Cindy Lu, president and chief operating officer of The Novo Group, has worked with one of Milwaukee’s most successful entrepreneurs, Michael Harris, since they formed the company in 2003. However, some of her most important lessons on management and entrepreneurship were learned while working in her earliest jobs while she was a teenager.
“I am often asked what the influencers were in choosing the entrepreneurial path, and without a doubt there are two businesswomen who were role models early in my life.
I was fortunate that early in my life I saw that age and gender were not barriers to successful entrepreneurship. In the late ‘70s, Ginger Temple, a 23-year-old college graduate, started a new gymnastics club, which quickly grew to one of the largest and most successful private clubs in town. I trained with her and after several years, she hired me to teach some of the classes. I was exposed to her influence as an employer and thought it was really cool she could write payroll checks and deposit checks. Of course at the time I didn’t understand how amazing it was that she was an entrepreneur at that young of an age. It simply set the standard for me that it was normal for a 23-year-old to start a business, run it successfully, hire her successor and sell it to him for a profit. No big deal right?
My second role model was a woman named Susie Ying from New York City. During the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tenn., her restaurant group won the contract to manage the restaurant that was affiliated with the China Pavilion – a restaurant that had hundreds and perhaps even thousands of customers each day.
I started my summer job at Susie’s restaurant serving Cokes (that’s what you call sodas in the South) for 12 hours straight. After just one day of this, it was apparent to me that the manager Susie hired was overwhelmed with the 45 inexperienced employees. With my ability to speak Mandarin, I told Susie she needed an assistant for her manager that could handle scheduling, conflicts and employee break time and that I could do it. She offered me the job on the spot. That summer, I worked 70 hours a week. Eventually, the manager left, I took over and managed a team of 45 people all older than me. Seeing Susie take swift action to quickly right her business was another important lesson.
When I started my first business at 24 years old, I was fearless because of the role models in my life. I am thankful every day that I was exposed to these women, inspired to take action and that I have taken the opportunity to fulfill the American dream of entrepreneurship.”
Cindy Lu
President and, Chief Operating Officer, The Novo Group
330 E. Kilbourn Ave., Milwaukee
www.thenovogroup.com
Employees: about 50
Best career advice
ever received:
“Hire hard and manage easy,” from Dan Weinfurter, a former boss.
