The story is about Ingrid Yung who is a first-generation Chinese American and the first lawyer in her family. Ingrid is the first minority woman to make partner at Parsons Valentine & Hunt, an old law firm with a boys’ club corporate culture.

A racially-insensitive and offensive incident happens at the law firm and Ingrid is tasked with doing damage control, despite being treated like an outsider.

Helen lives in New York state. She has written for The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, and CNN. She is currently working on another book while also serving as a diversity and inclusion consultant, among other big projects.

I can’t believe my subway scribblings from 20 yrs ago will soon be a new @Netflix TV show, premiering a week from today. That’s me, blinking back tears, gazing up at a giant Times Square billboard showing @arden_cho & the rest of this amazing #PartnerTrack cast! I NY. pic.twitter.com/NJnrWQUawH

— Helen Wan (@helenwan1) August 19, 2022

Here is the 10-minute interview with The Proud Asian:

Watch it here.

Key moments during the interview:

Crystal Bui:
The nuances. They’re really important and I know that you brought in some of those nuances in the show. Like, it’s no secret [Ingrid Yung, played by Arden Cho] is Asian and she’s in a very male-dominated world. [The men] have advantages. There’s a boys club. Clearly, there are backdoor dealings. It’s almost like some of it isn’t merited, but because they’re white men, there is nepotism, almost because of race.

How did you navigate that sort of nuance and that script in your writing or if Netflix consulted you at all on how to play that out in a sensitive but empowering manner at the same time?

Helen Wan:
I’ve been very fortunate in that when I, myself, binge-watched the show up over one weekend, I was really impressed by how sensitively and thoughtfully Netflix treated the issues of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) in the corporate workplace.

I was impressed with the way that they updated it.

Because as I mentioned, the book was originally published in 2011, that it makes sense to have some updates to the story. They added some characters and they added some backstory to my existing characters. I was just really honestly pretty pleased with the end result. I thought it was it was both a sensitive treatment of those kinds of issues and themes that I was trying to tackle.

But also, frankly, I thought it was an entertaining show. It wasn’t just about being Asian and for being a color or being a woman lawyer or what have you.

Crystal:
Growing up, I did not see many people on TV who were Asian.

It was a part of the reason why I first went in and was a TV news reporter. I wanted young girls to see something different or to see themselves, quite frankly.

Did you get emotional seeing it on the screen? Or what was it like seeing the pages that you wrote come to life to know that people would have to physically see the characters that you created?

Helen:
It was amazing.

On the premiere night, in Los Angeles, it was like Cinderella at the ball moment for me, because there’s artists, there’s Georgia Lee, there’s Julie Anne Robinson [director of Netflix’s Bridgerton] was sitting next to me. I was just like, “Wow, this is my character from when I was a first-year law associate are up on the screen.”

If you had told me that anything like that would have happened to me and to those characters, that began as my subway scribblings… I just wouldn’t have believed it.

Crystal:
Since I was so obsessed with the show and binge-watched it, this is a selfish question, but I would love to know: what is next for you?

Are you working on something? What can you share?

Helen:
I’m trying very hard to put the finishing touches on the ending of a new book. It’s been fun diving into a new project.

It’s not a sequel to The Partner Track, although it touches on similar themes that I’m interested in about how family backgrounds, race, gender, socio-economic, class, privilege, whether or not you’re a first generation in your family, or to go to college… I certainly was the first to go to law school in my family… and how all of these factors just impact our decisions about personal and professional decisions, and also ambition.

Crystal:
Growing up, I was really ashamed to be Asian because I was picked on.

I imagine with the nuances of your show and your book, it was probably not easy for people to realize, “I’m not part of this white boys’ club.”

Did you feel the same way growing up? And then what inspired you to kind of reclaim that and own that and put that in your book?

Helen:
While I was born in California, my family moved to the East Coast when I was quite young. I mostly grew up in the DC suburbs, which was a fairly white area. I was one of perhaps, two, or maybe, three Asian American students in my public elementary school. And I certainly felt it and the playground teasing, and the eyes [teasing], and things like that.

I certainly felt it. 

It does take a certain thick skin, which I don’t naturally have, to write about such experiences. And it took me a long time to do so.

