Women's History Month: Curator of The Week - Michelle Liu

Our feature this week is Michelle Liu, Sr. Source, Talent Acquisition, Roku. In the last decade, she has been involved in onboarding, coaching, and mentoring in addition to recruitment. She also serves on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee for sourcing diverse talent.

1. How did you get started in DEI? What's been your career road map?
   For nearly a decade, I worked in client services in media and adtech. As I advanced in my career
   over the years, I came to realize that there was one key element in my role that I constantly gravitated towards— career development. I always felt the most fulfilled welcoming new members at onboarding, leading trainings and coaching/mentoring individuals across teams. Since identifying that sweet spot, I took a leap of faith and transitioned into a recruitment role at Roku. I love that I still get to apply my knowledge of the ad tech space, but in a capacity where I can now match people with the right opportunities to progress in their career.
   
   Beyond my formal role at Roku, I am a committee member of the Recruiting, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity initiative and also involved with the API and Women of Roku ERGs. I also recently joined the ThinkLA’s planning committee for the 2022 Diversity, Inclusion and Gender (DIG) Summit.
    
2. What has been an important, perhaps the most important, lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
   Don’t be afraid of rejection - the worst thing that someone can say is No. Ask individuals who you respect for 15-20 minutes of their time for a brief informational interview and trust me, it works! That's actually how I got to my current job.
   
   Reach out to people for mentor/mentee opportunities and it doesn’t have to be a super formal or long term commitment - could be once a quarter or a few conversations a year. This can only help you widen your perspective and often look at your current situation with a different lens.
    
3. What inspires your creativity? What is your creative process like?
   What gets my creativity going usually revolves around cooking or baking, whether it’s making rosemary focaccia bread or homemade noodles from scratch. The repetitive motion of combining the ingredients, kneading the dough and building up the gluten is not only therapeutic but also helps me think through the creative process.
    
4. If you could go back in time, what would you have told your younger self?
   Surround yourself with people who support you and advocate for you. I would not have made it this far in my career without the constant support and encouragement of individuals in both my personal and professional networks.
    
5. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve read or seen this week?
   I grew up a huge Pixar fan and just finished watching Turning Red - worth the watch!
    
6. Any closing thoughts you want to share with the ThinkLA Members?
   Join us at the ThinkLA’s Diversity, Inclusion and Gender (DIG) Summit later this year.
    

Want to know where you can follow Michelle on social media?

Linkedin