191. Quit Story: Building Asian Wander Women, a Global Community of 2300+ (Emily Fang)

How does someone go down the unconventional career path of building a global community of over 2300+ entrepreneurial and creative women from the Asian diaspora?

That is what Emily Fang unpacks on Episode 191 of The Thought Leader Club Podcast as part of the “Quit Story” series.

In This Episode:

Topics we touch on include:

Feeling not good enough but still proactively take steps to try new things and create your dream life
The challenges and failures while building the Asian Wander Women global community
Finding support and continuing to move forward when your loved ones don’t support your decisions

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How Emily built Asian Wander Women, a Global Community of 2300+

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Feeling not good enough but still proactively take steps to try new things and create your dream life

Cheryl:

Welcome back to another episode of the Thought Leader Club Podcast.

Today, we are speaking to Emily Fang, who is the co-founder of Asian Wander Women, which is a global community for Asian women who identify as creatives, entrepreneurs and travel lovers who are designing a life that is meaningful to them.

In this conversation, I’m really excited to learn about Emily’s career journey and life trajectory and what led her to not just build this Asian Wander Women community, but also what makes her an Asian manner woman.

Personally, I’ve attended multiple events with Asian modern women, including one of their inaugural business and travel summits earlier this year in Taipei. Needless to say, I’m really excited for this conversation.

Now this episode is part of our series on this show called Quit Story, which is where we interview awesome people from all walks of life, all of whom have a quit story. Some common themes that you’ll hear among these quit stories include defining your own version of success, instead of being who you’re supposed to be or doing what you’re supposed to do, choosing courage over fear in times of uncertainty or difficulty, and ultimately making decisions based on your own values and choosing what is important to you.

To get the conversation going, Emily, could you please introduce yourself and tell us who you are?

Emily:

Hi everyone, I’m Emily. I am a Taiwanese American currently living in San Francisco.

As Cheryl mentioned, I am a community founder and builder of Asian Wander Women, as well as a plant mom and an auntie to two of my nephews. That’s me in a nutshell.

Cheryl:

Emily, what is in your definition, let’s start here, who is an Asian Wander Women?

Emily:

Oh, that’s really that’s a good question.

I think an Asian Wander Women is someone who dares to be unconventional, who dares to take risks in the pursuit of their own happiness.

Before the community was known to be like a digital nomad community, and the community itself has evolved so much. Basically it’s an Asian woman who’s fearless, who is kind of breaking traditional norms, padding a path for herself, and just a good human. All of our members are good humans. So also I add that in.

Cheryl:

I’m really curious, because my guess is that you must have been embodying this sort of mindset, this identity, this way of being, for a while before you started this community.

I would love to know what were the backstory events that led you to this point where you now have founded this community.

Emily:

Yeah that sounds good. I’m the youngest child in my family. My family is quite traditional. We come from Taiwan. A lot of us have worked in government or came from like the import, export trade, and so for me, at a young age, when I was joining college my parents moved to Taiwan, and I think that was a very isolating experience.

I was in San Francisco by myself, and at that time, I really had to grow up and be quite independent. So I basically took on a part time job while working through college. I paid off all my own student debt, got myself through college, and had to do the whole job hunt, and then building a life out here while my sister was in DC.

There were certain circumstances that made me grow up a lot faster than I would have liked.

But if we want to talk about way back when too, my first job was when I was 16, and the reason behind it was because I had a car, and my parents were like, “You need gas money, figure it out.” So I was “Okay, I’m gonna go get a job so I can drive around with my friends and pay for my own gas money.”

There were little moments in my life where I just took on the responsibility and wanted to grow up a lot faster.

Then, throughout college, just finding opportunities and experiencing life the way that I wanted to, which was going to Beijing for a year, even though I graduated in five years instead of four, taking the lead to go to Singapore for three years on a whim when I was only supposed to be there for a couple of months.

Naturally, I just built this ideology of when things just go my way. Maybe it’s a path I’m supposed to take and kind of live in this fearless nature that I’ve kind of grown into.

Cheryl:

I want to dig a little deeper and ask you, would you identify as someone who is like a stereotypical successful Asian kid while growing up, and then now you’ve kind of paved your own path, or what was your self concept when you were younger?

Before you embark on your journey as an Asian Wander Women, what was your self concept?

