Author Jade Chang takes the Marketplace Quiz
Author Jade Chang takes the Marketplace Quiz
No matter who you are, you’ve probably had a rough day at the office that changed your perspective, or maybe you made an impulse purchase you really, really wish you could take back. This week, author Jade Chang took our money-inspired personality questionnaire.
Chang’s book “The Wangs vs. The World” is out now.
Fill in the blank: Money can’t buy you happiness but it can buy you _____
You know, I think that is something that only people that were born with a lot of money and who are sure that they are going to die with a lot of money, that’s something that only those people think. Because I think for anyone else in the world, yeah money can buy you happiness.
It’s not that like one material item is going to buy you happiness, it’s that, you know when you go from making let’s say $35,000/ a year to over $60,000, the amount of relief and freedom that you get in that, looks a lot like happiness to me.
I think it’s all the little things. For example, today when I came to this radio station, when you pull into one of those office parking lots you kind of hope the people are going to validate your parking. But, let’s say ten years ago, if I had seen the prices [for parking], I probably would have tried really hard to find street parking just in case you didn’t [validate parking]. Now, I feel like alright, if they don’t validate I’ll be out $15, but I can handle that.
I promise that we’ll validate your parking.
I figured you would, but I do think that those things make an enormous difference in your daily quality of life.
In a next life what would your career be?
I’d say the practical answer is , I’d love to be an illustrator. But if I could choose anything, if I could sing at all, like even a tiny bit, I’d love to write and perform music. But honestly, if you could come back as something different in your next life, I’d probably choose to be an otter. I mean, why not?
An otter?
Yeah they’re so resourceful and cute.
Alright, so we have illustrator, singer, and otter.
Yes.
What is the hardest part about your job that nobody knows?
I think it would probably be the waiting. First of all it takes forever to write a book. So you’re waiting for yourself to finish it. Then, you wait for agents to read your manuscript. Once you manage to sell the book you wait for it to be published. I sold this book in April of 2015 and it was published in October of 2016, which seemed like forever to me but other people who have more experience in publishing were like ‘wow that’s barely any time to wait,’ so…
What do you do with yourself during all that waiting? How do you keep yourself occupied?
A lot of naps.
What is something everyone should own no matter the cost?
I think everyone should own a par of shoes that they feel very, very comfortable in. I mean both emotionally and physically comfortable in because, to me, freedom is the most important thing that you can have and you want to be able to walk through the world easily, and a pair of shoes helps.
What advice do you wish someone had given you before you started your career?
Honestly, the advice that would be the most helpful right now is think of answers like this beforehand. Also, the question of which writers have influenced your writing. Every time somebody asks me that I’m like ‘hold on, let me think.’
You know it’s like when someone asks you your favorite color when you’re an adult. You just kind of think, I don’t know. All the colors serve different purposes and I love them all.
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