“朝陽區(qū)國(guó)際化程度高，外國(guó)創(chuàng)業(yè)者不必?fù)?dān)心文化沖擊問題”—專訪賓夕法尼亞大學(xué)北京校友會(huì)主席Loretta Evans

記者_(dá)周曉琪 編輯_胡是非 攝影_白舒元 設(shè)計(jì)_孫星

“朝陽區(qū)國(guó)際化程度高，外國(guó)創(chuàng)業(yè)者不必?fù)?dān)心文化沖擊問題”—專訪賓夕法尼亞大學(xué)北京校友會(huì)主席Loretta Evans

記者_(dá)周曉琪 編輯_胡是非 攝影_白舒元 設(shè)計(jì)_孫星

在北京居住已有11年的賓大北京校友會(huì)主席Ms. Loretta Evans認(rèn)為，朝陽區(qū)不僅地理位置好，而且國(guó)際化程度非常高。在她看來，這對(duì)于中國(guó)創(chuàng)業(yè)者和國(guó)外的創(chuàng)業(yè)者都是非常有吸引力的一大優(yōu)勢(shì)。

拎客

Loretta Evans

The current president of the Penn Club of Beijing. President Loretta was born in Philadelphia. She holds an ExMSE degree from the School of Engineering and Applied Science. After leaving Penn， she obtained a Doctor of Science degree in Engineering Management at The George Washington University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science in Washington， DC. In 2005，she moved to Beijing. She previously was Webmaster for the Penn Club of Beijing's website until Penn's Alumni Relations took over. Loretta currently has her own business， Cycletime China which focuses on consulting， software development and geophysical technical services.

A brief introduction of the Penn Club of Beijing

The Penn Club of Beijing operates based on by-laws enacted in 2009. In 1997， the Club was started by the previous president with a list of Beijing alumni provided from Penn. The Penn Club is one of the most active alumni associations in Beijing with typically several events each month for alumni. The Penn Club of Beijing currently has several high energy club officers and have meetings to plan out our schedule of evens and activities.

賓夕法尼亞大學(xué)（下文簡(jiǎn)稱：賓大）沃頓中國(guó)中心位于北京市朝陽區(qū)環(huán)球金融中心。中心成立于2015年3月，創(chuàng)辦初衷是為賓大教授、學(xué)生、在華校友和各界友人提供繼續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)、研究資源和交流平臺(tái)。近日，在賓大沃頓中國(guó)中心的辦公區(qū)內(nèi)，《留學(xué)》對(duì)賓大北京校友會(huì)主席Ms. Loretta Evans進(jìn)行了專訪，邀請(qǐng)她與我們分享了一個(gè)外國(guó)創(chuàng)業(yè)者在中國(guó)的經(jīng)歷和感悟。

Loretta畢業(yè)于賓大工程和應(yīng)用科學(xué)系，后獲得喬治·華盛頓大學(xué)工程管理和科學(xué)博士學(xué)位。2005年，Loretta來到北京，到現(xiàn)在已有11年了。談到對(duì)北京這座城市的印象時(shí)，Loretta表示，自己非常喜歡這座城市，并且打算在北京長(zhǎng)久居住下去，在這里繼續(xù)發(fā)展自己的事業(yè)?！氨本┦且蛔芡昝赖某鞘?，特別是我居住的朝陽區(qū)，不僅地理位置好，而且國(guó)際化程度非常高。我認(rèn)為，這對(duì)于中國(guó)創(chuàng)業(yè)者和國(guó)外的創(chuàng)業(yè)者都是非常有吸引力的一大優(yōu)勢(shì)?！盠oretta對(duì)《留學(xué)》記者說。

