Asian Americans can feel the pressure to conform to the model minority stereotype, fight imposter syndrome, and aim to lead authentically as an "other" in the corporate world. We exist within a system where stereotypes exist and many groups are perceived as “others.” For the strongest integrated leadership, Asian Americans must find their own voice and professional path that both honors their lineage values and celebrates where they are right now.
From her personal journey identifying as a banana in college (yellow on the outside, white on the inside) through a 22 year career as a design leader in tech and now an executive coach, Tutti Taygerly (BS, '97) moves beyond the stereotypes and shares three strategies for how Asian Americans claim their leadership and succeed in workplaces not built with them in mind.
In honor of AANHPI month, SAPAAC is sponsoring a two-part series on Asian Americans at Work. This Part 1 features TEDx speaker Tutti Taygerly’s research findings from interviews with successful Asian American professionals In Part 2, coming soon, we will feature prominent Asian American leaders in business in a panel discussion.
Tutti Taygerly Speaker Bio
Tutti speaks on leadership and innovation bringing a unique blend of her 22 years experience in Silicon Valley and her current focus as a leadership expert. She coaches cofounders and tech leaders to embrace their unique leadership style to achieve professional impact and a sustainable company culture. She guides “others” who never felt like they belonged in a professional setting — including women, people of color, immigrants and the neurodiverse — to confidently share their voices with the world. Previously she was a design leader at design firms, startups, and large companies including Disney and Meta.
She has given two TEDx talks, spoken at SxSW, and for numerous companies including Google, Stripe, Amazon, Nordstrom, and Doordash. Tutti writes for Harvard Business Review, Business Insider, and Fast Company and her book Make Space to Lead shows high achievers how to reframe our relationship to work. She’s currently bewitched with her second book on leading when you feel like an "other.
Tutti grew up in seven countries on three continents and is settled in San Francisco as her home base. She spends her time parenting two teen girls, obsessively reading, and paddling out for the next wave. Find her at tuttitaygerly.com
Connie Chan Wang Host Bio
Connie is the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Headspace, where she leads a team of marketers across demand generation, product marketing, solutions marketing, customer marketing, content and member marketing. Connie is passionate about building purpose-driven teams, telling human centered stories, and connecting dots and people to drive impact, while furthering Headspace’s mission to become the lifelong guide to better mental health for everyone.
Prior to joining Headspace, Connie spent over a decade with LinkedIn, where she most recently served as the Senior Director, Global Brand Marketing. In this role, she oversaw the creation of innovative content, focused on inspiring and educating LinkedIn members to leverage the platform to advance their careers. She also founded LinkedIn's Social Media Center of Excellence, served as the chief editor of the LinkedIn corporate blog and managed the growth of LinkedIn social media properties including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Prior to LinkedIn, she led award-winning cause marketing campaigns at Yahoo!.
Connie is currently a board member of the Stanford Asian Pacific American Alumni Club. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at University of Southern California and a Master’s degree at Stanford University.
