Gao Xing and her Easy Soup
May 25, 2015
Peking University, May. 20, 2015: On March.29, 2014, Gao Xing posted a message entitled Civil Personnel Recruitment of Beijing Public Security Bureau on her Wechat acount named Easy Soup. It is quite surprising to find out that the picture of the policewoman in this article is Gao Xing herself. Before studying MBA in Guanghua School of Management in PKU, she was a policewoman in Beijing Public Security Bureau.
Gao Xing
Career Vision Emerged in PKU
“I would like to experience, and am curious about nearly everything, therefore I have many incredible experiences.” In Yellow Stone, Gao Xing arrived at the airport at 11 in the evening, and she found out that she couldn’t board her flight until 5 a.m. the next morning, so she decided to wait at the airport since it would take much time spending the night at the city. When she was having a rest, a policeman came to her, asking for her passport. Maybe because she has worked in a police department, she was very cautious when going with the policeman into a copy room.
This happened in her first year in PKU, when she visited the USA on her summer vacation. This experience indeed showed her prudence and cautiousness, which later also contributed to her success in career. Seattle is an important station for her, in which she observed many delicate but traditional industries like Starbucks. Bearing in mind her life principles and her dream of Easy Soup, she learns a lot from her experience in Seattle.
The name “Easy Soup” comes from a case in her English course. Gao Xing thought about the delicate soup in Hong Kong and an idea of making soup occurred to her. After the course, her idea did not vanish. Though she knew her idea was innovative and sparkling, she realized that only the idea itself was not enough, there was still a long way to go. Thinking in this way, she always fell into a gloomy mood and could not gather the courage to keep on moving. At this critical moment, one of her friends helped her pick up her courage. A friend of hers drew a soup girl with a sign on her neck entitled Easy Soup, which aimed at reminding her of never letting go of her dream. From then on, her spirit was reinvigorated.
Gao Xing and her classmates in GSM
In order to prove her idea, she got up at 4 in the morning, making soup for more than three hours, and then went to her mentor for advice. Professor Qu Xin asked her whether she could survive without salary for a whole year. She gave a positive reply, despite knowing that her savings would be drain out.
“Forced” to Start Her Own Career
Gao Xing brought her dangan (personal portfolio in a brown paper bag and usually placed where the person works) from Beijing Public Security Bureau to GSM of PKU in September, 2013. But many people could not understand her such behavior.
They may think Gao Xing leads a cozy life as a police officer, but in fact, that is not the whole picture of the story. As a policewoman, her work is quite painstaking. Her eyesight gradually deteriorates because she often sits in front of computer for a whole day.
She mentioned that she is driven to start her own career. It is not because of her fear of encountering difficulties, but that numerous tasks in the police office make her eyes dazzling, and in no way can make her feel fulfilled. She took part in many entertainment activities when she worked in the police office. It was these activities which demand beauty and vitality that made her feel unsecure. She has a clear knowledge of how the society works, that is, a young and beautiful new comer will gradually take the place of old and aging one. She does not want to live on transient beauty, and she is afraid of being unchangeable after her 30s. She does not want to stay fixed because she believes life needs challenges.
Gao Xing and Easy Soup
Gao Xing knew her accumulation of knowledge was not enough, and she needed to arm herself first with professional knowledge. She knew clearly that the only way to achieve her dream was to return to school and start all over again. Thus Gao Xing bravely made a decision to keep on studying in a university. When being interviewed why she would like to go to GSM, she replied that it was because she was not satisfied with herself and that she would like to accumulate more expertise, waiting for opportunities. She had a firm belief that life in GSM would be beneficial to her future career. And, it is not surprising to find that she worked very hard after the interview and excelled in the subsequent exams.
Though her superior encouraged her to continue study, she found it irresponsible to add additional burdens to her workmates. And certain demands for a policewoman violate certain requirements in study. Thus she resigned and found another job as a market supervisor. She knew now she had no other choice but move on.
Gao Xing delivering soup
Public Security Bureau and “Military Regulations” in Her Career
“If you were given a second chance, would you choose to start your own career, or still work in a Public Security Bureau?”
“Public Security Bureau.”
She answered without hesitation. Gao Xing’s answer showed her sincerity. After all, who never thinks about having a stable job? But life gives us only one chance to choose. What makes Gao Xing a brilliant person is that once she determines, she does not complain or fall into regret, though sometimes she inevitably looks backwards, pondering her past experiences.
“In police office, I began to know the society and regulations.”
Gao Xing once sent a suspect to jail. And she suddenly realized that freedom should always be highly valued.
One of her regulations set for selling soup is to let professionals do professional things. Thus products of Easy Soup are always outsourced to professional soup restaurants.
And the first of the ten regulations is to work with heart. Gao Xing used to be a very careless person. When publishing sample books of police office, she made a big mistake. Her own experience made her realize that to work with heart involvs genuine emotions, and only in this way can faults be reduced to the minimum level.
Gao Xing loves her soup; recently her team is designing new packages. She takes every detail into consideration. She learns from another supervisor that being responsible to customers should be a habit. This habit also originated from her life in the police office.
In her hardest time, Gao Xing can only sleep two hours per day. But she never gives up; the perseverance of a policewoman still exists! And she tends to do things by herself, seldom troubling others; she never forgets a policewoman’s responsibility to be considerate to people around her! But there are also times when she finds herself and her career not compatible with her former job as a policewoman, which is quite amusing. When chatting with a journalist, Gao Xing remarked fearfully that it would be indeed embarrassing to be caught up by her former workmates when delivering handouts. But she knew it was a very important step, thus she still keeps on doing her work without hesitation.
Easy Soup
Passing Happiness to Others
“My name is Gao Xing, which means happy, thus I pass happiness to others and I can only swallow those negative emotions. The suffering of creating one’s own career comes partly from this.” Gao Xing even feels that she encounters despair every day, but she has to move on after feeling disappointed. She gradually comes to a conclusion that a person needs to learn to communicate and negotiate with others, and give up one’s so-called air-castle dreams and put one’s self-dignity on the ground. One of her “military regulations” is that there are often more solutions than problems.
And because of this, she wishes to spread love and energy outward. People will naturally consider products of “Easy Soup” as girl-made because of its delicacy and refinement. Maybe for a boy, his first aim is to earn more money, but for Gao Xing, her primary purpose is to pass love and care.
On the body of the soup cup, we can find a card with blessing words attached to it, and there is also a bar code on the back side which is linked to a short but meaningful story. This innovation originates from Gao Xing’s custom to write festival cards to her friends. She once remarked that most of her relatives and friends have great achievements in careers, but from her perspective, family, love and care are the most essential.
When she graduated from college in 2006, she could choose banks, regional government or police office to work in. What overwhelms in her mind at that time is to make contributions to society. Maybe these words sound a little bit superficial, but that is indeed what she thought at that time. Her understanding of contribution is to shed light on more people. No matter whether she is a policewoman or a college graduate who wants to start her own career, she always hopes to bring benefits to people around her. This life principle never alters.
When being asked about future planning for “Easy Soup”, she replied with a laugh, “I hope it could be as successful as Starbucks which can stretch its wings all over the world.” People who get to know more about Gao Xing will sincerely hope that her career will run smoothly and her ambitious dream can come true. After all, hard work and a benevolent mind are sure to pay off.
Translated by: Wang Chutong
Edited by: Xiao Chunliang
Source: PKU Youth