Emily:

That is such an interesting question and honestly, it may be something that I’d buried deep down underneath. But I think the idea of myself probably was, I was just not good enough, to be honest. You know, being the younger child and going through school, I did not have the grades. I really didn’t.

Like college, I kind of was just exploring different opportunities. I was focusing more on actual work, rather than the course grades, and didn’t get into the best school. I went to a state school which is not highly ranked, compared to my peers at Stanford, at Berkeley.

It’s just such a different ballgame, right? So I think my worth, or my sense of self was that I felt small all throughout high school and even throughout college.

But there was this person that I could be, qualities that I really liked and I wanted to embody, and that was someone who took risks and who took opportunities, or built opportunities for herself.

It was this really interesting transition of being someone who’s kind of small, neat and unsure, and just growing up slowly because of all these hard decisions that I made to push myself out outside of my comfort zone.

Sometimes I look back, I’m like, well, I’m really not that person I was when I was in college or in high school. I just continuously evolved. I think I just really tried to understand what my idea of success was, and listened to that consistently over the course of years.

Cheryl:

After you went to college, what happened then? What kind of jobs did you pursue? What did life look like post-college?

Emily:

Post-college was interesting, because at that point I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do, as most college students do.

I had previously done an internship with the US commercial trade service, which is a government agency that does import, export, with international companies, et cetera. I hated it. I don’t want to do it.

And so I was just trying to find anything with a coordinator role. I picked up this role of partnerships, coordinator role at Booking.com. It seems very glorified, but honestly, it was just a sales role. I was making calls from 8am to 6pm nonstop. The whole idea was you’re supposed to hit KPIs, to call people who own properties, hotels, resorts, whatever, to get them to list on Booking.com.

I was constantly just calling people, trying to negotiate with them. You’re just basically a glorified salesperson, but you were called a partnerships coordinator.

But I think that role taught me a lot in the fact that I could excel in an interval that needed EQ or emotional quotient, or I could be a better speaker, or I could bridge relationships with people.

After that, I decided I didn’t want to do calls all the time, and then I landed this role with Google hardware. It was a contract role as a community specialist, and that really paved the way into what I consider is my career now, of community operations, community management, or even community building, because we work a lot with customers, users, and we focus on activating the user experiences and the user groups.

Then I was working at startups for a bit, and then I made the jump to work at Singapore, where I worked in tech media, and then transitioned to Stripe, and then now, kind of doing my own thing and doing consulting on the side. So it’s really evolved. But I did not climb. I was really hopping around to what suited me best in the experience and also what paid me more.

I was not shy about asking for more money. I was not shy about changing routes, because I was like, dude, I want to get paid more. I didn’t get the same starting salary as I would as a peer from Berkeley or Stanford. So I was really aggressive in that.

Cheryl:

Up until this point in the conversation, we’ve explored a few of your different career experiences. But how did you go from there to Asian Wander Women?

Emily:

I don’t know if most people know the backstory of Asian Wander Women, but it kind of was this fun tech project that Ivy, my co-founder, and I did during the pandemic.

It was funny because we knew each other in college, and then kind of went along our own way. But it wasn’t until the pandemic where we really reconnected, and kind of caught up. Then she was like, “Hey, do you want to build this community with me?” And then I was like, “Sure, but I don’t want to be another woman-in-tech community.” There’s just way too many out there, they’re doing a great job.

Fun story, there actually used to be three of us, three co-founders, and then one left. And then it was just Ivy and I. But we were, I guess, inner Asian Wander Women energy at that time, right?

I was in Singapore. I was traveling a lot. She was gallivanting in China, and also nomading. And then we were just meeting such amazing women around the world that were Asian. And we’re like, why don’t we just grow them in a group together and build this network of badass women who are remote working, or working abroad, or building businesses. Or just were very similar to us and that we just vibed with.

So we kind of pushed these people into this group, and started creating opportunities and the environment for them to thrive and meet each other. That’s how we came together. It really wasn’t meant to be a business or anything serious. It was like just a Facebook group for fun, and it really grew into something bigger.

Cheryl:

I remember when I first came across Asian Wander Women and the Facebook community, it should have been early 2022, because I had just moved to Singapore at that time, and I was keeping an eye out for ways to make friends locally.

I remember seeing a friend go to a picnic meetup in Singapore. I became curious, and then I found the Facebook group. And I believe at that time there were 1,600 people.

For some context, what’s the size of the group now? Like, what does Asian Wander Women look like today, as of October, 2024.

