Welcome to my Substack where I share a recap of my week. Think of this as a virtual catch-up session between friends with some life tips & advice sprinkled in. Take what serves you and leave what does not. Grab a cup of tea šµ (or your beverage of choice) and let's get started āļø
Cherieās Corner podcast launched š„
Putting this podcast together has taken a lot of time and honestly I have loved every single second of it. The process is creative, analytical, and social; itās giving me so much energy. At the end of the tenure as a product manager at LinkedIn, I felt like my learning had plateaued: I was going through the motions of āworkā but I didnāt feel like I was learning at the exponential rate as I had been earlier. Venturing into long form content is renewing my curiosity, the feeling of learning and fumbling. THAT really excites me. You can find the first pod episode on YouTube and Spotify š§
Here's the first podcast episode of Cherie's Corner with my Stanford MBA classmate, Jae Yu. We talk about his career in the U.S. military before coming to Stanford's Business School, serving in South Korea, and being one of the main organizers of Former President Trumpās Visit to North Korea (YES YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY - like what??) Jae is a dual admit to both Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business and he talks about how he made the decision to attend Stanford and what he wrote about in his application essay. Finally, Jae gives his perspective on the MBA application process, his favorite classes, and what itās like to experience graduate school life with his wife, Jenny!
Whatās cooking š²
Speaking of long formā¦ I also experimented with my first ever YouTube Vlog ā watch below and let me know what else you want to see. Iām all ears for feedback as Iām trying new formats and seeing what sticks.
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š» ICYMI: What I posted on IG Reels
šĀ Sneak peek of Jaeās Podcast Interview
š«Ā Finding what you love to do and your Ikigai
šĀ Reddit Thread about me
š¾Ā 2 free MBA guides
Advice from my former boss
I spoke my former boss from LinkedIn a few weeks back and he gave me some really thoughtful advice I want to now share with you. For some more context, Iāve had 3 bosses during my time working at LinkedIn and those were formative years where I grew as a professional and as a human; they all helped develop my self-confidence in the workplace and itās translated to how I see myself as whole person. Iām fortunate to have close friendships with my former bosses and I hold a lot of respect and fondness for them, even after not working together for a few years. Right, so I spoke with boss #2 recently about career, relationships, and life.
Specifically, we chatted about sincerity. What does it mean to be sincere and what are sincere actions? What things are you forcing in your life, relationship, career? What comes more naturally and what is giving you energy? The best quote he said that Iām still thinking about is āif it were sincere, it would already be done,ā meaning if you really wanted it, you would already have found a way to do it. Sincerity is felt. DaaaAaAaAaaamn. Thatās good. Thatās really good. So now post-conversation Iām evaluating the actions Iām taking in my life, and more importantly, what are the actions Iām not taking? What are the things that I feel like I should do but I donāt want to do, and what does that mean?
On this quest of discovering my ikigai (see below), I must be aware of sincere and insincere actions, thoughts, relationships, etc. Where are you in this venn diagram below? How close to your ikigai are you?
HowTo: Long distance friendship
Top of mind for me right now as most of my MBA friends are spread around the world for our summer internships. Keeping friends close over long periods of time can be challenging, especially when we find ourselves more and more dispersed geographically. With different schedules and locations, it becomes harder to coordinate and maintain regular communication.
When you genuinely care about someone but have limited time, maintaining a warm friendship can still be achievable through genuine small connections. Start by setting aside a few minutes each day to reach out to them (yes, it still takes work!) It could be a simple text message, sending a funny meme when you think of them, or even leaving a voice message for them to listen to later. When you do have more significant chunks of time available, prioritize quality time together (uninterrupted facetime, grabbing coffee in person, etc). At the end of the day, it's the intention and effort you put into these small gestures that will help keep the friendship warm!
Meme Reminder
Have a great week, you can do it!!
š¬ļøXO Cherie
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