By: Joshua Finley
The pursuit of entrepreneurship comes with immense challenges and uncertainty. However, for some driven individuals, taking risks and venturing into new areas is the only path forward. This is exemplified by Lihong Hicken’s unlikely journey from a small village in rural China to CEO of her own innovative tech company in America.
Through determination and openness to opportunities, Lihong has succeeded in creating solutions valued by customers globally. Her story is one of persevering against the odds and staying dedicated to meaningful progress through business.
Early Life in China
“I grew up in a poor Chinese village,” recalls Lihong. As one of the first girls in her village to attend college, her father’s vision was for her to become a middle school teacher – a great achievement. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think this is what I would be doing now,” she says.
Lihong worked multiple jobs in China to pay for schooling, including as a translator and teacher. Her formative professional experience came working as a tour leader for Intrepid Travel, taking Westerners around Southeast Asia and China. “Dealing with assets that fluctuated wildly overnight, I learned to adapt and think on my feet,” Lihong notes.
Finding Opportunities in America
It was through her tour guiding that Lihong met her now-husband, ultimately relocating to America on a fiancé visa. Upon arriving in a new country, Lihong recalls being unsure of where to begin. “I had no skills. English was my third language,” she says. She started with multiple jobs, including teaching at an education center preparing students for Ivy League schools.
Lihong was also one of the early interns-turned-employees at UserTesting. There, she gained exposure to the startup world while learning various skills. The experiences laid the groundwork for her success. As Lihong puts it, “I was lucky opportunities just floated at me. I think, how I got here is just saying yes to a few of them.”
Career Pivot and Growth
After success in sales and leadership roles, Lihong went on to earn an MBA from UC Berkeley. It was around this time that she had an important conversation with the CEO of UserTesting, who suggested putting Lihong in charge of a company they were acquiring. Reflecting on this, she said, “That was the first time I thought, well, I’m just an individual contributor. What did you see in me that made you think I could be a CEO?”
This planted an early seed that would grow over the following decade as Lihong took on increased responsibility. Today, she serves as CEO for TheySaid, a customer feedback platform leveraging artificial intelligence. But getting to where she is today also came with sacrifices – launching her own company when her daughter was just four weeks old. “I wouldn’t recommend anyone else do what I did,” Lihong admits.
Forging Her Own Path in Tech
In the often cut-throat tech industry, TheySaid has succeeded by focusing on user experience. As Lihong explains, “Everyone is thinking about survey creators’ experience. Nobody is thinking about survey takers’ experience.” The platform aims to disrupt legacy survey methods through various innovations.
For instance, TheySaid sets up “listening posts” along the customer journey through tools like feedback prompts in newsletters. This allows continuous listening rather than one-off surveys. Innovatively, the platform trains AI to understand individual businesses and have natural conversations with customers to gather insights.
Through TheySaid, Lihong’s emphasis on understanding teams has created a new model of customer feedback. By putting customers in control of their feedback through conversational AI, she has changed industry conventions focused only on metrics like net promoter scores. The approach exemplifies Lihong’s talent for disruption through understanding customer needs.
To learn more about Lihong and her journey, visit her website here.
Published By: Aize Perez
