Meet Jocelyn Zhu

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jocelyn Zhu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jocelyn , first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

It’s still surprising to me how personal imposter syndrome felt. That’s the scariest part…feeling like I was an island alone in an ocean. Growing up in Mississippi, I was fortunate to have a loving community around me that made me feel cared for and accepted. I was so secure, that it allowed me to explore paths off the beaten road. For example, I began my undergraduate studies at Belhaven University at the age of fourteen where I studied pre-med, played lots of soccer, and worked hard at the violin. Four years later, I moved to NYC to pursue my master’s degree at the Juilliard School. Moving from a place where I fit in perfectly to a city where everyone is the best at what they do was a shell-shock for me. I felt like I didn’t belong.

I remember one day, my violin professor told me that in order for me to fill bigger spaces, I had to become a bigger person. The only way for me to do this was to go out into the world and experience more things. The more failure the better. I was really surprised at this advice, when a big portion of classical music playing is getting every detail just right.

Now, as a nonprofit leader, I see the wisdom in her counsel. I often feel that someone else could be doing a better job, and in those moments, I like to take five deep breaths. Then, I take a few minutes to either write down or mentally recall conflicts and difficult situations I have worked through and become a better person by. I draw on what has worked in the past, and come up with three possible solutions for myself that I let marinate for 24 hours. Whatever path I end up taking, I promise myself that I’ll get there in the end, even if that might mean a few extra steps or accepting responsibility and culpability. By repeating this cycle and embracing my unique life experiences that no one else can claim, I’m making the goal for myself not to get everything “perfect,” but to be a person that can encompass and take on more with every season of surprises.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Although I now live in New York, I originally am a native of Jackson, Mississippi. Ten years ago, if you would have told me what my life looks like today — performing, teaching, and running a nonprofit — I would definitely not have believed you. Upon graduating from The Juilliard School eight years ago in violin performance, I felt I had accomplished a great feat…but still felt empty. I wasn’t sure what was missing, but I knew I wanted to make more of an impact somewhere and somehow. The summer I graduated, I traveled to Europe and the Middle East with the dream of sharing music with people whose homes were far away, or simply nonexistent.

This is where my nonprofit, Concerts for Compassion, was born. After visiting 20 countries, providing concerts and workshops for migrant communities, my perspective on the global community was broadened. I was very lucky to learn so much from people of all ages, backgrounds, races, and genders.

These experiences forged CFC’s mission statement: we are dedicated to facilitating cultural integration by bringing music and educational programs to displaced peoples and their local communities. In addition to performing at refugee camps worldwide, CFC now leads educational and integration workshops for refugee youths, and organizes benefit concerts for organizations directly supporting refugee communities. We have found that our work deeply matters because we provide a space where music does indeed have the incredible power to bring communities together that might not normally interact.

Since our inception in 2017, Concerts for Compassion has gone on to give hundreds of concerts across four continents, raise thousands of dollars to support refugees, and garner a roster of over thirty musicians passionate about our mission. We are so excited to see what next steps may entail, and are fully committed to bringing the world closer together, one note at a time.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

This is such a great question! Looking back, I’d say the three most current helpful skills that I’ve developed over time are:

1. Finding the right support group
2. Practicing better resiliency skills
3. Embracing playfulness and curiosity

When Concerts for Compassion was founded, we did not have the business skills, connections, funds, or expertise to tackle our big dream: a globally-minded and inclusive world. While a lot of things inevitably went wrong, one thing I did do right was to ask for meetings with as diverse a group of folks as I could manage. Some of my greatest skills and best lessons learned were from the most unexpected places! I learned about small business management through fellow musicians, the art of negotiation through an embassy worker, and the importance of resilience and perseverance from a refugee youth who shared their story with me. Fast forward to today, many of the people I go to for advice are those I know will create safe spaces for me to vulnerable while simultaneously pushing me to be more creative in finding solutions. These are the people that help me stay flexible and open-minded to change.

As a small-business owner and leader of a non-profit, it can be easy to see all hours of my day as potential work hours. Because of this, negative news can reach me any time of day, and small setbacks can easily turn into mental disasters if I don’t practice better resiliency. For me, this looks like a lot of different things: leaving my phone in a different room overnight, practicing and sticking to firm work hours, practicing meditation and centering exercises first thing in the morning, and being more conscious in my diet and exercise choices all contribute to a higher tolerance level.

Growing up in a field that leaves no margin for error, I’ve often honed the perfectionist side of my personality. It felt so comforting to adhere to a perceived objective standard of the “right” and “wrong” ways of doing things, when the reality is that much of life exists in gray areas. Upon graduating from Juilliard, I’ve found that shifting to a more curious and playful mindset can turn any situation into a learning opportunity. For example, in launching a new educational initiative at Concerts for Compassion, I encouraged our team to explore unconventional teaching methods that might resonate more fully with the unique student body we were working with. This led us to develop music lessons that combine diverse musical traditions and more interactive elements, creating engaging learning experiences that empower young refugees to explore their musical talents and cultural heritage.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

We are always looking for like-minded and passionate individuals to join is in our mission at Concerts for Compassion. Whether your skills would be more useful in an administrative role, or if you find you’d like to be more hands-on with performing, teaching, and building programs, we want to meet you!

Concerts for Compassion also has a fantastic team set in place, and our next steps include fostering an enthusiastic donor base. If you know of anyone who may be interested in supporting our cause, or if you wish to donate yourself, please feel free to write me personally at [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you!

Contact Info:

• Website: jocelynzhu.com or concertsforcompassion.org
• Instagram: @jocelynzhuviolin or @concertsforcompassion

Image Credits

Headshot: Matthew Maimone
Last 2 photos: Diana Diro