About
About The Company
“1st Mentor Street” was founded based on the observations that to be successful in life, it requires so much more than what we learn through school. Although our education systems teach us English, math, science, history etc., we don’t believe that this type of education alone is sufficient to build a thriving life according to our own terms.
When we are still young, we are often not aware what we actually need to know or learn until we live through certain experiences ourselves, make mistakes and hopefully learn from them, right? While it’s great to become wiser from our own mishaps, wouldn’t it be even better to have a road map or a guide to lead us through life?
Well, we are that mentor for your youth, the one who guides them through the wild adventures of life, telling them about safer routes and also the pitfalls to avoid so that they can start enjoying all the positive advantages life has to offer sooner. While their peers still struggle with finding the path and deciding whether to make a right or left turn on their bicycles, our mentees are already enjoying the comfortable ride in their sports car equipped with a GPS system, “1st Mentor Street”, to show them the most effective and most efficient way to arrive at their destination.
No matter what, we believe they will eventually arrive at their destinations. The question is, will it be at the location and at the time you AND your youngsters are hoping for?
Our Founder
Vanessa Yang is the CEO and Founder of 1st Mentor Street. Before starting her passion business of inspiring our youth, Vanessa lived the earlier part of her adult years in a very traditional profession working in Corporate America.
Her professional experience and certifications/skills include:
- Trained Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
- Auditor for SingerLewak, LLC and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC
- Accounting and Finance Leader at The Walt Disney Company
- Director of Client Services and Recruiting for a local consulting firm
- Holistic Nutrition Certification
- Fluent in German, English and Cantonese
Outside of school and work experiences, Vanessa’s curiosity led her through additional activities such as:
- Reading books
- Attending seminars
- Completing online courses
- Learning from mentors and peers
Her mentoring experience include:
- The Walt Disney Company – Controllership Mentor
- Asian American Professional Association – Career Mentor
- California State University, Los Angeles – Accounting and Career Mentor
- Various other unofficial mentoring relationships about life, career advancements, health, finance, soft skills etc.
Vanessa hopes to share her curiosity and the knowledge she acquired with our teens and young adults as they start their journey on becoming true adults. She envisions that through “1st Mentor Street”, they have a chance to avoid pitfalls and get a head start in life from learning about the experience of others.
My Story
“Hello Everyone! I’m Vanessa Yang, the CEO and Founder of “1st Mentor Street”. Fancy title, isn’t it? I’m basically the person who had the idea to start and who has the honor of running this company.
Growing up in Germany to an immigrant family with Chinese origin, but being born in Vietnam, I had the advantage of being influenced by values and traditions from more than one culture. As a result, I learned to take the best of both (Eastern and Western) worlds. After high school, I decided to come to the United States to learn English, the full immersion way. I neither knew a single person, nor was I comfortable with holding a conversation beyond “How are you?”, but I was excited about the diversity in people, food and entertainment as well as the gorgeous weather Los Angeles has to offer. I know, people called me crazy or brave, depends on how you see it.”
Vanessa’s Story Continued:
“Right after my ESL (English as a Second Language) program, I decided to attend university in California. Eventually, I started my career in the United States, first as an auditor for prestigious public accounting firms, then as an accountant for Mickey Mouse, followed by a job for a small company leveraging the relationships I have been building throughout the years. I am now super excited to be on a journey of building my own business positively impacting the futures of our youth.
Throughout my career and life, I have always enjoyed learning and finding ways to work smarter not harder. I realized that the way I was raised by my immigrant parents and what I was taught in school didn’t prepare me for the success at work and in life that I was looking for. It was really through my internal curiosity and continuously seeking answers for my many questions that have now brought me on that right path although it took many twists and turns.
Through “1st Mentor Street”, I want to share what I have learned with our teens and young adults. They will be the equivalent to the “younger me”, the person I would love to mentor and have a conversation with if I had the chance to travel in a time machine. Can you imagine what a difference that would have made in my life today?
Do I have ALL the answers now? Probably not. I am a lifelong learner, and I believe I know how to be resourceful and to find answers. The younger version of me didn’t even know what I didn’t know. So, I am here to be your youth’s 1st mentor, to guide them and bring up questions around topics that they might not even realize they need to ask. This way, they will be able to take short cuts in their own lives, avoid numerous painful mistakes others make and reach their dreams and goals so much faster.
- Imagine how their life would be if they could achieve certain life success milestones 10 or 15 years ahead of time.
- Imagine they learn how to set up their money so that it can work for them instead of fearing to not have enough.
- Imagine they have the skills to set and actually achieve their goals rather than hoping, wishing and dreaming.
- Imagine they are prepared and have insights to building a successful career right from the starting line.
- Imagine they set up the right health habits early on vs. having to struggle to heal chronic illnesses some people develop over time.
- Imagine they acquire general knowledge and surprise their network with their understanding of different topics.
While I’m their guide and mentor, they are the hero of their own story, so the question is – Are they ready to start writing their one of a kind success story?”
Listen to our latest podcast!
This educational and thought provoking podcast explores soft skills, life lessons and general knowledge for teens and young adults that they can listen to by themselves or together with their parents.