(1)The Vision and the Big Idea

Still remember the story I shared in the first Principle for Success on LinkedIn? ?An elementary school teacher told me that I had the potential to go far academically. I was told that I should grasp the opportunity at hand to study hard and seek a better future other than farming vegetables. The fact that I earned a terminal degree was the best response to that “vision” he had for me.

?

When it comes to entrepreneurship, I could tell a similar story that can be traced back to about 10 years ago. It was at Macquarie Park, a suburban city in the Sydney metropolitan area in Australia. I was about halfway through my Ph.D. program. Like an ostrich who buries her head in the sand, I buried my head in books.

?

I was a busy research student because I was teaching part-time as a teaching assistant at the Department of International Studies. At times, I worked as a sessional lecturer when needed. I applied for research funding to present papers at international conferences every year. From submitting abstracts to getting my papers accepted to budgeting items for funding application to visa application and travel arrangements, the logistics for attending international conferences was real work for me. I had little time or mental capacity to think about what I would do after I completed my Ph.D.. My “next goal” at the time was to finish my Ph.D. program. That was it.

?

The Origin of My Big Idea

?

Then I met the father of one of my friends who lived near Macquarie University, a retired sales leader in Asia for a large US pharmaceutical company. He told me a few things that served as another “vision” for my life. What came out of my conversations with him was this: ?

?

“The sky is the limit.

All you need is a good idea.

You have the brain power to design a city.”

?

It was my first time to hear a business veteran talk about my potential future in the US which is drastically different from academic career trajectories university professors often talk about.

?

He told me that I had exceptional interpersonal skills that could be used well in corporate jobs. In some way, he convinced me that I had more potential than I was aware of myself. My experience is similar to what happened to Shelmina Babai Abji (former IBM VP, and sales leader) except that she heard comments about her potential from senior management at IBM.

?

Because I knew my friend’s father wished me well the same way as my elementary school teacher did, I eventually took his advice to heart. I left my job working as an academic writing advisor at Western Sydney University and relocated to the US in 2016. While I enjoyed helping students university-wide to improve their writing skills, I was curious about America. Whether the grass was truly greener on the other side, I made up my mind to go and check it out.

?

To this date, I still tell myself:

?

“The sky is the limit.

?All you need is a good idea.

You have the brain power to design a city.”

?

This is what keeps me going as an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. Apart from these three sentences that I repeat to myself, one more thing I learned from my friend’s father is this:

?

“If you do the right thing, money will come.”

?

I could say this is my vision and my big idea – to not set any limit on my potential and to keep innovating and keep trying. Above all, I try to do the right thing that benefits as many people as possible.

?

The good news is that I have many good ideas and I will never be bored if I keep experimenting them. For example, I have the idea of starting a writer’s club to help professionals and corporate leaders write books, document their success stories, and amplify their impact as what Shelmina Babai Abji has already accomplished. She summarized the lessons she learned in her career in her book Show Your Worth: 8 Intentional Strategies for Women to Emerge as Leaders at Work.

?

Another idea I have is to design a Cross-Cultural Communication or Adjustment class or workshop that can be used by universities, corporations, governments, or organizations to support anyone who needs to go through cross-cultural adjustment to succeed in a new environment.

?

An Innovative Mindset

?

What I am doing now is innovation, reforming the way we do education especially in the field of linguistics, communication, and marketing. The experts in linguistics or communication are not talking with experts in marketing or content creation. Corporations who are at the frontier of product, service or software innovation are often too busy to care about how they can help universities prepare their graduates better for corporate jobs.

?

The way how departments and schools are divided in higher education often limits a student’s chance to get interdisciplinary education which can potentially open more doors in their job-hunting process. While giving due respect to the value of academic research in all disciplines, I also see much academic research is being done for academia’s sake rather than for society because the latter often requires more work – the collaboration between different sectors (e.g., collaboration between the higher education sector and the corporate sector).

?

A student who studies a major in humanities or social sciences, can become more well-rounded and greatly increase their chance to get hired if they acquire some business knowledge. For example, to secure a communications job in a company, apart from the foundational verbal and written communication skills, having graphic design skills and experience in using photo-editing or video-editing software (e.g., Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve) would help them stand out. If they have marketing knowledge such as branding, it would even be better.

?

I believe in the value of interdisciplinary research and education, and I can bring together experts from different fields such as linguistics, communication, and marketing. Experts in innovation and leadership would be a perfect fit for this team-up as well. I believe an international conference in Silicon Valley centering on the topic of education innovation is going to have a positive global impact on the higher education sector and better talent preparation for emerging corporate jobs in the AI era. My company WSI will serve as a vehicle for experimenting these ideas and propelling innovation in education and cross-sector collaboration.

?

NEXT:

2. The Spark that Lit the Fire?

WSI NEWS:

In 2024, I have turned one of my ideas into an educational product in WSI: A year-long Study-Abroad Bridging (SAB) program designed for international students to prepare them for graduate studies. It is the first international educational program designed in WSI in response to customer request. ?

?

In this course, I will teach academic writing in English with a cross-cultural perspective and integrate tips for cross-cultural adjustment that I learned from studying in Australia and in the US. The goal of this program is to use one bridging course to equip students with essential English language and learning skills to help them gain admission to a graduate program and boost their overall academic performance during their graduate studies.

?

The 2024-2025 SAB program is currently open for enrollment. The deadline for registration is May 31, 2024. (More information about this program will be published on WSI’s website later: www.worldshakersinternational.com)

?

Thank you for reading!

Please spread the news about this SAB program if you see anyone in need.

?