Janet Oh
Janet Oh: Adaptation as an Ingredient to Success
Janet came to Toronto as a very young infant at the age of 1 with her parents. Like many other young parents living in Korea, her parents saw an opportunity for a better life for their children on the other side of the world. Another family member was studying at the University of Toronto at the time, so Janet’s parents seized that opportunity to move to Canada.
From wanting to be a journalist, to a lawyer, Janet never imagined she would end up as an executive in an industrial field, amidst a very male-dominated environment. Her driven attitude, positive work ethic, and sociable demeanor earned her promotion after promotion. At the young age of 27, Janet had already made Director.
Who or what does she owe her success to? Janet credits her “older sister” personality as a key driver to becoming a leader and current president of Globe Union Industrial Corporation. One valuable formula Janet lives by is that in order to be successful, “you need to know who you are.” Uncover the hidden talents underneath all the learned talents. Being put in a different environment helps uncover the skills that were lying dormant and tucked away. Know your strengths, know how to apply those strengths, know your areas that require improvement and know your audience. Essentially, we are adapting, in a very work-centric sense, to the career environment. Adaption is the key ingredient to success.
In 2014, Janet, along with four other women, decided to form the Korean Professional Women’s Association (KPWA) after constantly hearing about the struggles of young Korean women in the workforce. After speaking to a young student who explained the difficulties of navigating the career field, Janet saw a need – a need for guidance, for mentorship, for engagement, and for networking. KPWA blew up very quickly and soon had a membership of over 100 people in three years alone. Through hosting mentorship programs, conferences, career workshops and panels, KPWA has exceeded everyone’s expectations and has provided women of the Korean-Canadian community a tremendous amount of support.
What does being Canadian mean to Janet? Canada has done an incredible job of adapting to an ever-changing, ever-evolving dynamic world. Canada is not what it was 50 years ago, even 100 years ago, but Canada has learned to embrace that change. A lot cannot be said of neighbouring countries but Canada has evolved in a very positive manner and adapted to the pressures of the world. Canada now boasts a unique identity, one that encapsulates a very diverse community – this is something we as Canadians should be proud of. We, as Canadians, know who we are.
