The 28-year-old balances life as a content creator, model and co-founder of LOOOP, a secondhand clothing consignment store. Her days are divided between campaigns, creative shoots, business meetings and building an online presence.
But long before building her brand and business, Doucet was simply a teenager trying to figure out whether creativity and practicality could coexist.
“I want to be a journalist because it means I don’t have to give up my creativity for practicality. It means I get to keep both and let both work harmoniously together to produce good work,” she wrote at age 16 as part of her application essay for The Star’s BRATs Young Journalist Programme in 2015.
“I wanted a life where creativity and practicality could exist together. That still defines what I do today,” she said.
To Doucet, a career is a curated collection of interests, experiences and reinventions, and her BRATs participation has played a part in shaping her values.
She recalled the programme less as a school holiday camp and more as a crash course in the real world.
During the Raub camp in 2015, participants were thrown into reporting assignments, interviews and photography tasks. The experience marked a distinct shift from classroom theory to the fast-paced reality of the newsroom, encouraging participants to think quickly, adapt and work under pressure.
For the once-shy teenager, it was also a major step outside her comfort zone.
“Feedback was direct but always constructive, and decisions were made fast so we could keep things moving,” she said.
One memory from the camp still stands out vividly. After struggling with assignments on the first day, her team regrouped on the second night and stayed up until 2am perfecting their video edits and articles.
“The challenging deadlines and quick thinking on our feet definitely gave me a taste of real-world scenarios,” she said.
What stayed with her most, however, was the collaborative spirit among participants who had started as strangers.
“We were proofreading each other’s work, making coffee for one another and pushing through together to tell a good story,” she recalled.
For Doucet, the programme’s impact was deeply formative.
“It wasn’t a camp of ‘pretend journalism for teenagers’.
“We conducted our own real interviews, wrote articles that were later published in The Star, and learnt valuable tips on photography, storytelling and work ethics,” she said.
Those early lessons in curiosity and tenacity continue to shape the way she approaches her work today.
“Life can feel a lot like seeing where the story takes you. There’s a story in everything, and life is a lot more fun when the goal is just to experience,” she said.
After years of sprinting through career milestones, she is now pushing herself in different ways, intentionally taking time to reconnect with nature, prioritising family, and rediscovering her love for reading and writing.
“I’m excited to see how a time of rest can reignite my love for storytelling,” she said.
She advised the younger generation navigating an increasingly uncertain world to “live a life true to who you want to be”.
“Learn to trust your gut instincts, find your people, and be kind to each other.
“Success can look different for every person, so take the time to find what it means to you. Always remember the goal is to experience!”
This feature is part of a series spotlighting alumni of The Star’s BRATs Young Journalist Programme in celebration of Star Media Group’s 55th anniversary. Since 1993, the programme has benefited thousands of Malaysian teenagers, instilling journalistic instincts and ethics, and above all, a spirit of curiosity. To stay connected, visit facebook.com/niebrats or follow @starbrats.
