A Chinese American woman's journey of rejecting cultural expectations to embrace her authentic voice, confidence, and leadership. Exploring how women can build genuine presence without shrinking themselves for others' comfort.
Her Story
About Deedee
Growing up in Washington, DC, politics always felt less like a career path and more like part of everyday life. Born in 2000 and named after Dee Dee Myers, President Bill Clinton’s former press secretary, Deedee Yan often jokes that government and politics chose her long before she chose it. Raised in her father’s restaurant, she learned early on what it meant to build something from the ground up, connect with people from all walks of life, and navigate both business and community leadership firsthand.
After earning a double major in Political Science and International Affairs from George Washington University, Deedee found herself naturally drawn to the intersection of business, government, and entrepreneurship. Since beginning her career in government and corporate affairs in 2023, she has worked across multiple organizations helping founders, investors, and small businesses navigate the public sector landscape.
In her current role at Outpost Ventures, Deedee works closely with portfolio companies to identify legislative and strategic goals while building relationships with members of Congress, state and local officials, government agencies, and military leaders to create new opportunities for emerging technology companies. On a day-to-day basis, she connects capital, writes policy and executive briefings, coordinates outreach, and plans large-scale events that bring together leaders across government, business, and national security.
Outside of her work in government affairs, Deedee is also involved in her family’s business, Astoria Laser Clinic, a medical spa focused on helping clients look and feel their best. Watching the confidence that aesthetic and wellness treatments can bring to both women (and men) has reinforced her belief that impactful work comes in many forms, whether it’s helping founders grow innovative companies or helping individuals feel more confident in themselves.
While there may not be one defining moment in her career so far, Deedee defines success by the impact she is able to create and the people she is able to bring along with her. Whether helping founders access new opportunities, supporting small business growth, or building meaningful relationships across industries, she remains passionate about opening doors for others and creating pathways for long-term success.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Deedee
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute a lot of my success to the people who took the time to guide, challenge, and believe in me early in my career. I have been incredibly fortunate to have three mentors who shaped the way I approach both leadership and work: my mother, Xiaolan Zhang, Chiling Tong, and Linh Hoang.
Growing up, I watched my mother build businesses through long hours, constant calls, business trips, and an incredible amount of determination. Some of my earliest memories are of watching her juggle work, family, and responsibility all at once. Having a mother like that naturally shaped the way I approach both my career and my ambitions. A lot of my work ethic and resilience comes directly from watching her lead by example. I like to think I did not stray too far from that example myself. As I have gotten older, I find myself living a very similar lifestyle. One with an unwavering sense of loyalty.
Chiling Tong, President and CEO of National ACE, was another major influence in my life and career. Beyond being a lifelong public servant and trailblazer for AAPI women in government affairs, she took a chance on me when I was just out of college trying to figure things out. The three years I spent working under her completely changed my confidence, professionalism, and understanding of leadership. She challenged me constantly, trusted me with responsibility early on, and gave me opportunities that accelerated my growth in ways I could not have imagined at that age.
Linh Hoang, Chief Revenue Officer of Outpost Ventures, has also had a huge impact on the way I navigate my career today. Watching him operate in the government advisory and venture space taught me a lot about today’s landscape, especially the growing role technology companies play in shaping the future. He has also consistently pushed me to advocate for myself more confidently and think bigger about my own potential. I look up to Linh not only because of his breadth of knowledge, but because of the way he is able to connect people, opportunities, and ideas across industries.
Each of them shaped a different part of who I am professionally, and I would not be where I am today without their guidance and belief in me.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I have received has come from two people I consider my “work brothers,” Jason Chan and Evan Low. As a young professional, especially in politics and business, it is very easy to become jaded quickly or feel like you constantly have to prove yourself. Throughout my career so far, they have been two people I can turn to for honest, candid advice without any sugarcoating.
Growing up in an Asian household, humility, hard work, and putting others before yourself were values deeply ingrained in me. Those traits still define a lot of how I move professionally today, and while those values are important, Jason and Evan constantly remind me that I do not always need to be so “Asian” about everything, especially when it comes to advocating for myself, pursuing bigger opportunities, and owning my ambitions.
