Hi. I’m Lisa, you can also call me Qin Qin (Chin Chin). I’m an educator, writer, and seeker. A first-generation Chinese immigrant to Australia, I used to be a poster child for the model minority (yes, I played piano, violin and did Kumon growing up). As a unfulfilled overachiever, I veered off-script after a quarter-life crisis and realised life wasn’t an exam to ace. I’ve since created a more fulfilling life on my own terms, even if it does involve spending a lot of time alone and wandering to the confusion of my Tiger Mother.

The adjectives which describe my non-linear career are as a ‘scanner’ or generalist – someone whose interests have spanned multiple fields. I’ve been a corporate lawyer, high school teacher, bush kindy assistant, worked at UNICEF and in policy reform, to name a few jobs! I was named in the 40 under 40: Most Influential Asian Australian Awards in 2020 and won the Young Australia China Alumni of the Year in 2018 for my work. I hold four university degrees from the ANU, UniMelb and Harvard.

Now I aim to live consciously with love, like the millennial soul-searching hippy I was always supposed to be, towards a more sustainable and peaceful world 🕊I harness my skills, interests, and experiences to serve the world in my own unique way while helping others do the same. My superpowers are teaching, community-building and improving cross-cultural engagement.

In holding different spaces, I draw upon my diverse skillset, a committed long-term meditation practice, and the wide variety of approaches I’ve studied in my own journey (eg yogic practices, human development, and trauma recovery). I’m grateful to all my teachers, who include yoga masters, developmental psychologists, and Mother Nature. My 2023 focus is ‘equanimity’ and motto is ‘go slow to go fast’ 🐢

For more: You can listen to my interview on breaking the ‘model minority’ mould on the ANU OpenMike podcast(2021), or read more about me and my career changes in this UniMelb Alumni profile (2018) when I won the Australia China Young Alumni award and Advance interview on my work in China (2018).

What I’m doing now

Updated 25 August 2022 from Australia. This is a  “What I’m Doing Now” page inspired by Derek Sivers, and if you have your own site, you could make one too.

Writing: I’m writing a memoir. Writing has been the one thing which has anchored me and gotten me to a place of stillness despite a peripatetic life. I’ve always wanted to write more and now I’m finally doing so! I’m trying to read much less and to help me focus, I’m no longer using social media.

Religion, teachers, women, drugs, the road, fame, money… nothing gets me high and offers relief from the suffering like blackening pages, writing.

– Leonard Cohen

Career Design: I’m managing a program to help people more intentionally find careers they love. The question of “what should I do with my life?” is one I’ve been grappling with since I was an idealistic teenager. If I’m lucky enough to live until I’m a wise elder, I still hope to be seeking the ultimate truth of my existence and helping others come to their own answers. 

Inner Work & Play: I’m continuing to do inner work through different spiritual practices. It’s what the philosopher Ken Wilber elegantly frames as “growing up, cleaning up, waking up, and showing up”. My partner and I are getting a puppy in a few weeks. It’s very exciting and a big deal, because it shows I’m settling in one place! I’ve also started to do some improv comedy with a local group.