In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Amy, what age she would like to go back to and what advice she would give herself at that age! We also talk about the main causes of body image issues, how they come up and how she overcomes them. And we discuss what aging means to her and to her body.
You can READ the interview transcript HERE
10 Facts About Amy
(at the time of the project)
1. 51 years old.
2. Amy is from Hong Kong, and she came to Australia when she was 10 years old with her family.
3. She speaks Cantonese, not Mandarin.
4. Amy was educated in Australia. After finishing primary and high school here, she went to UNSW to do her bachelor's and her MBA. She also just got her Doctorate in Business Administration from Geneva Business School.
5. Amy loves ballet. She goes around the world chasing ballet. She’s been to Moscow twice to see the Bolshoi.
6. Amy loves fashion, and she loves sparkles as well. Bling- bling.
7. Amy’s favourite colour is pink, the ballerina pink.
8. Amy teaches MBA students. She’s been teaching for 15 years now.
9. Before that Amy was an accountant. She is a CPA and she’s been teaching accounting to undergraduates as well.
10. Amy’s goal for 2024 is that she wants to get on the board career. So, she can teach 50% of the time and then have another 50% of her time dedicated to the board.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
(auto-generated)
Hi, you're listening to the My Body, My Story podcast.
where a famous politician said to me, Amy, don't ever use the woman's card. And if you're gonna go on board, if you say or why should you be on the board, don't say I'm playing for diversity card. Because I'm a woman, use your ability and use your capability, your credential, your education, your skill to play on a level playing field, you get more respect that way.
This is the 45 over 45 chapter where we celebrate Rule Breakers and role models, the women who inspire us to live life our way and to show their sensuality beauty, soul, and true essence. Here we talk about what it's like to be 45 Plus, adjusting to the changes that come with time, and we listened to the stories about participants. If you have an interesting story, we'd love for you to participate. You can email us at info@aleksandrawalker.com That's Aleksandra spelled with a K S. Or visit our website aleksandrawalker.com
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the My Body My Story project. And today with us in the studio, Dr. Amy Lee. And while she's sitting in the makeup chair, and I'll be asking her a few questions. Hello, Amy. Welcome to the studio. Welcome to the project.
Hi, Alex. Thank you for having me in. Yen. Nice to see that is CEO. And thanks for having me again.
So let's start and let's tell us 10 facts about yourself.
Okay, well to kick it off. I'm 51 years old, and I'm turning 52 in April. So 10 facts. The first fact is that I'm from Hong Kong, and I came to Australia when I was 10 years old with my family a LONG TIME AGO A long time ago. Yeah, so more Aussie, then Chinese. Second fact is that because of my heritage, I speak Cantonese, not Mandarin. And then the third fact is that I was educated here. I did my primary school of rising Charles. And then I did my high school and my sisters have an undersea wattage. Yeah. And then I went to UNSW to do my bachelor as far as my MBA. And then my four fact is then I just got my Doctorate in Business Administration, with Geneva business school over in Geneva and Barcelona. They have a campus in Barcelona and Madrid. The fifth fact is that I just came back from graduating there. So I attended a graduation ceremony at Geneva as well as Barcelona. So the six fact is that I love ballet. I go around the world chasing ballet. I've been to Moscow twice to see the Bolshoi. I saw the Spartacus, Carmen and the Hunchback of Notre DOM. And then the seventh fact is that my favourite colour is pink. The ballerina pink, obviously, yes. And I like sparkle sparkles as well. Bling bling. The eighth fact is that I'm Elektra, doing MBA and teaching MBA students. Some of my students are CEO, academic dean, senior managers. I've been teaching for 15 years now. And before that I was an accountant, which is my ninth fact. And my tenth fact is that my horizon for 2024, my goal is that I want to get on the board career. So I can teach 50% and then have another 50% of my time dedicated to board, like governance and making sure that CEOs are doing what they're supposed to be doing.
Whatever you teach them to do.
Yeah, teaching them Yeah. Teaching them ethics.
So, you are teaching ethics?
yeah. I am teaching them ethics and governance and operational improvement strategies. Yeah. I'm an accountant by trade. That's my base. Yeah. I'm a CPA, so and I've been teaching accounting to undergraduates as well. Yeah.
Yeah. Do you find this job rewarding?
