Compared to the extremely challenging script Simon received, Sherry’s situation in taking over the factory is much better. At the beginning of the reform, Sherry’s just retired grandfather established a small-scale machine tool manufacturing factory in his ancestral home of Guangdong. After forty-three years of ups and downs, her family now has branches in Guangdong, Shandong, and Shanghai, and the scale of the group has been growing.
Sherry, who attended international schools from a young age, completed her education in business administration, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. Afterwards, she went to Paris and pursued a degree in luxury brand management, a field that interested her. After working for a consulting company for a year, she naturally entered the family business.
“After all, this is the lifelong effort of my grandfather and father. Even though we may not find a breakthrough for the company, at least by being here for a year, the factory has the possibility of surviving for another year.”
Perhaps it was Sherry’s entrepreneurial spirit that caught her father’s attention. He specifically entrusted her and her brother with the project of industrial Internet of Things (IoT) in the factory.
“My father had the idea of building an industrial IoT system back in 2009, but the market was not mature enough, and this project had not been implemented. However, this project is very important because it directly relates to the transformation and development of our main factory into intelligent manufacturing.”
Starting from scratch, Sherry began learning and exploring in the field of mechanical processing. After renting a few workstations in the industrial park incubator, Sherry and her brother embarked on another entrepreneurial journey within the factory. However, turning ideas into concrete projects was also a significant challenge.
“At the beginning, our partner factories had no idea what blockchain or industrial IoT were. They thought we were just playing house because we were young, and it ended up causing them trouble in their daily work. It wasn’t until an exhibition in 2019 when the digital intelligent devices we showcased caused a sensation that everyone saw new hope.”
Thus, the new industrial IoT company that Sherry participated in creating finally encountered valuable development opportunities. After five years of entrepreneurship, the company has gradually grown from a three-person team to a workforce of thirty.
However, when Sherry initially took over, she felt uncomfortable. In the heavy industry field she was in, female roles were few and far between.
“After becoming the only young and beautiful woman in the entire industry, everyone assumed that I might not be in this line of work tomorrow, so they didn’t need to interact with me anymore. I felt abandoned by this circle.”
To strengthen her presence, Sherry intentionally wore professional attire to appear more competent. However, she understood that true acceptance and recognition would ultimately rely on her own efforts.
