← The Leadership Dance
The Leadership Dance
Ep. 1: Once a dancer, always a dancer, with Alissa Hsu Lynch
00:14:16
In this first episode of the Leadership Dance, Alissa shares her unconventional journey from a professional modern dancer to a successful business executive and board director. She discusses the challenges she faced in transitioning careers, the...
Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
Elisa
Foreign hi there and welcome to the Leadership Dance. I'm Elisa and I never thought I'd end up where I am today. I started my career as a professional modern dancer before reinventing myself as a business leader and a board director. In today's episode, I want to share with you how I was able to use my unique background to succeed in business and I'll highlight three key strategies that you can apply in your own life to help you build a rewarding career. I fell in love with ballet when I was three years old when my parents took me to see my first dance performance and they said that as soon as the dancers came on stage I jumped up out of my seat and started twirling in the aisles. They signed me up for dance classes at Dottie's Dance Studio and I basically grew up as a bunhead, which if you don't know what a bunhead is, it's a girl who lives and breathes ballet all day every day. It wasn't until college that I discovered modern dance, which I found to be much more creative and freeing than the strict technique of ballet. Although it did take me a while to get used to dancing in bare feet instead of pointe shoes. As I was graduating from college I I decided to try dancing professionally instead of going to law school and amazingly I was selected for a year long tour with the Limone Dance Company to perform around the world. So I moved to New York City and ended up dancing for six years. After that initial tour I danced primarily with Ralph Lemon Co. And was living my childhood dream performing at places like the Kennedy Center, Lincoln center and traveling all around the world. But when the choreographer I was dancing with decided to disband his company, I decided to retire from dance at the ripe old age of 27. I was getting older for a dancer. I wanted to start a family and I thought I would try to make it in the business world. I still remember my first corporate job after retiring from my dance career. I had just gotten my MBA and I was a new mom. I had my first baby while I was in business school. When I was starting my new job, my son was about 15 months old and I was pregnant again with my second baby. I was definitely not the typical first year marketer at Johnson and Johnson. I didn't have that much in common with my co workers. Have you ever felt that way when you look around and don't see other people who look like you or have the same experience as you, it can be intimidating and give you imposter syndrome. I felt that way when I first started my business career, like I didn't quite belong. Not only was I a mom of two kids when no one else was having babies at that stage of their careers, I also didn't have a traditional business background and I was only one of a few Asians, if not the only Asian in the marketing department at that time. There weren't many Asian role models for me to look up to when I first started in business, which by the way, was similar for me in dance. Not too many Asians are encouraged by their parents to pursue dancing, although I was lucky that mine were supportive since my mom was a classical pianist. Looking back now, it's kind of crazy to think about how I was able to manage all of that. I went out on maternity leave just three months after starting, and I only took 10 weeks off because I felt pressure to get back to work and to prove myself. Not to mention that's all the time off we had for maternity leave. Back in the old days. It was tough for me. I was breastfeeding my baby while working full time and traveling on business trips. But I managed to push through and somehow I got promoted pretty quickly along with my peers. In the beginning, when I switched from dance into business, my approach was not to talk about my dance background. My rational side wanted to be taken seriously and I thought people would look down on the fact that I was a dancer before. But after I was promoted to the manager level, I did this 360 degree feedback program and the feedback I got was that people thought I was all business, which admittedly, I probably was. They said they didn't really feel like they knew me. And after I thought about that for a while and worked with an executive coach, I decided to try to share more about myself. Although to be honest, that didn't come naturally to me at first because I thought I needed to act professional at work. So I started talking about my dance background and about my kids, and it was amazing to see how that changed conversations. People thought it was so cool that I was a dancer and they wanted to know more. I learned that dance was something from my past that I could bring into the business world to connect better with others. And over time, I realized that the two weren't that different. I was using a lot of what I had learned from dance in business. Things like performing under pressure. I knew how to prepare for big meetings, and I didn't get nervous presenting in front of hundreds of people. Also, I've always been a hard worker and that work ethic is something that was instilled in me by my Chinese parents, but also something that dancing really reinforced. You don't become a better dancer unless you're willing to put in the hard work every single day, which also speaks to a growth or learning mindset. And dance also taught me agility, which, okay, it's a buzzword today, but it is so critical in business. And it's something that comes naturally to dancers. The ability to adapt on the fly to whatever's happening around you. You have to be so present and creative in the moment when you're dancing. So my career at Johnson Johnson was going really well. I got promoted to marketing director on the Aveeno brand and that was one of the best times of my career. Such an amazing brand, an incredible team. We all loved working together. The business was growing double digits and everything was just clicking. I like to think of it as we were all in the flow together, which is a feeling I used to experience when I was dancing on stage. I also remember thinking that I had finally found something else that I loved and was good at besides dance. After a few years of working on Aveeno, I started to get a little bored and decided I wanted to take on a new challenge. I raised my hand to do an international assignment, which was not something that many other people in the US were willing to do. And I ended up getting a role in China and moved my whole family to Shanghai. Our boys