The Making of Lulu C. Wang: Open-mindedness, Determination, and Resilience
An immigrant’s daughter. A homemaker. A leader.
From a family of first generation immigrants. A college major considered unconventional in the 60s. A “can-do” attitude that takes her from being a homemaker to leading investment firms and cultural institutions.
Lulu C. Wang is the Founder and CEO of Tupelo Capital Management. She founded it in 1998 alongside Cathie Woods, before transitioning it into a family office in 2008.
She has many feathers on her cap from leading large equity organizations to heading cultural institutions.
Her story is phenomenal. It’s inspirational. It’s about the MAKING of an ordinary, Asian homemaker wife into a leader. Here’s her story:
1. Being Open Minded
When Lulu first arrived at the Wellesley college in the fall of ’62, she had aspirations that were quite traditional. She wanted to earn a master’s degree and work a few years, before marrying and settling down.
However, her choice of a major wasn’t. Unlike what most kids from first generation immigrant families would have preferred, she dared to select English literature as her major.
Those were the days, when immigrant families from China often encouraged their children to select science.
So, Lulu had a well-set plan: complete her degree, get a job and settle down. Life, however had planned something else for her.
“Life” and “Love”, according to Lulu, upset her well-thought plan.
I left Wellesley after my junior year to be with my husband Tony, who had just graduated from Yale and was heading for Cornell Law School. So, love survived the frigid winters of Ithaca — very cold up there — but despite the joys of motherhood and home crafts that would have impressed even Martha Stewart, I felt adrift. Something was really missing. Wellesley had inspired ambitions that I felt helpless to pursue at that time.
Lulu was open minded for her times. She was open-minded to select an unconventional major. She was open-minded to go for love. She open-minded enough to believe that being a homemaker would not the serve as a full stop to her professional journey.
2. Starting Small: From a Homemaker to Leading an Investment Firm
After feeling something was missing from her life, she decided it was time for something new. Initially, Lulu was fascinated by her husband’s jobs as a securities lawyer.
I was intrigued by my husband’s work as a securities lawyer. It seemed challenging and also far too much of a male enclave. It needed some women in there. So I looked into law school, but then on further examination, I thought I might really prefer the securities, rather than the law side of what he did.
However, there was one big problem for Lulu. No one wanted to hire Lulu since she lacked a prior job experience. In addition to that, they wanted a MBA, which Wang didn’t have either.
But, Lulu wasn’t someone who would easily give up. She was a convention breaker, and that’s what she did.
It required an MBA, which I did not have at that time, but I went into the interview with a secret weapon. It was a Wellesley paper I had written at my sophomore year, and I thought I could bring it along as evidence that I could really write and edit.
So, with her courage, out-of-the-box approach, and some skills now Lulu was now hired as a financial writer for a firm.
Lulu Wang began her career as a financial writer in the small brokerage firm, leveraging her talent for writing, a skill she learnt during her English Literature degree at Wellesley College.
She had big dreams, but no job was small for her. She started small as a writer, editing and writing task for the firm.
3. Resilience: The “Just Do it” Attitude
After long and with her own diligence, Lulu landed a job as an analyst on food industry. The job was a big step towards her career in the securities industry.
Lulu knew she needed to have a better grasp of finance and chemistry if she wanted to succeed in her new role.
So, to prove her worth, and boost her competency, she started putting in extra hours even after work. It was a new role for her, a new experience, and full of new challenges.
But she had one thing in abundance, which would not let her give up: Resilience.
Resilience. My mother had resilience in abundance. She did not waste much time equivocating or on regrets if things didn’t turn out. Well before Nike, she always said, “Just do it.”
4. Listening to Your Inner Voice
When I was mid-career senior securities analyst, I was approached by the CEO of a large Fortune 100 company who offered me an attractive operating position in his firm. I was very flattered, I considered the offer, as in the short term it would have been a nice increase in pay and title.
But, on reflection, for me I realized it would have been far less stimulating, I would have missed the daily intellectual challenge of looking for those great companies and testing myself against other investors. It was also a time when I, as an emerging leader in the investment management field, could now begin to help other women, as women were just beginning to enter the still very male-dominated industry.
Sometimes life demands tough decisions. You need to choose between what’s good and what’s best for you.
When Lulu was doing good, she had two options: either to take the ladder in the corporate world or embark on her own part.
She embarked on her own path, and inspired others to follow. It wasn’t an easy call, but she took it.
A call that was an another beginning for her: the making of a leader. And the rest is history.
Lulu C. Wang’s story might seem old, but its inspirational. It’s a story of an immigrant’s daughter. It’s a story of a homemaker. It’s a story of lady with courage, resilience and open-mindedness.
References
https://time.com/4351251/lulu-chow-wang-wellesley/