- Antoinette Rodney, and I'm the founder
of The Word Changes,
and I'm here today with Rosi Ross.
We're here for a conversation about living
a courageous life.
Rosi Ross is a transplant from Venezuela
to Panama to China.
She moved to China without knowing anyone,
without knowing the language,
and she is doing her thing.
So, you know, this year our theme for The Word Changes
is live courageously, and that's exactly what Rosi Ross
is doing.
So I wanted to highlight her.
I wanted to bring her on
to have a conversation with her,
'cause how many of us are out there wanting
to live out our dreams, wanting to live out our passions,
but we have fear in our lives?
And I think it's great when we hear from real people
to hear what they have done.
And then we can be inspired.
So I'm hoping that this conversation
is an inspiration to all of you.
And for those that do not know The Word Changes,
we are the fashion brand that motivates.
We use one word to be able to encourage
and motivate people to live out their true life.
So each of our products have one word on it,
we're on all of social media as The Word Changes.
And we have a website, wordchanges.com.
So, without further ado,
I'm going to introduce you guys to Rosi Ross.
Ay!
- Hello, everybody, Rosi Ross here.
Good morning from China.
Let's start saying that as for the cause,
The Word Changes,
I'm a fashionista.
I was born in in Venezuela,
then moved to Panama for eight years.
And now I've been living in China for one year
and eight months.
And I've been doing my journaling,
I've been doing my stuff.
And I look also to inspire people
and to bring people to jump into whatever
they want to do.
Taking resources, talking to people around.
I do also Ted X,
I talk about all these topic most of the time.
And besides inspiring I also look to try
to get people into do actions.
So they really want to achieve
and have the changes they want to have in their lives.
- Awesome, awesome.
And we're gonna dive into a bunch of those things.
- Oh, yes, of course.
- So you say, okay, that you were born in Venezuela.
So how did you end in up in China?
So you're in Venezuela,
I know you ended up in Panama at some time.
And then now in China.
How did you get from Venezuela to Panama?
How about that.
- Okay, when I was 18 years old,
I was studying English in San Francisco.
And troubles started with the political issues
in Venezuela.
And I remember when I was going to university
and they stopped currency exchange,
so you couldn't exchange your money
in any ways anywhere.
So my dad called me one day,
and he told me like, hey, you have to come back next week.
I was about to die or kill people. (laughs)
So I went back, and when I get back,
I really, really want to live outside.
I wanted to move forward.
I wanted to keep going for my dreams.
And I remember at the time
there was a lot of people interested
in Panamanian economy.
And I went to Panama for five days with my father.
And then I was like you know what, I'm moving here.
Because everybody speaks Spanish.
You have USD currency.
I mean, I can finish university here.
So let's do this.
And then I moved to Panama.
I planned to finish university,
but I finished staying there eight years.
So now I'm more like Panamanian kind of swag.
(both laugh)
- That's nice, but that must have been a shock,
your father calling you one day and saying,
you have to come back next week.
Like--
- Yeah, but
I don't know, people, you grow from challenging.
Life is going to challenge you in some way.
And no matter what you're doing.
So I think the way things come out,
you have to look out for the opportunities
to moving forward no matter how bad is the situation
around you.
If you really want to do things,
I think that's the right kind of mindset you should have.
- Right, right.
So you move back to Venezuela, and then how long
did you stay there before you get to Panama?
- One year.
- One year, okay.
So during that time, then go to Panama,
and what do you do there?
Are you studying, you said you went to school there.
What kind--
- Yes, I finished university.
- Oh, okay, what did you study?
- Communications.
I focused myself on on TV production and cinema production.
I wanted to be on CNN
when I was younger, so I was like, okay,
this is going to be nice, I'm going to do this.
I'm going to be on TV.
So I enjoyed. (laughs)
- Right, that's awesome, that's awesome.
So then how did you end up getting the desire
to move to China?
- Well, let's say that I like fashion, a lot.
And I always liked
going to malls and seeing what kind of things looked nicely.
But they are cheap, but they look expensive.
So when I was in university, I was have this,
let's buy something, but let's buy something
that looks really expensive.
But it's really cheap.
And then I started reading about things made in China.
And my family always encouraged me to have my own job,
my own business.
And I was interested about how things are done
because everything that we see, our car, a chair,
everything is made somewhere.
And actually everything is made in China.
- A lot, yeah.
- One of the first reasons that got me
like, okay, I really want to go there and see it.
But then you have the language issue that is like, okay,
if you don't speak Mandarin or Chinese,
it's going to be tough for you being around.
- Right.
- But once you're here, it's like,
that's in your mind.
But once you are there, everything becomes easy.
You just have to give it a try.
- Right, but what did,
when you actually made the decision,
or I guess, how did you finally say I'm going to do this?
Like, I'm going to go to China?
'Cause it's one thing to think about something
and have a desire, and it's another thing to say,
you know what, I'm gonna go for it.
- Okay, it was like three year ago.
At the time, I really loved my job on TV.
But you know when you have that feeling that you really
want to move forward and that you really can achieve
the best version of your yourself doing whatever
you have to do to do it, I was like, okay,
because I really wanted to come here to study Chinese.
But studying Chinese here in Shanghai is really expensive.
So I was like, you know what,
if we don't have the money to go to China
to study Chinese, I'm going to find a job.
Because one thing or another, I'm going to find a job.
And then I started looking for a job.
And I remember at the time, there was a lot, a lot of hype
on LinkedIn to find a job online.
So I was like, okay, maybe if LinkedIn
needs to have a trade.
So actually, at the time, and luckily,
LinkedIn has an algorithm just like Facebook or Instagram
for you finding a job.
So I started joining myself all these webinars
about how to have the right
profile in LinkedIn so that you can get got by a company.
And I started editing and stuff,
and a company found me on LinkedIn.
