Chief Executive Officer, China Australia Millennial Project
Ceremony: 11 October 2019, 2:00pm - Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Wow, I should really stop my mom writing. My bio is, I think that was a little extensive. Thank you so much for having me here and for the opportunity to share some wisdom with you today. Thank you for the applause, but I have to remind you that a lot of graduates here have just completed an entire degree in their second language. So let's give our international students and our English as second language speakers a round of applause also.
I've been an international student and that is no joke. It is so difficult. Presiding-Chancellor, Ron Sandland, Vice-Chancellor Attila Brungs, Presiding Dean, Susan Page, university executives and staff, distinguished guests, graduates, your family and friends. Thank you for inviting me here today to give the occasional address at your graduation. I'd like to acknowledge that we meet today on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, a land on which I was born and pay my respects to elders past, present, and future.
I've been asked here today to share insight gained since I was sitting in your seat and so I've titled this address Five Tips for Surviving After Graduation. Now, when I studied as an undergraduate, I was a very average student. In fact, I barely could have been worse and still gained my science degree. When I did gain my degree, I knew how to be three things, a dumb punk kid from the countryside, a scanner of groceries at our leading supermarkets and how to be a Euro scientist, a little bit.
My problem was though, is that in my gut, when I graduated, I knew I no longer wanted to be any of those things and I felt super lost when I graduated. I didn't know what to do with my life. I knew I didn't have a purpose to the experiment of my life, but like a good scientist, I knew what to do about it. I needed to gather more data. So I saved my pennies and I headed off looking for new rich experiences to China for a three month backpacking trip.
It was 2002, I couldn't speak Mandarin at all. I had no overseas experience whatsoever and I was traveling alone. The experience I gained on that trip changed everything and since then my career has been pegged to China's rise. Tip one, your career will change direction many times. Keep yourselves agile. I graduated in neuroscience and I ended up being a China specialist.
My career changed directions in order to find my purpose and I didn't die. I had to be open to the uncertainty contained within that change and to give myself space to just figure it out. Tip one, keep yourselves agile. Tip number two, learn Mandarin. Yes, it is hard. Do it anyway. It's worth the effort in the benefits and the relationships and the impact that you will have. You will be able to have over the course of your life. I started learning at 23 so there is no excuse.
So as we know, China has risen and digital is here. Everything is changing and the single most resilient and transferable skill that you will have over the course of your changing careers is the ability to communicate face to face with the one in five people on this planet who do speak Mandarin. For an Australian at this stage of your career, this skill will be pivotal. I promise you I'm living proof.
If you already speak Mandarin, know that you hold a skill critically important to your future success globally. Australia needs more people like you, like us, who can build bridges between our nations and who can identify the values that we share and capitalise upon the differences. If you are an international student, know that Australia is a place which has fallen in love with you as much as you have fallen in love with it. And at very least myself and indeed this university will always welcome you.
Tip two. Learn and use Mandarin, to build bridges across the world. Tip number three, find your purpose and you will change the world. As I mentioned, I barely passed my undergrad degree, but after becoming deeply fascinated with China in my subsequent two master's degrees, which I gained here at UTS, I got high distinctions across the board, but high marks or gaining degrees aren't your purpose. I know this feels like an important day today, but this right here is not your purpose. You're about to go out and do it. Those are just boxes that you tick along the way and discovering your purpose will see you do the most impactful work of your life.
So let me just talk briefly about what my purpose looks like. In China I discovered a universe of change inside one country, a powerful economic journey unfolding, brilliant, funny, kind people who were so much less other than I'd been raised to believe. In China, I was a tall, blonde, weird working class mono lingual fish out of water, and I experienced what it's like to be other, which was very, very healthy.
I found what compelled me and I felt it at a cellular level. I was so compelled on that trip that I applied for my first UTS China masters from a tiny smoky internet cafe. Remember internet cafes? In Sichuan province and I got in and I backed myself just like you guys have. And I found my purpose and it did change my entire life. So tip three, find your purpose and you will change your world and the world around you.
