The Tao of Self-Confidence

Introduction: The State of Asian Women

Growing up in Toronto, Canada, in the 1990s, it was always difficult for me to see anyone in the media who looked like me. No one had similar facial features, and I found it hard to accept who I was and my own culture. I wished for blonde hair and blue eyes. I wanted to change my name from Sheena to Heather to sound more “Western.” Can you imagine being nine years old and already facing all kinds of self‐esteem issues because people who looked like me weren't represented in what I saw and heard every day?

Over the years, I've worked on fully accepting myself and my heritage. In the process, I promised myself that I would always try to create a stronger representation for Asian women in order to dismantle the negative stereotypes that we still face today.

I started a podcast in 2015 called The Tao of Self‐Confidence where I interviewed more than 700 Asian women on the topic of confidence. Although my podcast has reached over 1.2 million downloads and is among the top 0.5% most popular podcasts in the world, the visibility factor for Asian women was still nonexistent almost everywhere else.

In 2021, I co‐created a book called Asian Women Who BossUp, which highlights the stories of 18 Asian women who have been able to forge their own paths, overcome obstacles, and thrive. It was amazing to see 16 Asian women on the front cover of the book—something I've never seen before.

Asian Women Who BossUp started giving us the visibility we deserve, ...