Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are changing the world. Our leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, and are all doing their part to have an impact in their communities and at their workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their background and path to success.
What is your name and title?
Jenny Chung, Head of Distribution at Humanitix.
Briefly (1-2 sentences) describe your current role.
As one of the generalists at Humanitix, my role is primarily focused on sales and business development. However, as Humanitix is experiencing exponential growth, many generalists in the team also tackle a bunch of other duties. For me, this includes marketing, account management and operations.
What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
Taking a step back from the expected career trajectory to evaluate a handful of things.
- What I want from my career from a holistic perspective (passion, growth & development, use of my skill set, contribution to the world, etc.)
- What I am motivated by in my professional life.
- Working out how to fulfill these two criteria (narrowing down industries to enter, leveraging networks for introductions etc.).
What’s the number one challenge you face as a woman in your industry?
Being taken as seriously as my male counterparts.
Do you have any mentors? What does mentorship mean to you?
I look up to, and work closely with, our co-founders as well as the rest of the Humanitix team. I’d love to be mentored by a more experienced woman of color in the tech & events industry to learn from their insights and advice.
What advice do you have for women who are just starting their career?
Be intentional about the roles you take on, but remember that your current or next job is not the be-all end-all.
Every step in your career is an opportunity to improve your skills and explore what you’re good at, what motivates you and what is valuable to you in a professional, and even personal, sense.
What women inspires you the most? Why?
My mother. She has made huge sacrifices to put me first in every aspect of her life, including moving to a new country for my education and growth. I wouldn’t be who I am and where I am in my life without her.
Are you reading/listening to anything interesting at the moment? Please share your most recent favorite book or podcast!
Dissect hosted by Cole Cuchna is an amazing podcast that delves into one hip hop album per season, Analyzing it song by song and lyric by lyric. The episodes provide an amazing insight into an artist’s process of building a concept album. It’s a dazzling peek into the amount of hard work, creativity and discipline that goes into song writing and production. Listening to it has made me appreciate albums both familiar and new a lot more by elevating my theoretical and emotional understanding of the music.
What is something coming up that excites you?
At the time of writing, Humanitix just pushed to production the key changes needed to launch our platform internationally! It’s a big step in the direction of globalization.
I can’t wait to see Humanitix launch outside the Australia/Asian market. With continued growth, we can start tapping into the global multi-billion dollar industry and redirect an exponential amount towards social impact. As we grow, we will be closer to achieving our mission of closing the education gap. Education is at the root of a lot of inequality and poverty in the world. It’s mind-boggling to imagine the potential impact we will be able to generate as Humanitix expands.
