Elaine Huang
- Founder
- Neon Owl
School Information
School: University of California, Davis
College Major: Other
Years at College Works: 2010 to 2012
Career Information
Working For: Neon Owl
Title: Founder
Industry: Music
Brief Description of Duties / Responsibilities:
Neon Owl is a charity focused media company and lifestyle brand. We connect brands. artists, and electronic music lovers all over the world to support causes around the globe. We create content that matters and leverage the power of music influencers to create positive social impact. Neon Owl’s shows along with our line of festival and street apparel goes towards supporting dozens of non-profits around the world. Connecting people one track and charity at a time, we strive towards global impact through the universal language of music.
College Works Career Impact
In one sentence, what has CW meant to you?
College Works Painting gave me the confidence to never take no for an answer.
How did your CW experience impact your career? Immediately after graduation? Now?
My College Works Painting experience made me desirable on the market. Immediately after sharing my resume, I had many job opportunities open up to me. I ended up at RAYCO with Gabe, a College Works Painting alumni who I met during my time with the program. The connections made throughout the program meant more than any cold call for a job. It has been 2 years with RAYCO, and I consider it to be a long term career that I would not have crossed paths with if it weren’t for College Works Painting.
What do you want to tell your clients about what it meant to work with them and how it has helped you get to where you are today?
Mike Whitworth was and still is my favorite client. He was one of my leads from my very first day of marketing. He was also my first estimate that I did ever. I was so nervous going in with my DM because we had not built much rapport and Mike did not seem to talk too much. I was not confident in booking the job, but we did! Turns out that I made a great impression and he admired my drive at such a young age. He said that he would go with me for as long as the price was right! He also ended up being my very first production house, in which I painted the entire house with my DM and teammates. Mike gave me the confidence I needed to get my sales going, and our relationship showed me that each person I meet is more than just a sale, but a potential friendship with genuine interactions. Mike was not only my first client, but the grandpa I do not have, and a friend. I am seeing him this Saturday, so I will tell him again how I feel. Thank you for the opportunity, and I’m glad that I happened to knock on your door on that particular day :)
What was the greatest lesson you learned from your CW experience?
Each rejection brings you that much closer to a yes. I used to be hesitate before making certain decisions, or afraid to ask certain things. After College Works Painting, I learned that none of that mattered. If I ever chose not to do something based off of fear of rejection, I would only be left with regret. Now, I have no regrets, because there is never a harm in asking, trying, and doing. You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take. – Wayne Gretzky
How have the friendships and networks you built during CW affected you?
A lot of the people that I interned with, mentored me, and that I mentored still remain my closest friends. A few of these people I trust my life with, and would risk my life for. A ton of the opportunities that I was connected to after the program were from the circle of College Works Painting alums. I have been working with Gabe for 2 years now at RAYCO, an alumni who interned about 12 years ago. As for the rest of my friends and dear acquaintances I have met and yet to meet, I am sure we will cross paths sometime in the future.
If you had to come up with a one line slogan for CW, what would it be?
Stop thinking, start doing.
Advice
What advice do you have for potential CW participants? Current CW participants?
This will be the hardest freaking six to nine months of your life. It doesn’t necessarily mean that everything else is not difficult after that, but simply a shift in mentality. After the program, you will treat every single challenge as an opportunity, and with the right mindset, you will seize those opportunities and win. A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. – Winston Churchill
What’s your best advice for someone interested in entering your career field?
You have your whole life to do what you are meant to do, whether that is to become a doctor, a dentist, a lawyer, an accountant, a nurse, or an entrepreneur. In order to excel in any of those fields, but especially in sales, marketing and business development, one must know how to sell themselves and have the ability to lead. Skill specific internships are great, but technical skills will only take you so far. To get ahead and move up in the food chain, we need to know how to sell, to persuade, to work with different types of people, to overcome obstacles, and how to lead. College Works Painting teaches adaptation, thinking outside the box, problem solving, persuasion, and leadership.
What’s your favorite memory from CW?
There are too many great memories, but I guess that I will share one of sentimental value. When I was a regional consultant, and one of my interns came across an obstacle and needed to finish a job on a holiday, I shot a text over to my team asking if anybody had a couple of hours to spare on the 4th of July. Within a couple minutes, every single one of them responded and said that they were down to help out the next day. We worked as a team during the day of July 4th and went out to celebrate together that night. I was a proud RC and my team’s culture melted my heart.
Last words of wisdom?
If you commit to something, finish it. If you are doubting whether you should do something, ask yourself what is there to lose? Then ask yourself what there is to gain. Don’t find odd ways and answers out, because you are only cheating yourself. Always find the reasons you should do something. Utilize the tools you are given, and build on the relationships that come about. You never know what may become of them. Look around and realize that these people here are ambitious, hard working, and talented. They are the people you want to know 5, 10, 30 years down the line. Smile, carry a positive attitude, and flaunt what you’ve got. You have the power to make someone’s day, or even change someone’s life.