What Poshmark Co-Founder Tracy Sun Learned From Her Mentor

Tracy Sun, who co-founded Poshmark, a social market for style, in 2010, sees her entrepreneurial journey as a strategy of steady studying from a collection of function fashions. ​Here, she talks in regards to the mentors who’ve helped form her in her profession. –As informed to Tom Foster 

You do not realize how necessary your mother and father are to your growth till slightly bit later in life. My mother and father are each immigrants who got here right here from Malaysia. It’s a really typical immigrant story in that they needed to begin from scratch and actually labored laborious to have the ability to give me a brighter future.

One of the superior advantages of being from one tradition after which coming into a brand new tradition is that you simply get to see the brand new world via a distinct lens. I did not get pleasure from a tradition that put every thing in context for me, so I needed to exit and perceive it myself and ask lots of questions. Seeing the world otherwise is likely one of the life experiences that helped me to develop into an entrepreneur, as a result of I realized to not be scared to ask why. It’s about being curious sufficient to wish to actually deeply perceive your surroundings. 

I even have realized quite a bit from my present enterprise companion, Manish Chandra, who’s the CEO of Poshmark. He has taught me in regards to the humanity leaders must have. I used to be pursuing a behavioral neuroscience profession earlier than I switched to style, so I prefer to assume that I perceive folks. But Chandra taught me tips on how to translate that into leadership–to actually care deeply about folks. It’s not nearly getting the job performed, or getting the mission performed, or getting the corporate launched, however how a lot you possibly can attain out to folks as a human.

A variety of leaders assume they’ve to indicate themselves as excellent or invincible. Manish taught me is that it is truly not nice management to persuade everybody that is working for you that they must be excellent. When Manish does not know the reply, he says so.

One of our firm values that was impressed by him says, “embrace your weirdness.” The concept being that, if you do not know what makes you bizarre, and should you do not settle for it, you will not ever be capable to settle for what’s bizarre about others. And should you can embrace your weirdness, it makes for good teamwork, and good management. 

And lastly, what I’ve realized from Aileen Lee [founder of VC firm Cowboy Ven­tures] over time, is to talk with out asking for permission. Aileen isn’t scared to share contro­versial opinions. It’s not conceitedness. She actually believes in what she says, and she or he does not shrink back. That sticks with me.

I’m a softspoken feminine in a area that is dominated by males. And I grew up in an immi­grant household the place ladies aren’t alleged to have a profession like mine. To break via these obstacles, I’ve needed to push laborious in opposition to imposter syndrome.

It’s laborious whenever you go searching and never many individuals appear to be you, so after I first realized of Aileen, I used to be like, ‘Oh, it is an Asian lady! Who’s actually highly effective! And she appears like me!’

As I received to know her, I spotted that Aileen is only a human being who’s unapologetic about who she is–and who’s extremely good and powerful. Knowing her on that private stage evokes me to be a extra assured chief.