A Love Letter to Asians in Advertising
By Jennifer Lin
Asians in Advertising changed my life.
Throughout my career, I’ve experienced microaggressions and inequitable treatment as a Chinese American woman. Recently I've been thinking about how I can help build a more inclusive workplace. A late night Google search for "Asian American communications community" led me to the AIA website.
Here are five ways AIA has transformed my professional journey in just four months.
1. Belonging
I attended AIA's second annual Breaking Barriers Summit, where I cried, laughed, and connected with other API creatives and comms leaders facing similar issues as me. It felt like going home, like I finally belonged. After the summit, I had 1:1 chats with many AIA board and community members. I met trailblazers Bernice Chao and Jessalin Lam, and learned the inspiring story of how they founded AIA and ignited a movement to elevate Asians to higher leadership positions. I made new friends across the country and the world (April Lee, AIA executive assistant based in Guatemala). Locally, the powerhouse Ji Bowlus (AIA sponsorships & growth team) and I co-hosted an AIA Boba Hour to bring our San Francisco community together. I got to design the event graphic (thanks to Liz Kim, AIA creative lead, for the creative review and event promotion)
2. Leadership
With the support of the AIA community, I was energized to invest in my own career and leadership development. I connected with superstars Cathy Chan Butler and Van Tran (AIA speakers), and was selected to be part of the inaugural pod for their API Rising Career Rising program. It's been a phenomenal experience being coached by Cathy and Van and learning in community with rockstars like Suzie Bao (AIA mentorship lead). Jessalin encouraged me to apply for ADCOLOR Leaders, and I'm thrilled to be selected for this year's cohort along with Bernice and Suzie. I also joined Asians for ADCOLOR, led by changemakers Sean Choi (AIA strategy co-lead) and Mimi Nunoz (AIA speaker), and can't wait to attend ADCOLOR Conference 2023 (see this great guide by Senna Bayasgalan, AIA partnerships lead).
3. Voice
AIA published my first solo-byline blog, "API Pep Talks: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome." The brilliant Olyvia Chac-Nguyen (AIA creative team) invited me to author a piece, reminding me that we are all content worthy. In my jobs, I've ghostwritten content for others and co-authored blogs but have never stepped out on my own. So I was very proud to have my first piece out in the world (thanks to Riri Tamura, AIA creative team, for the beautiful blog graphics). I was also a guest speaker on the API Rising podcast – my first time being featured on a podcast. As Bernice and Jessalin write in their groundbreaking book The Visibility Mindset, "Visibility is not only about the act of being seen by others. It is also about actively seeking opportunities to see ourselves."
4. Giving Back
AIA is a nonprofit that is run completely by the love and support of its members. All of the team are unpaid volunteers. It's been incredible to be a part of this community of such passionate people. It's also an opportunity to give back and build the community that we want to see. I'm excited to join the AIA events & production committee, led by the unstoppable Christina Lu and Laura Siu Nguyen, to help put on impactful events throughout the year.
5. Culture
Last but not least, AIA friends have introduced me to the freshest finds in API culture: Breaking Barriers playlist featuring 88rising artists (shoutout to Laura, Olyvia, and Lawrence Hu, & AIA events team), must-read culture microzine Banter (curated by Sean and friends), my new fav Asian American Barbie tee (thanks to Jennifer Kong, AIA events team), and API-woman-owned AURA boba (supported by Ji).
A heartfelt thank you to my AIA family for the gift of your time, talents, and friendship. Together we are making the industry and the world a more inclusive place.
Want to plug into the life-changing community of AIA? Sign up for our newsletter, and follow us onLinkedIn. Hope to see you at ADCOLOR Conference in November, where AIA is being honored with the Catalyst Award – a well-deserved recognition!
