Please introduce yourself by telling us where you are from, which city you live in, and your profession. 
My name is Jue Hou, I was born in Shanghai, and I live in London. I am a Managing Director for a global technology talent services provider.

What do you love about your job? 
What I love about my job is what it allows me to achieve, which comes back to helping people achieve heights beyond their belief. Of all things this IS the core of what I see my job is and where my professional purpose lies today.

How do you define success in your personal and professional life?
To me, success is a journey rather than an end goal, a journey of experience.
In this particular context, I personally find the concept of distinguishing personal and professional life rather difficult, as I have always found myself managing both with the same set of principles and values, whether it concerning judgements, decisions, or interpersonal relationships.
Being fulfilled intellectually as well as emotionally whilst realising values reflecting my own is a reliable anchor that I’m on the right path, whatever the specific experience may be.

What’s the proudest achievement of your career so far?
Having developed and supported individuals I work with to achieve success they never thought they could dream of.
Knowing that I have contributed to the growth and life changing achievement of people in my life, whether be personal or professional, is the most satisfying and marks my proudest accomplishment.

How do you balance ambition with other aspects of your life (family, hobbies, mental health)?
I might be the wrong person to ask this question. 
If I’m completely honest, I’m not convinced I do a very good job here. My work does often take over my life.
I have an incredibly patient and loving partner. At times I do feel I stretch my capacity to such extent that I’m emotionally comprised and poorly equipped to be the partner I know I can be. 
For me, being as much as possible in tune with my headspace, behaviour and how it is affecting my life and the people in it, and more importantly being honest about it all, has certainly helped me manage better.
 
How do you stay inspired and inspire others?
For myself, always humble and be curious about everything! I am that sponge that never stops soaking in the juice of knowledge the world has to offer! The day I lose the desire for more and better, is the day my journey ends.
To inspire others, show-not-tell has always been my no.1 principle. 
However over the years through experience I’ve also learnt that inspiring by doing is only half of the recipe. Believing in the genius in everyone and equally importantly letting them know you believe in them is the other half which completes the recipe for the magic power of truly inspiring one – through enabling his or her own self-belief.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
“Race yourself, never others; and don’t be afraid to slow down if you catch yourself getting too ahead of yourself. Have the end in mind but never lose sight and focus of the moment.” 
I was new to the company I still work at today. I was young and hungry. I was going at a million miles an hour. I broke every company record in performance. I wanted to prove myself, and I wanted to touch the sky, as quickly as possible, at all cost.
One day, I ran into one of the directors of the company on the train home. I expected him to be full of praises and encouragement for me to go faster and push harder, but much to my surprise, he instead offered me this piece of advice. 
I still benefit from it today, especially in moments of seeking clarity and balance.

What advice would you give younger women aspiring to follow in your footsteps?
Be brave, trust yourself. 
Age or status in relation to ability is arbitrary.
I truly believe confidence is the foundation of achieving greatness, but it is not something given or granted by others unlike people commonly (mistakenly) think. In my view, it is a conscious practice until it becomes part of our identity.
So believe, and go for it.

How would you describe your style?
Never in fashion LOL…
I only wear pieces that I feel “me” and confident in. Just so it happens I seem to always end up out of season LOL! I’ve never ever worn shoulder pads or platforms or puffy sleeves for example! 
No matter how big a trend is, if it doesn’t speak to me or that my body isn’t built for it, I’m not interested. 
Aside from personal taste, being a petite woman some things just aren’t flattering! At the moment everyone seems to be in those jeans my mother used to wear in her hippy days, and guess what I just know my little legs have no chance of pulling off the look, so whenever I’m doing denim I stick to my high waist skinny which always makes me feel great! Out-of-fashion? Completely. Do I care? Absolutely not.

What role does personal style play in your professional life?
Presentation in my view is very important in business. In most cases the impression of you is formed by the way you physically present yourself before anything else. 
In my professional life, I take great care in making sure I dress in the way that is coherent with my persona and how I would like to be perceived and understood.
My style speaks me and for me.

How do you approach balancing elegance and practicality in your wardrobe?
Not very well LOL.
I find “effortlessly stylish” extremely difficult! 
It’s sort of tracksuits or red carpet for me, otherwise it’s suit and pants for everything…No matter how hard I tried to strike the balance and land somewhere in the middle I could never get it right and so I stopped trying! 

Is there a piece of jewellery you’ve inherited or been gifted that has sentimental value? How does it shape your view of accessories?
When I turned 18 my mother gifted me her engagement ring. It was a beautiful gold ring with a single oval cut Emerald stone. It had been passed down by my grandmother who received it for her engagement. It carried so much history. Every time I put it on my finger I felt the weight of love and I felt special. 
This ring made me realise what jewellery could mean to a woman and how much more it could be than just an accessory. It can be part of a woman’s identity, history, and speak who she is. 
Being young and reckless of course I lost the ring a few years later which I was devastated and felt guilty about for a very long time, in fact I’ve never really quite forgiven myself…but we don’t want to talk about that!

How does wearing jewellery contribute to your sense of identity or power?
I’ve actually never really considered this before, but on reflection, jewellery is such a significant part of how I “dress” myself, I’m almost never without it. In fact I’d probably feel as naked without my jewellery as I would without clothing!
Beyond its physical presentation, it is no doubt a voice in itself and an agent of expression for me. My jewellery tells my story.