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August 14, 2023

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This series shines a light on accomplished immigrant entrepreneurs who have made significant contributions to the business landscape in the United States. Hailing from China, Xu’s journey from her homeland to becoming the founder and CEO of the award-winning tech startup TalkMeUp is a testament to the potential immigrants bring to the world of entrepreneurship.

EIG is a Washington, DC-based, bipartisan public policy organization that advocates for a diverse and innovative American economy. Since immigrants make up 14% of the US population, over 30% of US innovators, and 38% of Americans who have won the Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, and medicine since 2000, Xu’s story serves as a prime example of the importance of fostering an atmosphere that encourages immigrant talent and achievements.

According to Yahoo! Finance, Xu’s experiences in diverse roles, including positions at Groupon and Huawei, provided Xu with invaluable insights into effective communication and cross-cultural dynamics. Recognizing the gap in accessible communication training resources, she embarked on a mission to democratize communication skills through TalkMeUp.

TalkMeUp, Inc. is based in Pittsburgh with deep roots in Carnegie Mellon University. It has pioneered solutions that propel business success through the art of effective communication.

Driven by a mission to empower individuals and organizations worldwide, TalkMeUp’s AI-powered platform allows professionals to gauge their communication effectiveness and audience engagement during video interactions. Through personalized practice and training, TalkMeUp equips users with the essential communication attributes required for career advancement and seamless transitions.

Featured Image Source: The Business Journals

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How This Sci-Entrepreneur Became A Company CEO At The Age Of 18

Capitalizing on her 14-year-old self’s science enthusiasm 12 years ago, Cathy Tie, transformed herself into a successful bioinformatician and entrepreneur.

At 18, the young Canadian became the co-founder of the $1 million dollar worth Ranomics company, a health risk prediction provider. While she co-founded Locke Bio, an e-commerce platform for pharmaceutical and other FDA-approved product suppliers when she was 23.

Today, the 26-year-old sci-entrepreneur shares that having a broader view is her key to being integrative and cross-disciplined in the many fields she is engaged in, as art and creativity are easier said than done.

During an interview with CNBC, Tie mentions her ability to connect ideas and see them far differently from how others perceive, including how science can grow and expand for beginners which she thinks is more artistic and creative than technical. 

This skill, however, is uncommon among teenagers. Yet, Tie’s innate dexterity manifested in her secondary years as she reserved a special place for science and relevant practical activities in her heart ever since a kid. 

Discontented with the standard curriculum, she wrote unsolicited letters to her professors seeking to tour the school labs, perform studies, and assist in their scientific projects, which taught her a lot until she had her first paper published in a peer-reviewed journal at age 16. 

However, she realized that getting entrepreneurial financing is better than relying on academic allowances since she could do more research. She applied to entrepreneur programs to assist her in the startup world.

Upon getting acquainted with Leo Wan who was then a Ph.D. student at the school where she was a neophyte, they worked together and were admitted into IndieBio, a startup platform that finances and mentors science entrepreneurs.

With Tie having prime knowledge on how to figure out issues on genetic trial precision, she subsequently co-founded Randomics with Wan after quitting college and leaving for San Francisco where she became the CEO for the three early years.

Thereafter, she was asked to apply and was accepted to The Thiel Fellowship, which aids a $100,000 subsidy to out-of-college inexperienced entrepreneurs.

A year following her collaboration with Cervin Ventures, she founded Locke Bio, which currently has three U.S. and Canadian business resources.

Tie’s business is nonexempt to challenges that a company experiences, yet, hard work and reflection make it possible for her to always “see the bigger picture. In this light, she and her team have a lot ahead for the company.

Image Source: Maye Felices-McDonald Facebook

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Former Caregiver Now CEO Of Multi-Million Dollar Companies In The US

Stirred by her dream, perseverance, and thrust, Filipina-American Maye Felices-McDonald etches her name as the owner and CEO of quite a few businesses in the US such as GETMEFIT Slimming Products, and Mama’s Angels Senior Care.

Maye’s voyage was not a piece of cake. She developed her entrepreneurial skills as a vendor of sweets and paper dolls in school when she was still a kid, as a caretaker of her mother’s sari-sari store (sundry store), and as a student assistant when she was in college while studying Ladderized Nursing.