At the beginning, it was hard. It was very hard. You need a lot of patience because you know the work, you know the stuff, but they don't. And you have to keep repeatedly teaching in various way to make sure they understand what you're saying. But after a while, like many years later, we get the hang of it. And then then you know how to return patients into passion? Yeah, an exchange of ideas is gold. Because they have something that you never thought of, because you thought we thought I will know at all. But sometimes they will look at it in a different angle. And they say how me is how about this? Yeah, they were, oh, that's refreshing, so that you learn from them as well, yeah, you learn from them, you get to understand what they saying. And it's humbling to see them improve. That's why I don't like to teach. High, like very intellectual students. I like to teach one that is hardworking, but be dumb. Because they will improve and they will become improve. Yeah, they're happy, I'm super happy. And that's why now that I teach, like very senior managers, I get really excited when some of them become CEO, like break the glass ceiling. Yeah, that's excitement. Because this is finally I'm adding values to the career and, and that they're getting something out of the education.
Great. Okay, so let's move to the ageing and body image questions. And what does ageing means to you to 51?
Well, physically, the body does, does not, it's like an ancient, like, you know, the older you get, the more maintenance you need. And you tend to have, like, you know, in the, when you're younger, or you have maybe a gin GP that looks after your general health. But as you get older, you have specialists, like, you know, for example, I have diabetic, so I have endocrinologist. And then then, of course, I have my GP of 30 years, they look after me, then I have a dentist, I have a whole team of medical professionals that look after me to make sure that I run well. And I think what people have told me when you hit 40, all the symptoms of ageing will start creeping, creeping up. And, and it's true. Like I'm, I'm 50 now, and I'm trying to keep it as really healthy as possible. But you can feel like you know, the metabolism is slow. The like, you know, your more, your immune system may not be as strong as before. And, you know, you guys have to watch what you eat. Your energy level may not be as strong as my other students were much younger and more energetic. So yeah, physically, the signs are there. And you have to take care, greater care by Nonie have a good medical team, but you have to look after yourself really well. But emotionally, it's all depend on how you your approach your attitude. If you're young at heart, then it's always the way to go, I think.
But if you could go back to any age, what age it would be, why, and what advice would you give yourself?
I would, I would go back to age of 30. Like you know, 30 is when you really have made your mark your first mark, because you finish uni you probably have a master on the way to Ghana master. So and then you qualify you got experience. You're in the middle management. And the advice I will give to myself is that is seize opportunities seize every single opportunity that throw at you at 30 Like at 30 I was I gave up I took a gap year. Yeah, I took a gap year so that was a mistake. But I want to see the world. So I took gap me and travel around the world and go to London and lived there for two years. But I guess there's no other time to do it better. I want to do it in my 42 to have a gap year then. But I didn't know it's a trade off because I chose gap year over a curry advancement. So I wonder what will happen if I didn't take that gap year and took a career advancement as a result? Well losing the which one is which was more valuable seeing the world or three in the boardroom?
I think at that time your choice was the best for you. Sometimes I wonder is well, what if but, as they say life doesn't have “what ifs”
Yeah, exactly this opportunity costs. Yeah. But I wonder whether I paid too much on the opportunity costs. Something I'll never know.
I don't think so. Yeah. It's just your path.
yeah.
So let's talk about body image. Yeah. So if your body could talk, what do you think it would ask you or tell you?
It would asked me to try to find ways to increase metabolism is really slow. I don't know when he's got the whole month. I mean, I'm okay with the menopause. It kind of I only have a few months of hot flushes, and that was eat. But no, it lately is very sluggish. No, I don't eat much. But it's still gaining weight. So I know that somewhere there's something wrong strength. Yeah.
Apparently, it's the strength training, which supposed to help? Yeah, women over 45 Pilates.
I'm doing I'm going back to Pilates. And also all the like, you know, bone like knee hips. Yeah, you know, it has to be careful. I mean, I've tried to avoid stairs and try not to damage the body too much.
So what do you think are the main causes of body image issues?
In terms of social media, I think in our age in the 50s, for the 50s, it's okay. But I will be, I feel bad for the teenagers. Nowadays, when social media plays such a big role. And that body image has played such a big role with that, like, I look at my niece, Holly EADS and she's like a stick. And that's the body image in her generation. But in our generation, now, the body image is okay, because we are confident Yeah, we are more confident we are more wise. We've seen it all. And we are more adaptable to our own scheme. Whereas the generation Zed or millennium, they not. They haven't got that. They haven't been traumatised. Yeah. Like us, we've been going through the lifecycle of up and down, up and down, up and down. So even now we're looking at body image, we are more comfortable. So I, I think my 50 was my prime. 30 was my prime 40 was definitely not my prime. But now I'm leaving my prime, because I'm more confident. I leave on my own term. And I leave for my own happiness. So even though it's a sunset kind of stage, but even my career is awesome. So the golden sunset, no audition, it's funny, it's ironic. I designed my career to be a sunset career where I teach and I left my high flying job and I become an entrepreneur I teach and it turned out I earn three times more than when I was a high flying job. Yeah, that's funny how life pans out. You just have to follow your heart follow your passion and things will work out the way you unexpectedly yes surprise so
how do you think the negative body image can affect relationship any any relationship that men woman friendship, whatever
ah, I don't like I don't see it as a problem. Well not I know that my students they all go around chasing ghosts that are pretty and I said looks fade and you know you have to go with someone with a good heart. But they don't they know me they think this is the wrong advice. They all going for the all going for preachiness skinny and all that attract like that kind of body image and the image overall but then if you're looking for older men or you know older partners, when they look for the other partner, they tend to look for the compatibility rather than body image I think age player is advantage to us for me anyway because like now they don't expect me to be like you know flame beautiful and all that well when I look upon on my calendar.
