Chimers Chime In: The role of APISA community and ownership in our careers

Our cultural heritage and personal history can significantly influence our career development and decisions. It can provide inspiration, courage, a sense of identity, and, sometimes, lessons we must unlearn.

To celebrate Asian Pacific Islander and South Asian (APISA) Heritage Month, Chimers across the company were invited to reflect on how their cultural heritage and communities impact their careers. We sat down wit five Chimers to hear about their APISA heritage, the lessons they’ve learned, and how they carry their community into and take ownership of their careers. These are some of the key takeaways from that discussion.

1. Your APISA heritage can greatly shape your identity and career.

Vineet, Chime’s Chief Marketing Officer, who was born in India and immigrated to Canada and then the U.S., describes himself as defined by his cultural heritage and family’s story. “The most seminal driver of who I am comes from my heritage,” he says. “Something was instilled in me by my parents showing up to Canada with nothing but our family and a backpack — it’s taught me the value of hard work and sacrifice, and nothing will ever take that away.”

Vineet’s experience has taught him the value of having the courage of your conviction. “Over the course of my career, I’ve lived in 14 houses across several different countries — always hopping at the chance to take on a challenge in a new place,” he says. “I believe in the value of those experiences, and a big part of that is my parents: If they could do what they did, I can be a fish out of water and thrive, too.”

Xiongwen’s cultural background shaped who he is, too. “I was born and raised in China — back then, it was still a poor country, so from a young age, I learned a hard work ethic and to do good to society by contributing more than I took,” he explains. “A lot of Chinese culture revolves around working hard and being a good person, which has also impacted my career. Even though I moved to the U.S. for my Master’s and Ph.D. and have remained here, those values stayed with me. Now, I live a mix of American values and culture while honoring my background and the earliest values instilled in me.”

And Jackie, who grew up on the east coast in a predominantly white neighborhood, still maintains Chinese values instilled in her by her parents. “Although I very much felt like a minority growing up, I’m fortunate that my parents made sure I stayed connected to my heritage from very young and encouraged me to live by core values of our culture,” she says. From her very first years in public school, her parents would come to her classroom every year to teach her classmates about Chinese New Year, as an example. “My parents taught me the importance of hard work and perseverance, but also reminded me from time to time that balance and happiness in life are key too. I apply that lens to everything I do in my career and personal life.”

2. A shared cultural heritage can help you find a sense of meaningful community at work.

“I didn’t really find a sense of connection to the APISA community until recently in my career,” explains Dre. As a part of the recruiting world, which is predominantly male and white, Dre never felt there was much space to talk about being an Asian woman. “As a result, early in my career, I lacked my own voice and charted a path similar to that of others who didn’t look like me.”

Since joining Chime, Dre has found a lot of community, connection, and growth through the Chime Resource Group (CRG) for APISA Chimers, called PacifiChime. “We openly discuss things like internal mobility and people leadership,” she says. “Until I had the community and dedicated space to talk about these things with PacifiChime, I had just kept my head down and done what I was directed to do.” Since joining PacifiChime, Dre has connected with Jackie about career opportunities and how to grow in her career. “I’m having more developmental conversations for myself and becoming a mentor to others,” she says.

She’s also discovered a lot about her own Chinese heritage. “Growing up, my heritage wasn’t shared with me — in fact, I didn’t even have a rice cooker until I met my fiancé,” she says. “As a result, I lacked a strong sense of belonging to the APISA community — until I had a dedicated space to do so with PacifiChime.”

Shaylene became a founding member of PacifiChime when the group was created for Asian-identifying Chimers. “I wanted to take part in pioneering that environment in order to empower others and build community,” she says.

She’s since found lots of community through the CRG — and ways to flex her creative muscles, too. “I always thought I wasn’t a creative person, but with the support of my PacifiChime community, I’ve helped create one of our most popular APISA heritage month activities for three years in a row: Trivia!” she says. “Finding a sense of community in PacifiChime has helped me challenge myself to lead a group and be more creative in a constructive environment.”

For Jackie, who came to Chime with a strong sense of her APISA heritage, she’s found more community than she thought she would with PacifiChime. “It’s more common now for companies today to have ERGs, but I’ve never experienced a company like Chime where our CRGs are at the forefront of company culture,” she says. “In many ways, the strongest community I’ve ever felt with my own heritage has been at Chime — I really look forward to any opportunity to engage with my fellow PacifiChimers!”

3. Representation is powerful: Having role models with a similar cultural heritage to your own can deeply impact your career.

In addition to drawing inspiration from role models like Jackie, Dre has been inspired by her current manager, Tracy Ikeda. “She’s the first Asian woman I’ve seen in a leadership role in my recruiting career,” Dre says. “She’s a big reason I wanted to join the team, and she has supported me in my first people manager role. It’s inspiring to see how much the entire recruiting organization relies on and respects Tracy — she’s an example I never had before in my career.”