And I remember at the time I only have 800
on my bank account.
And I was still saving money to study Chinese,
but the company was, okay, we're going to relocate you.
We'll pay you all the expenses, and you come to China.
And I was like, hell yeah, this is happening,
I'm doing this. (laughs)
And my family panicked, honestly,
my father, everybody was like,
okay, and I was like, no, I mean, I have everything I have.
Buy a ticket, I'm going to have house paid.
I'm going there.
But then, when I arrive here,
I arrive through the factory city of China.
And then life is really tough in there.
So I was like--
- Before you get there, though,
when you're on LinkedIn looking for these,
I guess, are you putting in Chinese manufacturing companies?
There's so many people out there that are--
- I think things work out for opportunity
and luck sometimes.
Like, if you are looking for something,
the right opportunity is not going to arrive.
The only thing that is going to arrival is opportunity.
This is not going to be the perfect opportunity
to do things in life ever.
So the only things you have is a chance.
So I only put my name in other Chinese,
chad like, sourcing chad, or marketing China,
jobs in China, and this company actually found me on a
job in China.
They did a post, and I just replied.
And replied me it two weeks later.
- Ah, I see.
- It was just a match of luck.
I'm going to try all the chances I have to do this.
- Right, right.
So that is important,
that you put yourself out there.
'Cause it's one thing to want to do something.
And it's another thing to actively take steps to do it.
So it's not like it just fell into your lap.
You actually were working, you know?
So, okay, they contact you, and what kind of job is it?
What's the job description?
- It was a marketing manager in a healthcare company.
They did healthcare products, food care products.
And I had no idea about that.
And my boss at the time, he was like,
you have to do some marketing programs for us.
But I've been in fashion since I'm 20.
I have no idea about how foot products work.
So I spend two months or three months reading
all about the foot and how the foot works.
- Hey, education.
Yeah, I know.
- Exactly, exactly.
And then I was like, okay, I think I'm ready for this.
But when I look back now,
it was weird. (laughs)
But you have to do things.
I mean, if you really want to get there,
you are going to have certain kind of situation
in the way that are not directly related,
but they are going to teach you things you need
to understand and the things you need to be there.
- Right, right.
- So if you are not willing to do all those things,
I don't think you are going to arrive there.
So, I'm happy I did it.
- Oh, it's putting in the work.
So, okay, you convince your family to let you go,
you go to China.
Now, does this company meet you at the airport
with a driver?
How did you--
- Yes, there was a driver.
Yeah, actually, they send a guy with your name in English
and stuff, I remember I didn't see it.
I was super, super nervous.
The (speaking Chinese) airport is like
one of the most transit airports in south of China.
So there was millions of people walking around.
And everybody was looking like the same people, so. (laughs)
- Yeah, yeah.
- It was super weird.
- It's a different place, it's a different place.
Did your driver speak English?
- No, any, any, any English.
Any English.
And I remember, I ran to the airport,
and the first thing was look around to buy a sim card.
And when I went to talk with the guy,
he was like, oh, no, no, no, I don't speak Chinese.
No English, no English.
And I spent like 20 minutes trying to buy car
and finally did.
And I text everyone like, hey, I'm fine, I'm alive.
I'm good, I'm good.
- It's real, it's legitimate.
The company exists!
Yeah, no, no, that's funny.
That's funny.
So you lived in what town?
Did you end up actually arriving to?
- Dongguan.
- Dongguan.
So that's where the company headquarters was?
- Yes, actually most of the companies
that make plastic
and also healthcare and things for the body,
they are in there.
It's a city where all the things you see is factories.
It's the biggest city about factories in China.
- So it is true what they say
that China is divided into districts
where they do specific factory operations.
So one could be making men's ties,
another one, leather goods.
So you were in the town where plastic.
- Exactly,
and it's right what you are saying.
When you are here, every region have their
own kind of products because when the factory bloom start
many thousands of years ago,
people work around like,
in my city, it's only, I don't know, wood,
so let's make paper.
So I call you like, hey, Antoinette, let's make paper
because you have wood in your backward, me too.
Okay, let's make paper.
So we open a factory.
And that's all the regions are made,
because they have their own sources around them.
- Right, right, so okay, now you get picked up
at the airport, you're in this factory town.
So they set you up with a place to stay, I guess?
- Yes, yes.
Most of the Chinese companies,
they relocate you in a hotel
because it's a well common
thing to do for them.
And then they take you the next day to the factory
or your office, and then they introduce you your co-workers.
And most of the time, you are going
to live with your co-workers.
You are going to share the apartment
or the place of someone.
And at the time, I remember
there was this Colombian girl
that is one of my best friends now.
She's still living in Dongguan.
And she looked at me, and she was like
I knew she was arrived three days before I did.
So I was like, hey, are you from Colombia?
And she was like, yes, you're the girl from Panama, right?
And I was like, yes, and she told me,
I think your my roommate.
And I was like, okay, latinas of power.
And she was like, yes. (both laughing)
- So how many of you came from different countries?
- All my team was from different countries.
Indonesia,
Colombia, one guy from United States,
one guy from
Europe, I think Russia, and me.
- Interesting.
But it's so funny because a lot of things
are made in China cheap.
And so, that's why a lot of people shop in China.
But your salary, I'm wondering, 'cause labor is
kind of cheap, so how was your salary.
You don't have to give the dollar figure.
But was it more than they paid Chinese workers?
- Yes, a lot.
- Okay.
- Yes, I mean, in general, first because nobody wants
to come to China.
And I think there is a lot of misunderstanding
about life in China.
Most of the people say, oh, Rosi, you live there.
People eat dog, everybody look the same.
They look like, people have a lot of misunderstanding
about life in China.
- Right.
- But from the perspective of foreigners
amongst the quantity of Chinese that are here,
there are nearly any foreigner in here.