Emily:

I don’t know the metrics in my head, but it’s roughly maybe, I think 2,500, we’re close to it. We’re trying to get to 3K.

I think the community right now, we live mostly online. I don’t know if it’s because of the holidays or people are kind of just going back home, or they’re kind of settling down again.

People will talk in the groups themselves, or they will meet up, like one on one. There are people who take the initiative to run meetups in their hometown city.

For example, we have an event in San Francisco on Saturday that’s going to be led by Lisa. She’s doing Kundalini Yoga. There are these grassroots activities that pop up here and there.

But just for context, next year, we plan on having the travel summit again, three times in Singapore, San Francisco and Taiwan, and those are the only three big things we’re focusing on. Three conferences.

That’s kind of what it looks like right now. But I’ve also taken a step back where I’m spending more time with family, with my partner. In this season right now, I’m kind of just recalibrating and resting.

The challenges and failures while building the Asian Wander Women global community

Cheryl:

You know, I think when someone hears those numbers, wow, a community all over the world, like 2500 people, there’s global events happening next year, and even this year. There’s multiple events as well all over the world, they’re probably really impressed.

I’m so curious to know, what was your experience building this community?

I would love to know some things people might not have expected, because all these are like the shiny numbers, the Facebook groups, the events, the pictures from the events, but what are some things that people from the outside looking in cannot really see on the surface?

Emily:

Yeah, that’s a really good question, and I’m glad you asked that too.

Because I think when people think of communities, they just think, Oh, it’s a group of people and like, magic just happens. Honestly, it really doesn’t. There’s so much that goes behind the scenes. Upon building the community, the first thing that’s the most important is the trust aspect.

I was talking to almost every single member that joined in the beginning, I was in a lot of coffee chats. I was just meeting them in person. It was also this, like a networking opportunity for myself to meet these people, like one on one.

Obviously, I can’t do that at scale right now, if there’s like, a couple thousand of them. But when we were small, a couple hundred, I could do that. Or I could hop on a call, or I could send them a lengthy email, helping them, or connecting with them, with someone.

A lot of it was like white glove service that I was doing out of goodwill. Or I was interested in meeting interesting people.

The relationship part was a huge foundational piece of building a stable and great community. Because when you build a community, you have to create value. If you don’t create value, they’re going to be “Why do I need to be a part of this?” Then you also have to create excitement and help them build those connections with other people.

The whole idea is a great community is sticky, people want to come back to it. They find that the value is there from the people, the content, the events. They get a lot out of it.

Then my end goal, which I want people to do, is to deliver back that value to someone within the community. There’s just a lot of project management, a lot of logistics that go around, like facilitating all of it.

The unfortunate part is that not all of it is metrics. Like, you cannot measure it with metrics. It’s all a lot of partnerships, building relationships, things like that.

Cheryl:

Yeah, I’m so curious to know, especially in the earlier stages of building this community, did you ever experience imposter syndrome or insecurities about, “Who am I to build this community or try to build something big all around the world?”

What was your lived experience at the very beginning of building this thing that has now really, really expanded?

Emily:

There’s definitely imposter syndrome. Because when you look at people who’ve gotten so far ahead or who have a big following or they’re already at the top, you’re kind of just like, “Oh, it seems so far away, or it’s not very relatable. They’re just killing it.”

And then I’m like, “I don’t know the work that I’m doing isn’t valuable. Like, I’m just here on social media.”

It’s a funny experience. I think imposter syndrome only comes out when it’s your own voice. When you figure out how to squash that voice inside your head, and you continuously push yourself through the discomfort, I think that’s when you win.

For me, when I was going through that imposter syndrome I remember I would write down the thoughts that I was having. I was afraid, I’m uncomfortable, and blah, blah. Then I would rewrite it in my journal and be like “I built this community of 200 people”. 200 people care about this.

Or I would basically rewrite the narrative of my journal and be like, “I am strong, I am a good communicator, I can do this.” It’s so corny and I never will show my journal to anyone like that, but it really helped me wire my thought process sometimes, or at least it would cut the noise.

When I’m afraid and freaking out in my head internally, that’s what I had to go through, lots of journaling.

Cheryl:

When was the community founded? What year was it, 2020?

Now that it’s been four plus years. Now, do you feel self doubt or do these kinds of niggling, critical self-talk still come up? Or has it simmered down at this point?