In Jackie’s case, much of her career has been self-guided. “While I have not seen many Asian colleagues, especially Asian women, in leadership roles over the course of my career, I was fortunate to work with Asian leaders in my first job out of college who were very impactful to me and my confidence in the workplace,” she says. As she moved into the tech industry, however, she noticed a trend: “I saw that it was more diverse at the bottom of the org chart and got less and less diverse as I moved up in my career,” she explains. In response to what she saw, Jackie self-guided and motivated. “It required a lot of courage and putting myself out there — it was not easy,” she says.

To help her navigate career growth, Jackie sought mentors to talk to, gravitating to women or people of color in tech who might understand her experience better. It was when she moved into her first Chief of Staff role that she reported to her first-ever female manager. “That was a turning point for me — Françoise Brougher was a French immigrant who had navigated the space of being culturally different and oftentimes the only woman in the room,” she says. “She helped me a lot in my career both actively and passively — by being an example of what a strong woman in leadership can be — and is still my mentor today.”

For Xiongwen, one role model really stands out to him: Ash Gupta, the former Chief Risk Officer at American Express, who is originally from India. “He is a legend in risk management,” Xiongwen says. “I grew up under his organization, and I believe he exemplified the three qualities of a great leader. One, he was great in his field, had functional expertise, and could drive results. Two, he was inspirational and able to define a future which inspired others to follow him. Three, he was focused on people and demonstrated that he really cared about team members as people, not just tools to reach business results. Ash demonstrated strength in all three dimensions, and I still admire him.”

4. Your heritage can give you examples of how to take ownership of your career decisions.

“My parents were the most influential example of ownership to me,” says Vineet. “We talk about ourselves as leaders with courage, but whenever I need courage, I think of my parents: my father had just finished his Master’s degree and he and my mom set off with a newborn to a new country. That’s nothing compared to what we as business leaders have to deal with — I’m constantly amazed when I think about the choices they made.”

As a result, Vineet approaches every solution with an eye for optimism, believing almost anything is possible. “A lot of times, we focus on problems, but it can be even better to turn our attention to how to move forward — in the same way I respect my past, learn from it, but always look forward, taking ownership of my own career and accomplishments.”

For Shaylene, watching her dad grow on his own professional journey taught her to take ownership of her own career. “He was a waiter and supported our whole family through his work,” she explains. “He later opened his own restaurant, and I’m really proud of him — not just for raising us as a single dad, but for taking ownership of his career and moving beyond his economic position. Growing up, we never knew our economic standing because my dad was so supportive and resourceful. Now I know the work he put in — and his experience makes me even more passionate about Chime’s mission.”

5. Sometimes, going against your own cultural stereotypes can help you grow.

Chimers have learned that, sometimes, they have to go against the stereotypes of their cultural heritage in order to take more ownership of their careers. “Xiongwen is the first Chinese executive in tech I’ve had the opportunity to work with directly, and I really appreciate how he shows up to work,” Jackie says. “He’s optimistic, outspoken, and not afraid to share his opinions — not the cultural stereotype often perpetuated in tech — and I admire him for that.”

That outspoken nature didn’t always come naturally to Xiongwen, however. “I work really hard at being more outspoken,” he chimes in. “Like any Chinese person in a meeting, our culture teaches you to stay quiet unless you really know something. I’ve had to learn how to be brave and open my mouth, knowing that I might embarrass myself. I now believe that you have to share your thoughts to receive feedback — and know if your thoughts are wrong. After all, the only way to learn is to expose your flawed thoughts.”

While Xiongwen is still not the most outspoken person in any room, he’s learned not to overanalyze as much and speaks out knowing that there might be flaws in his argument. “I know that expressing my ideas is important, and I’m willing to expose those thoughts to learn — but doing so often went against the cultural learnings of my youth.”

6. Remember: “Don’t change your name”

Over the course of his career, Vineet has always chased experiences, seeing his career as a jungle gym, not a ladder. “Our lives are a collection of experiences that we gather as we move around the jungle gym,” he says. “I use that to frame what I bring to the table as a leader, and one of the most important experiences of my life is embracing where I’m from.”

As a kid, Vineet remembers his mom telling him and his brother that she gave them their names for a reason. “She would emphasize that we shouldn’t let our teacher shorten or change our names, but she was really teaching us to be proud of where we came from, even if people couldn’t pronounce our names,” he says. “That pride has defined me and taught me a sense of ownership I carry with me through decisions big and small.”

As these Chimers have shared, taking ownership of our cultural heritage can help us all embrace our diverse range of experiences, pursue new opportunities, and create connections with others — while excelling in our careers, too.