Written in Partnership with Level Up PR
Progress is never linear. It is full of starts and stops and restarts. Last month as Goldie Chan took the stage at Adobe Max, here in Los Angeles, where she has lived for the past seven years, it wasn’t a typical speech at a large conference. The muscle memory was there. As a top global speaker, she has done this for years. But the topic was absolutely new, deeply raw, deeply personal. She was speaking about restarts, something everyone will probably experience in their career, but her journey was abrupt.
Her career was skyrocketing and then in 2022, she was diagnosed with cancer. She’s been receiving the best care from USC Keck and has been navigating returning to the workplace while still undergoing chemotherapy and treatment for much of 2023. It’s definitely colored how she thinks and feels about working on what matters and has the most positive impact on others.
Goldie Chan was named the Oprah of LinkedIn, as one of its most influential contributors, creators, and influencers. Doors opened immediately. It’s hard to beat that kind of praise but the key to that statement wasn’t the reach, it was the empathy she expressed. That’s why brands work with her and have made her one of the most effective and trusted brand evangelists in the world.
Influence, of any sort, is not easily achieved. For every TikTok, IG, Snapchat, any platform star there are tens of thousands that try. Loud, brash, excitable, funny, aggressive extroverts tend to win.
Goldie is none of those things. She’s about to be Jay Shetty, only her version, the outlier, the empath, the person who is able to connect through a camera and touch your soul. Her brand of honesty, vulnerability, and relatability resonates. It’s creating an entirely new category of creator that is vulnerable, real, and deeply thoughtful. She already possessed all of these qualities but through struggle, even more vulnerability, relatability, and honesty came through.
Last week Microsoft Surface launched a global advertisement with her as the star. It focuses on who she is, her writing, her creativity, her process, and what inspires her. It’s a deep partnership where she also is the lead instructor for all LinkedIn Learning instructors.
Goldie moved to LA 7 years ago. She previously spent a year in LA, producing an award-winning web drama, Cost of Capital, then moved back to LA to work on creative projects again and landed at Legendary Entertainment for a bit and then a few tech startups. In 2017, during a work sabbatical, she started to create, edit, and produce videos on LinkedIn. Those videos skyrocketed her presence on the internet and instantly she started working with companies like Adobe, LEGO, Fiverr, and more. She was asked to do things like be an entrepreneurial ambassador for the city of London and Forbes reached out to have her be a lead contributor on “Personal Branding and Storytelling in the Digital Age.
“I love the diversity in Los Angeles – both in food and people and some of my favorite places in the world are here – Secret Headquarters is my favorite comic book shop and Republique is my favorite brunch spot. You can’t beat the weather and the sheer creativity and drive of most people that you meet, regardless of what they are working on, is super impressive,” said Chan.
Life is unpredictable. But if the last two months are any indicator, you’re going to see a lot of Goldie Chan in 2024 and beyond. And she’s the kind of budding superstar that will never take that for granted.
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