We are proud of our strong company culture rooted in collaboration and innovation. This special series highlights the creativity of our employees on and off the clock.
Jin-Ya Huang. Packaging Manager, Fossil-owned Brands. Mixed Media Artist.
Jin-Ya is a creative dynamo. As a Packaging Manager for Fossil-owned brands, including Skagen, Michele and Zodiac, she works alongside creatives all day to ensure their designs come to fruition. As a mixed media artist, she leverages her zeal for the arts to engage and educate communities, using art to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
We asked Jin-Ya a few questions to get to know her and her Creative Class persona on a more intimate level.
What is your Creative Class hobby or business?
I am a mixed media artist. My work aims to make a social difference through education, mentorship and public art.
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What do you do at Fossil and what makes your job unique?
I am a packaging manager for Fossil leathers, Skagen, Relic and Watch Station. I get to work with the creatives on sourcing materials that best make their design dreams come true. My art background helps me keep a keen eye on standards. I grew up speaking Chinese, and my bilingual skills help out tremendously when we work with the Fossil East offices.
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How does your Creative Class skill set align with what you do for your day job?
I’m very involved with the artist community, but working with talented people in our city does not stop with art. Being asked to conduct workshops, teach camps, and mentor art/marketing classes with kids is no different than project managing a job and collaborating with various teams in a global corporation.
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How did you get started and what was your original inspiration?
When I came to the States at age 13, I only knew my ABCs. I found art to be a universal language. Moving to the US reaffirmed my passion for art, which I’ve had since the age of three. My inspirations have been the diaspora experience, translating the immigrant plight, my many teachers/mentors and, mostly, my mom. Her volunteerism and selflessness have been a true inspiration for me all my life.
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What are some successes you’ve had with your Creative Class business?
I am grateful to have had the chance to show my art in Dallas, Miami and New York. I was fortunate to have taught workshops for adults at SMU, continuing education at the Rachofsky House, and mentored kids at the Fort Worth Modern, Oil & Cotton, TeCo Bishop Arts Theater, 29 Pieces, Booker T., Vickery Meadow Trans.lation and most recently, Big Thought and All Stars Project.
I’ve been involved as a speaker for the Cultural City in the Dallas City of Ideas Festival and collaborated on a show with two amazing non-profits. First is Make Art with Purpose, an organization and virtual resource center for creative projects that are shaping and transforming our world in positive ways. Second, is Human Rights Initiative, a nonprofit that offers 100 percent free legal service to immigrants in the DFW area seeking political asylum or shelter from abuse. My mother and I were featured in the December holiday issue of Southern Living as Tastemakers by the Editor-at-large, Jenna Bush Hager. All of these experiences have been wonderful and beyond my hopes and imagination. If I’m able to positively affect one person in his/her perspective on art/life, then I know I’ve been successful.
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What are some of your tips/techniques?
My mom always told me, “If you do what you love, the rest will come.†It’s been excellent advice, not only in my creative endeavors but in my corporate practice as well. I tell the kids this all the time. The act of making art has to come from the heart and flow freely.
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How do you balance your Creative Class persona and your main career?
I don’t really have to balance them. They are one and the same! It’s important for an artist to find aspirations in life, and it’s our job to help humanity see the beauty in every detail. Whether that’s helping a child whose school cannot afford art programs, working with them so they can earn their college scholarship fund, or assisting my fellow team member to find the best materials that can best execute their designs in the most cost efficient manner—it’s all about giving your best.
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What is your dream of where this could lead?
My dream is to be able to practice social awareness art on a broader level, in our own backyard, to help reach more people than I’m able to now. I am a mom to a bright 8-year-old boy named Lang. I would love for him to grow up knowing we can change the world for the better by practicing kindness every day, one act at a time.
View Jin-Ya’s work on:
Instagram: @jinyahuang
Sous Les Étoiles Gallery
Art & Seek
Against the Grain
Human Rights Initiative
The Dallas Festival of Ideas
CultureMap
Make Art with Purpose
Southern Living