So look, no expectation, no disappointment.
but they will We look for Can I hold a conversation with you? The personalities? Yeah, the person conversation and having said that, like, you know, we prefer your heart, then you know how, I mean, obviously, the only reason that they will be concerned of my weight or my body image is because of my health.
it's bad for your health.
Yeah, but for my students, it's more for show off reason. Yeah, you know, I don't have a pretty go on my arm. So I look good. Yeah.
So how do you overcome your body related insecurities? Where if they come up from time to time, which they will eventually so what's your method to overcome those insecurities?
Oh, I tend to I love fashion. Yeah. And I tend to camouflage I was buying fashion. And I and I always look for, because like, my body is an apple shape. So and it's always heavy in the middle. So it doesn't look good with clothing that is like, you know, a slimming for like, you know, for the rectangular shape. Or the model shirt I could never wear like the model. Yeah, but I usually camouflage it with a lot of colourful prints. And that will kind of like, enhance, or kind of cover my weakness and enhance my strength. That's what I will do to overcome, but I accept it. I accept that my body will never get to be so thick. I accepted that my body can never be like, you know, an hourglass. Never. So I just have to set the body that I met. And yeah, styling like accessory, colouring like, you know, like us, like, you know, with black and I'm contrasted with something else. So the attention is on something else.
Great. Great methods. Yeah. So do you have.. what's your go to methods to bring yourself into shape? And has it change with age? like you said that you thinking about doing Pilates? Yeah. Do you do anything? Or you just don't do anything? You? Well, I am what I am.
Yeah, no. Because I'm diabetic number type two, I have to be careful of my what I eat. And I have a good team of medical professionals. And they all look after me. Yeah. So my endocrinologist give us the very famous or suspect the pen. That to help me reduce weight and to help me reverse my diabetic that help. But at the moment is been on the news is short ish. Yes, you know. And then there's another one, which is even better. And that is sander, no Mandurah. And that is supposed to be even better and even have the track record and redo reversing diabetic. So waiting for the medication to come and they did work. So that's my reliance on it. But no, I didn't we use that for weight loss. I use that for diabetic diabetic. Yeah, but weight loss is a side effect. Yeah. Great. Great side effect.
It just stops once you stop using it.
No, I have stopped using it and is sustained for six months now. Wow. Yeah. Sustained. That's good. Because you got the habit? Yeah, your stomach has actually gone smaller. But what's the practical reasons that make your stomach smaller? They also have another effect of increasing your metabolism. So I know that muscle have recently sluggish due to the hormone.
Oh, that's good. Okay, and my last question, if you have any favourite saying or quote about being a woman,
I don't have an exact quote. But basically, I broke the glass ceiling twice, not once, but twice. And I became director of finance at the age of just under 40. And my advice would be is that when you go out on a level playing field with the men don't play the woman's cart. Never play the woman's car, even though when I went into politics. And when I when people said to me, why are you Why should we endorse you as a candidate? And a very famous politician said to me, Amy, don't ever use the woman's can't. And if you're gonna go on board, the viewers say Why should you be on the board? Don't say I'm playing the diversity card because I'm a woman. Use your ability and use your capability, your credential, your education, your skill. To play on a level playing field, you get more respect that way than saying I'm a woman, I deserve a place.
Interesting. Thank you. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts and your wisdom and I hope you will enjoy the photoshoot and the rest of your day. And welcome again to the project.
Thank you I'm honoured to be on this for OJ is a very interesting project. And I hope that I get to meet the cohort in the future. Thank you.
If you have an interesting story, we'd love for you to participate. You can email us at info@aleksandrawalker.com That's Aleksandra spelled with a K S. Or visit our website aleksandrawalker.com
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