除了擔(dān)任賓大北京校友會(huì)的主席，Loretta還擁有自己的公司，主要提供有關(guān)軟件開發(fā)和地球物理技術(shù)相關(guān)的咨詢與業(yè)務(wù)。很多國(guó)外創(chuàng)業(yè)者來到中國(guó)，首先擔(dān)心的問題就是遇到文化沖擊（Culture shock）。但當(dāng)《留學(xué)》與Loretta探討相關(guān)的話題時(shí)，Loretta卻表現(xiàn)得樂觀而從容。她認(rèn)為，無論在哪里，創(chuàng)業(yè)者都要面臨困難，有時(shí)甚至?xí)萑肜Ь?。這就像參與冒險(xiǎn)游戲一樣，不可避免。但是，創(chuàng)業(yè)者首先需要自己變得更強(qiáng)大，才能察覺到別人沒有意識(shí)到的問題，從而走出困境。創(chuàng)業(yè)成功需要多方面的支持，包括抓住良好的機(jī)遇、在合適的地點(diǎn)和正確的人合作，當(dāng)然還有勤奮地工作，等等。在Loretta看來，她所在的北京市朝陽區(qū)就是一片創(chuàng)業(yè)者的樂土。這里集中了眾多高端的商業(yè)資源，還有來自朝陽區(qū)政府對(duì)海歸人才和國(guó)外創(chuàng)業(yè)者提供的大力支持及援助。Loretta舉出一個(gè)例子，“如果我邀請(qǐng)我的美國(guó)朋友來到朝陽區(qū)，他們不會(huì)感覺到太多文化沖擊，因?yàn)檫@里有很多的國(guó)際化飯店，我們能品嘗到美國(guó)菜、歐洲菜，當(dāng)然還有北京菜。這讓我的朋友覺得自己好像在家鄉(xiāng)一樣，距離感拉近很多?！?/p>

Loretta Evans不僅是賓大北京校友會(huì)主席，而且在中國(guó)有自己創(chuàng)辦的公司。

“當(dāng)我第一次聽說OTEC時(shí)，就很想?yún)⑴c進(jìn)來”

Loretta告訴《留學(xué)》，不忙的時(shí)候，她喜歡閱讀，學(xué)習(xí)中文和結(jié)識(shí)新朋友。在中國(guó)多年，Loretta在逐漸適應(yīng)中國(guó)生活的同時(shí)，感覺自己真的愛上了這里的一切。自信、開朗而富有激情的性格幫助Loretta結(jié)交了很多的中國(guó)朋友和商業(yè)伙伴，在需要時(shí)給予她幫助和建議，Loretta認(rèn)為這也是她在中國(guó)開展事業(yè)的一大法寶。

Loretta不僅樂于結(jié)識(shí)中國(guó)朋友，也非常熱衷于參與各種創(chuàng)業(yè)活動(dòng)。記者了解到，Loretta的公司于去年參加了OTEC。Loretta表示，能參與OTEC是一種榮耀。通過這個(gè)高端平臺(tái)，可以認(rèn)識(shí)更多來自不同群體、組織的商業(yè)人才、優(yōu)秀企業(yè)家，為彼此合作提供了機(jī)遇?！拔液托抡J(rèn)識(shí)的朋友會(huì)互相攀談，詢問彼此的生意近況。OTEC是一個(gè)非常新穎，有創(chuàng)新精神的活動(dòng)。參與其中真的讓我收獲良多，讓我的企業(yè)獲益良多?！?/p>

Q=Studying Abroad

A=Loretta Evans

Q: In your opinion， what influence or effects did your business bring to China？

A: Well， we have brought foreign technology and foreign experts to China；this allows experts from different countries to solve problems together from different perspectives. For example， I will have my American business partner， Mr. Chuck Diggins， come to China and he is one of the top experts in Geophysics. In all， I think different people stand for different things， it is great.

Q: What suggestions would you like to give for those who wants to start business in China as a foreigner like you？

A: That is a good question. When you come to China to start a business， you have to be aware of a lot of things. I think you should realize that starting a business is hard， no matter where you are. Some people get lucky， some people have resources. But you still need to try to be smart. Doing business well often means getting opportunities， being in the right place， working hard as well as meeting the right people. You have to be strong because doing business is like an adventure sometimes. And you need to learn to adapt to the environment. That is very important when you want to do business in China.

Q: Do you like to live in Beijing？

A: Yes， I really do. I know Beijing and I like Beijing. This is a wonderful city. I always wanted to live in a city. But in America， cities are maybe expensive， even dangerous. The suburbs are quiet， very nice. But I always wanted to live in a city. There are so many things to do and it is big and safe. My mother and sister also came here many years ago. They all like China. They visited Suzhou before they came to Shanghai. Suzhou is cold when winter comes. When we visited in Sanya， we loved the beech， and the sunshine was wonderful. My mother loves all three. She loves Beijing so much. She was so happy and it was a great time.

（實(shí)習(xí)記者喬麗娟對(duì)此文亦有貢獻(xiàn)）