Category: Blog

Be yourself!

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This sounds corny right? But today, I’m going to specifically talk about at being yourself at the workplace. I think many people shy away from their true selves at work because they think they need to be professional, but people connect with people. I realized I made so many friends because I was just being myself. I even have a personal brand at work!

It’s so important to have a personal brand to be known for something but also to bring your whole self to work. In consulting, it seems very “fake” if you have a persona and people can sniff it out in an instant. Your relationships with clients will be SO much better because they feel like they can trust you, and your teammates would enjoy working with you! Literally I show off my cats in video calls and talk about microblading my brows to my clients! (The secret is out, I really don’t have brows 😂)

That’s similar to my approach on YouTube where I wanted to just be myself and not be a very uptight person lecturing you. I wanted to be the big sis (I literally made a branding guide saying I wanted to be perceived as that 😂).

How do you bring your whole self to work? Do you have a personal brand? Comment down below!

Follow me on Instagram at @christine.innovates for more! I go over technology consulting, technology, consulting, careers, and also my own personal stories and narratives as a young working professional!

Brian Kuan: Product Marketing Manager & Startup Enthusiast | TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONALS

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I met Brian five years ago when we both founded our own chapters of our business fraternity in our respective schools. While I was at Boston University, he was at UC Riverside! He has always been interested in entrepreneurship and startups and it ultimately led him to become a product marketing manager in a Silicon Valley startup in hopes to one day go to graduate school and found his own startup. If you’re very interested in startups, this is the perfect episode for you as he has over three years of experience in tech startups in Silicon Valley!

Hustle Culture is Toxic | CHATTING WITH CHRISTINE

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Both my boyfriend, Addison and I were in hustle culture until we found a work life balance to come to terms with our mental health as young working professionals. Two different mindsets, two different paths. At the end, mental health is very important, and what’s the point of working if you are just working to work? You should be working to live. Here are our thoughts and perspectives.

Listen now: https://linktr.ee/christinepodcast

IS NEW YORK CITY WORTH IT: 5 Things to Think About Before Moving to NYC in 2021

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Due to my real estate journey, many have asked me why we decided to stay in New York City, and the question is always “Is New York City worth it?” In this video, I tell you 5 things you need to think about before moving to NYC in 2021! My New York pride kicks in, but I know that depending on who you are, it’s not always worth it, so I go over who would and who wouldn’t enjoy New York City. Maybe this would help you out with making a decision! Especially with the pandemic, more and more people are reevaluating if that’s the right move.

Rewrite the Rules

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You guys know I love Suits! One of the main reasons I love it (past the corruption 😂) is because it truly shows how people who believe in themselves and keep working on it despite the “rules and limitations” persevere and prevail. I actually had a glass ceiling implemented by my own family. They said I shouldn’t go into tech. They even said I shouldn’t go to college, just get married and have kids. Luckily I have some in my family who believed in me but if you heard this at a very young age, anyone would get discouraged and I was.

Luckily I surrounded myself around motivated strong women who were so determined to break the mold and break free. It definitely helped me take steps I normally would have shied away such as meeting new people, being in tech, being in male dominant industries, starting a YouTube channel, talking about “taboo topics” on my podcast, and just openly discussing many topics that need to be said to help other women who were in my shoes to win a no win situation by rewriting the rules.

You have to just do it. Do it for yourself.

Follow me on Instagram at @christine.innovates for more! I go over technology consulting, technology, consulting, careers, and also my own personal stories and narratives as a young working professional!

HOW to write a GREAT Thank You Email | THIS Accenture Thank You Email That Got The Job

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In this video, I go over how I exactly write my thank you emails and make it a GREAT thank you email! A really good thank you email can help your case, but a GREAT thank you email might actually overturn a decision or land you that offer! In this video, I actually show you my thank you email during the Accenture interview process.

What is agile?

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Everyone talks about agile development, but WHAT EXACTLY IS IT? Scrum and Kanban are the most common types of agile development but there are still many more. The agile principles apply to all of them.

Companies use agile development to work dynamically with change. The counterpart is waterfall which is so rigid for taking in all requirements in the beginning then executing instead of continuous improvements which is what agile development is known for.

If you want a hot skill, being scrum or kanban certified is the way to go if you are looking to go into technology consulting. In fact, at Accenture strives for global digital fluency within the firm and one of topics is agile development. It’s something everyone interested in tech should know!

Follow me on Instagram at @christine.innovates for more! I go over technology consulting, technology, consulting, careers, and also my own personal stories and narratives as a young working professional!

Shaarika Kaul: Management Consultant, Technical Product Manager, Author | WOMEN OF INSPIRATION

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We have a lot to unpack in today’s episode! Shaarika Kaul studied Informatics (data science) and Communications at University of Washington and then pivoted to Deloitte and then to AG Consulting Partners where she currently is a management consultant and a technical product manager. On the side, she also cofounded and co-authored Mindful Mansi! Definitely check out her book and the amazing initiatives MPower Media is doing!

Listen to the full episode here: https://linktr.ee/christinepodcast

The 10 BIGGEST MISTAKES I Made In MY FIRST YEAR AS A CONSULTANT

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Got some juicy lessons that I learned during my first year as a consultant! OMG, I made so many mistakes (who hasn’t?), and honestly, I’m pretty sure no one would have guessed the last one, so definitely stick around for that one. I wanted to make this video so any of you that are about to start your job in consulting can be prepared for what there is to come and also to avoid making my mistakes. I also provide you some tips on what you can do instead to avoid these traps!

Put yourself out there

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I had a little “quiz” in my stories and I find it funny when people think I’m an extrovert HAHAHHA. I’m far from it: I’m actually an introvert! Despite being a consultant, a career where extroverts thrive in, I connect better in small groups or one on ones.

Sometimes you just need to put yourself out there, and over time, it’ll actually get much easier for you. Fake it till you make it! It started for me with Phi Chi Theta, the business fraternity I was involved in back in college. I would have NEVER guessed I would join Greek life, but I did because I wanted to meet different people, make new friends, and ultimately, really get myself out of the shell. I always thought I was very awkward and just didn’t know what to talk about. I actually stuttered, misspoke a lot of words (due to being surrounded by broken English and Chinese at home), and had absolutely no confidence in myself. Now as you can tell in my YouTube video I have more confidence in speaking and it’s a lot more coherent. Even during presentations back in high school, I literally read off of a piece of paper without once giving eye contact to my audience.

I even had a high school internship where I had to answer calls as a receptionist. Only 4 months later did I FINALLY pick up the phone. Imagine hiding away for 4 months of my internship NOT answering the phones which was literally a big part of my internship and making my manager pick it up instead. I was so ashamed. Everyone has their learning curve and their own demons. But I did it and that’s what matters. Just take that leap of faith and try it out! Once you do it more often, you’ll grow numb to it and you WILL be confident. You CAN do this. Comment down below on times you put yourself out there and how it went!