Ep 32: Darrion Nguyen ("Lab Shenanigans" aka the Asian Millennial Tik Tok version of Bill Nye the Science Guy)

Darrion Nguyen is currently a lab research technician at Baylor
College of Medicine & the face behind “Lab Shenanigans”: a
social media brand that makes fun, easily digestible science
content that has garnered over 600,000 followers to date (½
million on Tik Tok!)!





But who is Darrion? 





What led him down this path towards marrying his twin loves of
theatre & science, quickly becoming the Asian Millennial Tik
Tok version of Bill Nye the Science Guy? 





And how can others do the same?!





We unpack all that and more in this STIMY Episode.





Highlights:


3:18: Incident at Darrion’s family’s convenience
store that led to his father's unfortunate passing :(

5:40: The moment he discovered a talent (and love!!) of
improvisation

9:07: Watching Bill Nye at his grandma’s tailor shop

10:21: Realising he was gay & coming out to his friends
and family (except his mum?! )

13:46: Why Darrion ended up pursuing science when he also
loved theatre

18:13: His love of organic chemistry & biochemistry in
high school

21:57: Getting into voice acting & coming to terms with
his higher pitched voice as part of his identity

24:14: Creating fun videos that went viral on Facebook meme
pages

25:48: Creating Lab Shenanigans

27:43: Why Darrion decided to take a gap year rather than
immediately doing his PhD

31:09: His work as a research technician

32:13: The ecosystem of a lab & their stereotypes (as
seen in his Lab Shenanigan videos!)

34:00: What is the “mfing tea”?!

37:35: How Darrion first ended up on Tik Tok (P/S: As a
joke!)

42:30: Suffering burnout 

43:58: Creating 10-15 second Tik Tok videos anywhere between
a 5-10 minutes to 3 hours, and why it takes so long!

46:00: How Darrion’s PI (aka boss) reacted when she first
learned about his lab shenanigans lates at night in the lab!

49:16: Collabs with other fun science content creators like
Chris Sutherland, Raven & Nick Uhas

50:08: How Darrion builds his passionate online community

51:51: Facing keyboard warriors as an Asian gay man

53:36: Advice for those wanting to venture into the world of
Tik Tok

57:13: Splitting his time between his work as a scientist
(yes, he does do real work!) and a content creator

1:00:14: Advice on monetization for content creators 

1:01:11: Launching his Lab Shenanigans merchandise
store 






Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/32





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