Edmonton Journal
Saturday, November 15, 2003
Page: D3
Section: Ed
Byline: Olivia Cheng
Source: Freelance

An Eminem / 50 Cent duet blasts from Carol Chen's ride as she steps out wearing low-rise designer jeans and tinted Chanel sunglasses. With her party-girl vibe, you'd never guess Chen, at 26, is the executive vice-president of an Asian multinational holding company.

"First impressions are everything," laughs Chen. "So of course, whether it's in Asia or in Canada, when you first see a young Asian female, you don't think of her as being an executive."

Chen spends most of her time in Shanghai, but the native Edmontonian got her start right here in the city of champs. After graduating from the U of A's commerce program, she landed a prestigious, all-expenses-paid scholarship to study in China.

"The program is called the China Canada Scholars Exchange program. Every year they choose 13 students across Canada to participate and I happened to be one of the lucky ones."

While studying at Shanghai's Fudan University, Chen landed an internship with the city's Canadian consulate. Over the next three years, her duties included those rarely awarded to a female twenty-something working in Shanghai's "male-dominated" society.

Chen organized trade promotions for Canada's agriculture and food sector. She was the Beijing logistics officer for a Team Canada trade mission, which included our prime minister, 500 Canadian CEOs and 300 government officials.

She also organized the 2001 Shanghai Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, where Chen was blown away to meet the world's political elite in person. "Being able to see President Fox shake hands with President Bush in front of you is an amazing thing," she recalls of the meeting between Mexican President Vicente Fox and his American counterpart.

"Going shopping with 21 presidents' spouses in cultural Shanghai, it's pretty cool. And watching the motorcade going up the tarmac of the airport to grab Paul Martin and whisk him off to the hotel, it's a pretty cool thing."

In late 2002, Chen finally got homesick. "You miss things from home: clean air, being able to walk down the street without being bumped every two seconds, hygiene, little things." She briefly returned to her U of A roots as the school's international relations officer for Asia Pacific.

She wasn't home for long.

In February 2003, she was lured back to Shanghai, this time as an executive VP for Levco Holding Limited. "Our main business in China is quality control services," she explains. "We also do luxury car leasing, nightclubs, restaurants, colleges, and we're getting into the modelling industry."

Living overseas definitely has its perks, Chen admits.

"When you're a foreigner living in China, you have an elite lifestyle. You can afford to eat wherever you want, stay wherever you want, go wherever you want. You can have the maid, the driver, the cook, the tailor, whatever you want."

But the perks come with incredible pressure to succeed. Chen oversees 600 employees worldwide and often works seven days a week, 15 to 17 hours a day.

"One day I could be meeting with shareholders, and then doing business plans, doing financials. The next day I could be meeting with consulate officials, the ambassador, the prime minister, everything and anything."

After leaving the office, Chen socializes with clients as required by Asian business etiquette. "Everything from food, culture, protocol, there's little innuendos you have to notice to be successful. Over there everything is about 'face', everything is about relationships."

Since Chen was once dubbed the hip-hop diva of Shanghai by an American magazine, she puts her socializing skills to good business use. "When you're out there at the different clubs, you can see different levels of service, what your competition is doing, what drinks people are drinking, what type of people are going to the clubs, and also check for any staff you might want to steal."

Chen won't disclose her salary, joking "I don't think the Canadian tax bureau wants to know."

Besides, the attraction of Shanghai is more than just money. The move has made opportunities available that she'd be hard- pressed to find here.

"If I stayed in Canada and pursued this career, I'd still be someone's assistant," she notes.

"By going and taking a chance and doing something new, that's what separates you from everybody else. If you follow the norm, you're just part of the pack. If you get outside of that norm, you lead the pack."

By Olivia Cheng
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