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Woman in Leadership — Angela Liu

Angela Liu

Read time: 3 minutes


Monday, March 8, marks the celebration of International Women’s Day, and the Research Triangle Park (RTP) is celebrating that day with their Women in Leadership event. 

This event brings together prominent women leaders throughout the Research Triangle community to share their perspectives, insights, and experiences. The RTP has brought together an impressive list of leaders to this free panel event, which allows each person to share her thoughts and answer questions that may come from the audience. 

This list includes impressive local leaders like Dr. Paulette Dillard, Shelly Westman, Brandi Morales-Espinal, Janie Dzuricky, and Commissioner Brenda Howerton.

It also includes our very own — Angela Liu.

Currently serving as our Operations Manager, Liu is the “wizard behind the curtains” as our CEO, Alisa Herr, likes to call her. Responsible for strategic business operations, project planning, and mentorship, Liu has worked diligently to move Unity forward in a productive and sustainable way. 

“I’m a business and finance nerd,” said Liu. “I love being able to analyze data and recommend solutions that help a team and company become more successful and efficient. For me, that’s my creative outlet.” 

But for Liu, she didn’t necessarily get her start in business operations and finance (she actually got her degree in Industrial Engineering). Instead, she took a more holistic approach to build her experience and understanding of business.

“To be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do,” said Liu. “I believed that by working in different areas of business, I’d get a better understanding of what I did and didn’t want.” 

This approach took her on a six-year journey where she held a variety of roles. From sales to project work, Liu had an opportunity to immerse herself in multiple roles which taught her many interesting, important, and beneficial facets for success in the business world.

That experience helped clarify what she wanted to do with her career — strategic business consulting.

“I eventually realized that I enjoyed looking at business challenges from a holistic perspective. For me, it was fun to consider the business impact of various decisions.”

But it wasn’t all great for Liu, as her six-year journey also led her to an issue many professionals face — burnout.

“Right before joining Unity, I was actually in the middle of a four-year break from working,” said Liu. “I got really burnt-out and frustrated with the roles I had assumed, as I didn’t feel like my work was making an impact.”

"I also had all of this information [from the last six years] and nowhere to use it. It was pretty frustrating."

Fortunately, her time at Unity Web Agency allowed her to finally do what she wanted to do in her career — integrate all of her experience into a singular role.

“I love the work that I get to do for Unity because it gives me an ability to help our team through this multidimensional role and fully utilize the skills and experience I’ve built over the years.”

“I get to think about the business holistically, and it’s been a lot of fun for me.”  

We’re so excited for Angela to share more of her story and perspective at RTP Women in Leadership panel on Monday, March 8. 

Sign-up is still going on, and it’s completely free. Make sure to save your seat and hear from some inspiring women in business!