MA-tek Chairperson Hsieh Yong-Fen shares: Finding passion and achievement between vocation and career.

This year, Harper's BAZAAR Taiwan is hosting the "BAZAAR at Work Summit" for the third time. Following last year's theme "Dare at Work," this year's theme is "Zest at Work," showcasing the courage of multiple speakers to boldly step out of their comfort zones and break conventions, effectively inspiring women to move forward with determination in their work processes. The forum will consist of three different sessions closely tied to the theme, allowing participants to gain inspiration and insights, thus "enjoying the process"! Facing the challenges brought by the new generation is not an easy task, as maintaining a good work mindset and emotional management skills while gaining rewards and enjoyment is essential. How to correctly and effectively "enjoy work" is a necessary lesson for everyone.

Panel 3, titled "How to Transform Careers into Passions? Can Reality Truly Move Forward with Dreams?", features a discussion among three outstanding female leaders: Tsai Hui-Ching, General Manager of Delta Electronics, Chen Mei-Chi, Chairperson of Ching Cheng Industrial, and Hsieh Yung-Fen, Chairperson of MA-tek. They share insights on how to transform careers into passions, allowing reality and dreams to move forward hand in hand.

Speaker introduction: Tsai Hui-Ching, Chen Mei-Chi, Hsieh Yong-Fen

Tsai Hui-Ching | General Manager of Syntec

Cai Huijing, the general manager of Hiwin Technologies, who was once awarded by Forbes magazine as one of the "50 Most Influential Women CEOs in Asia," started her career as an editor. After Zhuo Yongcai, the chief editor of Foreign Trade magazine, founded Hiwin Technologies in 1989, he invited Cai Huijing to be the first employee, starting a new chapter in her life. As Hiwin Technologies gradually stood out in the industry, Cai Huijing, who did not come from an engineering background, supplemented her professional knowledge, particularly focusing on relevant content, successfully obtaining automation professional certification. In 2008, she officially took over as the general manager. In a predominantly male-driven industry, Cai Huijing utilized her gentle yet resilient female qualities, leading with creativity and daring to challenge the impossible, finding her own stage.

Chen Mei-Chi | Chairman of Chien Cheng Industrial

Qincheng was established in 1983 and successfully transformed from a trading company into a leading brand in global cloud industry electromechanical integration solutions. Chairwoman Chen Meiqi founded Qincheng and has since committed to the management philosophy of "combining strength and gentleness" and the concept of "connecting for mutual benefit," engaging in social contribution projects such as ESG, fulfilling corporate citizenship responsibilities. She has not only been selected as one of the Top 20 Most Influential Women Entrepreneurs in Asia by Forbes in 2024, but has also received recognition in recent years as one of the Top 100 Corporate Leaders in Taiwan by Harvard Business Review and one of the Top 20 Female Chairpersons in Taiwan's listed companies.

Hsieh Yung-Fen | Chairman of MA-tek

As the first female PhD from the Department of Materials Science at Tsinghua University, Xie Yongfen, the chairman of MA-tek, successfully passed the AT&T Bell Labs postdoctoral research program one year after completing her doctorate, marking an important turning point in her entrepreneurial vision. In 2002, Xie Yongfen founded MA-tek and established the first semiconductor materials testing laboratory in the country, also becoming the first scholar in the world to propose 28-nanometer silicon-germanium compound process analysis. Now in her sixties, she remains energetic, her eyes sparkling when she talks about work, and her indescribable cheerful demeanor instantly brightens the surroundings, conveying a unique warmth and friendliness that women possess.

How to turn a vocation into a career?

The three speakers in Panel 3, who are also rare female managers in the technology and machinery industries, have inevitably experienced many twists and turning points on their journey to realizing their dreams. At the beginning of the lecture, the three speakers first shared their behind-the-scenes stories and original intentions of transitioning from "one person" to "a group of people" with the audience. Chen Mei-chi, the chairman of Ching Cheng Industrial, stated that she has six siblings and her family background was not very affluent, which made her determined from a young age to improve her family's economic situation whenever she had the opportunity. After moving to Taipei for her studies, she enjoyed participating in clubs and loved the feeling of organizing events and performing happily with a group of people, which later became her motivation for starting a business: "I want to create a stage for talented people around me to showcase their abilities and work happily together, that is my dream!" 

MA-tek Chairperson Hsieh Yung-Fen shared, "When I said I wanted to start a business, the people around me strongly advised against it. Some were afraid I would waste the little money I had earned, and others said, 'Why should a girl compete with boys?'" However, she believes that dreams should not have gender differences and has never felt that being a woman means she should be given preferential treatment. Fortunately, a friend's words gave Hsieh Yung-Fen courage: "He thinks I am someone who can turn wrong things into right ones." She also realized a principle: "Starting a business means taking the more difficult path and choosing the harder topics; that way, your success is less likely to be caught up by others."

Finally, the general manager of Hiwin Technologies, Tsai Hui-Ching, invited the audience to close their eyes and step into her dream, experiencing her life journey in an "immersive" way. She recounted her path from independence after leaving home, to becoming an editor, and then progressing to a component factory, ultimately reaching the world stage. Each experience seemed to respond in different ways to her initial question: What is life? "Life is transformation, it is joy and happiness, and it is also the crystallization of tears; even if it is filled with toil and pressure, one must continue to soar higher."

Adversity Thinking Solutions

However, while achieving dreams sounds exciting, there are inevitably low points and moments of fatigue when facing setbacks and challenges. Chen Mei-chi first shared how she maintains her passion and endurance, saying, "I want to thank my mother. Since I was young, I saw her busy like a spinning top, yet she never forgot to dress beautifully when going out. She taught us to speak kindly and do good deeds from a young age. I think it’s also the family environment that makes me want to help those in need. The joy of life lies in having a group of great teammates. Although we may not always be first, we have a common goal that we can achieve together. Connecting for mutual benefit will naturally bring forth benefactors." She stated that for employees, a company actually provides a platform for everyone to thrive together, creating a prosperous industrial landscape.

Qualities that leaders should possess

Hsieh Yong-fen responded, "When you work with such great people, the power of encouragement among each other can also be transmitted to everyone." She also added that to become a corporate leader, if one cannot enjoy the pain in the process, it is difficult to persevere. "Chairman Yuu has shared that when selecting core executives, he takes everyone to climb Yushan and observes how each person copes with the most difficult section before reaching the summit. He chooses those who can enjoy this kind of pain." Learning to enjoy pain allows one to feel the happiness that follows.

 

Tsai Hui-ching echoed, "Vitality and resilience are qualities that leaders must possess, and these qualities can be trained. The environment will force you to cultivate this resilience. Moreover, such qualities can be infectious. As female leaders, if you can showcase your vitality and resilience, allowing others to feel at ease when they see you, that is the greatest success."

 

 

Why can they enjoy their work?

Regarding the theme "Zest at Work" of this BAZAAR Summit, three speakers shared their experiences, providing similar interpretations. Chen Meiqi smiled and said, "Enjoy your work; all challenges are writing your life story." Xie Yongfen coincidentally stated, "I love my job because I have prepared well in advance, which allows me to do my work well and thus love my job. This is a virtuous cycle." Finally, Cai Huiqing concluded, "You must believe that whatever happens in life is good, even if it doesn't appear in a way you like or expect. Perhaps it is opening a brand new window for you, showing you another world. Having such positive thinking is very important."

※ The above information is extracted from《BAZAAR