This is Episode 08 from Season 01 Education. Season 01 contains eight episodes featuring guests who work in education. Each episode features a single guest, looking at their personal lives and careers, considering their perspective as a leader and creator. These interviews are candid and unfiltered.
As founder of Classroom without walls, Ai empowers teens and young adults struggling to discover their career paths to gain clarity, confidence and real-life skills. In this episode, Ai talks about her experience with LinkedIn, her career journey and the education sector.
SHOW NOTES
Originally from China, I am a first generation immigrant to the US. I had a very traditional educational upbringing with lots of exams, pressure and humiliation and all of it inspired me to see how other children learn (3:30)
The turning point for me was when I had my sabbatical and my mid-life crisis but things changed after I had a taste of showing up online and a taste of possibilities (4:35)
From professor dropout to an entrepreneur (7:05)
One tactic I’ve used to enhance my professional visibility (7:40)
My wake-up call and the trigger for launching my live streaming show (9:27)
What’s key to building a strong digital profile? (11:32)
As a mom raising homeschooled kids, I need to find what works best for me (13:43)
What showing up daily on LinkedIn means for me (16:05)
How I became a Hubspot Academy instructor and why ivestreaming became so important (23:20)
You have to understand what you are naturally good at (27:06)
The importance of copywriting and why effective messaging makes such a huge difference (36:13)
The courage to share what I truly believe was a major milestone in terms of my messaging (39:00)
Why I resigned from my Associate Professor position and my viral video (40:35)
I got bullied really badly by a friend and I felt like an imposter – my dark period (46:10)
Always seeking external validation and moving toward doing the work internally (48:03)
My first program, as an entrepreneur, was a success but a financial disaster. Why you should hire a coach to save yourself time and money (49:05)