But I started doing so in those journal entries. Those things did make their way into the novel. And I’m really glad I did, because a lot of people will point to some of those scenes, and readers will say, “That happened to me. That playground taunting did happen to me too.”

It’s very important to see some of those perspectives and stories represented.

I hope that people enjoy the book, enjoy the show, and can take away something meaningful from them. And I really, really appreciate everything that has happened and all the people who take the time to reach out to me or to any of the creators of the show, or other writers who are out there telling their similar, authentic stories that they don’t see out there, so they write the book themselves.

It means a lot when people say they have taken something away from your work, so thank you.

The post Helen Wan: Author behind the Netflix series “The Partner Track” appeared first on The Proud Asian.

In 2019, Elena Ledoux was named the SBA’s Small Business Person of the Year in Nevada and Entrepreneur of the Year by the National Association of Women Business Owners for Southern Nevada for turning Superbmaids from a start-up to a million-dollar company in a short amount of time. Superbmaids in Las Vegas has nearly 5,000 clients. 

Through Boss Security Screens, Elena Ledoux has also made it her mission to keep people safe in their homes and offices. The company creates heavy-duty stainless steel security screens which act as a property crime deterrent and the first line of defense against intruders. The screens are installed on the outside of windows and doors, and Boss Security Screens designs were vetted by law enforcement experts for quality control and safety standards.

I believe that entrepreneurship is one of the best things you can do for yourself, for developing yourself as a person realizing your full potential. And culturally, we as women, especially Asian women, are placed in this position of being almost discouraged to take a chance, take a risk.

We have a very specific role that was supposed to be a supportive, supporting role, not the main character: very docile. And I think this is just wrong. That’s a waste of our potential. So go for it.

— Elena Ledoux

Watch her interview with The Proud Asian here.

Crystal Bui:
Tell me a little bit about your childhood. Where did you grow up? What’s your ethnicity?

Elena Ledoux:
I have a little bit of a strange background. Ethnically, I’m Korean. But I was born in the former Soviet Union before it all fell apart. And I moved to the U.S. when I was 21.

Crystal:
What prompted your move to America?

Elena:
I always felt like I was born in the wrong place. There are not a lot of opportunities for women, especially minority women [in the former Soviet Union]. There was a very, very specific role that was dedicated to you. And that was very suffocating. The United States is a much better environment for realizing your potential as a person.

Crystal:
When you came over to America, what did you pursue?

Elena:
I went to law school. And afterward, I practice law for 11 years in litigation.

Crystal:
What was that like? Traditionally, especially in litigation, it’s very male-dominated, white, male-dominated, and older, male-dominated. What was it like for you to be in that space? What was the culture like, and then how did you navigate that?

Elena:
In the beginning, it was a little bit intimidating, because I was a lot of times the youngest, the strangest person in the room. And a lot of times that was underestimated, which turned out to be actually an advantage, because litigation is about battling. So if you believe that your opponent is weaker than you are, or less capable than you are, then you’re not going to pay as much attention and you’re gonna lose your case.

Crystal:
Did you feel like when people looked at you, you were younger, you’re a woman, you’re Asian, people just thought they would beat you right away? So they didn’t have to prepare?

Elena:
Yes, they were a lot more relaxed about it. They paid more attention to what I was wearing to my shoes, or how I carry myself, as [opposed] to what I’m going to do to their clients in that case. And so after the first case [that I won] everything shifted into more professional, and then [them] paying attention.

Crystal:
So you probably surprise them. And I imagine then you started intimidating some of these men and realizing that you were a true competitor.

Elena:
In the beginning, I was treated very dismissively. And even in writings and legal writing, I was referred to as “that woman,”  or, “She just should go to wherever she’s from, that’s how they do things.” Similar things, disparaging things like that, but it never affected me. But you know, as soon as I beat them, then all of a sudden, I was “Ms. Ledoux.”

Crystal:
After you did litigation, what did you do next?

Elena:
I actually took a couple of years off. And I took a sabbatical with my family in Europe. We brought two of our kids and my parents, and we lived in France, Spain, and Ireland; it was fantastic. So I was a mom and played the role of a mom for a couple of years.

Crystal:
After you were able to spend time with your family, how did you get into the business?

