Recently, an ECCO employee was awarded Young Professional of the Year by the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China. Meet 32-year old Sarah Chu in an interview about pursuing an international career.
The end of October 2016 was a landmark for Sarah Chu, as this was the night she received the Young Professional of the Year Award by the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China.
“That evening, when my name was announced, I first and foremost felt satisfaction. I said to myself that all my hard work and the bumps in the road were paying off. I tend to be tough on myself, so it was really nice to receive such a pat on the back for my teams and my efforts,” says Sarah Chu. Nonetheless, the route to success has been both challenging and educative.
From Denmark to China
Born and raised in Denmark, Sarah Chu has always been driven to challenge herself. In 2011, she started at ECCO’s regional headquarters in Amsterdam, where she held different coordinator positions. Shortly afterwards, she was promoted and moved to Shanghai to become Senior Marketing Manager in ECCO China.
“I remember clearly the transition from being simply myself, to becoming a leader with 19 personnel reporting to me. I’ve always been responsible for my own performance — now I was suddenly responsible for an entire Chinese team. That was a real stand-out moment for me,” says Sarah Chu, as she thinks back on her career within ECCO.
Among cultural changes, Sarah talks about things that she, as a Dane, took for granted before, like fresh air, clean water, and food safety. In China, Sarah prefers to wear a mask when walking outside because of the pollution, and she boils her water a couple of times before being able to drink it.
Sarah Chu sees living and working in Shanghai as a great investment in her career: “As the head of marketing, China is the perfect playground. Besides having spending power, people adapt quickly to change in China and everything moves fast — allowing me many opportunities to push the boundaries and for trial and error.”
When Sarah Chu is asked to give advice to other young aspirants she outlines:
“First and foremost, it is important to be open towards news tasks and towards people. Take on all the tasks possible and remind yourself that there’s so much to be learned in the hard work — and set out to learn as much as you can. The more open you are; the more possibilities will come to you.”
The Future is bright
Looking forward, Sarah sees the acknowledgement the award has given ECCO and her as personal encouragement:
“It’s a great motivator for me in my job. Moreover, I’ve been contacted to speak to young professionals at a seminar in China and I’m honoured to be considered as a role model for others. Looking ahead five years, I would definitely stay in China pursuing my career within ECCO — perhaps by discovering other areas within the organization.”
Sarah Chu isn’t only winning in her professional life — on a personal note, she recently became a mother to a baby-boy.
About ECCO
ECCO, a world-leading brand of shoes combining style and comfort, has built its success on great design, leather quality, and innovative technology. ECCO is one of the few major shoe manufacturers in the world which owns and manages every aspect of its leather and shoe productions and its retail sales. ECCO is among the largest producers in the world of high-quality leather, which is used in ECCO’s shoes and own production of leather goods and is also sold to several leading luxury brands. Today, ECCO products are sold in 87 countries in more than 3,300 ECCO shops and shop-in-shops and at more than 14,000 sales points around the world. The company is family-owned, founded in Denmark in 1963, and employs more than 19,000 people worldwide. www.ecco.com