My approach
Meeting you where you are, and then helping you meaningfully move forward
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Understanding you: I appreciate that you come with your own unique history, perspectives and circumstances. I will meet you where you are.
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Focusing on you: I always start with you, rather than frameworks. Frameworks only matter when applied in relevant ways. Sometimes, no existing framework fits your situation and I will partner with you to build one from scratch.
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A bias towards action: I believe that an inspiration becomes a fleeting daydream when it is not coupled with action. I will nudge you towards action that get you closer to a desired outcome, or at least help you better understand it. (Yes, pausing to reflect within an appropriately bounded timeframe is an action.)
Coach Bio
Wendi Zhang coaches clients from all demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds and career stages in 1) understanding their unique needs and wishes with the context of where their life journey has taken them so far, 2) designing their life plans in a way that could meet these needs and wishes, and 3) assisting in the practical implementation of these plans.
Wendi has been coaching and mentoring for over 10 years. She advocates taking a portfolio approach to career planning to meet each of our unique, evolving goals and needs. In addition, Wendi has experienced being lost and confused, and promotes continuous checking in and adaptations of one’s life and career plan to reflect the dynamism of one’s personal development as well as changes in the industry and economy. Wendi partners with clients to meet them where they are in their life and career journeys, and 1) if undecided - helps them get clarity, 2) if decided - coaches them in taking the next steps to reach the next goal post(s), and 3) upon reaching the next goal - inspires them to continuously design the evolution of their life (of which career is a component).
In addition to her private coaching practice, Wendi is a Career Coach at Harvard Business School for MBA students and alumni, an Executive Coach at the MIT Sloan School of Management for the Sloan Fellows and Executive MBA programs, a pro bono coach for the TED Fellows program, and a member of the Asian Women Coaching Collective.
Advisor Bio
Wendi Zhang offers 15 years of professional experience in leadership roles at high tech, entrepreneurship, and early-stage venture capital. She has advised dozens of companies in strategy and business development.
Wendi’s experiences include:
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High tech: including in the areas of AI, consumer hardware, media/entertainment, productivity tools, enterprise software, and gaming
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Entrepreneurship: 5 startups - 1 in SaaS, 2 in consumer apps / software, and 2 in hardware
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Venture capital: 2 early-stage VCs, including being a former Business Development Partner at Gradient Ventures (Google's AI Fund), where she advised Gradient's portfolio companies on business challenges and helped them forge partnerships with Fortune500 companies
Why 'Wabi x Zabi'
The story behind 'Wabi x Zabi'
Wabi Sabi is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection, a view that I have held before first hearing the named term from Professor Rawi Abdelal in business school. It is a term coined by Zen monk Murata Shukō, and consists of 2 characters - 侘寂.
'Wabi Zabi' embraces that exact concept of perfection in imperfection for me. It is misspelt, and works perfectly for me, as it has the same initials (w.z.) as my first and last names.
The domain wabizabi.com was taken already, so I added an 'x' in between to further the theme of keeping with my initials - now this time, with my middle initial 'x' included.
The 'x' in between is also a nod to the acknowledgement that the characters 'Wabi' and 'Sabi' exist independently and each has its own meanings. Only when joined together, they transform into the beautiful concept of Wabi Sabi. It is reflective of my philosophy on partnerships from both personal and business perspectives: they should benefit each individual [person or organization] involved, extend the world of possibilities, and transform the level of positive impact.
Wabi x Zabi - there you have it.