- Right.
- So, nobody wants to come here,
and second, Chinese companies, even though there's
a lot of people, it's just a few people who is,
they have a good city to be the manager
or the president or to have high positions.
So most of the companies, they bring people from abroad
so they can have high positions in the company
because most of the people who has the possibility
to study outside of China,
they decided to stay outside.
They usually don't come back,
unless they have the possibility of starting
their own factory or their own business.
- Right, right.
- Yes. - Oh, man.
So you get there, do they give you a list of the grocery
stores and where you can buy different things?
- Not at all. (laughs)
Not at all.
Natalie, my friend from Colombia,
she had been here in China already
for two years at the time.
She went to study in Beijing.
And she teach me around basic words,
like how to tell the guy from the taxi to stop.
This, that, in Chinese, how to say no, how to say yes.
How to take the bus.
How to pay the phone, because everything is made
with technology here.
So you have to understand how to use your phone
in Chinese because many of the things are not in English.
So she teach me actually how to master my phone
so I can master the other things (laughs)
I have.
- Right, right, so it's funny because I lived in Sweden
for like a year and a half.
And although they speak English,
you will see signs in Swedish.
So it's like I kind of had to learn the key words,
like what a restroom was, the train, which direction.
So I can totally understand just getting those main things
that you need to function.
You know? - Yes.
- So nattily, was she also, where is she from originally
as well?
She's from Colombia.
- Oh, so she was, oh, before this job,
she was actually in Beijing.
- In Beijing, yes.
- Oh, oh, she enjoys China, I see.
- Yes.
- So now you're there, they don't give you the list.
Your friend is kind of cluing you in on what to do.
Okay, you're working, right?
So what's the environment like at work?
Do you like your co-work--
- Tough.
- Yeah?
- Tough.
I arrived to a traditional Chinese company.
So, here you have traditional, middle traditional,
and startups, foreigner companies.
So in the traditional companies,
the boss is the boss, and you are the employee.
So you can not say anything against the boss.
If the boss says that is,
no matter if he is wrong, you have to say yes, that is.
No matter how wrong that is.
So it was really hard for me because sometimes
my boss took decisions that wasn't right for the team
or wasn't right for the goals we have as a team.
So, of course, I'm western, I'm going tell you
that this is not right.
And my friends were like, oh, no, no, no, Rosi.
We know you are the manager, but you cannot say that
to the boss, because he is not going to like it.
And I was like, dude, but this is not right at all.
She shouldn't be doing this this way.
We should do it that way.
- Right.
- And then, when you talk to other people
who have been in the same situation,
you understand that is their culture.
The traditional culture in here is like that.
The bosses and the people who is in the upper levels,
they are here, and the people who is the worker,
they down here, and I tell you what to do,
and you just do it without discussing
if it's right or wrong.
- Yeah, yup.
- So I was like you know what, this is not
going to be happening, I'm getting my ass out of here.
And I was like, I'm giving this job six months.
And then this is not going to work.
- Ah, so--
- At six months in there, I was like, bye, guys.
You are my team, I really like you.
They are all my friends now.
But I was like this is not happening.
- So why did you leave in-- - So I changed my job.
- Why six months?
How long was it, I guess, when you first realized
like this is not gonna work?
- Three months.
Three months, and I see realized it because friends
were like, if you're still having that attitude,
we are going to get so fired. (laughs)
And I was like,
okay, I should learn, but it's really hard
to learn how to be,
when you come from a culture when you are used
to give your opinions and try to improve other people's
group, like your team,
or give value to your ideas or what you do.
It's really hard to get use to say,
I'm going to shut my mouth and say
whatever other people say I should do.
That's not me, at all.
So I was like, this is not for me.
This is not going to work out.
So I decided to quit.
- Yeah, so how did you tell them?
- 'Cause you're there on a work visa, right?
- Yes.
- So how did you break the news to them?
- No, actually, when I arrived here,
Panama has good relationships with Taiwan.
So most of the countries that have good relationship
with Taiwan doesn't have Chinese office.
Because Taiwan doesn't belong to China.
- Right.
- It is an independent country.
So when I came here, I have a business visa.
I did my visa in Malaysia at the time.
And my boss was like, it's okay.
So I was like if I have a business visa
and this thing is not going to work out,
I'm going to quit this thing,
and then I'm figuring things out.
- Right.
- And from my previous experience
getting in travel,
I think that you have to go there,
and then you see what you do.
But you have to go there first.
- Right
- First.
And when you are there, you say, okay,
this is the real situation, not the situation I thought.
So now I'm going to take actions around it.
Because most of the time, we think about the situation
and it's not the real situation.
Things are not going to be like that once you are there.
So you have to go there first.
- Yeah.
- So I started looking a job again,
and I was like, I'm going back to my fashion.
I'm going back to my styling.
I'm going to go back to the things I have always done
because this is good, but this is not what I want to do.
- Right.
- And another company found me on LinkedIn
here in Shenzhen where I live.
And I really like the location because it's
only 45 minutes by ferry to Hong Kong.
And this company has a lot of people working on it.
It's list on the market.
They do a lot of fashion.
And they sell on e-commerce.
So I was like, okay, it's related to what I do.
I will take the job, and I take it.
- Oh, okay, so they were based in Shenzhen.
- Yes.
- Oh, okay, okay.
And you wanted to be close to Hong Kong.
- Yes.
- Okay, and what's so nice about Hong Kong?
- Everything. (laughs)
Because when you cross living inside China
it's parallel to everything else.
Once you cross the border,
the world is different.
That is not,
that is not going to compare.
Once you cross the border to Hong Kong,
the people is different, the mindset is different,
the environment is different.
The technology is different.
You have free Internet.
You don't have to use VPN to make calls.
And you can talk openly to people.
People don't look at you weird because you are different.
