4th Anniversary Event “RISE”
Together We Rise
Simple Steps held its 4th Anniversary Event on May 1st, 2021 with the theme of “Rise.” The events consisted of three sessions: “US Immigration Law Topics for Prospective Employees/Startup Founders A to Z” by Judy Chang, Managing Attorney at Judy Chang Law Firm; “Authentic Leadership of an HR Vice President and Former Art Undergrad'' by Megan Myungwon Lee, CHRO & Vice President at Panasonic North America; and “The Choices We make: From a Blogger to a CEO of a Trading Company” by Jinae Kang, CEO And Founder of ES Global. Sarah Song, CEO and Founder at S’hampagne, emceed the event.
All three speaker sessions, though distinctly valuable in their own ways, shared inspiring stories of hard-working women committed to achieving their dreams--a message many attendees were able to relate to.
US Immigration Law Topics for Prospective Employees/Startup Founders A to Z
Judy Chang discussed matters and answered questions related to what we can expect with the new immigration reforms under the Biden Administration. Her legal knowledge was not the only thing that captivated the audience. One of the questions she had received was: “How were you able to build trust in the startup scene in the Bay Area?” Chang commented that it was “a kind question,” and went on answering that she has been advocating for her clients for 20 years. She has likened her career to a restaurant of 20 years. Other nuggets of wisdom she shared were: Looking back, the right choice was almost always the toughest. When you make a mistake, completely own it and find a solution as soon as possible. She also shared her secret on how to manage stress and the feeling of burnout: to think about a new project that she wants to work on. As a woman of many projects myself, her words felt very comforting.
Authentic Leadership of an HR Vice President and Former Art Undergrad
Megan Myungwon Lee (Maiden name Kang) showed us her personal life map, which consisted of a graph of the highs(peaks) and lows(valleys) of her life. (I made a mental note to create one for myself, which I will after I finish this piece.) She mentioned that in retrospect, she could clearly see a pattern where peaks and valleys tend to follow each other. She experienced a peak followed closely by a valley when she was “almost forced” into a promotion. The promotion opened up a great opportunity but presented a set of difficulties as well. As Lee mentioned herself, some of the information that she shared with the audience may have been a Google search away. But can you Google and find out that authentic leadership can “help get rid of age spots?” I believe she was joking about how embracing the concept of authentic leadership and becoming her authentic self made her age spots (magically) vanish because she had been stressed after spending years in the “armor of what she thought was expected of her” from the workplace. She later found peace with the kind of leader she was. Lee had also shared the phrase “People don’t care about what you know, people care about what you care about.” That was exactly how I felt: Learning the different styles of leadership was good, but what made her presentation even greater was how much she cared about how her story would resonate with the audience. Many attendees resonated with her stories on Slack, especially about the following: Humility and a sense of humor are important traits in life. All a manager needs to do is to make expectations and/or objectives crystal clear. In a difficult situation, try not to be too emotional and analyze it first, but ultimately trust your instinct. For that, you need self-awareness to find the “right fit.”
The Choices We make: From a Blogger to a CEO of a Trading Company
But no matter how “right” the fit is, paving your own way is difficult. The journey of Jinae Kang, a CEO who founded her business from her blog, is a testament to that. Kang started her presentation with a question: How many choices do people typically make in a day? The answer that she revealed in the next slide was a staggering 35,000. This number includes unconscious, and automated choices as well as conscious decisions. Then she proceeded to talk about the choices and decisions she has had to make through the past 17 years. She talked about how she has gone through a few near-bankruptcy moments in her career and shared with the attendees on how she approached making tough decisions. She relied on the following principles to guide her. 1) Who: Who do you want to be remembered as? 2) How: Establish a win-win relationship with the people you meet. Commit for the long-term and not the short-term gains. 3) Why: Why do I like this? Why do I want to do that? Make your why’s positive and don’t dwell on the negative. She focused on her visions and goals, and kept calm to go about her business, one step at a time. Thanks to these principles, she was able to prevail and thrive. When asked how she managed her time as a working mom, Kang emphasized the importance of setting her priorities and pruning the rest. Setting priorities and zeroing in on them has not been one of my strongest suits lately, but I told myself that I should recommit to it. Perhaps then, the plethora of choices may not feel as overwhelming.
Some common and recurring themes in the three sessions were: committing oneself to one’s path, setting clear visions and goals based on self-awareness, and building mutually beneficial relationships with the people you meet along the way. This summary may seem like a trite formula for success, the kind that you can easily find online. But the colorful stories of the three women added life to that “formula,” and deeply moved the attendees.
Throughout the event, many people networked and bonded over Zoom and Slack. Though we were all in different places and different time zones, we felt like we were together and helping each other "rise." The audience thanked the speakers, the staff, the emcee Sarah Song for pulling off a meaningful and successful virtual event. Staff members who worked tirelessly for and facilitated the event were and should be recognized: Bokyung Kim and Kat Choi, Program Directors at Simple Steps, facilitated the virtual events as well as—last but not least—Doyeon Kim, our founder, who single-handedly started Simple Steps, four years ago. Thanks to the “simple steps” she took four years ago, today, many people don't have to feel alone in their journey after immigrating to a foreign country.
I hope to see many others for the Connect event on May 8th, which will have two separate Zoom sessions for working moms and working women, in which Bokyung, Kat, and Doyeon will be featured as well as other speakers. Find more here and sign up for the May 8th event.
“I saw a flyer about the event posted by the Korean Association of my school, I’m so glad I took part in this webinar. I loved listening to the speakers’ stories. I will spread the word (about Simple Steps) among my friends. Thank you for your time, effort, and heartfelt stories. Have a great weekend!”
“Many of the stories from the webinar were heartfelt and made a lasting impact on me. At first, I thought the webinar would be too long, and I wouldn’t make it until the end, but time flew by listening to the three speakers’ stories. The stories were authentic and made me reflect on my own life. Thank you Simple Steps for this wonderful time! I believe that I am getting better this year with Simple Steps! Let’s go far, together!”
Written by Jiyoon Yoo
