Guest Jessica Chen

Kelly talks to former Emmy award winning broadcaster Jessica Chen who is now the CEO of Soulcast Media and the author of “Smart Not Loud: How To Get Noticed At Work For All The Right Reasons.”

You note early in your book that this ended up not being the book you intended to write.

“This is a funny story in the sense where I actually wrote the book. It was done, and in many ways it was written for Asian Americans in the workplace. And it was interesting because, even though the book was complete, I started having conversations with people because people would be like, oh, you’re writing a book, what is it about? Right? It’s always that conversation. And I would tell them the premise of the book which is about how it’s difficult for a lot of us to advocate for ourselves. I wanted to write it initially from the Asian American perspective. Because I’m Asian American, and a lot of the clients we work with are Asian American. But as I started sharing the context of the book. other folks from other ethnicities, not Asian American, for example, they were like, wait, I resonate a lot with the struggles you’re talking about. And that’s when I had this moment where I was like, wait a second: if that’s the case, then I should try to broaden it to be more inclusive of other folks.

So what is the difference between Quiet and Loud cultures?

“Aspects of quiet culture are things like being raised to be more humble, to be modest, to listen more than speak, to not seek the spotlight, to just work hard and definitely avoid conflict, to maintain a harmonious environment. People who are raised in a quiet culture, we’re taught to embody these behaviors, and that’s how you approach the world and see the world and how you carry yourself. But on the flip side, there are people who are raised to embody loud culture traits. And these are things like putting yourself out there, showcasing your wins, advocating for yourself, speaking your mind, not being afraid of conflict.  And in the book, I’m not saying one is better than the other. They’re both equally valued. But I do argue in many corporate Western competitive workplaces, there does tend to be a focus and emphasis and even an expectation for people to embody the loud culture traits.”

And you note that it was your career as a journalist that helped you master some of those loud culture traits.

“Communications was not something I was good at yet. I started out in journalism, and I always joke how it was probably the best master class I could have ever taken to become a better communicator, because, as you can imagine, every day you are putting yourself out there. You’re public speaking, you’re interviewing, you’re pitching. And so, through time, I quickly realized that if I didn’t get better at showing up. advocating for myself, talking about my wins, that other opportunities would just go away.”