Once in a Lifetime

‘Once in a Lifetime’ is a storytelling series that aims to amplify the voices of marginalized group by providing a platform for people to share their stories surrounding life in advertising. Marginalized groups include, but are not limited to, BIPOC, socioeconomic status, race, immigrants, LGBTQ+ identity, physical disability, and mental illness. I’m currently the co-founder of this initiative in Mediahub and we hope to spread this series across the whole advertising industry. Below is my story. You can read other stories from the Once in a Lifetime series here.

October 23, 2020

If you know me, you probably know that I was born and raised in Brooklyn, and that I have a lot of pride being a Brooklynite. My parents are immigrants from China so that makes me a first generation Chinese-American. A little background about them, my dad works in construction and my mom used to be a home caregiver at a nursing home, so they are very much working-class people. In terms of our family dynamic, my parents don’t speak English very well, so as the oldest of two children, I quickly became the designated translator for everything. That meant at a young age I was reading important letters, writing checks, and being handed the phone whenever the caller was speaking English.

I’m also the first member of my family to go to college in America. I went to Baruch college because it’s a CUNY, so it’s an affordable option, and also a well-known business school. But my college experience wasn’t like that of people who felt that college was fun, or the best time of their life. Instead, my college years were some of the most difficult years of my life so far. That’s because my mom passed away during my freshman year of college, after battling cancer for two years, and it basically changed my whole world.

My mom was both the breadwinner and the housewife. In other words, she brought home the bacon and also cooked it. We also grew up on Food Stamps, or what is now known as SNAP benefits. So, when my mom passed away, my single father was struggling to make ends meet. And to be honest, there were nights where I didn’t expect there to be dinner on the table when I got home. To help support my family, I started waitressing and bartending after class to help pay the bills. On the outside, my peers thought it was “cool” that I was bartending before hitting the legal drinking age. But on the inside, I was tired — both emotionally and physically.

Unfortunately, that same year my 16-year-old sister was diagnosed with depression and another fear crept in: I may lose another family member. As the older sister, my role quickly turned into being a mother figure as I cooked for her, took her to therapy appointments, and facilitated meetings with her teachers and principle to ensure that she could graduate. When I think back to those years it felt like I was constantly trying not to drown, while wishing I had the energy to simply swim to safety. It was straight-up struggle city in New York City. I had to balance going to class full time, working, taking care of my sister, and fitting some time for internships where I could.

I knew internship experience would be super important to kickstart my advertising career, and I did a lot of different internships because I wasn’t sure what route I wanted to take. I tried PR, media relations, events planning, and even dabbled in business development. I learned a lot from these internships, but I also learned that these channels weren’t the best fit for me. In a way, it felt like I was basically back to square one after each one. Even towards the end of my college career, I was still unsure what part of advertising I liked best. That’s when my friend urged me to apply for COOP, a non-profit digital marketing program aiming to help marginalized people start a career in digital advertising.

COOP was where things really kicked off for me. Through the program I learned about the fundamentals of digital marketing and soft skills like how to ace that interview. And best of all, the program provided me with the guidance I desperately needed, because that’s where I met someone who was doing SEO. She was able to tell me more about what an SEO-er does and made me feel empowered that it could be the right niche for me. So towards the end of COOP I started applying for SEO positions. One of them was the Mediahub SEO Internship program.

Longer story short, I interviewed for the internship and got the offer! At the time, part of me was so excited because it felt like someone was finally giving me a chance. The other part of me felt incompetent for pursuing an internship role after both graduating and doing a bootcamp course. It made me question whether I was smart enough for a livable wage with benefits, and it made me scared that I would never advance past internship roles.

My team at Mediahub isn’t aware of this, but at one point, I had considered turning down the internship offer for a full-time opportunity instead. I simply couldn’t afford it and I was already racking up credit card debt to make ends meet. But my mentor at COOP gave me a piece of advice that I will never forget. He told me, “The money will come, but finding a company and team that you feel excited about is harder to find.” He was right. I was excited to work at Mediahub, I liked the people I interviewed with, and I was truly happy when I got the offer — so I took the internship.

At first, interning at Mediahub was a culture shock for me. I was used to working in teams of 10 people at most, so the sheer size of the 100-person office made me feel intimidated. I was also quite frankly, shocked at the lack of diversity, and even New Yorkers within the agency. I found myself surrounded by a demographic that didn’t look like my high school, college, or friend group experience because it was overwhelmingly white. For reference, my high school is made up of 78% minorities and my college is made up of 65% minorities. I definitely felt like I was out of my element.

No one prepared me for what to expect in the agency world. Behind the rose-colored glasses of snack-stocked pantries and sponsored happy hours, I was struggling to feel seen. Or more accurately, feel safe or comfortable enough to be seen. The fact that few people said “Good Morning” to me unless I said it first, made me realize that I alone would need to be the one to carve out space for myself. Even something as simple as getting lunch with my coworkers was an adjustment. At the time, I couldn’t afford to spend $13 on Dig Inn, or $15 on a salad. Still, I knew those moments were important to build connections so when I did take those lunch trips, I often only ate half of the meal so I can save the rest for the next day.

It was hard, but I adapted. I knew I needed to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity. During my internship I soaked in as much information as possible and really tried to prove my worth for a full-time offer. I told my team “I want to drown in work,” because I knew as a minority the bar was higher, and I would have to work at least two times harder. And it paid off because when my internship ended, I was offered a full-time position. I was ecstatic!

Luckily, I’m part of one of the more diverse teams in Mediahub. That is a huge reason why I’m still here 3 years later, going from being an intern to a supervisor today. They gave me opportunities to grow and provided a level of inclusion and understanding that empowers me to be more authentic. And for that I’m truly grateful because I know not everyone in this industry may have the same experience as me.

Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have had enough courage to tell my story 2 or 3 years ago, but now I feel like there is space for us to do that. The fact that I was the first person from COOP to work at Mediahub, and now there are eight of us makes me feel like we are creating space for diversity and that is one of the progresses I am most proud of during my time here.

That was my journey of how I got here. Being the first in my family to go to college, work in advertising, or do anything is scary and hard. Especially when I didn’t have the support system I needed. But I learned that when I have opportunities to succeed, it opens up opportunities for my family, and other minorities as well. Personally, that means providing financial stability for my family and being a good role model for my sister so she can see that it’s possible for her as well. And that’s what makes it all worth it.