So being in China is living in a parallel universe
from the rest.
From the rest of the world.
- Right, so when you're in Hong Kong,
there are other Latinos around that you see
in numbers, or are you still kind of--
- Hong Kong is actually really, really, really
international, really, really, you see people from
all the nationalities, all the colors,
all the shades, people speak British English,
which is really funny, because seeing someone
who is really Chinese
and speaking to you in British, it's really funny.
But it's a western country,
it's a total western country, nothing to do with China.
- Oh, okay, and when you say it has free Internet,
so when you are right now, 'cause you're still
not in Hong Kong, you have to pay for your Internet.
Explain that, some people might not understand.
- In China, there is a lot websites around 250,
300 websites that are blocked
because China is a communist country.
So the government controls everything.
So you cannot open Facebook.
You cannot open Instagram.
You cannot open Google.
You cannot open CNN.
There is a lot of websites that are blocked.
So when you go to look for information,
you have to look on the local website.
And of course it's all controlled by the government.
So there's a lot of information that you are not
going to find out.
What you're doing here is you buy your VPN,
you pay for your VPN, and then when you activate
on your mobile phone or your computer,
you have freedom on the Internet.
And sometimes the connection sucks.
So no matter how hard you try to open it,
it's not going to work out.
So it's complicated.
- Yeah, so why not live in Hong Kong then?
- Because Hong Kong is six times more expensive
than Shenzhen.
Than China, in general.
There is a lot of people, their property is real expensive.
Like you need to earn around 3,000, 4,000 USD a month
to have a small space.
And I'm not talking to you about an apartment,
I'm talking to you about sharing a space
or having a small little apartment.
So it's not,
if you are relocated by a company,
it's a good shot.
But if you are trying to do something for yourself,
it's not a good shot at all.
- Yeah, yeah, makes sense.
- And lifestyle is expensive, going out is expensive.
Food, international food in here, no matter if it's China
or if it's Hong Kong is more expensive
because everything else is Chinese.
- Yeah.
- If you know how to cook Chinese,
you are going to save a lot, but if you're not,
get ready if it. (laughs)
- Wow.
Yeah, recently, I was reading an article about
coffin houses in Hong Kong.
And I couldn't believe it that they were saying that
the cost of living is so high that people
are living in really, really small spaces
because they can't afford anything.
I was looking at some of the pictures,
and I was like, whoa,
I mean, families living in spaces that are
no bigger than my bathroom.
Wow.
- Yes.
- So that was just interesting to me.
But what about the whole air quality in Hong Kong?
Because they have those fogs and everything.
- In Hong Kong, it's fine, because it's an island.
It's on the sea.
In my city, we have high seasons,
that is, two weeks before every holiday,
the city goes crazy because all the factories
start rushing production.
But nothing gets worse than Beijing.
Beijing is crazy.
When you go there, it's surreal.
The first time I went there it was really bizarre for me
because you see all these people with the masks,
and you have all kind of mask.
If you want a Hello Kitty mask,
you can find a Hello Kitty mask.
If you want a really fancy Swarovski mask,
we have the Swarovski mask for you.
Because it's normal having pollution,
and people get used to you,
and when I talk with Natalie, my friend,
that was my first experience in Beijing.
She was like, girl, sometimes
I couldn't go out of home and I had to go to work
or I had to go to university,
but honestly, I couldn't, because the pollution was like
you cannot see the building in front of you.
- Wow, wow.
- And they have these red, blue, green
stages, and when it's red, it's you can go out,
but it's over amount of pollution,
when it's blue, you have to wear double mask.
And when it's like another color,
it has radiation, so people cannot go out of the house
for 24 hours until the situation gets better.
So nothing gets worse than Beijing.
- So they cancel work when it gets that bad?
- Yes, actually two weeks ago, that happened.
They forbidden people to go out of their houses for two days
because the pollution was crazy.
- Wow, so you always need to be stocked up with food
or something just in case, right?
(laughs)
- You have to have some snacks around.
- Yeah, wow.
So that is, that's just amazing.
So, okay, to switch back to this company
finds you in Shenzhen, I know I'm saying it wrong.
And you decide to take the job in the fashion.
So what happens next?
You accept the position.
- And then it was the same stuff again.
Because it's a traditional mindset in here.
That's the normal mindset around.
So I started doing my stuff.
I started learning things about e-commerce.
And I start learning about sourcing.
And I start learning about tools and resources
you need to understand and things you have to do
in order to have your own business.
- I see.
- Eight months later, I was going to here,
and things are not going to work out again.
So I quit.
And I told me friends to have me around.
And now I'm starting my own business.
I'm getting asked a lot to give workshops
about entrepreneurship and how to start your e-commerce.
How to make business on Instagram.
I also have my sunglasses in Panama.
We're starting selling now.
And things are going not that easy,
because one of the life of entrepreneurship
is that you have to quit your job
to live the life you want.
But when you're there, that's not true.
So, many friends of mine in Hong Kong,
many of my related, who are also entrepreneurs
and they also own their own startups.
They have been like, hey, Rosi, can you give a workshop
about how to be safe
when you are starting your startup with yourself.
Because other things we read on the Internet
might or might not be true.
And most of the people follow what they see on the Internet.
Like, hey, I'm going to do this.
I'm going to do that.
When this comes to practice, nothing is going to work out
as you think it was going to work out.
- Yeah, yeah.
- So now I'm developing my own product.
I'm getting my resources, and I'm working things out.
- That's fabulous, do you have a partner?
Or are you just doing it all by yourself?
- Yes, I have actually here in China,
I found a mentor.
So I've been learning a lot about how culture
and business work.
Because here it's more about your
how do I say that in English,
your certification about what you're doing.
You need to prove to people
that you know how to do this.
So people, they want to validate what you're doing.
So you have to validate first,
and then you talk to people.