were 9 and 10 at the time. In my mind, it seemed like it would be a good move. I thought that by doing this assignment, I would get promoted when I got back to the us and on the personal side, it allowed me to get in touch with my Chinese heritage. My parents were both born in China, but I had never been there, not even as a tourist. Living in China was an adventure and I learned so much about myself while I was there. Talk about foreign. I was on the other side of the world, operating in a complex, fast moving market. I only spoke conversational Mandarin, so my brain was working overtime trying to understand everything. And overnight my identity flipped upside down. I went from being viewed as an Asian in America to being viewed as an American in Asia. I wasn't the only one in my family having a hard time adjusting. My younger son made a new best friend almost immediately. But my older son was not happy to be there and he really struggled at first. He had nightmares. He didn't want to go to school, even though he was in an international school with his brother and others like him. And we couldn't figure out what was going on. With him, I personally felt really guilty for being the one who made all of us move to China. But I was also under a lot of pressure at work, so I couldn't spend as much time as I would have liked with my kids. After about six months, I asked J and J whether I could end the assignment earlier than planned because we were so worried about our son hating it there and hating us. But then things started to improve after he joined the jazz band in the spring and he started making good friends. And by the end, he liked it there. Although don't get me wrong, he was still very happy to go home to the US Even though it was hard, I would do it again in a heartbeat. And as a matter of fact, my husband and I lived abroad again in Switzerland when we became empty nesters. That first gig in China took a lot of resilience from all of us, which is another skill I learned from dance. Here's the thing. When I moved back to the us I did not get the promotion I wanted. In fact, there was a general manager role that came up. I thought it was a great fit for me, but for whatever reason, I wasn't even considered for that position. By the time I found out about it, a friend of mine was promoted into that role. He was well qualified, but I felt completely blindsided, passed over in disbelief, angry, all the things. And after that happened, I kind of lost my motivation at work. I felt like, why did I just move my entire family to the other side of the world and take on something that nobody else is willing to do and not get recognized for that? It was not a good time for me and I was feeling pretty miserable. I apologized to my family because I was not a happy person. And it wasn't just because I didn't get promoted. It was also because the culture had shifted at J and J. The business was facing challenges. There were leadership changes and layoffs, and everyone was focused on protecting themselves instead of focusing externally on on customers and innovation. After a few months of feeling helpless, I decided I'd had enough. And if the environment at work wasn't going to change, then I needed to change my environment. I left J and J and got a job at Valiant, which is now Balch Health. And by the way, I got a promotion to vice president and general manager. It was really unfortunate I had to leave JJ to feel valued, but it was the right decision for me because I was learning and growing again and I was gaining new experiences that I likely would not have had if I had stayed. I had a really fun time building the CeraVe skincare brand while I was at Valiant and guess what? J and J saw what I was doing and decided to recruit me back. At first I said no, I'm really enjoying what I'm doing now. But in the end I decided to go back because I felt like the company's values aligned better with my own and I was able to return on my own terms at the VP level. After that, I went on to take on other roles in the medical device business, did a second international assignment in Switzerland, and then made the leap to Google and the technology world. Now I serve as a board Director for the Honest Company and I sit on the Board of Trustees of American Ballet Theater. Which brings me back to dance. There's a saying, once a dancer, always a dancer. And for me it's so true. We never really stop dancing, we just find new ways to move through life. Having started my career as a starving artist in New York City, I know what it takes to make your way up from the bottom, to overcome barriers and to deal with self doubt. And I've learned that sometimes you need to get creative with your career. You need to choreograph your own success. Now, this podcast isn't just for people with dance backgrounds. We all have different experiences that shape us and how we move through the world. None of us are one dimensional. We're made up of so many stories, layers and puzzle pieces that make us who we are. With the Leadership Dance, I want to empower you to think about what makes you different and turn your unique stories into strengths, not obstacles. In future episodes, we'll dive into topics like reimagining success, embracing change, and building your personal brand to stand out. We'll explore how to bring your true self into every stage of your career. As we wrap up this first episode, I want to leave you with three things to remember. The first is embrace what makes you different. Just like I learned to embrace my dance background as part of my personal story and brand, you can turn what makes you different into a powerful asset. Your unique experiences and perspectives set you apart. Lean into those and use them to step into your star power. The second thing is keep moving. Life, like dance, requires agility. It's constantly moving and changing. Whether you're happy with where you are or maybe you're feeling a little stuck. Staying on your toes will help you keep learning and growing, and help you face unexpected challenges or even find new opportunities. Even when the path ahead doesn't, it doesn't seem clear. And the third thing is choreograph your own success. There's no one size fits all definition of success, no matter what society or your company. Or maybe your parents told you, don't be afraid to take control of your career, to dream big and choreograph your Leadership Dance to align with who you are and where you want to go. Thank you so much for joining me for this first episode of the Leadership Dance. If you enjoyed it, please like subscribe, subscribe, share it with a friend and leave a review. And I hope you'll join me for the next few shows where you'll be hearing from some visionary leaders who have broken barriers in their own careers. Until next time, keep dancing.