
How Rich Tu Turned Frustration Into Fuel – Art, Identity & the First Generation Burden
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About this listen
🔥 Watch this episode of The Art School Graduate Podcast featuring Rich Tu – artist, designer, creative director, and host of First Generation Burden.
Want to build a creative career rooted in identity, culture, and purpose?
This episode is for you.
🎧 Rich Tu shares how he went from comic book–obsessed kid to leading design at MTV, Nike, and now Sunday Afternoon. He gets real about being a first-generation Filipino-American in a corporate world that often lacks diversity, and how he uses creativity as a form of resistance, storytelling, and community building.
If you’ve ever felt like an outsider in the creative industry, this conversation will remind you why your voice matters more than ever.
💬 In this robust conversation, we cover:
The immigrant excellence mindset
Navigating Oregon during the Trump election
Turning frustration into podcasting
What makes a great creative leader
The impact of First Generation Burden Using art to create real-world change
Designing the ACLU x Nike collab
Mentorship, identity, and full-circle moments at Adobe AI, new tools, and what scares creatives most
Legacy, gratitude, and building spaces for BIPOC creatives
Quickfire round: comic books, dream collabs, and creative fuel
🎯 This episode is for you if:
🧠 You want to lead with cultural authenticity
🎙️ You’re building a podcast or platform for underrepresented voices
📐 You’re a designer pushing against boundaries and burnout
📈 You’re ready to merge identity with impact
💡 You want real talk on creative leadership, AI, and career longevity
🔗 Connect with Rich:https://richtu.com/https://www.instagram.com/richtu/https://www.firstgenburden.com/
🎧 Subscribe to The Art School Graduate Podcast for more conversations with boundary-breaking creatives
🎨 Follow @artschoolgraduate_podcast on IG