Founder’s Story &

Why coach in intercultural, diversity, equity and inclusion?

My interest in intercultural, diversity, equity and inclusion started when I was 6 years old.  That was the year when my family and I moved from Hong Kong (birthplace) to Los Angeles, USA. We lived there for two years before my parents decided to move back to Hong Kong with me, but leaving my two older siblings with a guardian to continue studying in America.  Despite being so young from 6 to 8 years old, I recalled it was quite a cultural shock to adjust to the American culture.  From being in a private all-girls Catholic convent school with uniforms in Hong Kong to a public co-ed school, I did not even know how to dress without uniforms for school nor interact with boys.  The curriculum was also vastly different.  I was learning multiplications in Hong Kong, but my US classmates were still trying to learn how to add and subtract.  Naturally, I excelled in math and in all subjects as the private Catholic school I went to in Hong Kong was an English school and all the curriculum was much more advanced than the States. 

Unfortunately, when I moved, with my parents to Hong Kong two years later, back to the same private Catholic convent school, the curriculum in Hong Kong was already into fractions and algebra which I had no clue due to the difference from American curriculum.  I failed Math that year; it was a huge blow to the self-confidence after being a nerd for 2 years in Los Angeles.  My parents hired a tutor to teach me advanced math outside of regular school hours so I can catch up the next term and luckily, I did. 

Two and a half years later, my parents decided to immigrate to Canada when I was 10 years old.  This time, I knew I would excel in school because of my past American experience knowing Canada is quite similar in curriculum.  These three moves got me very interested in intercultural interactions and differences in culture to a point where in my mid 20s, I decided to backpack all over the world on my own (not considered normal in traditional Chinese upbringing; my parents thought I was a hobo) to experience various cultures and interact with locals. This led me to have travelled to 23 countries so far. These experiences also made me wonder how all of us can thrive equally in this diverse and multicultural world.

From these experiences, I realized that I appreciated the extent to which culture and diverse beliefs affect one’s own behaviour, assumptions, and view of the world.  I also started to understand the effect of privilege or oppression on interactions across cultural differences and diversity in gender, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, religion, disability status, and sexual orientation.  

Therefore, each time I travelled, I found that I came back a different person: a better version of me.  Hence, I fully believe that each experience, no matter good or bad, is an opportunity for growth, and a purpose can be found in everything that happens.

With that belief, a heightened curiosity, thirst for knowledge, and tenacious persistence to find my true purpose, I chose to go through multiple career changes in the past 27 years and finally found my calling.  From self-employment in tutoring company, to hair and skin care company, senior corporate accountant leading teams of accountants and accounting assistants, event management planning corporate events and weddings, self employment as a realtor, leader of telecommunication, executive in retail franchise, self employment again in gourmet food and beverage, management consultant in human resources and change management and now, my absolute passion, an executive and leadership coach.

Through my journey and integrated business knowledge, I hope to inspire leaders to embrace change as the only constant in life is change.  No matter what changes you or your organization are going through or about to experience, reach out to schedule an initial complimentary consultation to discuss what a thought partnership could look like to unlock your unlimited potential to positively affect employee engagement, retention and business outcomes. 

For more information about me, please check out my LinkedIn Profile.