Minor matters that matter more
A woman with imagination is not likely to consider computers to be cold and uninteresting. Not long after JPC got up and running, Jessica Chang hired an illustrator to create drawings based on things she imagined about computers. In her mind, computers would become completely wireless, they would rule every aspect of human life, they would even be able to fly…. She imagined all these things before there was any such thing as Yahoo! or Google.
Because she had a lot of creative ideas about computers in the style of science fiction literature, she found them endlessly fascinating, and ended up achieving a kind of success she had never dreamed of. However, even as sales revenues crossed the NT$10-billion threshold, and the business community was calling her “the female Terry Gou,” she was afraid that she was becoming a “corporate type” whose life centered around making money and who thought of nothing but growing the company.
Chang asked herself: “What else is there that I can do?” At that time, her office was already filled with modernist paintings, and she had bought every high-end brand-name item that she could buy. However, when she turned around to look back, she was astonished to see a Taiwan where the mountains were deforested and landslides were common, where rivers were polluted, and where culture and the arts were in a dark age, yet where industrial parks were being built with no end in sight.
In 2009, Chang put herself in the role of “fireman” and came up with NT$15 million to invest in a film then being made called Monga. For her, this was a “minor matter,” and she wasn’t expecting anything in return. Incredibly, the film turned out to be a huge hit. Chang then thought back to the teachers who taught her how to play ping-pong when she was younger, who held her hand as she went down to the plains to spend the summer at Ershui…. These people who had appeared in her life, and these things that had appeared to be as trivial and fleeting as flower petals falling in a breeze, were in fact important things that changed her life. She decided she wanted to give something back, and in the process perhaps rediscover herself. This way of thinking led Chang to found Verymulan.com and to create L’amofirefly. “I wanted to do some small things, perhaps help take care of the environment in Taiwan, perhaps inspire a woman to be more courageous, just little stuff that would change one life or one person,” says Chang with conviction.
Jessica Chang has chosen a very different road from that of Terry Gou. Perhaps this is in some way a “feminine” characteristic especially strong in women. Considering how to give a woman doing plastic injection molding some practical advice, investing in organic farms and organic fertilizer manufacturers…. For Jessica Chang, the feeling of satisfaction and happiness that she gets from “doing small things with seriousness of purpose” is something that no amount of sales revenues can buy.
The fireflies of Chang’s hometown of Gukeng inspired her to found the creative enterprise “L’amofirefly,” hoping to reconnect with Taiwan’s land and environment. Through the skill of the designer, L’amofirefly brings the ecology of Taiwan to life on fabric, transforming nature into fashion.
The fireflies of Chang’s hometown of Gukeng inspired her to found the creative enterprise “L’amofirefly,” hoping to reconnect with Taiwan’s land and environment. Through the skill of the designer, L’amofirefly brings the ecology of Taiwan to life on fabric, transforming nature into fashion.
The fireflies of Chang’s hometown of Gukeng inspired her to found the creative enterprise “L’amofirefly,” hoping to reconnect with Taiwan’s land and environment. Through the skill of the designer, L’amofirefly brings the ecology of Taiwan to life on fabric, transforming nature into fashion.
Jessica Chang is dedicated to helping women create new businesses and become self-reliant. She hopes that these small steps will contribute to a more vibrant and glittering future for creative and cultural enterprises in Taiwan.