The Value of Home | Lisa Hsieh of Mien Studios
We are welcoming a new interview series in our Journal. One that holds a central focus on the impact of the home. We have experienced and seen first hand the value that a well kept and nurtured home environment can offer. At the very least, it makes us feel safe. It nurtures our creative spirits, gives us a place to rest and reinvigorate our souls. Home is meant to be lived in, a place to have loved ones eat, and visit and enjoy each other, a place to just be, a place to cook and play and be silly, a place to grow and be yourself, a place of retreat from this busy world.
Our homes should be a place someone walks in and feels the personality of the people that inhabit it. They should feel the values the inhabitant's posses by the way the environment feels. It's just that simple. Base everything off core values and your home, your life, will nurture you and others, it will be authentic, an added joy to life.
We hope you enjoy reading and gain little bits of knowledge from people that are living in, enjoying, and nurturing their homes.
We could not be more excited about having Lisa Hsieh of Mien Studios be our first guest interview. Lisa has a very deep connection to the space she lives in. if you want to see a little glimpse into her home life follow her personal Instagram here. It is an inspiration!
Through strong values, a nurturing home is built. Please enjoy hearing what Lisa has to share on how home impacts her life for the best.
Let us always remember, Home has the ability to create a better future.
What do you do for a living? And where do you live?
I’m a clothing designer and own a sustainable clothing line for women and children called Mien Studios. I live in Long Beach with my husband, our three-year-old son Grey, and our pup Winston. We love it here. It’s the perfect place for our family to grow and it’s also very close by Los Angeles, where I source and produce my entire clothing collection.
What does your morning routine look like?
I wake up between six to seven a.m. right before my son Grey wakes up. I wash up, make a cup coffee then scroll through my emails and calendar to make note of any urgent things I need to take care of. It’s a frenzy once the boys are up with helping Grey get ready for school and everyone out the door. After that, the day is mine. I respond to emails, pull and pack orders, then I head to the gym for an hour or so. I usually head to L.A. after that to do my rounds at the sewing house, dye house, and my pattern maker’s. I’m a morning person and can get a lot done during the day if I follow my routine. I’m not perfectly on track every day but most days I stick to this schedule.
Can you share three values that guide your life? Why these three?
Kindness, perseverance, optimism. The world and life, in general, can be unkind. There are so many events, encounters, and people that bring about disappointments and challenges that are out of our control. Especially in a competitive business environment, remembering to have kindness and empathy for other people helps me stay calm and see their point of view to find a solution. With this approach, I have yet to have an instance when I couldn’t amicably resolve any conflicts or issues. Even if it means I need to walk away from a situation or someone, being kind allows me to let go with some peace.
Perseverance helps me push through hard times. It’s the belief that the obstacle, hardship or disappointment can be turned into something positive and I should always move forward. When I take failures or let downs as lessons, I see that they will pass and there are more opportunities ahead to try again and try harder.
Finally, optimism enables me to do what seems impossible at first. Starting a business from nothing, not getting paid for the first few years, and doing this while raising a child just seems so risky and unwise at the beginning. But I have this stubborn belief that I can do this. It will be extremely hard but I have so much positivity and excitement for this that I’m doing whatever it takes to try to keep this dream business of mine going.
How do you make sure to keep your life in alignment with these values?
I’m not perfect, in the midst of difficult times and challenges, I can forget about these values. When the day is over and I’m lying in bed is when I usually think about what is going on in my life. The problems I’m facing will then come up and that’s when I try to figure out how to resolve them and try to do better tomorrow.
What ritual during the day holds the most value for you and helps you achieve what you wish to?
Most days I can get in an hour of working out in the morning. As I’m getting older and life becomes more stressful, this hour I dedicate to taking care of my body really helps me reset my mind. It seems I’m always going a hundred miles a minute with all the responsibilities from my work and my family and this relentless stress can really build up. Working out every day is most valuable to me, not just for my mental well-being but also for my physical health in the long run.
How do you feel that your values affect the energy of your home?
When I’m stressed and can’t work through issues I’m dealing with because I’ve forgotten to deal with them with kindness, perseverance, and optimism, my whole family is affected because I’m not my best self. My home reflects my state of mind. If I’m too busy, my home can be neglected, get messy and that in turn affect everyone’s comfort level and routine. When I’m calm, happy, feeling balanced then the energy of my home is welcoming, tranquil, and nurturing.
Why is home important to you?
My world revolves around my home - we started our family and my business here, I still run my business from it as well, and hope to be here for a long time. This is where I can feel fully rested at the end of the day. I fill our home with things we love, objects that have meaning to us. We take care of it and it takes care of us. It’s where we go back to at the end of a weary day and each morning it gives us a bright new start. It may be small and old, but no matter how humble our dwelling is, it’s Home, and we love it.
Do you have a favorite book that inspires you? Why?
“My Life in Paris” by Julia Child, it reminds me that it’s never too late to pursue a dream.
What items in your home hold the most value to you? How do they add joy to your life?
The most precious items to me in my home are objects with memories behind them. Things such as old family photos, my son’s baby things are a given, but I also treasure objects that I can trace the origins of. It can be a chair my husband and I found together, a mug that I purchased from a ceramicist from a craft fair, or a bouquet of dried flowers arranged by my florist friend. These are some of my favorite things, not because they cost a lot, but because they have meaning. They decorate our home, or we use them everyday. With them here in my most cherished space in the world, I’m reminded by how lucky I am to have these experiences of acquiring them and knowing the people who brought them into my life. That gives me a lot of joy.
Explain in one word, how your home makes you feel.
Centered.
Thank you, Lisa, for sharing with us the value of the home. What an inspiration you are!
More about Lisa
Instagram | @mienstudios , @lisa_hsieh_
Website | mienstudios.com/