Andrea So

Graduate, College of Business
Director and Chief Executive Officer, HK01

“Relentless learning. Attitude is everything.”

Andrea So graduated from CityUHK's College of Business with a Bachelor of Business Administration (Management) degree. After graduation, in addition to working in her major field of human resource management, she ventured into positions in marketing and digital operations. In 2020, she became CEO of the online media platform HK01. She encourages young people entering the workforce to maintain a good learning attitude and a willingness to take on challenges without considering rewards, as this approach will naturally lead to more opportunities for development.

The three-year programme at the College of Business of CityUHK provided Andrea with a solid foundation in management theory, and its teaching methods, which emphasised practical applications, have proved to be of lifelong benefit to her. From her early career to her current management position, the knowledge gained at CityUHK has consistently served as a valuable reference.

An ideal learning environment also requires a good learning attitude, she says. Andrea recalls that during her second year of university, she interned at a company for two months. She approached the internship with a learning mindset and proactively helped her colleagues. As a result, she received recognition, and her internship was extended by a month.

After graduation, her first job was in human resource management. Despite her limited experience, she was willing to express her ideas and frequently learned from, and offered suggestions to, senior colleagues. This attitude was quickly acknowledged and led to her promotion. Later, she moved to a German company as an assistant to the general manager of the South China region. From this general manager, she learned the importance of being tactful and flexible, which has had a profound impact on her current management work.

Andrea often had many ideas she wanted to implement, but the companies she worked for had established systems and procedures, making it difficult to advance new ideas. In 2016, when the online media platform HK01 was established, the company's systems were still in the development stage, and even the business model was new. This made her feel there was great room for her to make an impact, so she enthusiastically joined the company.

At that time, the primary goal of Andrea and her colleagues was to achieve internal consensus, starting from the organisational structure and talent deployment, followed by attracting traffic, building the brand image and influence, and ultimately generating profit. Developing a pioneering online media platform required not only creativity but also insight, which is one of Andrea's strengths. She noticed that user patterns of accessing information online differed from those of traditional media, so the team adjusted the content based on users' search keywords, which resulted in attracting more traffic. In 2020, she was promoted to CEO, which coincided with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and a poor economic environment. She led the team to actively develop new products and services and build an e-commerce platform to explore new revenue streams.

Throughout her career, Andrea has never stopped learning and taking on new challenges. For young professionals who are just starting out, she advises them not to let office politics hold them back from sharing their ideas. If you believe in something, speak up confidently and explain your thoughts with a pleasant attitude, she says. She also emphasises that sticking strictly to your job scope can limit your growth. Instead, she encourages young people to be proactive and never stop learning, as this opens the door to more knowledge and opportunities. In her view, the key to success is attitude.

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