How a blonde-haired blue eyed teen became a Chinese businesswoman

It was a transformative time in China and it was clear that it would be a major economic force in the world far beyond a manufacturing center.

She was also inspired by the city’s entrepreneurial spirit, particularly the women who were so active in the business community. After getting her degree, she moved to Hong Kong and started on her own entrepreneurial journey.

Given the rapid rise of the internet, social media and successful, dominant platforms in China such as Alibaba’s Tmall and Taobao and Tencent’s WeChat, the writing was on the wall so Dudarenok created a digital marketing agency to help companies from Asia and the West develop their digital marketing for China.

As time went on, it also became clear that there were many things that larger corporations and tech companies outside of China were already learning and copying from the rapid developments that were occurring in there so she broadened her focus to consulting foreign brands about the Chinese digital sales and marketing landscape, innovations in the space and how all the elements fit together. This led her to establishing her second company focused on “Learn from China. Learn for China”. She now has digital marketing agency Alarice and trendwatching consultancy ChoZan under her umbrella, and has recently become a naturalized Chinese citizen.

Along the way, Dudarenok has learned some valuable lessons. Firstly, don’t be intimidated by having to learn a new language and adapt to a new country, culture and foreign educational setting. It might be hard while you’re going through it but you’ll reap the benefits later, maybe in ways that are unexpected or that you hadn’ foreseen.

Second, if some part of your life or business isn’t working, you need to take a close look at your mindset and beliefs. She feels that for business owners, mental fitness is 90% of the battle for success. It’s vital to work on yourself.

After that, the fastest way to succeed is to find role models and mentors. Success leaves tracks. Find out how others have done it, take the lessons you can from them and weave them into your work.

Finally, determine as soon as you can whether you’re an expert, a business leader or a business owner in your current venture. Experts need to focus on building expertise and expanding their personal brand. Business leaders need clear systems while owners need big goals.

These are different roles with different job descriptions. If you’re wearing three hats, you need to know which you need to wear for different occasions and situations and have to make sure you don’t neglect a role.