So my world had changed, I'd gone from lost graduate to purposeful employee. I had passion and I was ready to start my big life. I'd landed one of the top China jobs in this country. I got to know the Prime Minister and ministers and heads of the biggest companies in Australia, and I had a front row seat to every industry in the China Australia relationship. Intellectually I was on cloud nine. Ethically and philosophically however, I was kind of dying on the inside.
I didn't realise it at the time, but my world had changed again. And in my dream job I couldn't see any diversity in leadership. Time and time again, leaders who had 30 years experience on me were treating the bond between Australia and China as at best a transaction or even a burden, and at worst with unconscious racism and I was devastated. I was working 80 hour weeks and not helping anyone but the self-interests of a handful of businessmen.
After six months in my dream job, I ended up burnt out and with clinical depression. Tip four, be aware of your dreams. Hold them tightly, but not so tightly that they hold you and hurt you. I realised the values, which are deal breakers for me, and that as much as you want something to fit your dream, it's not always able to do so. So I stuck it out for a full year and then I fired myself from my dream job.
But you see, I was baking an idea. As that disappointment was cooking my insides, I knew I needed more data to fix it. So I asked the smartest people I knew what they thought was missing from Australia's relationship with China. Innovation, optimism, collaborative problem solving, human connection, young people, diverse ideas, trust and empathy. I asked them to give me their vision for Australia and China in 2050. Nobody said making more money from coal and iron ore.
I knew I was onto something. And by staying agile, honing my purpose, being aware of my dreams and starting my own enterprise, I was able to reach new heights than my previous dream job could have given me. And since firing myself back then and feeling the lowest that I have ever felt, I was even tapped on the shoulder to have dinner with the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, and lunch with Jack Ma. A lot can turn around when you follow my advice.
Tip five, use the problem to build the solution. We've all heard the adage, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. But I think a more practical way of thinking about it is unless you are part of the problem, you can't hope to be part of the solution. So in that crucible, that little dark pit inside of my gut was forged a new enterprise, which I co-founded with women who I had met while studying here at UTS. So look around you. You might have co-founders of some new businesses right next to you.
It's called the China Australia Millennial Project or CAMP, and it's a cross border socially responsible startup enterprise builder, incubating thousands of deep relationships between young people, business and governments in China and Australia. We use the gaps and the barriers that we knew shouldn't exist to craft permeable collaborative structures for Australia, China collaboration at scale. We realised how simple it is to create diversity and capitalise on differences when you really want to.
And finally tip six, it's a bonus one. I'm going to give it to you for free. My lucky last tip for you guys is to trust your gut. At this stage of life, a lot of people are going to try and tell you who you must be and what you should do and you're going to hear all of these societal expectations about what you should be doing. But you and only you are the constant in your life. You and only you feel the rush of neurotransmitter when you are faced with misery or joy. You and only you are accountable for the decisions in your life.
So I stand here on the shoulders of giants and I feel barely able to fit on this stage from all the invisible supporters and visible supporters who stand here and who got me here. You can't see them all I know that. But I've just told you the things that they've taught me since I sat in your seat and have survived life after graduation.
Keep yourselves agile, learn and embrace Mandarin. I promise you it will change everything. Find your purpose. You will change the world. Be aware of your dreams. Use the problem to build the solution and trust your gut. I wish you the best on the lifelong journey you have of becoming you.
Speech
Wow, I should really stop my mom writing. My bio is, I think that was a little extensive. Thank you so much for having me here and for the opportunity to share some wisdom with you today. Thank you for the applause, but I have to remind you that a lot of graduates here have just completed an entire degree in their second language. So let's give our international students and our English as second language speakers a round of applause also.
