Today we’d like to introduce you to Wen Zhang.
Hi Wen, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am from a small/rural isolated mountain town in China, without Internet, public transportation to the outside world, where girls are raised to be a wife and mothers. However, I always knew that I want to venture and see the world beyond the mountain. The desire leads me to discover a cassette machine, and that is how I taught myself English in the next four years. After countless failures in between, I came to the US in 2011 to start my American Dream.
Nine years later, with two Master’s degrees (University of Illinois & Duke MBA), while experiencing successes through both startups and the corporate world, there was still this voice deep in my heart that wanted to see and explore the bigger world. I realized that when I made my ‘American dream’ come true ten years ago and how it defines who I am today; I want to empower and enable others to achieve their dreams as well. This is why I founded International INNW Institute, with a mission to empower entrepreneurs and startup founders to craft a compelling pitch deck to connect with investors and customers. www.ifnotnowwen.com
Additionally, I am also hosting a podcast named <If Not Now Wen>, sharing entrepreneurial stories, the good, the bad, and everything in between, with the intention to inspire audiences to move forward with their own goals and dreams.
- Apple Podcast: https://anchor.fm/
wen-zhang - YouTube: https://www.youtube.
com/channel/UCEQX_4Y4tvSGPZ_ Lk0umhvA
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest obstacle is to overcome fear. Growing in a culture where women are not encouraged to speak up and share their voices. Even though I left China long ago, however, China never left my heart. I still follow that voice in my heart to check one box after another, following the conventional ‘success’ path in life, and be a good girl I was always told to be, whether from the startup world to the corporate world, from one Master’s degree to another MBA.
The hardest moment comes when I realized it is time for me to leave the path and forge my own way; when I finally acknowledge the voice deep inside of me wanting more in life, and it is time to leave the corporate world and step into the entrepreneurial journey; to fully believe in myself and trust the voice inside.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about INNW Consulting?
At INNW, we want to create a world where no dream is left unfulfilled. Our mission is to empower startup founders to craft a compelling pitch deck to connect with investors and grow and scale their businesses.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I believe in truth and authenticity. I love to connect with people who are authentic, real, and mission forward. I enjoy cultivating a community where we all come together, contribute, and support one another truthfully. I dislike ingenious connections and unkindness.
Contact Info:
- Email: wen@ifnotnowwen.com
- Website: www.ifnotnowwen.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/channel/UCEQX_4Y4tvSGPZ_ Lk0umhvA - Apple Podcast: https://anchor.fm/
wen-zhang