Emily:

It simmered down a lot, actually.

Because we had the conference in Taiwan earlier this year in April, that’s a huge win for us. I remember thinking, “Oh shit, I don’t know if this will actually turn out good, or people will show up, or if people will find it valuable.”

We got really good feedback from it, and it’s just kind of the starting point for us. We already have this conference that has done really well, if you just reiterate it, reiterate on it and make it better.

Imposter syndrome right now probably comes from thinking about the future of where I want to take it, I don’t know how far I can take it. So it’s not about the things that I’ve done. It’s just more of that.

I guess imposter syndrome will come when each new big thing happens. But now I’ve had tools or tactics to kind of suppress it or to squash it out.

Cheryl:

I realized I didn’t emphasize it enough. The event in Taiwan earlier this year, the summit, was a big deal.

To the audience, who may not be familiar, I believe there were about 80 attendees from all over the world. You had speakers, events all over Taipei, and it was a four-day event. There was a business component and a travel component. It was a very legitimate and wonderful experience.

I just wanted to emphasize to the listeners: I was there, and I can’t attest to how big of a deal that event was. It’s so interesting to know, from the outside looking in, I’ve always seen the community as so legitimate. But to hear from you and to know that imposter syndrome, or these kinds of self-doubt, still come up, is so validating in a way.

It’s validating in the sense that to see someone in my eyes who’s built something incredible but they used to go through their own mind drama is reassuring, oddly enough.

Emily:

Definitely. There’s a lot that goes on in your head when you’re doing something for the first time, especially as a solopreneur. That’s why it’s so important to have friends who go through the same thing so they can talk about it. There’s a lot of internal dialogue that goes around.

Usually, journaling or talking to other friends who are building their own businesses helps.

Finding support and continuing to move forward when your loved ones don’t support your decisions

Cheryl:

Actually, now, speaking of people who get it, like friends, what about your family?

Do they understand what you’re doing today? If you were to explain to them what you do, do they get it, or like, what’s their relationship or understanding of your current work today?

Emily:

That is such a good question. I think parents have no idea what is going on. Honestly, I think my parents have just come to the decision that I will do whatever I want to do because that’s just what I’ve done since I was younger.

I will give them context. I will say, “I’m doing this job,” or “I’m working here,” or “I’m working on this project.” This is Asian Wander Women. I’ll send them the website. But I think they’ve been conditioned to think that a nine-to-five job in government and staying at a job for 10 years is the right choice, the only choice.

That has been kind of hard to discuss with my parents, as I think most Asian children of immigrants will go through. But they’re slowly understanding it. My mom watches my YouTube channel and says, “Oh, I understand what you’re going through.” And sometimes she’ll give me solutions.

I think it’s more my dad who sometimes just doesn’t understand anything that I do. Unfortunately, I feel like I don’t share everything with him. It’s mostly my mom who knows what I’m up to most of the time.

My sister, who is five years older, we’re very close. She knows everything that I’m doing. I guess she’s the one who says, “I’m proud of you,” or “I support your project.”

So yeah, everyone has a different understanding at various levels in my family.

Cheryl:

This is a really personal question. Feel free to answer it, but I’m dying to know: what was the hardest conversation you had with your parents or anyone who didn’t understand what you’re doing?

Whether it’s building this community today or one of your previous career decisions, what was a really painful story that you might be able to share where people around you didn’t get it?

Emily:

I think, again, following my dad, actually. For context, my parents are in Taiwan, so we always communicate through Line, which is like a video, like messenger or Whatsapp. I had an argument with him when I wanted to quit project consulting, which provided a steady income stream, to pursue something else. He said a lot of hurtful things, like I was throwing away my career and not focusing on the right things.

What irks me the most is his comments about marriage. He said, “You’re not young anymore,” and “You’re 30, single, and on a timeline to have children.” We didn’t talk for a couple of weeks after that. Both of us are roosters in the zodiac, so we clash. I’m the one in the family who doesn’t hesitate to speak my mind or talk back to my dad.

Even to this day, he doesn’t really want to talk about it. He supports my YouTube and side projects, but ideally, he wants me to go back to a nine-to-five job. As someone who really looked up to my dad growing up and wanted his approval, it’s tough. One of his approval, yeah.

Cheryl:

I feel like this experience that you just shared is something that a lot of the audience, especially those who identify as Asian and women in this audience, can really, really relate to.