I've been an international student and that is no joke. It is so difficult. Presiding-Chancellor, Ron Sandland, Vice-Chancellor Attila Brungs, Presiding Dean, Susan Page, university executives and staff, distinguished guests, graduates, your family and friends. Thank you for inviting me here today to give the occasional address at your graduation. I'd like to acknowledge that we meet today on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, a land on which I was born and pay my respects to elders past, present, and future.
I've been asked here today to share insight gained since I was sitting in your seat and so I've titled this address Five Tips for Surviving After Graduation. Now, when I studied as an undergraduate, I was a very average student. In fact, I barely could have been worse and still gained my science degree. When I did gain my degree, I knew how to be three things, a dumb punk kid from the countryside, a scanner of groceries at our leading supermarkets and how to be a Euro scientist, a little bit.
My problem was though, is that in my gut, when I graduated, I knew I no longer wanted to be any of those things and I felt super lost when I graduated. I didn't know what to do with my life. I knew I didn't have a purpose to the experiment of my life, but like a good scientist, I knew what to do about it. I needed to gather more data. So I saved my pennies and I headed off looking for new rich experiences to China for a three month backpacking trip.
It was 2002, I couldn't speak Mandarin at all. I had no overseas experience whatsoever and I was traveling alone. The experience I gained on that trip changed everything and since then my career has been pegged to China's rise. Tip one, your career will change direction many times. Keep yourselves agile. I graduated in neuroscience and I ended up being a China specialist.
My career changed directions in order to find my purpose and I didn't die. I had to be open to the uncertainty contained within that change and to give myself space to just figure it out. Tip one, keep yourselves agile. Tip number two, learn Mandarin. Yes, it is hard. Do it anyway. It's worth the effort in the benefits and the relationships and the impact that you will have. You will be able to have over the course of your life. I started learning at 23 so there is no excuse.
So as we know, China has risen and digital is here. Everything is changing and the single most resilient and transferable skill that you will have over the course of your changing careers is the ability to communicate face to face with the one in five people on this planet who do speak Mandarin. For an Australian at this stage of your career, this skill will be pivotal. I promise you I'm living proof.
If you already speak Mandarin, know that you hold a skill critically important to your future success globally. Australia needs more people like you, like us, who can build bridges between our nations and who can identify the values that we share and capitalise upon the differences. If you are an international student, know that Australia is a place which has fallen in love with you as much as you have fallen in love with it. And at very least myself and indeed this university will always welcome you.
Tip two. Learn and use Mandarin, to build bridges across the world. Tip number three, find your purpose and you will change the world. As I mentioned, I barely passed my undergrad degree, but after becoming deeply fascinated with China in my subsequent two master's degrees, which I gained here at UTS, I got high distinctions across the board, but high marks or gaining degrees aren't your purpose. I know this feels like an important day today, but this right here is not your purpose. You're about to go out and do it. Those are just boxes that you tick along the way and discovering your purpose will see you do the most impactful work of your life.
So let me just talk briefly about what my purpose looks like. In China I discovered a universe of change inside one country, a powerful economic journey unfolding, brilliant, funny, kind people who were so much less other than I'd been raised to believe. In China, I was a tall, blonde, weird working class mono lingual fish out of water, and I experienced what it's like to be other, which was very, very healthy.
I found what compelled me and I felt it at a cellular level. I was so compelled on that trip that I applied for my first UTS China masters from a tiny smoky internet cafe. Remember internet cafes? In Sichuan province and I got in and I backed myself just like you guys have. And I found my purpose and it did change my entire life. So tip three, find your purpose and you will change your world and the world around you.
So my world had changed, I'd gone from lost graduate to purposeful employee. I had passion and I was ready to start my big life. I'd landed one of the top China jobs in this country. I got to know the Prime Minister and ministers and heads of the biggest companies in Australia, and I had a front row seat to every industry in the China Australia relationship. Intellectually I was on cloud nine. Ethically and philosophically however, I was kind of dying on the inside.