'Cause the other thing about Chinese is that,
your age, that determines a lot what you're doing.
So most of the times when you are going to talk
to someone about business, the people is like
no, no, you're only 20s.
You don't know anything about business,
because you have 20.
No matter how much experience you have,
because that's their local mindset.
So I've been learning a lot about how
really, really the mindset of their culture works
for you wheen you are entrepreneur.
And from the rest, I have my partners on my business.
- So how did you find this mentor?
- I've been giving the talks a lot,
and I like to give public speaking.
I don't like inspiring people
because inspirations works for some people,
but some people not.
But the only thing that works for people is action.
Doing stuff, whatever you have to do, you live to do it.
No matter what it is, you should be doing something
about the situation that you like or that dream
you have to achieve or that goal you want to get.
So I went a lot of public speaking.
And I met a lot of people who is related to government,
to government affairs,
to magazines, and then
this guy was giving a speech,
just the same day I was giving a speech in the same event.
And he's half Hong Kongese, half Chinese,
and we clicked a lot because his wife
is really fashionable.
And women who is on her 40s and is Chinese
looks fashionable, that's a lot.
Chineses don't have that.
And if someone is from China and is listening
to me right now, I'm sorry, but you know that's true.
(laughs) And they, I mean, the lack of taste for Chinese
in general, even when you work out, it's like
my eyes bleed.
So it's really hard.
And we start talking about fashion,
and then I meant my mentor, and we start going
for certain kind of meetings.
And if other people is interested in that topic,
they can jot down any questions around that.
Having a mentor is one of the things
that I recommend to people the most,
someone who is not your family,
someone who is not related to you.
Someone who is going to give you the options,
and you can work the options around your own skills
or what you want to do,
that's really important.
- That's great, that's great that you can meet.
And I presume he speaks English
since your Mandarin--
- Yes. (laughs)
- So, okay, so now
you're in Shenzhen,
you don't have that job, so you have to find your
own housing now, right?
Because-- - Yes.
- --you don't have a company that's paying for it.
So how did you go about doing that?
- Here's a lot of, we have this chat that we chat in.
We don't use What's App in here.
We use We Chat that is created for Shenzhen
that is the biggest technology company in China.
So in We Chat, you have everything.
You don't have to go out of We Chat.
In We Chat, we have all of the notifications.
If you are selling something, you sell it in We Chat.
If you want to meet people, you meet people
in the We Chat groups.
And if you want to pay for your house, for your phone,
for your flight ticket, you do it in We Chat.
You don't need to go out of We Chat
to live life.
- Wow.
- So you ask if the groups, like, hey,
I'm looking for an apartment to rent,
or I'm looking for a roommate,
I'm selling stuff and people will reply you
right away because we have topic groups.
So you have like, I don't know, Latinos in China.
- Oh, okay.
- So most of all for foreigners,
so you can communicate, and actually in the street
you can find a lot of people like small
housing companies.
In all the neighbors because they take care of you
renting the apartment, plus you registering
in the local, because you must register
on the local police.
- Oh, why?
- Because you have to.
(both laugh)
- I was talking that yesterday
with one of my Chinese friends.
She's from Canada, and she was like,
we never do that in Canada, that's our rule,
because actually police come to your house
and they knock your door, and they check your papers
once a year randomly to see if you are registered
on the local police.
- Oh, wow.
- So you must register in the local police.
- So you have to keep your papers.
You have to keep your papers.
- Yes, you have to keep your papers, yes.
And a lot of people get like, how do I say that?
They send people to their countries when they're not
registered.
You have to be registered.
You have to be legal.
- Wow, that's very interesting.
So when you go to the police, you put down that you're
like an entrepreneur and what you're doing in China?
- Yes, yes, everything.
What time you arrive, what time are you, like,
they give you a permit for one year.
And where do you work, what's your address,
what are you doing here?
What's your type of visa.
All that kind of stuff, everything.
They will check you everything out of you.
- Oh, my goodness, okay.
So they help you get registered,
and it sounds like you're talking about what we call
a realtor in the United States.
- Yes.
- Okay, so they help you get registered,
and then they help you find an apartment,
and then how do you pay?
- You pay with your phone.
- Okay, that's cool.
- Yeah, so you have your monthly rate.
And you send the girl the money by the phone.
And that's it, you pay your house.
- Gotcha, and what happens if you don't pay?
Who comes to find you?
- No, actually,
we use key key, how do I say that?
Digital keys in here.
We don't use key, we don't use metal keys.
That's too old fashion.
We use bar code (laughs),
we use bar code.
So your apartment main door has a bar code.
If someone of the people who is looking at us
have some stories about ones that I came home
and actually the door, the bar code, the battery run out.
So I couldn't get into the apartment,
'cause the battery was out.
- Right.
- But you put your code,
and then you get into the apartment.
And every, if these share,
every room has their own code.
So you have your own code.
If you don't pay, they block the door remotely.
They don't have to come here.
- So do they give you like five days to pay or something?
Because--
- No, girl.
This is too western.
This is too western.
(both laughing)
- No, that's it, if you don't pay today,
you're out of the room.
- You're out, you're out.
Sleep in the door with the dog.
- Wow, in the United States, we call that due process,
where you get an opportunity to go into court
and to explain your side,
but in China, no.
- No, no, you don't go to the court.
You go to court here when it's something like
really, really, really, really bad.
From the rest, they have their own stuff.
They have their own ways to put order around
without you noticing.
- Oh, my goodness.
So then, okay, that's how they deal with apartments.
With the grocery store, going there, buying food,
do you do that on your phone too?
Or are you paying--
- You can do that on the Internet.
You can buy your food on the Internet,
but you can also go into the grocery store.
I prefer going to the grocery store
because you don't know what food is real or not.
