The career path of HKUST Business School Graduate Carrie Tang is far from many other business graduate who looks for a promising career in one of the big accounting firms. Carrie is devoted herself to serving a wide variety of communities, reflecting the rising awareness of social issues.
Carrie, a graduate of BBA (Accounting), is a young entrepreneur who works on a number of social projects including DreamMag, a magazine which features stories of social entrepreneurs who adopt missions to help solve pressing social problems. She is also a co-founder of Go Inside Café, a cafe where customers can donate the price of a cup of coffee or a dish for someone in need to enjoy the drinks or food later.
She also runs Design for Change (DFC) in China and Hong Kong, a non-profit making organization that helps children adopt a can-do attitude to design the future that they desire. Her community contribution also includes serving the Playtao Education, which is a social enterprise initiative that aims to address Hong Kong’s growing education needs, with a special focus on children from low-income families.
Valuable Exchange
Carrie’s contribution to support community projects began during her university years. “Graduated with an accounting degree, I was thinking if I really wanted to become an accountant? My answer is ‘No’ as I always have the passion to do community work and look to continue working on it after graduation,” she says. “The business and accounting knowledge that I gained from HKUST is certainly useful for me running sustainable community projects as the work involves many planning and decision-makings.”
Carrie was grateful to have the opportunity to do a study exchange at the Lancaster University in the UK during one of her academic years at HKUST. “The exchange experience had broadened my horizons as I got the opportunity to see the outside world. There is so much to explore connected with different communities,” she says.
Her fulfilling career is formed through hard work and determination. “I was a very hard-working student when I was young. I worked hard to get good academic results hoping to get compliments from my parents. But in some ways my potential was hidden without the opportunities of using it,” she says. “I became more confident ever since I had started doing volunteer work at social enterprises during my years of university study,” Carrie says. “It was an invaluable opportunity to gain insights into different ways of life.”
Giving Love
Carrie makes good use of her potential through running the community projects which aim to help people realize their dreams. “Your dream can be trivial but it’s important to make it real. We hope to inspire people or assist them in realizing their life goals, especially for those who lack financial support and resources,” she emphasizes.
“There are many people in the society who need help and care. We’re not focusing on giving financial support but what they need is love and caring from others. And we are here to support them to fill their souls. Love is contagious and most people are happy when being loved,” she says. “It’s the personal touch that helps me better understand the dynamics of our society. We should appreciate simple pleasures.”
Her tips of success running social business enterprises include good resources and manpower allocation, proper time management and division of labor. “Apart from having the right aspirations, finding good working partners are equally important as the social projects involve a lot of teamwork. It’s important to find workmates who share the same goals with you as teamwork helps facilitate efficient work flow,” she says. “Doing community projects also involve giving solutions to various business needs, including paying rent and staff salaries, undertaking marketing activities and many others. Good preparation is a must in order to continue improving our service projects.”