In 2017, Maye started as a part-time caregiver who made her car home for eight long months. Eventually, she courageously established her own caregiving firm named Mama’s Angels Care and later on catered to and met the caregiving demands in Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia starting with three caregivers to 49 healthcare providers at present. With this, she was also able to help fellow Filipinos by hiring them into her company.

As a dream-chaser, Maye capitalized on her 5Ps: Passion, Persistency, Perseverance, Positive Mindset, and the Power of Resilience which led her to the realization of her dreams which she found in the US.

As her business considerably grew, it became distinguished in the US, and in September this year, she proudly ramped up her well-known product on the esteemed New York Fashion Week runway putting in high spot her advocacy of unifying health, wellness, fitness, and fashion and her drive to take part in her young ambassadors’ will of fostering mental health awareness to the young ones.

Maye toiled and worked hard in achieving her dreams making her more than deserving of receiving laurels for her successful business undertakings along the lines of Modern CEO, Most Influential Young CEO for Business and Entrepreneurship, and Best Slimming Product of USA.

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Vietnamese-American Transgender Model Made History Winning local ‘Miss America’ Pageant

In the 100-year history of Miss America, 19-year-old Brían Nguyen has become the first transgender contestant to win a local Miss America Organization beauty pageant, Miss Greater Derry 2023.

The teenager from New Hampshire won a crown, title, and scholarship. She ecstatically wrote on her Instagram, “No words can describe the feeling of having the opportunity to serve my community and represent my community for the very first time at Miss New Hampshire.” 

Nguyen continued, “I am so honored to be crowned your new Miss Greater Derry 2023, and I am thrilled to show you all what I have up my sleeves. This will be an amazing year.”

Founded in 1986, the Miss Greater Derry Scholarship Program awards scholarships to young women in the Greater Derry area for academic skills, talent, character, community service, and poise.

The Miss Greater Derry Scholarship Pageant is also a preliminary event for the Miss New Hampshire Pageant and, ultimately, the Miss America Pageant.

As the new Miss Greater Derry, she recently attended the annual Best Buddies Champion Gala to support those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. $150,000 was raised over that night to help out their champion nominees. She will be working with Best Buddies New Hampshire throughout her reign.

Image Source: Carla Tramullas / MycoWorks

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MycoWorks’ Sustainable Mushroom Leather Raised Over $187M From General Motors and Hollywood A-Listers

“Growing the future has only just started. This industry will continue to surprise people,” says Philip Ross, co-founder of MycoWorks, a mycelium material founder and producer.

As the innovator of high-quality mushroom “leather” for the luxurious Hermes bags, the business acquired $187 million from Natalie Portman, John Legend, and General Motors and will soon cover the latter’s electric car interiors.

Ross unintentionally discovered leather-like material in reishi mushrooms, a fungus he farmed for his cancer and AIDS more than four decades ago. He then became a mycelium artist and featured his fungus-based works at famous museums.

According to Sophia Wang, co-founder of MycoWorks whom Phil met six years before they founded the firm while working together on art ventures, Ross’s discovery marked the “leather’s” birth to the globe.

Wang and Ross continued to discover more about mycelium and later realized that the material is enticing to buyers who don’t like synthesized contaminants and materials which are produced from animals.

Alongside raising their funding source, the company also conducted a groundbreaking at South Carolina Factory with the aim of attaining a sufficient supply of their fancy product.

With about 200 employees, Matt Scullin, the company’s CEO, said that the “Brands are making very significant changes to address what is really a growing demographic of people who want to buy sustainable products that have provenance and traceability and a lower carbon footprint, lower water use—and mycelium does all of those things.”

Compared to animal leather, the mushroom leather-like material is far more environmentally friendly as the former adds up to about a million tons of carbon dioxide which is tantamount to 30 million cars’ yearly emissions.

Despite environmental and animal issues, people prefer biomaterials or “next-gen” materials over the past decade making it in-demand as multi-billion dollars are invested in the industry.

Nonetheless, Hermes’ firm in France is soon to release its $4,200-worth “Victoria” bag made from MycoWorks’ amber-hued exquisite mycelium.