What would you say to someone who is going through something similar right now? Like, they have certain projects or careers or things that they want to pursue, but their role models or the people closest to them are actually really unsupportive of their decision.

What would you say to someone who is experiencing that?

Emily:

That’s a really good question.

I think what I would do is imagine yourself five years down the line, doing what that person wants you to do. Envision yourself in that role, in that situation, and think about how you’re actually feeling. Would you be happy in this role?

For example, I know I would not be happy being an engineer. Five years down the line, if I’m an engineer working at a startup, I would hate it every day, just coding. Then think years beyond that, the trajectory that would have, like becoming a manager or VP. I know that’s not for me.

Being able to envision that in your head and immediately write down, “Okay, this is what I’m feeling, this is what I’m seeing, this is what I would be getting,” is important.

Also, know that sometimes the people around you that you love might not support your decisions all the time. If you want to pave your own life, you sometimes just have to go ahead with it.

What’s really important too is that different people will understand different things.

I have friends who are entrepreneurs and my family, whom I love through thick and thin, and vice versa. Depending on where you want to go, you should surround yourself with people like that.

If your family doesn’t approve of you, at least you have a community that understands what you’re going through and can help guide you along. It is very isolating when people you love just don’t understand what you’re doing.

Cheryl:

Do you feel like Asian women, the community, is doing exactly that, being that source of support or a different perspective when people in your life don’t get it?

Do you feel like that is your role, that this community is now starting to fill in the lives of your members?

Emily:

I would say that’s a really good way of putting it. It’s almost like, if I meet even one woman who does, it’s like we just get it. I don’t have to explain so much of the context; they just get it.

They understand what I’m going through, the cultural nuances, the hardships of going through this journey with a disapproving parent or partner. It’s just so much easier to cut through the noise and get to the part of being connected and understanding each other.

At the conference too, I think a lot of members felt a lot of emotion, to be honest. A lot of emotion, maybe not trauma, but just emotional experiences really bubbled up to the top.

People came up to me saying, “Oh, this is super healing,” because they talked to someone and worked out a problem together, or discussed what they were going through with someone who just gets it. That’s super healing.

So yeah, the community does exactly that, and I hope it continues to do so, even beyond figures.

Cheryl:

How do you think you built that? Because the values are so abundantly clear to the members, right? And again, I can attest to it because I was at the event at the conference in Taipei earlier this year, and I felt exactly what you just said. When I was there, I didn’t have to explain or give context or dilute my explanations of what I do. People just understood. How did you do this? That’s incredible.

Emily:

That’s intimate, to be honest. I think maybe when a community starts growing, it really is because of the core values you put into this group.

The leaders, like Ivy and I, and the first 10 people we brought in. I hope that we have exuded an open mind, empathy, support, and actual kindness.

We created an environment where we genuinely want to see these women succeed. I’m not going to, like, support someone and talk behind her back. We are invested and will help them find jobs or get connected with people they might have synergy with.

At the root of it, we wanted it to be a good place where Ivy and I could thrive, and where women like us could thrive. I hope that the way we built it in the beginning transcended throughout the community, and people held on to it and passed it onto the next person they met.

It’s a really great community, and it’s not just because of Ivy and me, but also because of the members.

Good people find good people, and it’s this beautiful network effect. I fully attest to what you just said.

Cheryl:

If I’m not wrong, I believe I had already attended events by Asian Wander Women in Singapore before I met you, the co-founder. I feel like the people at that particular meetup really embodied the mindset and aspirations of Asian Wander Women, like the community itself. That’s so cool.

Now that you’re saying that, I’m like, yeah, I really saw those values being embodied in the members before I even met you or Ivy. That’s incredible.

Emily:

I love that. And I love that you went to the meetup and the events and found good people too. That’s amazing.

Cheryl:

It’s really mind-blowing. What you and Ivy have built thus far.

That being said, I want to pivot slightly so we’ve talked about, like, the wonderful things about the community, but like, was there anything that didn’t work when it comes to building this community? Like, we’ve talked about the success so far.

But were there any not so successful moments?

Emily:

Yes. I don’t remember which exact year, maybe 2021 or 2022, when NFTs (non-fungible tokens) were a big thing. I don’t know if you remember this, but we tried to go in that direction.

The idea was that we wanted this online Facebook group to become a DAO, which is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization. We wanted it to be self-governing, meaning you didn’t need leaders to tell you what to do or make executive decisions.