So if you buy on the Internet,
you have many shops are selling products
and the picture might be good, but maybe what you're buying
is not real, so you have to be careful about,
well, we all know we have to be careful
about buying things from China.
- Whoa.
- You have to be careful about what you're buying
if you are buying food, even.
- So, okay, now, yes, we hear about counterfeit stuff
coming from China, and I'm in the U.S.,
I hear about that.
But you're saying in China, like Chinese to Chinese
or within the country, you have a lot of counterfeit.
- Yes.
- Going on.
That's very, very interesting to me.
- For everything, for everything.
For food, for bargains,
for everything.
- Can you think of a situation where
there was something that kind of shocked you
in terms of counterfeit and how they?
- I have a couple of stories.
Well, I can say the first time we went
to the foods markets in Dongguan.
I saw, you know this fake
berries your mom used to put in.
Like, if you have your grandma,
for sure she has like
bake, well, I don't know if United States,
but in Latin culture, we always have someone around
an aunt or a grandma who has fake fruits in the house.
- Oh, yes.
- You know, they have these blueberries, uh-huh.
We went to the market, and we're walking there,
and I was like Natalie went to this small shop,
and then I started realizing everything was looking fake.
And I asked her, and she said no, that's real,
but they inject their fruit so it can look bigger
like it's not organic.
It's processed, but they inject it,
so all the fruits were looking so weird.
And at the time, I remember I was scared.
I was really scared of buying fruits.
Right.
- The second time was one time that I was buying rice
and they shut done this factory
because they were selling half rice
half plastic that look like rice.
- Whoa.
- Yes.
So.
So.
- You have to be,
yeah, you have to be very careful.
- Yes, you have to be really careful.
Yes, those hangovers with fake alcohol
is one of the worst things you can have in your life.
You can die.
- Yeah, I can--
- You can die, yes.
- I believe that, wow.
- Yes, many fake things.
- Yeah, what about pocket books
and stuff like that for the fashionistas
that might be watching, in terms of--
- You find a lot of good things.
I have a lot, I'm not going to lie,
I have a couple of bags from Sara,
but it's like super cheap.
But you have to go to the factory market at night.
And what happens in the counterfeiting,
they are discovered by working in the factory.
And I know how that life in the factory works.
It's that sometimes you have a lot of
production to do, maybe 10,000 bags,
maybe 20,000 pairs of shoes.
And not all the products are going to pass
a quality control.
So when they don't pass a quality control,
me, as a factory owner, I'm not going to crash it.
Or I'm not going to burn it.
- Right.
- I tell my employees to go outside
of the factory and sell them.
- Yeah.
- So I remember every Friday afternoon when I was living
in Dongguan, I make a walk on the factory,
it was all the factories outside,
all the workers of the factory was selling
the things that didn't pass the quality control outside.
- Ah.
- So we buy iPhone chargers for only $1.
Or a pair of shoes for $3.
- Wow.
- And I have a Sara bag
that I buy it for only $8
because it's not that they're bad made,
and it's not counterfeit, it's that if I have 15
that didn't pass the quality control
they prefer to sell it
than to burn it, or what am supposed to do with that?
If you see it from the point of view of the owner
of the factory, it's not good for brands,
it's not good for brands.
But how can you,
I don't know like, I don't know.
I don't own factory yet, so when I own it,
I will tell you guys.
- I hear you, yeah.
'Cause it sounds like defective products
that they can't sell for full price
so they sell it for cheap.
- Yes.
And in Hong Kong, for the fashionistas out there
who are looking this, in the border of Hong Kong
and Shenzhen, there is a really, really famous mall.
They only sell original branded products.
All the companies really famous for selling
high-end goods.
You see high-end shops everywhere.
Just ask where, you can see Louis Vuitton shops.
Maybe tumey mune shops in the same store
because there is a lot of people all the year.
So they have to shop all the items
that are not on the season, they send it to this shop
and they sell it maybe 40% discount, 70% discount,
because they want to rid all the things
that are original.
But they are not on the season.
- Makes sense. - So that's a good place.
- Yeah, yeah, no that makes, they do that here,
so I can understand that.
But how do you get around?
Do you drive?
Do you take public transportation?
- No, we have public transportation,
and the public transportation here,
I'm gonna say it is really good.
It's really, really good.
You have the ferry, the bus,
I have to say that getting a driving license is really hard.
If you are a foreigner western,
and you have international license, it's easy.
But then you need to understand the signals in Chinese.
So at the end of the day, it's not that easy.
And for getting the local one who is
going to the Chinese shop and telling the guy,
I want to take a driving test.
You have to do five driving tests.
And you have to pay all of them.
And then you get a license.
- You mean like so you go once, you do a drive,
then you go back and do another test drive?
- Yes.
- Wow.
- You have to go every two weeks.
- Wow.
Is it really like heavy traffic?
Is it really a hard place to drive?
- Not really.
Not really, most of the people, they have bikes.
- Oh, okay.
- Most of the people they have bikes or motor bikes.
- Interesting.
- Electric bikes.
All right, oh, that's interesting.
All right, well what about hospitals?
What if you get sick, what's the healthcare like over there?
- Well, about that,
I must say that this is most the traditional medicine
over here, so if you get sick, the doctor is going to say
make this tea for five days, and then you will get better.
And he's going to give you whatever plant he has in there
for you to try and drink.
You also have people believe a lot in the acupuncture
and all these treatments.
I have to say that I have gone a couple of sessions
and it's really good.
It's really, really good.
I don't like the tea, kind of
move because I don't know what plant they're giving to me,
and I don't know if it's original or not.
So (laughs)
but if you go to take
cupping or that kind of treatment is really good.
And it really works.
- You know, I am a big believer in the Chinese tea.
Like I drink it.
There's a doctor here in the area where I live
who's from China, he's an M.D.,
but he deals with eastern medicine, and I'm telling you,
I can tell you that it has
improved my life.
