We continue Dassault Systèmes’ Women’s Initiative (WIN) Spotlight series to highlight the achievements of our diverse workforce with an interview with Donn Chung, Digital Solutions Team Manager at Dassault Systèmes.
Donn Chung has been with the company for 4 years. She leads a team of 27 staff supporting Brands and various regions for Digital Marketing. It may surprise you to learn that Donn actually hails from a technical background not marketing. She majored in programming and is a PMP certified project manager! Donn stumbled into Digital Marketing when she was developing an email marketing solution.
“This Digital Marketing role is the best of my experience and I find it very interesting that we can sell to someone something without seeing the person. My team roles include data management, developing INHA Service Portals for internal team & marketers, publishing web pages on 3DS.com and running email marketing campaign for marketers. I enjoy being in a management role and it gives me great gratification seeing my team develop,” says Donn.
Outside of work, Donn is a mother of 2, aged 6 years and 3 years. We asked her a few questions to share her experiences on diversity and inclusion. Here is what she had to say.
1. Tell us about a woman that inspires / inspired you? And what are some of the key takeaways you would share?
This would be a peer from my previous company. I was struggling with balancing work and family life, doing long hours. I started noticing that this colleague seemed to be managing well so I asked her for advice. She shared with me that to be successful in career, it does not mean that one needs to sacrifice family or personal life. It is not a physical balance i.e. number of hours spent but it needs to be quality time. Her viewpoint intrigued me and I started to find ways to change. For example, being more focused and in the moment. Previously I was spending too much time in office but not focusing and then I felt guilty that I was losing my time with my children. Nowadays, when I am with my son, I spend a solid 1-2 hours quality time with him by leaving my handphone behind. And if I am working then I make sure I am focused and productive. Another phrase that I want to share is ‘We don’t ask for work life balance but we ask for trust’. I appreciate my leaders at 3DS as they have given me a lot of flexibility and trust.
2. Please share a story related to inclusion/ gender diversity that occurred in your career?
Back in my previous company, one of my team member was pregnant and would be away on a 6 months maternity leave. As the project manager, I was concerned about her long absence impacting project. Even though I am a woman, I found it difficult to support a fellow woman who would be taking time away from work. I had to work on myself to change this thinking. I got to know the team better and did self reflection. I realized that there wasn’t a solid backup system in the team. Since we had time to prepare, it ended up not being a problem. Since that time, I have always developed a strong backup system in all my teams. I am also grateful that when I joined 3DS, I was 5 months pregnant and 3DS did not discriminate against me but has been very supportive.
3. What is the one piece of advice you would wished someone had shared with you 10 years ago?
Learn how to put the ‘comma’ in our work and life. We are always thinking of putting a full-stop to really cross of a to-do list. Our job never ends but our family also needs us. So learn how to put a comma, focus on the right things and then come back to work with a clear mind.
Leads AP South PR and Communications Strategy for Dassault Systèmes