Heejae Lim
Founder & Executive Director
TalkingPoints
San Francisco, CA USA
“Luck finds you and it only comes to people who are ready. It’s not ‘if’ luck finds you, it’s ‘when.’”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationHeejae Lim
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
I was born in South Korea, but later immigrated with my family to the U.K.
Attended the University of Oxford where I received my bachelor’s degree in philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE).
I then attended the London School of Economics and Political Science where I received my master’s degree in international development with the goal of helping people in the developing world.
After graduating, I decided to travel the world for eight months—spent time learning Japanese in Japan and learning Spanish in Columbia.
Upon returning to the U.K., I decided that my passion was not in international development and instead accepted a position as a business analyst at a consulting firm.
As a consultant, I worked with governments in the Middle East on education reform and later worked as chief of staff to a special advisor to the Secretary of Education in the UK.
Attended Stanford University where I received my MBA—one of my class projects was figuring out ways to get parents more engaged in their children’s educations.
That project eventually turned into my company, Talking Points, which I launched in 2015—it’s a multilingual platform that’s targeted towards underserved, diverse immigrant communities.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Graduate
Development Economics and International Development
London School of Economics and Political Science
Development Economics and International Development
London School of Economics and Political Science
Career
Founder & Executive Director
I founded a company with a mission to empower teachers and families to change the achievement gap.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Education
Entrepreneurship
Helping People
Day to Day
A lot of people think the life of an entrepreneur is glamorous, but it's really not. On my commute into work, I listen to podcasts. My day typically consists of meetings and team check-ins. My main role is to be a champion. I have to champion our organization, my team, our product, our clients, and so much more. I am constantly working on ways I can improve on this.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for everyone
Be curious and open-minded. That approach of always wanting to learn more turns fear into excitement. Go and experience as many things as you can.
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Myself:
"What am I going to do??"
Challenges I Overcame
First-Generation Immigrant
Financial
Interviewed By
Venture Forward
Tech entrepreneurship’s next generation
