How do I survive in the business world

Stand out from the crowd

When I walked into an M&A conference room in New York, I understood I need to be confident to stand out in a man-dominated industry and race & gender inequality society. Around 150 people attended this meeting but I only saw 10 women in this conference. Among these 10 women, I only saw two Asian women. Luckily, I gained new knowledge, connected with some nice people and found business opportunities in this conference. In fact, it’s not every time I was in such a good situation. Some people treat you unfairly because race, gender or other reasons. I told myself instead of changing people’s mind, I need to be strong!

Entrepreneur Mind

Become a successful entrepreneur is my destination”: Growing up in Taipei Taiwan, I was the youngest of children of four. Nobody in my family was in business. When I was 18 years old, I organized social events and sold tickets to classmates and friends. Inspired by this success, I became interested in expanding my skills into the world of business by selling products door to door and entering into university. Following the completion of university, I worked for an engineering company and IBM international for a couple of years. I decided to open Language School. My friend and I started the franchise business – Jordan Language School. First year, we had 75 students. The second year, we increased to 200 students.

In 1997, I sold the business and immigrated to Canada. I quickly involved myself in volunteer work with the multicultural association in order to network and familiarize myself with my new home. In one year, I was elected to the board of directors and became President of the association. I was met with great success in policy renewal, fund raising, and organizing events. Through my interactions with a great variety of people in this role my leadership skills were strengthened and magnified.

In 2000, I moved to Calgary and continued to update my career in business management, fiancé and accounting related fields. In 2007, I established CTL Business Group in Calgary. In 2009, I found a non-profit association, ACCFA. Our mission is youth green environment community engagement. In 2015, I passed the CMC exam and went to Kennesaw State University to study Mergers & Acquisitions.

With over 15 years business management and entrepreneur experience, CTL Business Group has grown into a multi-service company offering business management, buying/selling business, finance, mergers & acquisitions, valuations, investment and accounting training. We have offices in Calgary, Canada, California, USA and Taipei, Taiwan. The past 11 years have been challenging and rewarding. We work hard in different business life cycles. Go back to the seed stage into survival & expansion stages. I know every path I did was worth it.

Be confident; Be strong; Be positive
Understand my personal strengths and realize that authentic businesses are the ones that inspire and prosper. Make sure I stay true to myself. In a virtual world, people have a hunger for something genuine and more than just a service, but an experience that is transparent and honest. Businesses have to keep up with consumer authority and give people what they want in order to prosper. Authenticity is one of many ways to build customer trust to stand out from the competition.

Try to limit the amount of time I spend with people who nay-say, judge, or ridicule. Choose to completely surround myself with positive, inspiring influences. I feel much happier and better about myself.

Embrace my unique qualities and talents.

Don’t be afraid of being different. Figure out what I am good at and what sets me apart from everyone else. My mission is to create a reason for being here.

Turn my fear into fuel:

·       Be confident with only one woman in the meeting or at the table.

·       Be confident when people don’t like your accent, your race, your gender.

·       Be confident who you are.

·       Learn to focus on the things I can control –hard work and producing results are two of those things. An approach that focuses on business first ensures gender or race does not define my business services.

Focus on my goal: “Become a successful entrepreneur is my destination”:

According to a report from the Institute of Women’s Policy Research, the presence of women in the world of small-business ownership is still rising – about 29 percent of the world’s small business owners are women. More women today wonder what we can do to stand out in the business world, and even more so if we work in a male-dominated industry and race & gender inequality society. Don’t be afraid of being different. Embrace your unique and talents are the positive ways to go. I will continue my entrepreneur journey because I believe I can make my dream come true.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-do-i-survive-business-world-maggie-chen-cmc-cmap/