Fifty Cups of Coffee #13: Waz Wu
Date: March 15, 2024
Location: Exquisite Creatures, 537 SE Ash #108, Portland, Oregon
How we know each other
Waz and I first met several years ago, most likely during Feast Portland 2017. We may have met at another Portland foodie event during that year, as she had just moved to Portland in 2016, but I’m pretty sure we got to know each other through Feast Portland events.
It’s always great to see Waz at different food and wine events around the city, and I love being able to catch up one on one with her.
What Waz is doing now
Currently, Waz lives and works in Portland, Oregon as a freelance creative. She is a food writer, content producer, and event producer, with a background in graphic design and advertising. She runs the local Veganizer PDX events.
Three questions
During these Fifty Cups of Coffee chats, I ask each person the same three questions. The reasoning behind each is as follows:
Question 1 – Social media makes it easy for other people to think that they know us, when truthfully, we all only see a small sliver of someone’s life and who they really are. This is the interviewee’s chance to share something that is important to them that, for whatever reason, other people may not know.
Question 2 – We all have fears, no matter who are are or where we are in life. This helps connect us and show we are all more alike than we are different.
Question 3 – I believe the answer to this question helps show each person’s true values, passions, and their why in life.
There are no right or wrong answers to any of these. I’m including each person’s answers in first person. Their answers have been edited from my notes for length and clarity, but these are their words.
What is one thing you wish more people knew about you?
“Two things come to mind. The first is that sometimes when I meet people and they find out what I do, they think I must be an extrovert. I’m not. I like to go out and meet new people and do things, but at the end of the day, I like to sit at home with my cats.” (Waz has two cats: Chloe and Lexi).
“The second is that most people, especially here in Portland, know me as the vegan writer. I am often in spaces where I’m the only vegan there. But I haven’t been a vegan for that long. I’ve been vegan for 7 years and a vegetarian for 11 years. There was a time when I used to love bacon and all the meaty things. I would ask people to think about why people would go from that to being vegan.”
What is your deepest fear?
“The first thing I think of is snakes. Not so much a fear but more of a disgust response with snakes, worms – anything wriggly like that.”
“The more serious fear is I have to remind myself that there are always situations that are awkward and uncomfortable, and you just have to go for it. There are things that seem daunting, and you just have to do it. I always fear if I don’t do those things I’m going to regret it down the road.”
If you had unlimited funds, what does your life look like?
“Probably not all that different from right now. I might travel more. I like traveling but have to remind myself its such a privilege to travel. But with unlimited funds, I might travel more, and spend money out of convenience. Instead of just walking or taking the bus everywhere, sometimes I’d take a Lyft – little things like that that would make my life easier.”
Lessons Learned
I always learn so much from chatting with Waz. A few of my biggest takeaways from our coffee chat:
- Remember that the person you know now also has a whole history of life before you knew them. I think we tend to think of people in the context of how we met them and how we’ve known them since, and we forget that they weren’t always that same person. This is especially true in terms of careers and work; most of us these days have done many different things in our lives, and it’s important to remember the person as a whole instead of just one facet of their personality or their life.
- Use the fear of regret as a powerful motivator. I love what Waz said about some things being uncomfortable, but you just have to go for it. Because you don’t know how things will work out until you actually do it.
- It helps to know others in your industry are having shared experiences. We talked a lot about the state of blogging and social media today compared to a few years ago. It was a good reminder that it is helpful to stay connected and chat with others in the industry. It’s nice to know someone else is experiencing the same thing or similar things you have been experiencing. Sometimes, especially in this food blogging/influencer space, it can feel insulating. But we’re all in this wacky every-changing online world together, and we can learn so much from each other.
Learn more about Waz
You can learn more about Waz at her website WazWu.com and her blog WazWu.com/blog
You can also find Waz on Instagram, and follow Veganizer on Instagram.
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