Today is my one year anniversary at LinkedIn, and I am so grateful for the fantastic opportunities that Linkedin provides in growth, leadership, and leverage. Improving the quality of relationships we have here with the mindfulness, wellness, community, Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging, and culture initiatives.

I will never forget the anxiety of when I received an offer for LinkedIn around a year ago when I was working at TriNet. I learned so much from my time at TriNet and how my world was going to be so different once I left a company that I adored and loved so much.

LinkedIn is a unique place where people are celebrated in so many different ways, and the quality of talent is pretty unreal. I miss going into the Empire State building and being able to start my daily morning routine with the sleek gym downstairs and then grabbing a hearty breakfast. Being able to see smiling faces all around me, it’s nice to work for a company where everyone around you is happy all of the time. I enjoy reflecting during an anniversary because it gives me a moment to thank so many people who have helped me along the way.  

These are the top 10 things I’ve helped create at my time here at LinkedIn.

1. 1. Linkedin Asian Alliance: Thank you, Miguel, for suggesting for me to take on the co-lead position with Anita Desai. I was always passionate about advanced Asian Americans to help us move up in society. We have the lowest percentage of becoming managers out of every ethnic group, especially because of how educated we are this boggles my mind. Being one of the NYC co-leads has been one of the most rewarding experiences because I have the opportunity to practice leadership and empower amazing people like Patty, Kristian, Sam, Lisa, Annika, and all of the tiger team members to step up.
   2. Being a mentor for many Sales Development reps, coaching, and mentoring many of the closest friends at LinkedIn– Shantel, Bonnie, Ivana, Ryan, Emily, James, and others- has been such a huge source of inspiration and joy for me. Being able to combine my passion for helping others see a different perspective and helping people see the bigger picture brings me joy, knowing that I am making a difference out in the world. One of the highlights is being asked by Shantel, Bonnie, and Emily’s team to present a life coaching session and share some of the things I’ve learned from being more introspective.
   3. Winning the Sales Development/ Account Executive partnership mock demo and discovery challenge. Being partnered with Ivana is a dream come true. She is motivated has a desire and has a thirst for feedback. The combination of practice makes perfect, energy, and being a student of sales. It’s amazing what you create together with you put in the energy and time.
   4. Winning the Linkedin Culture and Values award during LinkedIn Learning’s Onboarding class in September of last year. Being acknowledged for being a person of culture and values is such a rewarding experience for me. Our cultural tenants are Transformation, Integrity, Collaboration, Humor, and Results. Our values is Members First, Relationships Matter, Being Open, Honest, and Constructive, Inspire Excellence, Taking Intelligent Risk, and Act like An Owner. Learning from Garrett Rafols has been truly an inspiring excellent because of how much love and care he puts into the process of training people. It inspires me to one day be a trainer myself so that I can have such positive excellence in helping people get ramped up in the right way.
   5. Winning the Linkedin Learning Account Executive Spiff 5 weeks out of the 8-week competition was also a huge highlight. During the time of COVID-19 while many are dealing with so much in their lives. LinkedIn is kind enough to offer amazing spiffs, and with all of these gift cards, I used it to expand my mind by buying a ton of Audible books. Proud of myself for putting in the effort, I’ve also learned that being efficient is just as valuable as putting in the work. Work ethic is only half the equation in being successful. I learn from my peers in the Account Executive org on ways I can be more effective in life in general.
   6. Stepping up as a leader in Toastmasters has been one of the most rewarding experiences as I practice public speaking. One of the biggest thrills in life is moving a room with emotions through storytelling. That made me happy that I get to be a lot of such a wonderful community of people who are always looking to improve themselves and touch lives in the process. Thank you, everyone, and the Toastmasters family because of you. I am much more comfortable being uncomfortable, especially because starting my own YouTube channel was always a huge fear of mine.
   7. Thank you to LinkedIn for introducing me to amazing programs like Salt, IMentor, Pencil, and Streetwise Partners. These opportunities have given me the most joy in my life when I have the opportunity to help immigrants, high schoolers, college students, and young professionals with their resume, mock interviews, college applications, and helping them with their presentation/ public speaking skills. There is no better feeling than when your mentee steps into his or her greatness and gets that hard-earned internship that he or she has been working for a whole semester. Living a life of gratitude and of service has helped me sleep at night, knowing that I am making a difference in the world.
   8. Being such a huge culture add to the company, I realize is my secret power. I’ve always had thought of it, but LinkedIn truly celebrates people who contribute culturally. Linkedin’s InDays are days dedicated to being of service and expanding your horizon through the thoughtful programming that the Employee Resource groups/ Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging team/Culture Committee, Wellness team, and the Learning and Development teams put together. From those workshops from yoga, Resilient, Mindfulness training has helped me grow more than I thought can be humanly possible in a one year. Sometimes, I feel weird because the only one from my org to attend many of these meetings, but I know in my heart it has long term compound effects. Thank you for all of the hard work and thoughtfulness that the team’s put into creating these life-changing experiences.
   9.  Creating the Asians in Sales group at LinkedIn has been rewarding as well as the group has grown to over 92 members! The first few events have been rewarding getting together people with common interests and goals as we try to break through the management ceiling as a minority in sales. 
   10. Self-discovery– growing my meditation practice with increasing my flexibility with yoga. It’s nice to be able to contribute to the wellness community while practicing vulnerability. There are so many incredible L & D workshops that have made a real difference in my life and have helped me explore my values and who I am for the world. 

In summary, I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity that LinkedIn has provided me to grow and prosper as a human being. I appreciate all of the people, thoughtfulness, and care that LinkedIn has provided to foster growth for all of us here. 

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