Opening Hook:
What if the key to high-impact leadership in the AI age isn’t in your credentials — but in your ability to listen to your body, trust your joy, and design your own definition of success?
🎧 Episode Context:
In this episode of ABCs for Building the Future, host Robert Ta sits down with Dr. Serena Huang — former Data Scientist turned founder, global speaker, and passionate advocate for inclusive, data-driven well-being at work.
Serena’s journey, from a 13-year-old immigrant to a corporate leader and entrepreneur, is a masterclass in growth, self-awareness, and courageous change.
If you’re an entrepreneur, tech leader, or visionary navigating reinvention in the age of AI, this episode is packed with tools, reflections, and frameworks to help you thrive.
🔍 Key Themes & Insights:
1. Leaving the Ladder: Why Joy Beats Job Titles
After climbing the corporate ranks, Serena found herself spending her days “stakeholder-managing every single minute” — far from the data work and public speaking she loved. A reflective moment in a 1:1 meeting with the CHRO marked her unexpected pivot.
“I wondered… could I make a living doing just things that bring me joy?” – Dr. Serena Huang
2. Disciplined Freedom: Rebuilding Structure as a Founder
Serena traded corporate discipline for entrepreneurial chaos — and then returned to structure on her own terms.
“I needed that initial freedom… but at the core, I’m a structured person. I block time now for workouts, reflection, and uninterrupted lunches.”
Freedom isn’t the absence of structure. It’s the ability to create your own — based on what energizes and grounds you.
3. The Myth of Overnight Success
Serena’s post-corporate career took off fast — 30 cities, keynotes, global clients — but it wasn’t luck. It was momentum built over years of unpaid speaking, content creation, and behind-the-scenes resilience.
“There’s no such thing as an overnight success. People didn’t see the 10 years of work before I made my first sale.”
What slow, invisible work are you investing in today that will compound later?
4. AI, Inclusion, and Wellbeing: The Missing Link
Through her research and new book, Serena explores how AI and data can be used to measure — and improve — inclusion and wellbeing at work. Spoiler: they’re deeply connected.
“You can’t have wellbeing without inclusion.”
Using AI to analyze meeting invites, calendar patterns, and Slack sentiment can reveal exclusion risks and burnout signals long before surveys do.
🔗 Explore the intersection of DEI, wellbeing, and AI
5. Rewriting Worth: From Achievement to Authenticity
Serena shares how years of therapy helped her separate identity from output — and choose self-compassion over self-optimization.
“You are worthy simply as you are. You don’t need to achieve a thing.”
Success is not a substitute for self-worth. Build your life around your values — not just your goals.
🔗 Resources and Links:
* Serena’s company: Data with Serena
* Serena’s book: The Inclusion Equation
* Sidebar Summit: sidebar.com
