Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode
  1. All Episodes
  2. A Love of Learning Helped Me Move Onward as an Immigrant with Youfeng (May) Jiang

A Love of Learning Helped Me Move Onward as an Immigrant with Youfeng (May) Jiang

Oct 21, 2019

Youfeng (May) Jiang is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Financial Planner, who immigrated from China. Youfeng is married with two children, and is passionate about building relationships and helping people and businesses with business matters. She discusses being a life-long learner and the obstacles she faced in China and the challenges she faced after moving to the United States with her African-American husband. 

 

Episode Highlights: 

 

  • Emily Harman introduces Youfeng (May) Jiang. 
  • Youfeng describes her life growing up in China.
  • Youfeng’s parents were disappointed that she was born a girl. 
  • Why did Youfeng focus on getting excellent grades? 
  • How did her parents feel about Youfeng marrying an African-American man? 
  • How did life change for Youfeng when she moved to the United States?
  • What circumstances led Youfeng to go to the University of Maryland and become an accountant? 
  • Why did Youfeng leave a lucrative position at PricewaterhouseCoopers?
  • How did Youfeng cope with the language barrier when she moved to the United States?  
  • Does Youfeng think that people assume she isn’t as intelligent because of her accent? 
  • What barriers does Youfeng see for herself career-wise? 
  • Why did Youfeng start using May as her professional name and how did her family feel about her decision?   
  • How were Youfeng’s children impacted by being raised by parents of different races? 
  • Youfeng discusses how insecurities have shaped her life. 
  • Youfeng shares her career goals and the actions she is taking to achieve her goals.
  • What is Youfeng’s advice about moving onward? 

 

3 Key Points:

  1. Language is a huge barrier for many immigrants trying to be successful in the United States. 
  2. We can be different but we all have similar aspirations. We all want better lives.

Youfeng believes that she can help people, build bridges, and develop friendly, non confrontational relationships. Her experience as an immigrant, and having the experience of being looked at differently and being treated differently, helps her relate to other immigrants. 

  1. We only have one life. It’s never too late to pursue something you love.  

 

Tweetable Quotes:

  • “I developed this compassion for the underdog because when I was growing up, I felt depressed as a girl because my mom would always tell me the story when I was born my father nearly fainted to know that I was a girl.”
    – Youfeng Jiang
    Tweet this

 

  • “I read books about the civil rights movement, racial equalities. So, I knew from early on I had this desire for justice and equality, because I felt like I was fighting for myself all these years.’”
    – Youfeng Jiang

Tweet this

  • “Language is a huge barrier for many immigrants trying to be successful here (United States).”
    – Youfeng Jiang
    Tweet this

 

Resources Mentioned: