, I had dreamt of Erewhon, World Market, and some other stores, and met business owners and brokers already in those spaces, and I realized it wasn’t the right path for me, at least not right now.
Instead, I leaned into in-person markets this year, setting up at museums, art fairs, private events, and coffee shops, packing and unpacking my entire shop by myself across Long Beach, Anaheim, Irvine and in San Diego. To everyone who stopped by to say hi, support my work, or buy gifts, thank you. Those moments remain some of my warmest memories.
Sometimes it still feels like a summer night dream to be an artist and entrepreneur after coming from a biotech background, where I was trained to specialize deeply in one thing (Yes, cancer research). This year stretched my idea of who I am and what I can do. Balancing creating and operating pushed me to my limits, physically and mentally, more times than I can count. It also made me stronger.
Learning business was harder than I expected. I went from uninformed optimism, to informed pessimism, straight into the valley of despair, and only now I feel myself climbing toward informed optimism. Every lesson came with friction, but every lesson mattered.
2025 was packed with emotions and first-time experiences I never imagined. I celebrated small wins, not outcomes but inputs. (For example, going to a pitch competition, or buying a 44lb tub size raw material.) I gave myself credit for trying, because effort is what I can control. I embraced the struggle, the doubt-filled days, and kept showing up anyway. Staying positive didn’t mean ignoring reality. It meant continuing despite it.
By the end of Q4, the business grew 3X. That happened during a year when many seasoned business owners saw revenue drop by 40 %. I heard plenty of feedback when I was first starting out. “You’re doing it wrong.” “No business plan.” “No experience.” And yet, through trial and error, I kept learning instead of making excuses. I went from zero stores to 8 stores in one year. Now I’m intentionally going back to zero, with clarity and purpose.
I still love science. I still value being analytical, fact-based, and cautious with opinions. What I learned this year was how to show up visibly, even when I might make mistakes. Starting something later in life is scary. Reinventing yourself takes courage, especially in a world where the old rules no longer apply. After I started my business, I met with two of my former bosses. One got his first job and stayed there for 40 years. Another worked for the same boss for 30 years before retiring. They built their careers in a time when there was a stable path and a clear sense of how things would unfold. In our conversation, it was clear that even they hadn’t anticipated how quickly the working world would change.
Right-- have Ph.D. but can’t get a job? What’s wrong?
We are at a time when companies like Novo Nordisk, known for its diabetes and weight-loss medicines such as Ozempic and Wegovy, were bringing in tens of billions in overall revenue ($42 billion in total annual revenue in 2024), the company announced plans to cut around 9,000 jobs in 2025.
Today, education, titles, and long tenure don’t guarantee stability. The idea of a single, linear career belongs to a different era. Running on the hamster wheel used to come with predictable rewards. Now, the rules feel far less certain.
I don’t know what 2026 will look like. What I do know is this. I’ll keep building, with or without visible progress. I’ll keep learning. And I’ll keep moving forward.
Here’s to another year of trying. Cheers to those breaking out of the mold, and to the people who choose action over thinking. Cheers to living a meaningful life, to honest people who value accountability, who don’t hurt others for personal gain, and who know when to own their mistakes and apologize. Cheers to artists and entrepreneurs who are building a category of one, creating their own lanes, and defining success on their own terms.