There is an old Chinese proverb that loosely translates to “Bitter first, sweet later”. It means that success can only come after hardship. Giada Zhang understands this first-hand. The CEO and co-founder of Mulan Group might be making waves now with her ready-to-eat Asian meals, but it wasn’t too long ago when she was the subject of discrimination.
Born in a small town in Italy to a Chinese family, a young Zhang struggled with her identity, especially since she spent half her formative years in China. “When I returned to Italy, I had to learn the language and get used to people who were so different from me. It got to a point that I doubted my roots and even denied who I was originally,” she says.
It was only when she went to New York at 17 that she embraced her multiculturalism. Unlike her town, New York was a melting pot of different origins and cultures. Zhang’s diversity wasn’t shunned. It was celebrated.
“That was when I realised I could turn my weakness into a strength,” says Zhang. She didn’t want others, especially children, to experience what she went through.
Having grown up and worked in a Chinese restaurant owned by her parents, Zhang realised that food was the great leveller. She observed how Italian families whose only knowledge of Asia was its coordinates on the world map gushed over Chinese cuisine. “Food is the most powerful intercultural tool,” she says.
Mulan Group packages those traditions and tastes into ready-to-eat boxes and distributes them across thousands of supermarket chains in Italy. Zhang struggled in the beginning, but finally made headway after a supermarket near her home gave her a chance.
On one bright Saturday morning, she built a pop-up selling dumplings and spring rolls. A queue soon formed. Now, she’s one of Europe’s most promising entrepreneurs under the age of 30. And she bootstrapped everything herself.
Zhang is also the president of Red Club x Cartier, which comprises entrepreneurs between the age of 20 and 40 who want to make a positive impact on society through their businesses. She has been the president for more than four years.
“Cartier approached me in 2019 about being a part of this community. It was looking for young, influential entrepreneurs to be part of this project. There were only about eight of us in the beginning and we slowly learned along the way. It was just like building a start-up,” says Zhang.
Today, Red Club x Cartier has built several chapters in different cities and recently launched the latest edition of the Young Leader Award. The 2024 iteration seeeks a young individual working on a technology-driven solution that shapes the future of people and planet sustainably.
She’s thrown herself into the project with the same zeal that she did with Mulan Group. As usual, there’s always bitterness at the beginning, but Zhang knows sweetness will follow.