So I'm a believer.
And I like acupuncture and those things too,
so, hey. - Yes, it's really nice.
It's really nice.
And honestly, when you go out,
here is this (cuts out)
old ladies get together in the afternoon.
And many people I think they have seen
on the Internet, they get together in the afternoon,
they play music, and they dance on the street.
It's like a yoga session, but for grandmas.
And it's really (laughs)
it's really cool, I mean, you see all these ladies,
and sometimes you're like today I'm like too lazy
to go to the gym.
And all these ladies are like 70 years old,
and they're making all these poses.
And they actually do and they wake up really early
in the morning.
If you go out really early in the morning,
you see all the old people walking around,
they're really energetic.
I think it has something.
- Right.
It adds to the quality of life.
Yeah, no.
- Yes.
- So what's your favorite food
over there in China?
- Oh, my God.
Veggie dumplings.
I like frog legs.
- (laughs) How are they prepared?
How are they prepared, the frog legs?
The frog legs, actually, Chineses don't sell the animals.
They don't sell it dead.
- Oh.
- They sell you the animal alive.
Because they think that if they are selling you fish,
they tell you I cannot sell you a dead dead fish.
They tell you like that, dead dead fish,
because it's too dead, so you live to kill it,
and then cook it right away because it's made fresh.
So in most of the restaurants, when you going
to eat food from the sea, they have the animal alive.
So you choose it, and then they cook it right away.
So for the legs, I don't cook it at home.
But I know they sell like I can see the frog there
in the store every time I go to the store.
And I'm like, no thank you, I don't want to.
And people bring it alive.
You can see the guy with the frog alive going in there.
I'm like, no thank you.
It's not for me. But it's really good.
Frog legs is really good.
I like chicken legs also.
- Yeah, yeah. - With noodles.
That's more Taiwanese, but it's good.
But the food here is really spicy.
So you have to be careful.
- I love spicy food, love, love.
- Oh, okay, that's nice.
You have to come here then. (laughs)
- All right, so what do you do for fun over there
in China?
- I've been learning how to drive bike,
because at my age, I don't know how to drive a bike.
And everybody drive bike here.
So learning to do a sport,
people here like badminton a lot.
So I have my racket, we go to play badminton sometimes.
I like to go-- - That's interesting.
- Yes.
Here is really famous badminton.
Sometimes if we go to the Tech university,
the Shenzhen Tech university to play VR,
and games related to virtual reality
and all that kind of stuff.
- Wow.
So it's a university with just tech stuff?
- Yes, yes.
Only university for people who is into technology
and mathematics and physics to apply it on technology.
So you have the campus,
and you have a big,
we call it sometimes aerospace,
so you go there and you have a lot of games,
and all the startups are developing their own
games or their own technology products.
You can go and try them for free.
So we like to go there at least twice a month
to see what's around and to play.
And, I don't know, playing VR is pretty cool, so,
I love it. - Nice.
Yeah, that sounds cool.
So, okay, do you think, we're gonna wrap up soon,
but do you think China is a good place for millennials,
for people that are watching right now that are around
in their 20s and want to do something
different in life.
How do you think China would fair out for them?
- I think China is a place that everybody must come
at least once.
From the moment you arrive here,
you discover total different reality.
So I think open your eyes to a lot of things we don't
count from the personal point of view.
From the outside point of view,
and if you are looking to do business
or you are looking to grow a company,
also from the point of view from your company.
Because China is first, all business is related about money.
So when you come here, people will be like,
no, Antoinette, you have to be,
you have to be here because you want to make money.
And the other thing is that if you come here,
you are going to learn a lot about the future because
all the things that we use and all the things
that we see on the western world are in China already.
And there are many things that are being built.
And that has a lot to do with my idea
about the misconception of the things in China.
There are many really, really, really good things
that are being created here.
- Right.
- Most of the things created in here
are related to technology.
I really do believe that technology is the future.
And so, coming here, coming here is more like
an open eye about all the things that you will see in there
that doesn't exist nowadays.
And we have the opportunity to show it,
I mean, Chinese in general doesn't have the opportunity
to show it to the world because we have a restrict
communication with the outside world to call it like that.
- Yeah.
- So if you live here, you have a different point of view
about how things are going to work in the future.
- So if you come from all society,
where we are free and we can talk and we have
the power of communication and the power to peek,
then you have a really strong power of understanding
how things are going to work in the future
with all the knowledge we have already from the
western world that people don't have it here.
So I think if you are entrepreneur,
this is a good place to be.
- Right, right.
And yeah, it sounds like you're explaining as possibilities.
That's the word that keeps coming to my mind.
So that's interesting.
What about someone of color like yourself,
or myself, how would we fair in China?
- You will be like Beyonce in China.
(both laugh)
- I'd be popular?
Oh, okay, I'm going, I'm going.
- Yes! (laughs)
Yes, because actually there is only a few people.
So sometimes you are going to go out
and people will be like, hey, Rosi,
picture, picture, sorry, I want to take a picture
with you because I have seen someone
with your features before.
It's really funny,
but--
- So just random people coming up to you
just wanting to take your picture?
- Random people, random people.
Like westerns striking once again.
On the street, people will be like picture, picture.
Or they will show you the phone
so you will know that they want a picture with you.
But I can say that most of the time,
Chineses, they understand that our mindset
is really different from them in general.
So when you come here, they will be like, oh, no,
he is western.
So they're like that because they are from outside.
- Mm-hmm.
- They have this saying that is (speaking foreign language)
is that you are outsider.
So it means that you wasn't born here.
You don't have the local mindset, you are different
because you are from outside.
- Ah, I see.
- They understand that the way you look,
the way you behave, the way you dress
is different, and you can do that because you are westerner.
- Yeah, yeah.
