"When I first arrived in Canada, I could not speak a word of English,” said Jenny Witterick, an international best-selling author. “There is no way I could’ve possibly imagined that I would write a novel in English, which would then be translated back into Chinese to be published in Taiwan. And I don’t read Chinese!”
Jenny’s family immigrated to Canada from Taiwan in the 60s. Her father, a mechanic that repaired commercial and military air crafts back in Taiwan, went through a few odd jobs before finding work at Air Canada. Jenny’s mother on the other hand, started her new career in Canada as a factory worker who sewed clothes.
With a sense of practicality and side of curiosity, Jenny chose business school for university and ended up working in the financial industry. She credits luck and her mentor Prem Watsa, the CEO of Fairfax Financial (the man often called Canada’s Warren Buffett) as one of the factors in her successful career. By her late 20s, Jenny’s exposure in the industry and connections meant she sat on boards and later even founded her own firm.
After 30 years in the financial industry, Jenny turned to exploring her love for literature and authored My Mother's Secret: A Novel Based on a True Holocaust Story.
“If you look at businesses, it is no different than how you would analyse the success of a book. Every book has certain things it must do to captivate readers,” Jenny said. “So I analysed what that was and made sure my book had that.”
Jenny and I also talked about:
👗 Her mother’s inspirational story of being a factory worker, then the manager of the factory and eventually purchasing the business
💜 How her childhood experience as an outcast at school led to her compassion and empathy for people
📈 Her experience as a woman working in finance for 30 years
