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Alex Sujong Laughlin

@alexlaughs

10.5K

followers

2013

following

it’s cool to try ❤️
journalist @defectormedia / @normalgossip dowager queen
host of try hard ⬇️

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Holllllyy cow I’m so excited to announce this: I’ve spent the last five years steadily working on a book idea about talent, and back in March, @manadurphy and I sold it! I’m honored to join @oneworldbooks for this project, which has published so many books and writers I love and admire. I’m just so happy and excited and grateful 😭😭😭 by @alexlaughs

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a year ago

While I’m basking in the glow of announcing Try Hard, I want to take a moment to shout out the artists whose work I’m collaging to build this world.

The theme song is “Photo Booth” by @a_very_fried_man, who released her debut LP “New Thing” earlier this year. Six years ago, Avery invited me to speak on a panel at Twitter, and I’ve followed her journey as she has explored different mediums and eventually found her voice in her own music. (The Artist’s Way may have something to do with it, and I MAY have a longer interview with her about it forthcoming!!) In a meeting recently, someone at @radiotopia asked me who my target audience for Try Hard was, and I immediately thought of Avery, someone who has spent her young adult years experimenting and trying to figure out who she is and creating something incredibly special in the process. “Photo Booth” captures the dizzy sense of erratic possibility that comes into focus when you let yourself flow by instinct rather than fear. I’m so grateful to have this song as part of the show’s identity ✨

And the visuals!!! The show art is by @lilleallen, who makes gorgeous collage work from found materials. My vision for the art was DIY, messy, analog+digital, Rookie and riot grrrl. She took my moodboard images (sharing some here) and created a wonderful piece that evokes the sense of play and being-in-progress that I hoped the show would convey.

Thank you two these two amazing artists for lending their gifts to this project. Every part of this show has been made with so much love and intention, and I really hope you all like it. by @alexlaughs

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a year ago

All co-owners of @defectormedia are by default enrolled in @jaspercwang’s Decelerated MBA Program where we must learn to run a business whether we like it or not by @alexlaughs

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4 days ago

If you’ve been around me irl in the last few months you’ve probably heard me complaining about pregnancy. The horrifying things I keep learning about what happens to a body when it becomes pregnant never seem to end. I wanted to share this story about what happened to me a couple weeks ago just to illustrate the amount of messed up/dysfunction exists for even a very privileged person like me, with a supportive partner, an understanding job, and solid health insurance. (I also didn’t even mention the psoriatic arthritis flare triggered by the antibiotics I’m still not even sure I needed to take, but I’m wearing a compression glove in the vid because my joints are in a lot of pain these days!!!) I’m genuinely so grateful and I look forward to meeting our new pal but holllyyyy cow has pregnancy woken me up to just how much people are going through right under our noses!!! by @alexlaughs

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5 days ago

The sorta awkward backstory of the first ever @defectormedia summit with @jaspercwang, seven whole years ago by @alexlaughs

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8 days ago

How long can you put off doing your “thing”? by @alexlaughs

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12 days ago

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14 days ago

This morning I turned in the first draft of The Talent Cult, only four months after my initial deadline 🙈

I thought writing a book would look like sealing myself away from the world in hermitic retreats where I could focus only on the work, but this book was written in 1 hour spurts most mornings of the week before doing my full time job. It will always be a time capsule of this transition chapter for me, and I’m surprised and heartened by the bits of my life that made it in. This draft was written over a year when I moved states, launched two podcasts, worked full-time, navigated horrible grief, managed arthritic flares, and grew a human inside my body.

There’s still so far to go in this process before the book is ready for your eyes, but I’m so proud of myself for reaching this milestone. by @alexlaughs

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15 days ago

The logical leaps one must make in their head to assume that the instruments on @hrishihirway’s wall are just for decoration……. by @alexlaughs

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20 days ago

here’s my monthly effort report. did a lot of things badly and it was fine. by @alexlaughs

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a month ago

Raise your hand if you’re guilty of participating in success theater 🙈🙋🏻‍♀️ by @alexlaughs

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a month ago

“Whether you succeed for fail, the thing that protects you is that you did it how you wanted to do it.” by @alexlaughs

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a month ago