- If you are Chinese, Chinese behave
in a total different way.
- Okay.
So they accept you for who you are, basically.
- Mmm, they
kind of, kind of.
- Tell me, tell me.
- A lot people would be like you're really weird,
and they will look at you like
there is something wrong with you
if you dress a certain way.
If you don't look like everybody,
it doesn't mean that you are wrong,
it means that for them, it is really weird
looking someone like that because most of the Chinese,
they are all educated to be the same.
So if you look different, it's like, oh, my God,
you look different.
Sometimes I make that eye on makeup,
and the girls look at me on the MTR like, huh?
I'm like, girl, this is not even full face.
You have seen nothing, you know.
So some things that for us are really normal,
I think you start appreciating them a little bit
because here it doesn't exist.
- Right. - It doesn't exist at all.
- Interesting.
- Most of all for education.
Chinese people is educated different.
- Wow, all right.
Well, before we close and you tell people
where they can find you
and what's going on next,
I want you to say, tell me,
what's your favorite word.
- My favorite word.
- You have one word, 'cause that's we're all about.
- Oh, one word.
What's my favorite word?
Wow.
I don't know, I always say
fantastic
or amazing.
But if I would call one word
that is my favorite word,
I would say that it would be-- - Or a word you live by.
- One word I live by.
- It could be your favorite word or--
- Dreaming, dreaming or doing.
I think dreaming is a word that describes me a lot
even though if I say people to do things
instead of saying things or instead of thinking
about things,
but I think you have to be, you have to,
you must have your own anchor to do stuff.
So you should have this goal in life that you want
to achieve.
And you have to work around that stuff.
No matter if it's a goal,
no matter if it's a project, no matter if
it's a dream, or whatever
you're doing,
I think you need to have a model.
To do, to create, to move forward.
And if you don't like the place where you are,
you like the situation you are living,
you are capable of doing things.
So now I like the word capable
now that I just say it.
(both laugh)
But I think life turns in a way that you will
always find, as I told you the possibility
to do things, but you need to believe that your goal,
you need to have faith in things you want to do.
Like I'm going to do this no matter what,
I'm going to get this thing done.
- Yeah.
- And then all the things follow through.
But you need to have the courage enough
to go for it and to go out of your comfort zone
and to think no matter what, I'm going to go there,
and when I'm there, I will see how I will solve it.
But if you don't put yourself outside,
you are not going to get what you want.
And many of us, we are really, we dream a lot,
and we have a lot of ideas,
but we are always scared about what other people
is going to think, what other people is going to say.
And, excuse me, all the things we see around
are made about an idea of something.
Our phone, our computer, the place we live.
The car we drive, (cuts out) made about an idea
about this things, but there was only a few people
who actually went out, and they say, hey,
I think there is an island outside of that long water
that I I don't see how it comes.
So how does was the world was discovered?
These people jump on the sheep, and they was like,
let's see what is on the other side.
And sometimes the only thing you have
to do is build your ship
and tell people that's what I want to do.
Do you want to jump in?
Or you're not.
And honestly, a lot of people is going to go
to jump in your ship.
So you better tell people this is what I want to do.
Do you want to jump in?
And you should go and tell everybody what you want to do
because I'm sure people is going to look
for your idea.
- Yeah, no, I agree.
If you build your ship correctly,
a lot of people will come on board.
But during this talk, the one word that sticks
out to me is flexibility, because you went to China,
you went for one job, that job wasn't to your liking.
You ended up trying something else,
but you're very flexible in as terms of
what is going to work for me?
And you're open to finding whatever that is.
And I think that's sometimes what people don't do.
They think, they have an idea of what it should look like.
And if it starts to look different,
they don't know what to do.
They're not able to be flexible.
- I think flexibility is more a quality like
I'm really stubborn.
Like me, if I want something, this thing
needs to happen.
And this is going to happen, like it or not.
This is going to happen, period.
But to get things happen, you need to develop
certain kind of qualities.
Like flexibility, like understanding, like accepting.
Like,
like believing.
Like (cuts out)
(cutting in and out)
for everyone.
For our better selves,
but we need to develop all these qualities today
because if not, you are not going to be that person,
no matter how much you want it.
- That's true.
- And sometimes it's hard for you,
sometimes it's hard for you to go into
a lot of bad situation.
But, excuse me, the person of you tomorrow
need to pass all this stuff in order to be
that human being tomorrow.
And I think that's part of
the dream people have.
Many people grow from wanting to achieve that dream
they have, and they need to learn how to manage
things around in order to get
where they want to be.
- On that note, all right, tell us where we can find you
and what you're up to next.
- You can find me on my Instagram,
Ms. Rosi Ross.
You can find me on LinkedIn, Tumblr,
on Pinterest, on Facebook,
You can find me on the Ted X community.
You can find me on YouTube.
And you can Google me also.
- Right, you've got a couple Ted X talks.
So they can Google to find this, correct?
- Yes, yes.
You can find all my Ted X.
I will be leave also next week on Saturday.
I have This Ted X in Beijing, so I'm going there.
And I will be trying to stream
some of the stuff I will be saying there in my presentation.
So you are all welcome to follow me.
And also to follow all the things I do here.
If you need any kind of
help, or you have any kind of questions about
how to move to China, how to move to China,
how to move out of your comfort zone,
how to start doing something,
how to tell other people, this is my ship, come join me.
You subscribe me.
- Sounds perfect.
And I told everyone we're on all social media channels
as The Word Changes.
We have a website, thewordchanges.com.
And we actually have a magazine.
So if you guys have not seen this magazine,
you need to--
- Join, join, join.
- Yeah, you can find the link on my Instagram page.
Otherwise, we're working on the second edition.
So stay tuned, all right, take care everyone.
Thanks for joining us.
- Thank you, thank you, guys.
Bye! - Bye!
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