Elena:
My best childhood friend from Uzbekistan actually won the Green Card Lottery. She was coming to the U.S. with her family. And because she didn’t speak any English, and she didn’t drive a car, she didn’t have any money. We started a cleaning company just so we can make some money to pay her bills.

Crystal:
[The original goal was $2,000 a month] So after that, did your company grow? Did you achieve what you wanted to?

Elena:
Definitely, made $2,000, and then some. It grew really, really well. And it was voted best of Las Vegas within the first year of business by the readers of Las Vegas Review-Journal. And we grew tremendously since then. We won a bunch of awards, including SBA’s Small Business of the Year by the state of Nevada.

Crystal:
Wow.  then so There was some sort of ceremony you were able to go to in DC talk to me about what that was.

Elena:
Yes, this was a surreal, incredible experience. Every winner from every state gets invited to DC. And it was this really beautiful space that usually hosts ambassadors and dignitaries. And so here, were me and my partner and our kids. We kept looking at each other. And there are all these other very esteemed entrepreneurs, very titled entrepreneurs from all over the country. It was an incredible experience.

Crystal
Was this just women or men and women?

Elena:
Men and women, of course, because it’s a business world, the business field. There are a lot more men, of course. A lot of companies were larger and more established, or in business for decades, kind of those behemoths, even though it’s called “small business” which was anything under 500 employees.

Crystal:
Talk to me about finances.

Elena:
By the second year in business, were grossing over a million dollars a year.

Crystal:
What was that like? What do you feel set your company apart? I imagine the cleaning industry or even the hospitality industry, it’s so competitive, right? There are so many people saturated in that field. So how did you build it into a million-dollar company? And why do you think you were able to do that?

Elena:
As women, I believe, and especially as immigrants, we are more resilient. I feel like women are generally more resilient, and more adaptable. And that’s what it takes to succeed in business. And this business is a very tough business; it’s fiercely competitive.

Crystal:
So you’re also operating other businesses right now, as an entrepreneur? Tell me a little bit more about some of your other endeavors.

Elena:
I’m the Chief Operating Officer of Boss Security Screens. We protect people in their own homes, by preventing burglars and all the bad guys from coming into your home. We are currently in three states and expanding a few more. And then we have American Security Screens, which we just started. This is going to be licensing arm. We’re going to open our representations all over the United States. I’m very excited about that.

Crystal:
What is Boss Security Screens, and how does it keep homeowners secure?

Elena:
Sure, if you can imagine, a regular bug screen, but it’s made out of ultra-tough materials, stainless steel and aluminum, aircraft-grade aluminum that’s encasing it. And it gets bolted into the frame, the actual structure of your home, outside of every window and then outside of the door. Of course, you can release it easily from the inside, but from the outside, you cannot get through.

Crystal:
So it’s like normal homes have that like mesh screen? And then instead of the mesh screen that is easy for people to cut through and break into your product is different. And you said it was steel, or how is it much tougher than what people have?

Elena:
It’s actually a mesh, but it’s woven out of stainless steel wire. And it’s quite thick. It allows pretty good visibility still, so it’s not like ugly bars or something, or shatters or something like that. It allows airflow, but it prevents all the bad stuff from coming in, whether it’s burglars or bears, or bugs. It deflects some of the sunshine as well. So it’s quite a useful product. It’s been very, very popular.

Crystal:
So that means you don’t have to use as much AC if it’s keeping your home protected? My last question is, what do you want to tell women, Asian women, because entrepreneurs are so dominated right now, by men?

Elena:
If you’re a woman, and you are considering becoming an entrepreneur, just give it a try. Because a lot of times we as women suffer from imposter syndrome, and a lot of men do too. But I believe that women are specifically specially afflicted by that.

And I believe that entrepreneurship is one of the best things you can do for yourself, for developing yourself as a person realizing your full potential. And culturally, we as women, especially Asian women, are placed in this position of being almost discouraged to take a chance, take a risk.

We have a very specific role that was supposed to be a supportive, supporting role, not the main character: very docile. And I think this is just wrong. That’s a waste of our potential. So go for it.

The post Elena Ledoux: Successful entrepreneur in The Golden Spotlight appeared first on The Proud Asian.