Culture and heritage can be beautiful and modern if you do it in your own way.

These are the words of designer and entrepreneur Maggie Wu, who embodies them daily. Through her work and her lifestyle brand she helps women celebrate who they really are.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Maggie recently, and our discussion left me feeling inspired. In fact, our conversation continued after the podcast ended! I loved hearing about her fascinating experiences living in several different cultures, and how she leveraged them to build her namesake design studio and lifestyle brand.

Maggie Wu Studio encourages women to celebrate who they are and where they’re from. It captures many of the things Maggie learned about the world and herself while growing up in Taiwan and Vancouver, then studying in L.A. and NY before her recent moves with her husband to Singapore and then Hong Kong. Maggie has not only lived in many different places, but she also continues to travel the world to find inspiration for her designs.

She never experienced culture shock moving to Vancouver, but when she returned to Taiwan after college, she was saddened to realize that she felt alienated in her native country. The outspokenness she had cultivated in school – asking for what she wanted and needed – was seen as too prideful and not respectful to her elders. “It was hard to realize I didn’t belong there,” she says.

It was only when she arrived in New York City to study fashion marketing at Parsons School of Design that Maggie truly felt she fit in. “I found my home,” she said. “It all made sense; everything fell into place.”

In the NYC world of fashion and dress-up parties, Maggie began making her own accessories for fun. When she was preparing for her wedding, she couldn’t find a headpiece that was affordable or light and comfortable enough to wear all day. She decided to make her own – and realized that perhaps other women might be having the same issue with wedding headpieces.

And so it began. She did a photo shoot and put it online, promoting her pieces on Instagram. From that humble start, she quickly gained momentum, and a brand was born.

A year in – after another unexpected move to Singapore for her new husband’s job – Maggie suddenly put everything on pause. “I felt like I was sending the wrong message,” she explains. “Women should not only be celebrated when they get married. This message is pushed so strongly in Asia. There is such pressure on women to get married. But women should celebrate everyday!”. Maggie herself had never expected to get married and in fact wasn’t planning or even hoping for it. When she did marry, she kept her own last name and used it to name her brand. She felt her brand’s focus on marriage did not accurately represent who she is. Her choice was clear; she had to rebrand and be true to her internal voice.

The new Maggie Wu studio encourages women to treasure the small and big moments of their lives. It also encourages incorporating tradition in new way, doing things with a more modern approach – or at least doing it differently in a way that is special and meaningful for you. “Culture and heritage can be beautiful and modern if you do it in your own way; you don’t have to just do what everybody does.”

Maggie shares that she used to wonder if her decisions to move to different cities and countries meant that something was wrong with her, but now she has become comfortable with the aspects of her that are nontraditional. She says, “I feel like the world is more interesting if everyone is different and doing their own thing instead of trying to do what everyone else does.”

How do you celebrate your cultural background? Do you have any traditions that you incorporate into your life with your own modern twist? I’d love to hear about it!

Maggie’s experiences and observations of the culture she has lived in are incredible. I hope you enjoy the podcast.

If you want to learn more about Maggie Wu or her beautiful designs, check out her website.

Photos of Maggie by Natelee Cocks Photography, Silk clothing & styling Maggie Wu Studio with photography by Allen Tsai Photography, Hair and Makeup by Quis and Florals by Catnip Flowers.

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