Two weeks ago, I was invited to address a special conference titled “Bold and Brilliant” in celebration of our heritage at their 2nd Annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The event was organized by ASCEND New England – a Pan-Asian Professional Network.
Before I spoke at the closing ceremony, I listened to a panel of entrepreneurs selected by ASCEND as outstanding models of bold and brilliant pathfinders and achievers. They described how they thought about the steps and the risks they’d taken, the choices and mistakes they’d made.
The cost. The sacrifice. The tradeoff.
What’s a common thread in their stories? Well, everyone apologetically confessed they had disappointed their parents! That provoked rounds of laughter as we all know what Asian parents typically want their children to become – doctors, lawyers, accountants. A well-respected profession. A stable job. But these entrepreneurs defy or deviate from that. In following their passion and pursuing what’s possible for them individually, they’ve also articulated their commitment to something self-respecting and others-serving. In so doing, they’ve proven to themselves and their parents that yes, they can. They have created and will keep re-creating a life and a career that we admire. We call their accomplishments bold and brilliant.
What they share in common as entrepreneurs and innovators, is a belief. A belief in a cause, a calling, a bigger purpose. They invest a tremendous amount of time and effort to hone their skills, build their knowledge as they break the mold and set themselves apart. They focus on their goal while transcending racist attitudes, gender bias or social barriers in America.
One struck me as exceptionally bold – Sifu Mai Du, Founder of Wah Lum Kung Fu and Tai Chi Academy of Malden. Mai Du emphasized the key to her decision-making at every turn stems from a growth mindset. Am I growing personally or professionally with this or that move?
She described her belief in constantly challenging herself mentally and physically, and consistently developing and empowering youth to do the same.
That resonates with the foundation of my keynote address that evening – Believe.
Believe is a proactive state of mind in a positive outcome. Believe channels one’s focus and energy in the right direction for maximum result. Believe is a choice. It is the first step.
What do bold people believe that would lead to something brilliant?
The first is that they don’t set out to become a bold and brilliant person. If your intention or motivation is solely self-serving, you are unlikely to be well-regarded by others. What they start with is a belief in the value of their work in the service of something bigger than self. That inevitably leads to doubt. But doubt will lead them to act – do research, ask questions, and to interact with others who are smarter or more experienced in the field they want to land or leave.
Doubt and Belief
Doubt is a good lifelong companion with belief. When they doubt they can do something, they react by believing that they can learn, they can change, and they can make things better for oneself and the world. That belief is a deep conviction for some, but a simple curiosity for others. For me, it is both. I shared my life story with the audience about why I’d quit an enviable job at ABC News to become a media entrepreneur more than eight years ago. That story can be summarized in doubt and belief. I doubted the job that I had, would keep rising in responsibilities as it did previously. Why not? ABC News was undergoing a major network restructuring in 2010 and planning to lay off and buy out hundreds of people. It was a bloodbath and a tumultuous time. I watched my boss, my colleagues go. I listened to rumors of many jobs on the chopping block, including mine.
I decided that rather than waiting for things to happen to me, it’s critical and necessary for me to do the following –
a) Explore options outside ABC News –
b) Optimize opportunities I can see –
c) Leverage the skills and experiences I have built so far
I talked to friends, advisors inside and outside of the news business. I prayed for guidance in the right direction. In a matter of weeks, I had decided to leave ABC News before I received another offer. I took a leap. A net appears. That offer came through for me to be a visiting scholar for one year at Harvard. (my alma mater.)
I had no ambition to become a research scholar, or to teach. But I had every intention to reflect on steps and mistakes I’d made in my life until that point. During that one year of soul-searching, I realized how single-minded I had been on my career that I had neglected many relationships with people who were near and dear to me. Recognizing that was a huge step for me to open my heart and mind to listen to different voices about where the needs are, and how I could be helpful.
The most striking group of people who would eventually inspire me to launch a media start-up in 2012 are students going to China and coming from China. They had heard about my media background and Hong Kong upbringing and bombarded me with questions about my career trajectory through network news in New York, or my experience working in Hong Kong and the mainland. Their curiosity about me, my career path, and the world I came from became the seed of my imagination of filling a need. The need is inspiration for the next generation.
Leap and Land, Risks and Responsibility
If you had told me six years ago, that one day, in the near future, I would not only become a media entrepreneur, China Personified, but also meet the man of my dream, get married, move to Boston, form a non-profit, host a podcast, and manage a team of freelancers and volunteers to build a community for young Chinese and Americans through storytelling and networking – I’d probably say something like, Wow. Nice.
How do I get there? What’s Step # One!?
As it turns out, Step #1 One, is to believe – take a leap, and the net appears!
Taking leap is risky, as we all know. But aren’t risks inherent in every step we make? Crossing the street, we could be hit by a car careening out of control or out of nowhere. That’s why we look. But even as we look, we could only see so much. We have blind spots. We get blind-sided. We are not always in control. If we accept that risks are a normal part of life, a necessary part of living, the next question we ask ourselves is – are we being reckless or irresponsible? Who will be affected by our decision? What is our specific intention? How do we communicate our goals to those we care about and those who care about us?
When I decided to take that leap to become an entrepreneur, I had some savings that would sustain a period of market testing and course correcting every few months. I was fortunate to have family members who would listen whole-heartedly as I articulated my sense of purpose. I was not able to see downturns and headwinds that had knocked me down many times, forcing me to wonder if I would get back up. But I did. I have been consistently lifted by you – our audience and members, friends and loved ones who believe in our mission as I do. Your support strengthens my belief.
Your circumstances and your calling will be different from mine.
But what we share in common is a belief that we can.
We can choose. We can communicate. We can learn.
We can’t guarantee we always succeed, but that means we identify mistakes, we re-position ourselves, and we redouble our efforts.