We were lucky to catch up with Clara Ma recently and have shared our conversation below.
Clara, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
Being optimistic is a key driver for me to continue putting one step in front of the other when it comes to building my business. There’s the common saying, “There are two sides to every story.” I’m a firm believer that you can choose to view every situation with a lens of optimism or a lens of negativity.
Growing up, I tended to focus on the negative a lot. As the eldest daughter of immigrant parents, there was always comparison against others:
“Amy plays piano AND gets straight A’s.”
“Nicky is a first place flautist.”
“Jenn is in college level math and got a 2400 on her SATs.”
As a result, I was constantly tearing myself down and focusing on the “poor performing” parts of myself. How come I wasn’t in the higher level calculus class? Why wasn’t I good enough to become the Editor in Chief of my high school newspaper? Why was I such a failure in not becoming my dance team’s captain?
At some point, I started to cast myself as the victim of my circumstances. I tried to shirk responsibility and tell myself, it wasn’t that I wasn’t good enough, it was that the cards were stacked against me. It wasn’t because I wasn’t delivering good work, it was because my manager wasn’t training me well enough. And while there might have been a modicum of truth to not receiving enough support, I also wasn’t recognizing how much I had internalized negative self talk and was now creating comparisons even though I had outgrown my childhood circumstances.
It wasn’t until I did some good hard reflection in my mid twenties that I started to realize that I was the narrator of my own story. On paper, it seemed like things were going well. I had moved to NYC and that had been a dream of mine for forever. I was working at a job that I was passionate about. But day to day, I felt down, like there was a fog over everything I was doing despite things being “good.”
It started with a few simple exercises: daily gratitude to start the mornings off with something I was grateful for. When I found myself feeling down or comparing myself to others again, I took deliberate effort to find something good in my situation. Even simple vocabulary changes like “I get to” instead of “I have to” made going through the day to day much more pleasurable and bright.
My optimism comes from constant reflection and knowing that I have the opportunity to make things better for myself. I GET to build my own business. I GET to learn from situations where things don’t go my way. While I’m not advocating for toxic positivity or just turning a blind eye to when things are actually dire and going poorly, I’ve found that there often is a small silver lining that’s waiting to be uncovered that can help turn a situation around and give me some positive clarity.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m the Founder and CEO of Ask a Chief of Staff. Ask a Chief of Staff is the premier resource for Chiefs of Staff who are seeking impactful roles and striving to make a difference. In short, it’s what I wished I had had when I was starting out as a Chief of Staff 4 years ago. When individuals join our community, they gain access to biweekly online workshops led by industry experts, a mentorship directory featuring vetted former Chiefs of Staff, a network of driven Chief of Staff peers, and personalized job search assistance.
Before starting my company, I served as the Chief of Staff to the CEO of Hugging Face, an AI startup that later became a unicorn. I played a pivotal role in guiding the company from its Series A to Series B phase, specifically since this transition happened during the pandemic. Following my tenure as Chief of Staff, I took on the role of Program Director for On Deck’s Chief of Staff Fellowship during its Series B phase, where I successfully grew the membership from 80 to over 400 Chiefs of Staff.
My professional background spans strategy, operations, and recruitment, with experience in various early-stage startups. I take pride in being an early-stage operator and in my ability to build from the ground up.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Staying wide instead of narrow: When I worked at AngelList, Lexi Lewtan, who was the Head of Operations at the time and my manager, told me that I didn’t have to pick a lane when it came to my career. In fact, she prided herself on hiring folks like myself who had a wide array of experiences and didn’t fit neatly into any one bucket. Staying wide has allowed me to be a crucial early stage operator for many of the companies that I’ve worked at. Instead of specializing in any one function, I’ve been able to work across multiple functions to add value in a variety of ways instead of just one or two.
Being a “people” person: Having a high EQ can arguably be more important than having a high IQ when it comes to working with others. Individuals with high EQ excel in building positive relationships, resolving conflicts, and managing stress, which are essential for navigating complex workplace dynamics. While IQ contributes to technical proficiency, EQ plays a crucial role in fostering teamwork, influencing others, and achieving overall career success.
Being self aware: Knowing what your strengths and weaknesses are will help you delegate vs. execute in a manner that is much more effective than you trying to take on everything on your own. Not to mention, having self awareness allows you to objectively evaluate yourself, manage your emotions, align your behavior with your values+role, and understand how others perceive you!
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played an important role in your development?
One of my favorite books to recommend is Range by David Epstein. As a self proclaimed career generalist and former Chief of Staff now building for Chiefs of Staff, my ability to stay wide and T-shaped wasn’t obvious to me as a strength for a very long time. Especially for folks who are struggling to “pick a lane” in which to grow their careers, this book can help you find paths that will value your wide ranging skill set and utilize your broad background.
The book also emphasizes the value of interdisciplinary thinking, where individuals combine insights from various fields to solve complex problems. I really like how this approach fosters creativity and enables individuals to see connections that specialists might overlook. To further add to this point, I’ve always found that the best solutions come from groups that have a variety of backgrounds in the room. If you have a group of people around the table that come from different perspectives and functions and all have wide backgrounds, you’ll think up solutions that are unconventional and revolutionary.
Lastly, Range talks about the importance of grit and persistence in achievement. In my own experience, many obstacles can be overcome with perseverance and willingness to try again. Some things can only be mastered through time and giving yourself the grace to do so will fulfill a deeper sense of accomplishment than being able to master things on a first try.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://askachiefofstaff.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarama/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@askachiefofstaff
- Other: askachiefofstaff.substack.com
Image Credits
Amanda Hong
