Meet Jennifer Zhang of Jeneration Entertainment in Woodland Hills

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Zhang.

Jennifer, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
When I was a little kid, I loved performing arts. My mother was a professor and due to my father’s busy work schedule, she would take me along with her to her classes. I was a great “teaching assistant” for her – during class breaks, the mini-me would be raised onto the desks by my mother’s students, and I would sing and dance “on the stage” for them.

I really enjoyed hanging out with my big brothers and sisters, and getting their applauses was a happy feeling. I was so little back then that I didn’t even know how to read – however, I was able to memorize all the lyrics of the songs I sang phonetically. My parents recognized my talents and gave me a piano as a gift. I started taking piano lessons at the tender age of four with one of China’s best professors. It was a big dedication and sacrifice for my whole family, as I practiced the piano for more than eight hours a day and had to travel four hours per week to take private lessons from my professor throughout my elementary school years. When I went to middle school, which is a reputable boarding school very far away from home, I wasn’t able to practice the piano and take lessons all the time as I wanted anymore.

As there were only two pianos in the entire school, I started learning the Chinese bamboo flute (dizi) as a second instrument, because it is light and portable. I studied under the master player of China, Professor Chunling Lu. My passion for music and hard work paid off – I was one of the only two kids invited to perform at the Asian Games, and I have obtained the highest level of certifications in both the piano and the dizi. I have also learned six other instruments on my own, as well as mastered singing and songwriting. I have successfully performed at over 500 events worldwide, for many leaders of our generation, such as former President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Anna Wintour, Jack Ma, and Cindy Crawford. Crowned as Miss China International 2017 and Miss Friendship Ambassador of Chicago 2015, I have also won countless awards in performing arts and musical excellence.

Some of my other accolades include being the First Prize winner of the CCTV Global Brand Ambassador Contest in the USA, Best Asian Entertainer at the Chicago Music Awards, the First Prize Winner of the Cantonese’ Got Talent Singing Competition and the First Prize in Chinese Songwriter Contest in the USA. Besides performances and winning prizes, one of the things I enjoy the most is writing songs. Some of the singles I have released include Flying High, On the Throne, and Foam of the Ocean. Flying High has received the Best Music Video Award at the US-China Film Festival in 2018 and has reached a total of more than 166K views on Youtube alone. I have also acquired a loyal following on various social media sites, including more than 50K followers on Instagram and 2k subscribers on Youtube. The brands I have represented and partnered with include Visit Florida, Uniqlo, Ferrari, Google, Bloomberg, Brita, Mitsuwa, Meijer, Hennessy, Blue Moon Beer, Freedom Rave Wear and Discover Dupage. I was also admitted to both the Berklee School of Music in Boston and the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

I came to Northwestern University to pursue my undergraduate degree because of its wonderful academic environment and the beautiful campus. Besides music, I studied Economics, Business, and Finance. Influenced by my parents, who started from nothing and became successful business people in China, I learned the ethics of determination, dedication, and ambition. I learned to set my goals and work hard to achieve my dreams. After working at Morgan Stanley upon graduation, I had an aspiration to create my own company in investment and entertainment. I decided to name the company “Jeneration” after my name Jennifer. My company is built off my artistic talents but is also derived of my business expertise. Over the years, it has grown into a successful venture and since expanded beyond Chicago to establish offices and business relations in other cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Seoul, Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing and my hometown Shanghai. It is my desire to make a positive movement in our generation.

Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t been a smooth road. The main struggle I faced is being able to balance my time management of being a businesswoman and a performing artist. I had to learn to work efficiently because I am constantly traveling for meetings and performances while under the constant pressure of running my business among various offices globally. Managing a team was a struggle at first because I had to learn how to motivate other people and make sure that their individual strengths were being recognized. However, I learned to embrace these challenges and became better through the journey. Life is a constant lesson, in which we are always continuing to learn and to improve.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Jeneration Entertainment story. Tell us more about the business.
Jeneration Entertainment is a leading entertainment company based in the USA with offices in Asia. It covers talents in areas of including, but not limited to, modeling, acting, show hosting as well as the writing, publishing and performances of music. As founder and CEO, I lead a team of dedicated professionals manage my own artist career as well as enhancing the career development of several other artists and artist groups. Jeneration has a number of artists in various locations of the USA such as LA, NYC and Chicago, as well as internationally in countries such as China and Korea. As an award-winning artist, I am constantly performing and working with various brands on expanding my artist portfolio and my entertainment career. I am also passionate about spreading my knowledge to help other artists and developing their careers further under my guidance. I have helped my artists gain more exposure and secure better gigs with a hands-on approach. I have successfully launched the artistic partnership programs for artists to network and facilitated the information exchanges amongst themselves. With my industry connections, I made it possible for many cultural exchanges between the US and China. I have developed many cultural programs, educational events and influential summits to take such exchanges to the highest level.

As a result, my company was invited to many high profile events, including Bloomberg Global Business Forum, Oscars, Masters, Ferrari Challenge, Kentucky Derby, Golden Screen Awards, and New York Fashion Week. It is also widely covered by various media outlets, such as CBS, ABC, MTV, CMT, Chicago Sun-Times, Time-out Magazine, SMG and Pear Videos. I am proud not only that I became a successful artist, I am able to be of help to many other artists, for them to build a better career and have a better life while pursuing their dreams. Jeneration Entertainment is different from other entertainment companies because we truly care about our artists as human beings, and together as a team that is comprised of both artists and managerial staff, we strive to make ourselves better, to make our communities better, and to make a positive movement by giving back to our generation.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The entertainment industry has been rapidly changing due to the advertent of social media. The average fan tends to be younger and younger in age and spends a tremendous portion of his/her time surfing apps such as Youtube, Tik Tok, Instagram, and Snapchat on the smartphone. The attention span is getting shorter and shorter (averagely speaking around 2 minutes) and information gets old within several hours if not minutes. Due to globalization, value, culture, music, and aesthetics are becoming increasingly similar around the globe. However, just because we are becoming increasingly similar, it is essential that we keep the traditions alive and craftily integrate it into the fad and trend. The only way to be irreplaceable is to be different.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jenniferzhang.com
• Email: jennifer@jenniferzhang.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/jenniferrrzhang
• Facebook: facebook.com/jenzhang
• Other: www.youtube.com/jenniferyuqizhang

Image Credit:
Jeneration Entertainment

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