Grace Guan | Perspective, Connection and Making an Impact
Super Women of Shanghai
Grace Guan on Perspective, Connection and Making an Impact
Grace Guan
“Perspective is all we have to look at life,” says Grace Guan Regional Director of China East Asia for the University of Edinburgh.
It’s a theme that weaves throughout Guan’s interview with us - as she talks about her father, and the hardships he faced, which led to how she was raised. When she sees others who are less fortunate in Shanghai and feels moved to help them, while simultaneously acknowledging her own luck in life. Or when she talks about her education, career(s) or sports mentality, and how each has challenged and taught her so much throughout her 36 years of age.
Setting the foundation for her outlook on life, could greatly be attributed to Guan’s father, who recently turned 70. When he was just six years old, he lost his parents and sister, all of whom froze to death during the late 1950's. With no home, the young boy walked to Nanjing where a distant relative found and raised him. At the age of 12, he became a postman - Guan laughs recalling her father's stories of riding his bicycle on ping pong tables during these days - and, eventually, despite many odds, he was able to pass the college entrance exam after his second attempt. Guan tells us he would work really long hours all day, then study in the evenings trying to stay warm in the bitter Nanjing winters. He would buy books from rubbish centers to learn from - the ‘Cihai - Sea of Words’ was one, of which he still owns.
“He’s always been such an inspiration in terms of perseverance and he humbles me. He grounds me,” Guan says of her father.
“Whenever I have some hardship or difficulty I look at my dad and how far he has come. There’s no challenge too great.”
A clear role model for her even from childhood, one of Guan’s first biggest hurdles in life was during her time as a professional sprinter in Nanjing… when she was 10. She describes running 20 laps of 400’s as just the warm-up after school, and her mom would come to pick her up, and she would be crying and crying, but still running because ‘you listen to your coach when you’re 10.’ That perseverance on the track allowed her to be number 1 for Nanjing at that age, second in the province. It also allowed her to win a pair of spikes (shoes) - which she couldn’t afford in those days - from her coach when he challenged her to beat the older kids - and she did.
Despite being a top athlete at such a young age however, her and her family decided that she should pursue a more educational track versus an athletic one in school. She studied language and literature in Chongqing, but after her third year she remembers telling her father that she didn’t think there was anything left for her to learn there, so she started applying to universities in the UK.
Several months later, after a 36-hour long flight, she landed in Edinburgh with her suitcases, dragging them down the cobblestones at night. It was her first time ever leaving China, and she ended up staying for two years. Although, she laughs, she thinks her dad still feels guilty about putting her on such a long flight - he still talks about it - but chalk it up to yet another experience of perseverance.
“I still remember the sound [of dragging the suitcases on the cobblestones]. It was very damp coming out of the airport but the air smelled so good - like coming home.”
But, she didn’t speak much English (then). She remembers trying to find the school registrar the next day standing in the road with a physical map, and was completely lost. An “older woman” (she laughs saying the woman is probably the same age she is now) came up to her, taking her by the wrist asking ‘Are you lost, love?’- and proceeded to give her directions. Since Guan couldn’t understand much, she walked one block in the direction the woman pointed… and then got lost again. But she was so amazed by the woman’s kindness, that the memory stuck with her.
Fast-forward two years later and she was on her way back to China - the first trip back since she left (her dad is afraid of flying and she wanted to see him). She had been applying to jobs post-university, and had a return flight and work offer back to the UK, but during her stopover in Shanghai, she went to the British Consulate for an interview. And the rest as they say, is history.
During her time there, she was doing a lot of Civil Society events and managed the official development assistance (ODA) fund from the UK government. She was able to work on many local projects and remembers coming to a distinct realization that a lot of the misery and suffering in the world right now comes from a lack of empowerment for children and women, igniting her passion to want to work for the underprivileged because often-times they’re so overlooked.
Maybe it was the interaction with the woman in Edinburgh who helped the young, lost foreign student, or her father’s stories, or even Guan’s own upbringing, but she says she always had a strong urge to help people. Eventually, in 2019 Grace qualified as an Excutive/Organisational Coach. When talking about work, Guan says it feels like she has three jobs - her day job, her work on the Britcham Committee and the Executive Committee (which helps fill a need to support gender equality and diversity) and being a coach, the latter however, is the most rewarding.
“My friend who I’ve been coaching for two years… it’s been so amazing to see her inner growth and to work through different challenges. It just makes my heart explode.”
Beyond her day job(s), Grace is an amateur boxer and a CrossFit addict. “Boxing and fitness provide me with tangible challenges and a sense of progress, which also builds on mental strength we need in daily life.”
During lockdown, Grace ran free online boxing classes, allowing folks all over the globe to connect through fitness.
Connection - like the connection that Guan receives from supporting others - is all about ‘perspective’, she says. Guan cites a Steve Jobs quote, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” This she says, it what helps her understand others.
Whenever she faces a challenge, she asks herself if she will still be thinking about it 1, 5, 10 years from now… it allows her to let that thought go and helps her to focus on what is joyful and meaningful.
“It’s like a seatbelt to make sure I feel grounded and safe. The more people you meet, you realize how much external events can really affect them.” (Take the last few years as an example!)
As a woman working in a mostly male setting with mostly older peers, she says these types of ‘tools’ help give her perspective.
“I always question am I right for this? But I need to look at [opportunities] as a positive thing - despite my own insecurity. I think women look at positive feedback as being kind or being nice. But whenever we have one negative feedback or comment we tend to hold onto it. ”
I think that’s quite common. The first step is awareness so I’m trying to notice when that happens and focus on the good things.”
She also adds that self-doubt can be a positive thing, kind of like ‘checking your pockets before you lead the house to make sure you have everything.’ It’s a security mechanism and can be valuable - so long as we don’t get ‘stuck’ on it.
She says she keeps a happiness folder in her inbox and whenever she receives anything good, she places it there. Since she works remotely she doesn’t have the day-to-day positive (or constructive) feedbacks one would have in an office setting, so she has to create her own ‘corridor’ as she calls it. And if someone ever gives a nasty comment or feedback, she says she tends to kill it with kindness, and tries to understand with curiosity where that person is coming from and their ‘why’.
Perspective, Connection, Kindness… these three values have proved valuable to Guan time and again, and have helped her to get to where she is today. As well as being curious - and utilizing that to connect where she is now to where she wants to go. It’s clear from her stories and accomplishments, that she still has a whole journey ahead of her - to make a difference and empower others along the way.
Super Women of Shanghai Series
Shanghai is a melting pot of east meets west, modern and old. For the international community, it is a home away from home. In the Super Women of Shanghai ('SWS') series, we interview female movers and shakers of the international community, who made herstory in the city.
We hope that the series inspires females to define their herstory and move the dial to break to glass ceiling.
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