To kick–off our celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we’d like to introduce you to Jen Chang, who is a Chinese American, Senior Marketing Manager, and member of our Rain Maker Inclusivity Council at Talking Rain.
We sat down to discuss how her culture shaped the person she is today and influences her efforts to build an inclusive culture and environment for our Rain Makers to thrive.
Thank you for taking the time to connect today. I appreciate you being open and willing to share your perspective, as a Rain Maker, Manager, and Rain Maker Inclusivity Council member.
How has your culture shaped you as a person?
Cultures are complex and nuanced, in part because every person has their own story and experience. For myself, my curiosity for Chinese culture grew as I got older. I decided to study abroad during graduate school in Shanghai, where my parents were born, and it was eye opening to me. I finally learned the “why” behind what I experienced as a child. For example, why do my parents always fight over the restaurant bill with their friends? I learned from a classmate in Shanghai that “true friends share money.”
It’s important to me to celebrate the cultural traditions with my family and pass down these same traditions with my daughter. I want my daughter to understand the “why” at a young age, so I’m reading Chinese children’s books to her and even learning new things myself!
That’s absolutely lovely. In some ways, you’ll get to discover it together! How is your culture reflected in your work?
My father would always tell me in Chinese “eating is as big as the sky.” It reflected how much my whole family LOVES to eat together. From there, I developed a passion for food that drove me to work in the food & beverage industry.
How do the current events impacting the Asian American community, including the violence and racism, influence you, or impact you?
It’s disappointing. I feel like I know for myself and from speaking with my family and friends, there’s a sense that you need to be more aware of your surroundings when you’re out. But I’m going to live my life. I’ve got to go to the places that I want to go. I’m not going to avoid places because I feel like my safety is at risk.
We’re less likely than other segments to share our selves, including thoughts, opinions, and feelings. There’s a hesitancy to come out and voice things that are negative because it could come back and harm your family’s reputation. There’s a sense of our collectiveness that makes us more reserved, especially the elderly population who has been most impacted.
I try to focus on what I can control. And I can’t control if someone is going to be prejudiced against me, right? With the biases that have developed over the last year around the virus, it’s unfortunate that it’s impacted not just Chinese people, but the broader Asian Community. I focus on the relationships I have, and influence from there. I check in with my family, my team and let them know I’m here for them. I want to make sure they know that I’m here to listen and support, whatever they need. It’s going to take time to educate people and I’m optimistic that this will improve over time.
“Cultures are complex and nuanced, in part because every person has their own story and experience.”
I like the focus on where you can make an impact. Would you share more about what we’re doing here at Talking Rain?
The training we’re going through has been really insightful to me. I realized that I had in many ways tried to blend in when I was growing up in a predominantly Caucasian community, which I thought was beneficial but now I’ve realized I did a disservice to myself and to those around me when I could have exposed them more deeply to a different culture and background.
Exposure to difference is key when it comes to intercultural competency; something we’ve been focused on as a company. If you have a diverse workforce, you’re one step closer to growing capacity for difference, but diversity can’t do it alone. Inclusivity is ultimately one of the more important factors. That feeling of belonging is what let’s people thrive. You can have diversity, but if people don’t feel like they have a voice or can be themselves, you’ll struggle to build a strong and thriving community.
That’s part of why I’m proud to be a member of our Rain Maker Inclusivity Council. It was originally named the Diversity and Inclusion Council, but we retitled it to be more specific to Talking Rain and be more intentional around our purpose to build the most inclusive culture and environment possible for our Rain Makers.
You spoke to starting with what you can control, your sphere of influence. What advice do you have for others looking to build this on their teams?
Get personal. Every person has different needs. I learned the importance of this in hospitality. Service is essentially validating people. It’s about personalization—their name, the table they liked. I love the getting-to-know-you profiles we have on each Rain Maker.
What I love most about this company is that it’s not just about our work selves, it’s our whole selves. When I connect with my team, I also make sure to really get to know each person. It’s about treating them the way they want to be treated and remembering the details of who they are not just at work, but in their personal lives too.
And all of this starts with listening. Listen and have patience.
As a council, we’ve had to listen first. Building inclusive cultures at companies does not happen overnight, and it takes time to build a thoughtful, sustainable approach across diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. We can’t just dive into work. You have to understand the community first. That is the approach we’ve taken instead of a “check the box” one that is short lived and could be seen as inauthentic. It starts with listening. We want to provide more spaces for there to be conversations about these topics in a vulnerable, productive way.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Culture fit is key when you’re looking for a company where you can thrive. When I came to Talking Rain, I found a culture where I’ve been able to grow because our values allow us to form tight-knit connections. I realized how much I valued a family culture that really stems from the focus of family I had growing up in a Chinese American household.
Over the last year, while there have been difficult moments, there were positive things, like an increased focus on self-care and appreciating the little things more. Talking Rain was already equipped with the right culture and benefits to evolve with these changing needs and support our people. I mean, how many other companies provide free unlimited mental health care? Our company has only gotten stronger, and we should all be proud of that. I’m optimistic about where we go from here.
Thank you again to Jen for sharing her experiences and perspectives. To continue celebrating #AAPIHeritageMonth with us, check out our LinkedIn and Instagram!