Los Angeles, located in southern California, is the U.S.’s second most populous city after New York. Ten Ren’s Tea, located in downtown Los Angeles, is a popular spot with both locals and tourists alike. The chain of tea houses was founded in Taiwan in 1953, and there are now 2,000 locations all over the world specializing in mostly Taiwanese and Chinese teas.

Tiffany was born as the eldest daughter to parents who were busy managing a number of restaurants including a Ten Ren’s Tea shop. She is LA born and bred, a true Angelino. Major cities are full of change and excitement – fashion, culture, information, and the latest technologies – but this big city energy doesn’t necessarily influence people’s life choices.

“I had never really thought about what I wanted to be in the future or what job I wanted to do,” she said. “Growing up, I always saw my parents working, so I just assumed that I would carry on the family business one day. I studied Business Administration at the University of Southern California (USC) because I thought it would be useful when I took over the family business.”

After graduating from USC, Tiffany worked at a biotechnology start-up where she was responsible for finance, accounting, and regulatory issues. She said this was also part of her preparations to take over the family business one day.

“I love LA. I wasn’t unhappy about the prospect of taking over the family business and staying in LA. But, looking back, I can’t help but be surprised at how predictable my life was up to that point. I was looking for something different, and knew I needed change in my life,” she said.

Tiffany chose to pursue an MBA at WBS to manifest that change.

Why did you choose to pursue an MBA overseas?

“I could have studied for an MBA in LA. Language obviously wouldn’t have been an issue. But commuting to graduate school from my parents’ house would have just been more of the same. I wanted to live on my own, away from home. I wanted to place myself in a different culture and society. I knew that I needed to completely change my environment.”

Why did you choose Japan as your study destination?

“Japan is a very safe country, and the people are kind. My parents would have never agreed to let me live alone for the first time if it had been any other country. My parents have both been to Japan many times. Sometimes by themselves and also as a family. That’s why my parents had no concerns about sending me to Japan. I chose WBS because all the classes for the International MBA program are held in English. Another big reason for choosing WBS was its great selection of classes related to family businesses. I wanted to do something different with my life, but that didn’t mean I was reluctant to take over the family business one day.”

The decision was made and Tiffany began her new life in Japan.

Tiffany didn’t speak much Japanese at first, but she doesn’t recall it being an issue in daily life. Her classes were all in English, and she managed to communicate with the locals by using a combination of Japanese and English words.

“I already knew how to read Chinese characters, so that was a big advantage for me. Some of my classmates spoke fluent Japanese, so they helped me out whenever I needed to communicate something more complex,” she said.

The classes at WBS were even more interesting than she had imagined.

“Professor Hiroshi Kanno was the head of my seminar group. He focused on corporate strategy in his classes, and we were able to visit a range of Japanese companies to learn about their actual business strategies. We focused on real-life case studies, and that really inspired me to learn more. The Digital Marketing Program allowed me to interact with people from all over the world, including students from Singapore,” she said.

Tiffany’s graduate thesis was titled, “Analysis of ‘Individual Beauty’ Social Campaigns: The implementation of social campaigns and its implications for cosmetics companies” and it focused on marketing strategies in the cosmetics industry.

“I chose this topic because I was fascinated by the difference in the concept of beauty between Japan and the U.S. In the U.S., there is no set definition of beauty and everyone pursues their own beauty ideals. In contrast, there is a fixed standard of beauty to achieve in Japan. In my thesis, I thought about how to implement marketing to provide beauty ideals to each customer rather than creating marketing campaigns that are focused on selling more products.”

Her interest in cosmetics was from a very young age, not just when she started writing on her thesis. It was always her interest so that is why she wrote about cosmetics for her thesis. Tiffany says she was looking for a different environment, but she ended up finding an unexpected career path after graduation and a clear goal – a job that allowed her to communicate the fun and joy of pursuing individual beauty ideals within the cosmetics industry.

“I am sure that the classes I took at WBS really helped me to broaden my interests and horizons. For the first time in my life, I found something that I wanted to do, and that led me to joining L'Oréal Japan after I graduated,” she said.

Tiffany currently works in marketing at L'Oréal Japan where she is responsible for the digital content creation for the brand's iconic products. She works with creative agencies to formulate marketing strategies as well as choosing campaign models and supervising product and model photo shoots.

“I feel that I have achieved my initial goal of communicating the concept of “individual beauty” to people in both Japan and Asia as a whole,” she said.

Tiffany’s parents are no doubt very proud of her fulfilling career and lifestyle. She said that, even now, her parents encourage her to focus on her interests. But what happened to taking over the family business?

“My younger brother is studying at WBS right now. He had never lived outside LA and needed a change of scene,” she said. “My parents saw how I had grown through my studies and thought that studying at WBS would be worthwhile for him, too. I told him about the family business program at WBS and advised him that he would be able to build an expansive network of trusted contacts if he studied at WBS. I made some lifelong friends at WBS, too. I’m still not sure if my brother will be taking over the family business once he graduates from WBS. He could easily discover that he is interested in doing something else.”

Tiffany still has the option of carrying on the family business in the future. She would be happy to do it herself or let her brother take charge. They can even work together to expand the family business. But for now, she wants to focus on pursuing her interests. Any kind of experience she gains is guaranteed to assist her in the future, even if that future sees her eventually returning to the family business.