Do What Makes You Happy An interview with faith tan

Faith Tan (Source: Faith Tan)

Faith Tan is a Community Manager for Google+ in Mountain View, California. She moved from Singapore to receive her degree in business from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and then moved to Washington State where she worked on a farm before starting her career in California. I had the pleasure of interviewing Faith about her not so typical but very exciting life. Here it goes!

Faith was born in Singapore and lived there for most of her life before college. Her family moved to Minnesota for three years when she was in middle school but then decided to head back to Singapore. She spoke highly of her family and described them as being high achieving, intelligent, and great role models. Both of her parents wrote books on parenting and have always been very supportive.

"They kept us grounded, encouraged independent thought and decision making, and really emphasized the importance of education, hard work, humility, doing good, and following your heart."

Faith mentioned that moving to America was difficult and it was challenging to make friends because she hasn't always been confident in herself. Due to moving around, she didn't feel as though she belonged anywhere.

"I'm not American enough and I'm not Singaporean enough."

The next stop for Faith was heading off to college at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Even though she got into the business school, she fully intended on transferring out of it. She ended up taking a few classes that she really enjoyed and through that, she met some of her best friends. A major life accomplishment she had was founding a multicultural sorority her sophomore year and she described it as one of the most rewarding things she's ever done.

"A lot of my college life was accidentally stumbling into things that really shaped my life and experience."

Through her classes she realized that she loved operations and marketing. She received her Bachelors of Science degree in Business Marketing and Supply Chain Operations. She applied to various companies but due to being an international student, she had a hard time finding a company that would sponsor her to stay in the United States. Instead of letting that get her down, she decided to pick up her life yet again and move to Seattle, Washington.

A lifelong dream of Faith's has been to work on a farm so that is exactly what she did after graduation. She moved from Minnesota to Seattle where she worked on an organic vegetable garden in Western Washington.

"This was probably one of the most enriching and fulfilling things I've ever done. I learned a ton, was exposed to so many new ideas and ways of life, and really challenged myself."

A personal dream of hers is to retire on a homestead where she farms all her own vegetables and raises the animals that she needs to live off of. Even though she was only there for two months, moving to Washington directly out of college gave her a glimpse into what could possibly be her dream future. Her time on the farm was followed by a job offer a few states away and she happily got on board for her next adventure.

In the Fall of 2016, Faith moved to Mountain View, California because of a job offer she received. She now works at one of the most popular tech companies, Google and is currently a Community Manger for Google+. While managing this community she educates and inspires Google+ users to create Collections on the platform and also promotes content that is featured. She talked about how much she enjoys interacting with her team and Google+ users on a daily basis. She described her work environment as a place full of positive energy and she loves to be around that.

"I love my job and my team. It's mostly really engaging, challenging, and lots of fun."

Faith also organizes a series of panel events where some of the top Google+ users share their personal tips for creating unique content on the platform. The panel series is called Collections 101 and the first recording is below!

From left to right: Faith with fellow classmates in her senior year of high school in Singapore (Source: Faith Tan), Faith with her sorority sisters at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities (Source: Faith Tan), Faith with peers at business camp (Source: Faith Tan), Faith volunteering in Singapore (Source: Faith Tan), Faith and her sorority sisters at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities (Source: Faith Tan).

Faith is both a mover and a shaker when it comes to her life. She values networking and truly believes that getting out there and meeting new people can make a difference between being miserable and being happy. She's adamant that realizing your dreams and self-fulfillment is just as important as your career.

"Do what you're passionate about and what makes you happy, life's too short to do otherwise. This will lead you to your best path both personally and professionally."

Follow Faith on social media!

Credits:

Pages 1-4 Faith Tan, Page 5 McKenna Taylor, Page 6 Faith Tan

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