Nou - Balancing Self-Love

NOU is a first-generation Hmong American who was born & raised in Metro Detroit. She’s an entrepreneur, wife, and mother of 3 who enjoys creating & expressing herself thru various forms of art; including singing and songwriting.

NOU runs a chain of family restaurants. Balanced by her creative nature, she’s responsible for marketing and advertising for the business and has poured her passion into other projects. One of them, an online shop where you can purchase unique, one-of-a-kind accessories and home decor by local and international artisans using southeast Asian textiles and fabrics. Shopmade.store is a project in the works that has future plans in helping those very same artisans grow, gain exposure and acknowledgment. NOU also helped to create TOU & MAI, a boba tea & Asian mini mart located in the heart of Detroit. It’s filled with Asian snacks and candies and smells of sugar! The store was birthed from the idea of opportunities. Opportunities that someone like her could have grown up in America as a first-generation Hmong. Tou & Mai are common Hmong names given that represent the dreams and goals of any young boy and girl.

Through many challenges of self-doubt and lack of love & care, NOU found herself revisiting poetry and writing. A form of expression and therapy that she once utilized as a teenager.

On August 28, 2020 — NOU released her debut single, ALRIGHT, available on all streaming platforms. A chill pop sound that can accompany the most hopeless of days. Follow and check out more from NOU on Instagram & Facebook.

Instagram: @nou_music

FB: Noumusic85

A few highlights from our conversation with NOU,

Angel (Co-host): What does balancing self love mean to you?

Nou (GH guest): That’s kind of a tough question - it’s a balancing act. It’s everything that your life revolves around. My kids, work, all of that. When you find yourself submerged in the worst of worst or the craziest of the craziest. That’s when you're needing and  noticing you don’t have that balance. It has to take something of that nature to get you there and  to realize that and come back down and find yourself and recalibrate and find a balance and love yourself.

Angel: I like how success has driven you down to being more chill and calm for yourself. I say that because I reflect on this all the time. I thought achievements and success meant getting that next promotion or making a certain amount of salary every year. Once I reached those goals, I wasn’t satisfied, I didn’t feel complete. I didn't feel whole. I almost feel that's a very similar sentiment for you. The business was going well, but you hit a lot of low points when you were at your highest. Those are huge aspects in life to really hold onto. It’s like your intuition is telling you to slow it down and figure out who you are. You’re coming into this world trying to be something you’re not meant to be because you’re meant to be greater. I can relate to that because when you’re at your highest people may see that you’re high, but you’re at your lowest point because you hit rock bottom because you don’t recognize yourself anymore. I like how you turned it around with the business MADE supporting local and international artists. Which brings me to my next point, how did you rediscover music?

Nou: In this crazy world, being a mom of 3, I’m fortunate to say I can work on passion projects. It wasn’t easy. Not hitting rock bottom, just knowing that you need to fend for yourself and fight for yourself and do the things that make you happy. When you find yourself in situations where you’re trying to find your identity --what’s going to make me really happy? It’s not that the other businesses weren’t making me happy, it wasn’t fulfilling my creative desires. To express myself in the way that I know. 20 years ago, I would write poetry, keep poetry logs online. The internet wasn’t where it is today. I would write a bunch of entries and poetry. I've had a few opportunities where I worked with a few local  producers. Life took its toll, I did a 4 year degree in Advertising. You get soo consumed in life. Dating, marriage, kids, businesses. Everything just unfolded. Coming back to find yourself in vulnerable situations that allows you to take a step back and find out who you really are. I’m a very intuitive person. I do a lot of self reflection, alittle too much over thinking. Over think and over question and have a lot to say. So with that being said, I've gotta put that somewhere. What I know best is writing. I’ve always loved singing. My mom sang in the 90s.

"I want my kids to look at me and in the futrue have hope that when you're married and have kids, it's not the end of your life. There's many chapters in your life. I didn't get to do this in my teens, hey the 30s are here, the 40s, 50s, 60s. You set yourself up for greatness for what you want." - NOU