I didn't realise it at the time, but my world had changed again. And in my dream job I couldn't see any diversity in leadership. Time and time again, leaders who had 30 years experience on me were treating the bond between Australia and China as at best a transaction or even a burden, and at worst with unconscious racism and I was devastated. I was working 80 hour weeks and not helping anyone but the self-interests of a handful of businessmen.
After six months in my dream job, I ended up burnt out and with clinical depression. Tip four, be aware of your dreams. Hold them tightly, but not so tightly that they hold you and hurt you. I realised the values, which are deal breakers for me, and that as much as you want something to fit your dream, it's not always able to do so. So I stuck it out for a full year and then I fired myself from my dream job.
But you see, I was baking an idea. As that disappointment was cooking my insides, I knew I needed more data to fix it. So I asked the smartest people I knew what they thought was missing from Australia's relationship with China. Innovation, optimism, collaborative problem solving, human connection, young people, diverse ideas, trust and empathy. I asked them to give me their vision for Australia and China in 2050. Nobody said making more money from coal and iron ore.
I knew I was onto something. And by staying agile, honing my purpose, being aware of my dreams and starting my own enterprise, I was able to reach new heights than my previous dream job could have given me. And since firing myself back then and feeling the lowest that I have ever felt, I was even tapped on the shoulder to have dinner with the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, and lunch with Jack Ma. A lot can turn around when you follow my advice.
Tip five, use the problem to build the solution. We've all heard the adage, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. But I think a more practical way of thinking about it is unless you are part of the problem, you can't hope to be part of the solution. So in that crucible, that little dark pit inside of my gut was forged a new enterprise, which I co-founded with women who I had met while studying here at UTS. So look around you. You might have co-founders of some new businesses right next to you.
It's called the China Australia Millennial Project or CAMP, and it's a cross border socially responsible startup enterprise builder, incubating thousands of deep relationships between young people, business and governments in China and Australia. We use the gaps and the barriers that we knew shouldn't exist to craft permeable collaborative structures for Australia, China collaboration at scale. We realised how simple it is to create diversity and capitalise on differences when you really want to.
And finally tip six, it's a bonus one. I'm going to give it to you for free. My lucky last tip for you guys is to trust your gut. At this stage of life, a lot of people are going to try and tell you who you must be and what you should do and you're going to hear all of these societal expectations about what you should be doing. But you and only you are the constant in your life. You and only you feel the rush of neurotransmitter when you are faced with misery or joy. You and only you are accountable for the decisions in your life.
So I stand here on the shoulders of giants and I feel barely able to fit on this stage from all the invisible supporters and visible supporters who stand here and who got me here. You can't see them all I know that. But I've just told you the things that they've taught me since I sat in your seat and have survived life after graduation.
Keep yourselves agile, learn and embrace Mandarin. I promise you it will change everything. Find your purpose. You will change the world. Be aware of your dreams. Use the problem to build the solution and trust your gut. I wish you the best on the lifelong journey you have of becoming you.
About the Speaker
Andrea is the Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of China Australia Millennial Project. The company connects young Australian and Chinese future leaders and provides them with tools to promote the NextGen cross-border start-ups.
Andrea’s executive career includes being the CEO and National Manager in Marketing and Development for the Australia China Business Council. She was also the National Director for the Engaging China Project which aims to improve China literacy in Australian high schools.
Andrea’s expertise is sought by a range of media outlets including the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sky News and Radio National. She has written for The Guardian, The Australian Financial Review, The Diplomat & Company Director magazines.
Andrea was voted one of Westpac’s 100 Women of Influence in 2014 and was a finalist for the National Australia Bank Women’s Agenda Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015.
In 2015 she was awarded a UTS Alumni Award for Excellence for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and then in 2016 was awarded the Social Impact Award from Good Design Australia.
Andrea is a member of the UTS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Industry Advisory Board.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from the University of Sydney, and a Master of Arts in International Studies and a Master of Arts in China Studies from UTS. Andrea has also completed two fellowship programs from the Sydney School of Entrepreneurship.