A few weeks ago I mistook a young woman for someone else and struck up a conversation with her at an event.
Within minutes I was impressed by her ability to connect, curious nature and enthusiasm for life. I knew I wanted her involved in our work as soon as I saw the depth she brought to the conversation at such a young age.
It’s with extreme enthusiasm and pride that I introduce Pei Choong to the SparkVision community!
Talk to me about how you got to Baltimore and are now sitting across from me.
When I graduated from Duke in May of 2015, I was very anxious; I didn’t want to move back home. I spent my college career trying to get a job in the States and it just didn’t work out. I think it’s because I was so unfamiliar and uncomfortable with traditional recruiting. For example, I went to the career office and they recommended that I to go to networking events or reach out to alumni. And that never worked for me. It’s really hard to connect digitally. I was sending a lot of resumes and cover letters into a void.
So I moved home and my brother suggested that I apply to grad school – to give myself another chance.
I’m really glad I wound up in Baltimore.
I wasn’t particularly passionate about it, but I was interested in advertising and marketing. Honestly, the admissions officer at Johns Hopkins is the main reason I’m here today, and enrolled in this Marketing program at Carey. When I reached out, she immediately asked me if I wanted to set up a Skype meeting to learn more. She was always checking in on me and asking about how she could help me in my process.
We met by coincidence at the American Marketing Association’s “Building Your Personal Brand” panel. We briefly talked about our values, our outlook on life, and we really clicked. If we hadn’t both opened ourselves to conversation, we would have missed out on all these amazing possibilities we brought each other.
What do you want to do once you graduate?
I definitely want to go into entrepreneurship. I love it. It’s a place where everyone gives 150% because it’s their baby. It’s a flexible environment, you’re free to be who you are. It’s something that’s very valuable early on in your career. You don’t get the same opportunities in large corporations. There’s not the same need for employees to wear so many hats.
In my last startup job, my role completely changed in 3 months. By the time I left, I was solely responsible for multiple critical business functions. And who was I? Just some fresh graduate. Would I have gotten that opportunity at a larger firm? How could they trust me? But I worked really hard. I produced quality work and I was recognized for it. I feel like I earned that chance and that was so rewarding. It was an experience made possible by the startup environment.
How can SV help you expand your horizons?
I just want to get out there try new things, meet new people, and get to know how they think. I want to challenge myself with things I’ve never done before. I don’t want to make a habit of making habits.
In everything you’ve tried, what aspects of what you’ve done have resonated the most deeply with you?
I think marketing is this illusion I’m chasing. It’s this thing I want to do, but I’ve never gotten to actually do it.
Okay – so you haven’t actually done any marketing for any companies before. Until TODAY! We’re hitting the dream!
What I’ve learned about myself so far is that I like to support people in a lot of different roles. I’m interested in diverse aspects of the business, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure the cogs are in place. I’m more of an internal-operations person. Also, I’m good with intimate social interactions, but stick me in a big party and I turn into a floorflower. It’s like a wallflower, but you sit on the floor, in the corner and ask for their wifi password.
Okay fun stuff – what’s a fun fact about yourself?
I used to do Muay Thai. Head kicks are my specialty.
What’s accomplishment are you most proud of? Something you’ve done that’s really badass.
Moving here. I’m pretty proud of that because I had nothing in Baltimore here and I really pushed myself to do something totally new. Eight weeks later, I feel like I’ve been here forever. I’ve moved so many times and I always felt I was too slow to settle in. Once I was finally happy, it would be time to leave. So this time, I decided I needed to hit the ground running to make that happen.