Heidi Profile:
Name: Heidi Zhang
Title: WestingHouse Senior Legal Counsel, Asia
Profession: Legal Services
Employer: WestingHouse Electric Company LLC
Education: Duquesne University, School of Law
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Year in U.S.: 1991-present
Origin in China: Beijing
Education in China: China University of Political Science and Law, History of Chinese Law
First Impression: Elegant, Peaceful, Amiable, A woman with substance
Media Impression: FriendlyPittsburgh; FriendlyPA; (WeChat, Weibo)-Chinese in PA
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Heidi Story:
On July 22nd, I had a privilege to squander two hours of Ms. Heidi Zhang, a seasoned lawyer’s time, without paying her even a penny. Even more outrageous was that I got stuck in the traffic and was 15 minutes late for our appointment at the Panera Bread restaurant in a booming business district called Cranberry, just half an hour north of Downtown Pittsburgh. A lesson learned: Always planning some buffer time for meetings, especially those important ones.
However, that is not the only valuable thing I learned out of that interview appointment with a rough start. Heidi was a bundle of inspiration and wisdom. Much was learned that day about her professional journey in the U.S.; her philosophy of raising her daughter and balancing life and career; as well as her words of wisdom for peer Chinese parents and younger generation.
Heidi came to the U.S. shortly after destiny led her into meeting her future husband, a visiting scholar from Duquesne University, in early 1990s’ Beijing. As a graduate of China University of Political Science and Law majoring in the History of Chinese Law, Heidi had obstacles landing a job in the U.S. at the very beginning. Especially back in those days, when Postal Office was the equivalent service to today’s email, job application not only took longer to proceed, but also it was harder to get good and current information in the job market.
However, with Heidi’s determination and persistence, she pursued a career of law, and found her position with Cohen & Grigsby P.C. a Greater Pittsburgh Area law firm. While she started working in the firm in 1994, she also started to attend Duquesne University School of Law Evening Division in the same year and got her law degree in three years’ time. Once well-equipped with both Chinese law and American law backgrounds, Heidi found herself well positioned to serve her firm’s broad client base and playing a more and more vital role in the business.
Because of growing network in the business and her stronger pursuit of work satisfaction, in 2004 she encountered a good opportunity that resulted in a decision of leaving Cohen & Grigsby and joining PPG Industries Inc. She spent almost three years of her time with PPG and honed her skills even further.
In 2007, she decided to leave the corporate and started her own law practices that covers both Chinese and U.S. law practices. The money was good. But at the time, her daughter was still very young. After postponing to have a child for about 10 years in exchange of her dream career, at this point, she felt more inclined to spend some quality time with her daughter and husband in a relatively stable and predictable environment. So when another great opportunity with WestingHouse Electric Company LLC occurred in 2008, she packed away her entrepreneurial attempts, and geared up to become a senior legal counsel who manages the entire Asian market for the company.
Although currently flying all over the global is still part of the job, more time with her family, especially her daughter who is sixteen now, would have been much appreciated, she said she was still happy about the stability and predictability of the corporate environment brought to her life. The safety social norm and well-educated population in Pittsburgh helped her to maintain a higher level of mental stability and easement as well. Especially in a comfortable and affordable community like Pittsburgh, she humorously pointed out that people here didn’t need to work themselves to death to make ends meet or to enjoy certain level of comfort, so Pittsburghers are more inclined to spend time on enriching their lives outside their career or job. Having a work-life balance and making time for a life is important. It is important for Heidi and she got it. She gave me a score of 11, when asked to score her level of life satisfaction here in the Pittsburgh region ranging from 1 to 10. It seems that she is an elegant superwoman who got the best of both worlds.
When asked about her daughter, her peaceful outlook unavoidably gave away a hint of joy and pride. She said to me, “My daughter is always busy. She sings, plays stage drama, and volunteers. She just got elected to be part of their high school student government. She got a bunch of friends who helped with that course, and I believe her advertisement was funny--she used the Chinese historical Character MuLan with an exaggerated traditional Asian flat nose as her image to run the election. Being funny is very important in this case and other students liked her or her MuLan image, so they voted for her. ” When I asked whether her daughter was in private high school or public high school, Heidi said to me the following with a very confident tone, “I believe it is important to give her an environment that is the closest to the real world from a very young age. Private high school is more of a status symbol and kids might be over protected or provided. Public high school on the other hand is like our society. You have people from different walks of life, and you need to learn working with them with respect and preference. Then a whole dynamic of personality, most time a matured personality, will be better developed under such environment. I just hope my kid to be happy, grow up being able to make her own judgements and decisions, and be able to solve problems in the real world. As long as she is happy, she would be a good person no matter what she does, she would be successful in her own definition.” This very western-oriented philosophy of raising a kid resembles so much with that of my Dad and Mum. As much as I held a deep pride of being my parents’ daughter, I respect Heidi’s choice, and I wish more and more parents would give the way they raise and treat their kids a serious consideration and further form a dialogue that can direct parents, especially most of our Chinese parents, into better practices.
(This picture was taken during a prom Sabrina (in blue dress third to the right) attended.)
Towards the end of the interview, I asked her to give some words of wisdom for younger generation who hasn’t made it, but on the way there. She succinctly summarized it and amiably delivered it. She said: Improve communication skills, including language; Understand societal and organizational culture; Have a good work ethic; Don’t be afraid of LOSE FACE--for Chinese guys; and Don’t think we are only women but consider ourselves professionals who have something important and valuable to contribute--for Chinese girls.
Heidi is not the first amiable and likeable lawyer I have ever met outside board or court room, and she will not be the last one either. But her personality and quiet nature backed up by an unshakable confidence resulted from years of professional experiences really left a strong impression on me. I relate to her, look up to her, and feel so lucky to be able to have such a juicy conversation to learn a story of an accomplished Chinese woman in Pittsburgh.
Sometime things with a rough start may end pretty smooth and fulfilling. Just like most of life journeys. Just like this interview with Heidi Zhang.
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