This DAO would self-govern by people voting. By voting, you have these NFTs that give you the token you’re holding, which gives you the right to vote.

In hindsight, the idea of creating a DAO and NFTs seemed cool and tech-forward. Everyone was doing it, so we thought, let’s do it too. We were building the NFTs, had a team together, and were building the DAO.

Then we got to the point where we needed people to start joining the Discord and moving into this new DAO community. There was a lot of backlash. People were still skeptical of what an NFT was. I had spent months reading about it and understood NFTs. There are scammy NFTs, to be honest, but a lot goes into leadership and trust.

There was a lot of backlash. People were not happy we were doing this project. I remember someone commented on some nasty things. That was a pivotal moment where Ivy and I had to sit down and say, “Okay, we have to address this publicly because everyone’s reading the comments. Everyone can see it.”

So I addressed it and said it was very hurtful. You said these words when, like, I mean, I spent too much time investing into this community. And then we did X, Y, and Z, blah, blah, blah.

And then I was like, I hear you, and we’re gonna discuss internally to see what we’re gonna do. Ultimately, we ended up ending the project; we didn’t go forward with the DAO.

There is a lot to learn there. What I learned is that it’s hard to transition an online community to a different one without voting, without getting their input. It was just a really cool idea we wanted to run with, but we had to shut it down.

However, it also showed me that when a group of women wants to come and build something new, we can do it. We can find volunteers and people who want to be part of something bigger than the community.

While the DAO didn’t work, it led me to think that we could build a conference or more products that are not NFT-related.

Cheryl:

That’s such a public failure. It’s very different from not getting a job you applied for because it’s so public-facing.

If that’s the case, I’m very nosy here. Did you feel worried about what non-Asian Wander Women people thought too, because it was on the Internet, I’m assuming? Were you ever worried about your reputation? Was that ever a worry that crossed your mind during that chapter?

Emily:

Trying to think, maybe in hindsight, I wasn’t worried about reputation. I was just more disappointed that we didn’t get it to go out right. It was more like, “Oh, we put so much work into this project.” It was the idea that I spent a lot of time on something that I wouldn’t see come to fruition.

It felt bad. It felt icky to publicly show that this did not succeed. It felt like all the work I put into it just didn’t work out. But after a while, speaking to a couple of other people, I realized not everyone is going to have a home run in the first round. People need practice, and a lot of people who build projects or businesses will have to fail at some point.

I got over it pretty fast after I rested. But I remember all the hours we put into it, the late-night calls because we were working with people who have different time zones as well.

It also taught me how to work with a team, a remote team. So there are some pros out of this project.

Cheryl:

Moving forward, I think I know the answer to this, but I’m curious to just clarify and get some context. Is the Asian Wander Women community? What’s the business model behind it?

Is it something that, or is it something that’s clearly just like very social/pro bono?

Emily:

That’s a good question. It wasn’t until this year that we actually started generating some sort of revenue.

At its core, AWE (Asian Wander Women) is an event business. A lot of the events we’ve been doing have tickets. Some events run by city leads are free, so you can just show up, but for events like the one in San Francisco, there is a cost if you want to join activities like Kundalini yoga and journaling.

Next year, moving forward, the summits will also be ticketed events. Earlier this year, we had a ticketed event with sponsorships. Organizations wanted to be ad partners or event sponsors, so they gave a couple of thousand dollars, and we included their logo or collected emails for them. There are opportunities for collaboration.

Personally, a lot of people ask me how I’m doing this full-time. I do AWE, but I’m also consulting startups and have other projects going on. It’s a bunch of things coming together that allow me to have an income at this moment.

For AWE, when we scale next year and build larger conferences, I hope it’s more sustainable. We do have a lot of volunteers.

Cheryl:

From a member’s point of view, despite all the behind-the-scenes challenges or things the team is working on, it’s really meaningful.

As someone who moved from Hong Kong to Singapore and didn’t know a lot of people, having communities like Asian Wander Women is exactly what I needed. I feel like I fit the target profile for this community perfectly.

This community is bigger than you or me. It’s such a collective thing at this point. I’m genuinely excited to see it scale and grow even more. It will positively impact me and others I’ve met in the community. I’m really looking forward to what’s next.

Is there something in particular that you’re secretly hoping to do or create that hasn’t quite come to fruition yet, but you’re hoping will happen for this community in the future?

