Patricia Yu | Associate Market Manage, Expedia Group in Hong Kong

Challenging the company’s president to shots on my second week at work isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I first began my Expedian journey. We were in our bi-annual offsite where people across APAC and leaders gather together to meet, discuss and learn from each other during the day. In all seriousness, Expedia is a great workplace where it truly embodies the spirit of work hard, play hard.

My Career Advice

If I were to have the opportunity to go back in time, I would give the following advice to my younger self when I first started working at Expedia Group.

1. Don’t just challenge people to shots, speak up and challenge each other’s thoughts – if I have to pick one thing that I love most about the company, it would definitely have to be the people. Every day, you are surrounded by some of the smartest people around, so challenge their thoughts and pick their brain! Because of Expedia Group, I can confidently say that I have friends around the world to share different views and embrace diversity.
2. Take risks and seize opportunities – throughout my career at Expedia Group, my focus has always been in the Hong Kong market. One day, my director came up and gave me the opportunity of a lifetime – to manage the whole of Macau! I was ecstatic. yet at the back of my mind, I was scared. Though Macau is so close to Hong Kong, it is two completely different worlds. Would I do a good job? Would I let my team down? Banishing these negative thoughts and taking a leap of faith by saying yes was one of the scariest things – yet the best thing I have done. The opportunities and things that I have learnt from Macau has further accelerated my skills as an account manager.
3. Enjoy the ride – I am a person that strives for results and tend to focus on the destination rather than the journey. As the saying goes, winning is like a pie-eating contest in which the prize for winning is more pie. Rather than looking for the reward, bring meaning to work and life by sitting back and observe how much you have grown and developed. Changing this mindset made me excited to wake up and go to work (on most days).