Hidden Gems: Meet Selena Lee of MandarinArts Studio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Selena Lee.

Hi Selena, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Singapore, but I have been in the United States for more than 20 years now so I feel more American today. After college, I started working at a startup as a regional marketing manager in Singapore. I came to the US when the company transferred me to its San Francisco HQ to work on global marketing initiatives. Soon, I stumbled into the corporate career that ultimately defined me for two decades–global advertising and media. After obtaining my MBA in the US, I was hired by the storied McCann Erickson in San Francisco, and my career in creative advertising and media began. While I did not experience the type of challenges someone like Peggy Olson from Mad Men did during that era of advertising, I definitely cut my teeth in a very intense and unforgiving industry, routinely working 15-16 hour days, helping the agency craft advertising campaigns and pitch major accounts. It was brutal, but it built up my resilience and added to my innate tenacious nature that helped pave the way for success in the corporate world and the male-dominated industry I was in.

After some time in San Francisco, I moved to Los Angeles when an opportunity to work in the entertainment industry arose. My first campaign was memorable–launching Avatar internationally in 30+ countries. The movie was a huge success globally, and the experience piqued my interest in movie marketing. I would go on to manage the international division at two different top agencies, responsible for the global media launches of more than 150 movie and TV titles with both 20th Century Fox (now part of Disney) and Paramount Pictures studio. My life was as packed as the studios’ film slate. The industry has its highs and lows, but the work was exciting. I thrived within the studio’s frenzied energy and deadlines.  All was good until I became a mom with twins.  When my twins turned two, I knew it was the right time for me to pivot my life and fulfill my dream of being an entrepreneur. In 2018, I decided to take a break from my corporate career.  I am a citizen of the world, and my career in global marketing reflected my love for travel and different culture as well as my beliefs in a global community.  At that point,  I realized that I wanted to spend time creating a modern kid’s language studio that makes learning foreign languages fun and accessible for kids in America. My dream for my own kids is for them to grow up to be global citizens, effectively multi-lingual, culturally aware, and with a great appreciation for the arts. Starting a modern language studio where my kids could learn and thrive is the first step in achieving this personal goal.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think anyone can say their journey in life has been completely smooth, and if they do, they are lying! It is certainly not easy to walk away from a career that I am good at, that I spent two decades building, to plunge deep into the abyss of being an entrepreneur.  The journey was humbling but illuminating. I have always thrived under pressure, and I love a challenge. I knew in my gut that my new language studio MandarinArts would be a success. I launched MandarinArts in September of 2019. That was just six months before Covid-19 shut down the world. My team had to reinvent themselves constantly in the uncertain Covid world. I am proud to say that unlike many companies that went under during these challenging years, we survived and thrived. We are currently working on launching our second location, which speaks to our success. I want MandarinArts to be in major cities everywhere so we can bring the opportunity of learning a second language to kids in America.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
MandarinArts is a new concept, a lifestyle studio designed for American kids to learn the Chinese language while engaging in the arts. All our classes are taught in Mandarin. We have language, music, dance, drama, even piano and vocal classes. We also have a trilingual Mandarin and Spanish program called “Playground.”  Our goal is to make language learning accessible for everyone. We are not your typical old-fashioned Chinese school.  We understand the struggles that working parents go through and the aspirations that modern professional parents have for their kids. As a parent myself, I’m basically going through the same challenges as my clients with the same hopes for raising bilingual kids in the US. MandarinArts is modern in approach. We understand what works in Asia doesn’t necessarily work here. We knew we needed to reinvent language learning. Making classes fun is our number one priority. Children need to be motivated to learn a second language. They shouldn’t be forced to; they should want to!

What makes you happy?
I am your classic type A personality–always juggling impossible chores and multitasking everything, wanting to do it all. That can sometimes make life stressful. At this stage in my life, I enjoy living a more balanced life. My family and kids give me immense joy. It may sound cliche, but having a wonderful family is truly special, and I feel very blessed to have one. I have always been a huge traveler, both for work and leisure. I am happiest whenever my husband and I get to bring the kids on vacations all over the world, introducing them to new countries and cultures and raising them our way. They are only seven years old, but they have already been to more than eight countries across four continents. We’re hitting the fifth continent with them soon and the sky’s the limit!  Life is short, so I am seizing whatever little moments I have right now before they grow up and leave the nest to forge their own hopefully amazing lives. Carpe Diem!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mandarinartsstudio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mandarinartsstudio/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/selenalee/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mandarinarts-studio-los-angeles

Image Credits
Selena Lee