Emily:

That’s a good thought, to be honest. I do believe that we are in such a niche space. I know there are Asian female communities out there, but they’re usually segmented, like Asian American or Asian Canadian. It’s very specific to that region.

AWE is for Asian women from the diaspora. We have women like yourself who have lived and moved to different places. Where you were born is not where you are now. For me as well, we have all gone through different iterations of ourselves living in different places, building businesses, remote working, or just changing our lives to fit us.

What I want is to build a wider net, a wider community. One thing I would love to do in the future is to have co-working spaces in different cities.

Maybe three, like one in San Francisco, Taiwan, and Singapore, which is where I want the conferences to be based. People could live there for remote work, host events, and learn from each other. That is the far future vision I would love.

So if there are any VC (Venture Capitalists) people or anyone who wants to invest in this, that would be great.

Cheryl:

That’s amazing. I would love that, as someone who would go to that space, work there, and make friends.

Back in 2020, how big did you foresee this community being? Fast forward to today, what’s the biggest you can see it becoming?

What’s the difference? What’s the gap between those visions?

Emily:

Yes, I think maybe way back when, it was probably like having a couple thousand members in a Facebook group. It was just purely based on community members.

Honestly, we didn’t even have specific goals or KPIs. We just had roles sculpted for both of us, saying, “Oh, we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do that.” We didn’t think of building on it or having a certain number of meetups.

The vision now, moving forward, is to be known as the conference for women of the Asian diaspora. I don’t want there to be any competitors. I want us to be known as that awesome conference where you’re going to meet high-quality connections, focus on your career wellness, and maybe some fun things too.

As a teaser for next year, Joanna (our events director) and I are thinking of having a “trauma dumping” session over the mic, like comedy relief. Anyone can come up and share the worst thing that happened to them. It’s not just, like, all business; there are fun elements of it.

We might bring in a dating coach to talk about dating or how to have a healthy marriage. We’ll have speakers for various topics.

Moving forward, it’s about having major conferences across the world and, one day, maybe having physical spaces. That would be the dream. I see it in threes: San Francisco, Singapore, and Taiwan, are the three places that I love to be in. I’m selfish. I’m gonna have it in these cities.

Cheryl:

To wrap up this conversation, the final thing I would love to ask you is: when you go back to the Emily who was before college, during college, who felt really small, do you think that version of Emily would have ever foreseen what you would have built?

Emily:

I think her mind would have been blown, to be honest. Looking back at Emily, she was just very quiet and kept her thoughts bottled up. She was unhappy at some parts of her life.

I would tell her that every risk she took and every opportunity she seized, she was only working towards a better life for herself. I’m still really excited about the present and the future. I’m so glad that she had to go through all that stuff.

Cheryl:

We were only able to touch on just a very, very, very tiny surface of the lived experiences you’ve gone through. But I really hope that this conversation was able to capture that.

Even if, growing up, you had your own challenges, felt small, or navigated difficult situations, you can still:

Find people who get it.
Find communities that fit your aspirations and support you the way that you need.

But also, number two, despite whatever insecurities or self-doubts you might have had while growing up, you can still create something absolutely incredible, just like how Emily has with what you’ve built through Asian Wander Women.

That’s the biggest lesson that I took away from this conversation. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Emily.

Emily, where can people find you and how can they be a part of your work and your world?

Emily:

On Instagram @emilyifang. On YouTube, it’s @TheFangGirl.

If you want to join Asian Wander Women, you can find us on Facebook, or you can go to asianwanderwoman.com

Cheryl:

Awesome. All the links as usual will be in the show notes below, so you can find all the links there already to everyone tuning in.

Thank you so much as usual for listening to this podcast.

And Emily, thank you for being here, and I’ll see you all in the next episode.

Bye everyone!

Listen to the Episode

About Emily

Emily is the Co-Founder of Asian Wander Women Media and community, a tight knit Facebook group of 2300+ entrepreneurial and creative women from the Asian diaspora. Many are remote entrepreneurs, coaches, creators, and more. She is also known as The Fang Girl, a content creator on YouTube that talks about travel and remote work, with the belief that working abroad or building a business is similar to a self-guided MBA. She previously worked at Google, OmniSci, and Stripe building online communities and running operations. Nowadays, she rotates her time between Taipei and San Francisco.

Connect with Emily:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheFangGirl

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilyifang

Asian Wander Women Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/asianwanderwomen