Media Experts Financial Analyst Jenny Lin first moved to Canada from China at 18 years old to attend Western University in London, Ontario. She later continued her studies at Carleton University in Ottawa and then found herself in Toronto, working for CIBC Mellon, a subbranch of CIBC exclusively focused on investment servicing needs.  It was during this time that she met her future husband, a Montreal resident who would soon convince her to join him in La Belle Province.

Now almost three years into her Media Experts adventure, Jenny states that one of her favorite parts of the job is the agency’s open, welcoming environment. “I remember my first day being struck by how warm everyone was. People were smiling and telling me to come and see them if I had questions or needed anything. Even the executives are friendly and open. It feels a lot different than other places I’ve worked”

Jenny has the essential, mainly behind-the-scenes job of taking care of the financial side of the business, handling expenses, payroll and operating costs. Being an analyst is something she had been interested in pursuing since her university days studying finance. She still very much enjoys what she does to this day, despite the constant deadlines that come with the finance territory.

When she isn’t at work, Jenny is an avid traveller. While the last two years have halted her travel plans, she is looking forward to a road trip to the Maritimes with her husband this summer.  She states that travel is her favorite way to decompress, and loves discovering new places, people, and most of all -foods. While she remembers Spain as one of the best trips she’s taken, particularly from a culinary standpoint, she credits her adoptive city of Montreal with having an incredible food scene. Not able to pick one favorite place, she says the Italian and Mediterranean options always keep her coming back.

With most of her family still back home in China, Jenny can’t help but be nostalgic for her childhood years, which she remembers very fondly as some of the happiest in her life. An only child, she spent many summers at her grandparents’ house, playing with her cousins. Describing herself as brave, open-minded, and independent, she credits her parents for being the role models that allowed her to become who she is today “My dad, who was an engineer, always said “when you grow up you have to be able to change lightbulbs, you have to be able to take care of yourself”. He taught me to be practical and self-reliant. My parents also always said to be kind to people – because you get back what you send out. That taught me to be open-minded and accept all people, no matter their differences” Jenny says she feels this same open-mindedness among the Canadians she has met throughout her years here, a big part of the reason why she is glad to call it home, at least for the time being.

When asked if she has any heroes that she looks up to, Jenny recalls a magical shape-shifting monkey from a beloved childhood book called Monkey King. “He was very brave and conquered a lot of obstacles to achieve everything he did by the end.  When I was little, I wanted power like that – to not be afraid of anything.”

Safe to say, if a young Jenny were to see today’s Jenny, someone who bravely moved to a new country without knowing a soul, making a new life for herself and countless friends along the way, excelling in her career, she would be very proud.