Entrepreneur Liang Chiu: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A CEO
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I think the movement I’d like to be more involved with would be more kindness and openness. I see and experience firsthand this whenever I travel abroad. I was able to make friends with Uber drivers in other countries, and they would go out of their way to take me to great local restaurants, I met a fashion influencer while taking the train from Paris to London 3 years ago. And we became great friends that we talk with each other almost every day. I feel we need to have more of this kind of kindness and openness here so this would open more opportunities for friendships and give people reason to help others more and be supportive.
As part of my series about the leadership lessons of accomplished business leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Liang Chiu. Liang was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the US with his brother and mother when he was 4 years old. He has always been intrigued with many subject areas and been really friendly which makes him get along with just about anyone. Hobby-wise, he loves to travel, enjoys horseback riding, hiking, fishing, cooking, wine tasting, reading, watching movies, attends networking events, attending New York Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, Cannes Film Festival events.
He earned his Bachelors’ Degree in Marketing and International Business from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. and MBA in Marketing from the University of Maryland-University College. His professional career has been in Growth Marketing for 20+ years. His first job after graduating from the University of Wisconsin was at Yahoo, where he got his experience with online advertising and marketing. When the dot-com bubble burst, he got into the Internet Security industry working at McAfee and Symantec. The role he took on at Symantec oversaw the Norton Antivirus brand and its online store business. This is where he got involved and fascinated with eCommerce, and leveraging Affiliate Partnerships with a variety of Business & Industries to drive growth and adoption of Norton Antivirus products and increase sales for Norton brands’ online store.
With the gaining popularity of Social Media Platforms and services in 2007, he wanted to part of the growing marketing trend he joined a series of startups in the online photo sharing space, online travel space, and fast fashion cross-border eCommerce (DTC) startups leveraging social media influencers to drive brand awareness, social media engagements, user acquisition, boost online sales. He also has spent 4 1/2 years in a boutique influencer marketing agency working with prominent global brands and startups in developing their Influencer Marketing strategies and come up with ways for brands to work with Social Media Influencers in the most effective and beneficial way possible. Then in the fall of 2019, he decided to take on a new chapter in his career and start an Influencer Marketing Consulting Business to educate DTC startups about how to work with Social Media Influencers ( from searching to vetting, and onboarding, and managing them). Additionally by networking influencers and recruiting new ones to add to my roster of influencer Rolodex for brand collaborations.
Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Ithink what brought me to this specific career path is my marketing roots. As Online Marketing evolved over the years, I immediately noticed the impact of influencer marketing before it became a popular trend in the last 5 years. Also, I saw how Influencer Marketing intersects with PR and its close relations in how it can propel brands while targeting relevant audiences in a short amount of time. Furthermore, I’m fascinated with the Influencer Marketing trend, there seem to be a lot of new developments in this area that sparks my interest. In my opinion, this is a natural progression of my career path since I’m relatable and be able to establish and bridge the connection for the brand and influencers to work together.
Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
I guess the hard time would be when I first launched my Influencer Consultant business in the fall of 2019. It was a bit challenging to find clients in the San Francisco bay area. Since the majority of the companies here are in tech, and there is not much demand for influencers. Through some thorough research, I am able to find clients in Los Angeles, New York, and abroad in Europe. Where there are more opportunities for me to seek out new clients in the Fashion and Beauty Industry.
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
It’s more of a personal discipline. I have a motto of “Never Give Up”, and I have a belief that there is always a solution or alternative to solve problems. Plus timing is key. Making plans and act accordingly is helpful. Come up with several strategies and options so there is always a backup plan if one option is not working.
So, how are things going today? How did grit and resilience lead to your eventual success? Things are picking up. With eCommerce thriving during the pandemic, there is even more of a need for eCommerce companies, beauty, or fashion brands to work with influencers. I have seen my Influencer marketing consulting business (LC Interactive) picking up from having 1 client 6 months ago to 3 clients currently, and 2 pending.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Boy, I can’t think of any funny mistake when I first started out. Since I’m a person that likes to make everything I do as perfect as possible because I didn’t want to have any mistakes that would setback and cause any delays or disruptions.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
I think what makes my influencer marketing consulting business different is that I’m able to get in touch with high-profile influencers/celebrities for brands to collaborate in an affordable capacity. Additionally, I cater to clients’ needs whether they are a startup with a limited budget or a major brand that has an unlimited budget. For the Fast Fashion eCommerce startup, they were interested in working with Brielle Biermann(from the Bravo tv show: Don’t Be Tardy), and they couldn’t see themselves pay $20K for the collaboration, so I was able to come up with a plan where and find few other 3 brands that like to collaborate with her so the cost of the collaboration is being split 4 ways and reduced the fee. Additionally, I’m constantly seeking out new Influencers to add to my roster. To date, I have accumulated over 1000+ Influencers across a wide range of consumer products space: Beauty, Fashion, Travel, Health/Wellness, etc… globally with some influencers that are willing to collaborate with brands on a base+commission type of partnership.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
I think a tip I highly recommend to my colleagues in my industry to help them thrive and not “burn out” is to make sure to have a good daily routine and structure in place. This means good time management, and like anything prioritize tasks accordingly. Moreover make sure to take a break to unwind, relax, and recharge mentally and work on a hobby or two.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
I think I would love to thank my friends and former colleagues and many of the Influencers I met and became friends with over the years. They have all been instrumental in steering me to follow my passion for Influencer marketing and launching my own Influencer Marketing Consulting business. It’s their constant encouragement and support that made me take this leap of faith to create LC Interactive.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I wish I can use my success to bring goodness to the world. So far not yet. But this is something I have been thinking about for the last few months. Because of the events that happened in the past year or so we need more good things to bring joy and hope to people everywhere. I know many of the Influencers I worked with over the past 6 years are kind-hearted and very down-to-earth. So I hope to work with them to promote more peace, harmony, inclusiveness, and understanding.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started leading my company” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
Actually, I never had this thought before. Since this is not the first time I launch my own business. My first time launching a business was while I was attending school at the University of Wisconsin. Initially, I was working for the University’s IT Department serving staff from professors to students within the University community with their internet connectivity, email access, assistance with software usage, and various IT needs.
There, I discovered people either calling into the IT helpline or walk-in for help there is typically a wait time of 45 minutes — 1 1/2 hours. I was able to form an IT consulting business with my brother and few friends that make house calls to the people in the University community, which cut their wait time. My first business venture grew 50% within 2 months, and profit grew as well. I operated this business for 4 successful years while I was in school and that’s where I got my hands-on experience, incorporating good ethics, transparency, courtesy, and reliability to make my current business without too much difficulty.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I think the movement I’d like to be more involved with would be more kindness and openness. I see and experience firsthand this whenever I travel abroad. I was able to make friends with Uber drivers in other countries, and they would go out of their way to take me to great local restaurants, I met a fashion influencer while taking the train from Paris to London 3 years ago. And we became great friends that we talk with each other almost every day. I feel we need to have more of this kind of kindness and openness here so this would open more opportunities for friendships and give people reason to help others more and be supportive.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
They can follow me on:
