I have always felt that the action most worth watching is not at the center of things but where edges meet.
Anne Fadiman
I not only watch.
Official Bio
(in third person to sound less pompous)
BeiBei Song is an interdisciplinary educator, an ArtScience creative fusionist, and an ICF and NeuroLeadership certified coach applying brain-based methodology to the development of high-performing leaders.
She orchestrates revolutionary learning experiences through Essinova, a polymathic academy applying art-thinking, neuroscience, creative leadership, and Renaissance learning to human development and innovation. She also teaches regularly at Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education.
With 20+ years of prior corporate and entrepreneurial experience in technology, healthcare, sustainability, financial services, media, and higher education, in the U.S., China, and Europe, BeiBei brings a wealth of real-world knowledge and wisdom to her teaching and coaching, combined with cutting edge research and thought-leadership in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural learning. She has given lectures and workshops at institutions such as The Wharton School, Silicon Valley Forum, International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers, California Lawyers Association, as well as numerous corporate and entrepreneurial organizations. She is a co-author and lead editor of “Business, Open Innovation, and Art”, recently published by MDPI Books.
BeiBei Song has an M.B.A. degree from Stanford University, and a B.S. in Economics from University of International Business & Economics in Beijing. She is an Argentine tango and contemporary dancer, among other artistic dabblings.
Person behind the Bio
My Life History
Hometown: Fushun, China
Birthplace of Manchuria. Cradle and grave of Qing, the last dynasty.
Also the Coal Capital of New China, making me an environmentalist before I knew about environmentalism
University
Admission to University of International Business and Economics took me to Beijing!
Here, with classmates in my section of the International Business major that year.
First job
Stumbled into law, as an associate to international arbitrators at China’s International Chamber of Commerce.
Towards the end I passed the Bar Exam and was licensed to practice law in China, just as the practice was privatized.
Stanford
I was admitted to and graduated from one of the finest institutions in the world, with an M.B.A. degree. It was beyond my parents’ wildest imaginations.
During school I co-chaired View from the Top speaker series of world leading CEOs.
First corporate job in America, post M.B.A.
Here, with Citibank colleagues in the same entering class training together (which took me back to New York briefly)
First independent consulting project
Research on BioClustering, commissioned by Eli Lilly Asia and Hong Kong University.
The beginning of studying innovation.
300+ interviews
… with scientists, technologists, entrepreneurs, and executives,
communicating health and environmental innovation
10 years before podcasting became popular
L: with Dr. Qing Li on traditional Chinese medicine from western science perspective
R: with Dr. Sylvia Earle on ocean conservation
Stanford, again, now teaching and coaching
Returning and giving back to the community.
The beginning of teaching entrepreneurship and innovation and coaching next generation business leaders
Book celebration
“Business, Open Innovation and Art”, a project of three years reflecting many more years of research and practice, was published.
Here, celebrating with my co-author, co-editor, and contributors of the book.
Simple, modest, but happy childhood
My parents, both teachers, deeply valued education.
They did everything possible for my sister and I to go to the best schools.
America
A short term assignment to work with a law firm in New York as visiting attorney brought me to the Land of Opportunities! The law firm was in One World Trade Center.
I extended my stay to apply for graduate school in the country. One of my odd jobs to support myself while figuring out where I could get in and how to pay for tuition was performing as a clown for children’s birthday parties. I also considered modeling. The first potential client was a tobacco company. Fortunately I didn’t have to choose between much-needed income and saying “no” to a product I loathe, as my first choice school and a bright future beckoned in California!
Wandering and inner discovery
Despite shiny names on my resume and trendy Silicon Valley jobs I held, I somehow lost motivation and direction.
Travels and random hobby classes for a year. Faint signals of an inner artist asserting herself.
L: top of Mount Tamalpais, where I did the painting symbolising the next 10 years of my life, to be guided by meaning and values rather than outward achievements.
R: performing tango at a bar. We got paid!
First media production client project
For an antibody company.
The beginning of combining the analytical with the creative in professional work.
A painful decade
sinking and eventually re-emerging from personal losses and failures
STEAM
The discovery of art-science-technology nexus, both serendipitous and inevitable.
T: an online gallery of science and technology art I curated for a few years
B: a neuro-art salon and pop-up gallery I organized, hosted at SAP Labs
Online creative studio
Organized a group of instructors and ran two seasons of “artful” playshops during the COVID-19 pandemic to soothe, inspire, and energize people.
Successful experiments of arts-based and somatic training online, in a virtual creative environment.
21st Century Renaissance podcast launch
The trans-disciplinary research and practice culminates in another project years in the making:
a podcast showcasing promising new explorations, approaches and organizations catalyzing creative rebirths for society and individuals alike.
The journey of discovery and creation continues,
while helping others!
