Making Meaningful Connections

Jane Hsieh finds meaningful connections everywhere — among different groups and generations of people, as well as connections between art, fashion, industrial design, engineering, marketing, sales, and customers around the world.

In this inspiring #NomadFuturist podcast, recorded at Data Center World 2021, Hsieh shares her journey to becoming Sr. Director of Sales for Aligned Data Centers and a member of the AFCOM GenNext Advisory Board — a story that reveals her great resilience, passion for acquiring knowledge, and ability to connect the dots.

Hsieh learned early on how to adapt to new environments when she entered middle school at age thirteen as a non-English speaking immigrant from Taiwan.

“It was a difficult transition starting middle school when you don’t even know your ABCs.”

Hsieh soon added English to her roster of languages — her native Taiwanese, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese. She later added French and Brazilian Portuguese to the list.

Based on her interest in languages and global trade, it was natural for Hsieh to pursue studies in International Relations at the University of California, Davis.

After graduation, Hsieh had a job in place as a fashion/textile global buyer for a department store chain, but the financial meltdown of 2008 impacted her position. She pivoted and went to work at Power Management IC where she started in sales support. She then transitioned into industrial computing, unified communications in the cloud, and ultimately, building white spaces for IT infrastructure.

Hsieh shares the “Aha” moment she had during her first customer meeting where she watched as an engineer created a line drawing to illustrate a series of voltage step-downs.

“That completely opened my mind. Of my God, this is a piece of art! …The thought of being able to connect people’s ideas from an engineering perspective and then transitioning to the simpler version for the sales and marketing teams… seeing the value in that, for any product that technology is involved in.”

Hsieh is excited about the newest developments in 5G and IoT. She is also a big proponent of networking, highlighting the importance of connecting with global customers who are looking to have conversation and collaboration, as well as the need to increase communication within and across the whole critical infrastructure ecosystem.

“There have to be more ways that we can connect. I encourage all of us to go to conventions or to even reach out to peers and ask a simple question ‘How are you doing? and start with that. Because we are all looking for meaningful connections.”

Hsieh’s advice for the next generation:

“Don’t be afraid to reach out. Stay curious and stay hungry.”

Jane Hsieh is a technology professional with 11+ years of strategic business development and channel sales leadership experience in the mission-critical infrastructure and unified communications sectors. Her experience working closely with international customers and partners, coupled with an in-depth understanding of global markets and best business practices, enable her to specialize in addressing complex technology issues with best of class solutions. She is a member of the AFCOM GenNext Advisory Board, and a long-time participant of Infrastructure Masons, honored by iMason’s IM100.

As Sr. Director of Sales for Aligned, Jane is responsible for strategic account development within the enterprise sector. In addition to cultivating loyal, long-term professional relationships, she develops and executes go-to-market strategies and drives overall loyalty for the Aligned brand.

Jane holds a Bachelor of Art, International Relations with a focus on World Trade from the University of California, Davis and Business Economics from Fudan University of Shanghai, China.

Outside of work, Jane enjoys family time and traveling to learn new languages, taste new cuisines, and expand her perspective. She published Bem-Vindo Brazil, a traveler’s guide written in Mandarin in celebration of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.