They remind me that there is nothing wrong with being ambitious or being loud about my opinions, especially in rooms where young women are often expected to stay quiet or play small. At this stage in my career, I have realized that advocating for yourself is just as important as advocating for everyone else around you.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
What I tell my mentees all the time is that leadership is becoming far less tied to age, title, occupation, or affiliation. Those things still matter, but what matters more is your ability to create impact, move ideas and people forward, and bring others along with you in the process. At the end of the day, people remember who helped open doors, solve problems, connect the right people, and create opportunities that actually led somewhere.
As young leaders, many of us are navigating spaces where we are simultaneously building careers, identities, and community in real time. There is no longer one blueprint for what leadership is supposed to look like or how a successful career is supposed to unfold, and I think that is what makes this generation of leadership so powerful.
More and more, leadership is defined by execution, relationships, and the ability to create momentum not just for yourself, but for the people around you. Slowly but surely, your impact will speak louder than any title ever could.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest opportunities in my field right now is the growing intersection between government, private capital, and emerging technology. Whether it is AI, defense technology, energy, infrastructure, or manufacturing, there is a much larger focus today on how the public and private sectors can work together to solve long-term challenges. A lot of companies, especially startups and small businesses, are realizing that government relationships and policy strategy are no longer optional. They are becoming essential to growth.
At the same time, one of the biggest challenges is that many founders and operators still see government as intimidating, inaccessible, or too slow to engage with. There is often a disconnect between innovators moving quickly in the private sector and institutions that naturally move much slower. A large part of my work is helping bridge that gap by connecting the right people, translating priorities between different stakeholders, and creating opportunities for collaboration that might not have happened otherwise.
I also think relationship-building has become more important than ever. In an environment where industries, policies, and technologies are constantly changing, the people who are able to build trust, create meaningful partnerships, and bring others together are the ones who will continue to move things forward.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me in both my work and personal life are hard work, balance, loyalty, and maintaining strong relationships. Growing up as the child of immigrants, I was raised with the mentality of “nobody cares, work harder,” and I think that mindset naturally became part of how I approach everything. I have always believed in showing up, putting in the work, and staying dependable no matter what.
At the same time, I also value balance a lot more as I have gotten older. I think my generation is much more aware of burnout and better about protecting our time and energy without sacrificing ambition. I care deeply about my work and I am willing to dedicate a lot of myself to it, especially because I genuinely enjoy what I do, but I also think it is important to have a life outside of work, too.
Something I try to prioritize is making time for the people around me, even during busy weeks. I think the art of having fun on a weekday or simply spending quality time with people you care about is something that gets overlooked today. Whether it is grabbing dinner with friends after work or spending time with family in the middle of the week, those moments matter to me just as much as professional success.
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Articles by Deedee
Oh, to Be a Woman Who Is Impossible to Ignore
Finding Your Voice: Why Women Should Stop Shrinking Themselves to Fit Others' Expectations
Growing up as a Chinese American woman, there were many unspoken expectations about how I was supposed to move through the world: be respectful, be humble, do not speak too loudly, let the adults talk, let the men lead, be agreeable, and be “easy” to work with.
I rejected that pretty early on.
Not loudly at first. Not dramatically. But internally, I always felt a resistance to the idea that my presence needed to be quieted in order to be accepted. Even as a child, I had opinions, questions, and ideas. I wanted to contribute. I wanted to speak. Sometimes that confidence was welcomed. Other times, it made people uncomfortable.
For a long time, I could feel the tension between who I naturally was and who people expected me to be. Especially as an Asian woman, there is often a subtle expectation that you should be soft-spoken, docile, accommodating, gentle, almost decorative at times.
I have never been any of those things.
I am direct. I am opinionated. I care deeply. I ask questions. I challenge ideas. And as I got older, I realized that shrinking those parts of myself would not make me more respected. It would only make me less myself.
As a young woman working in spaces centered around government, business, and leadership, I became very aware of how often women are conditioned to prioritize being likable over being respected. You begin second-guessing yourself in real time. Should I soften my delivery? Should I phrase this more carefully? Am I being too direct? Too opinionated? Too confident?
Sometimes, it feels as though women are expected to package their intelligence in a way that makes everyone else comfortable first. For a long time, I think I subconsciously tried to do that too. But eventually, I realized that constantly trying to make yourself more palatable only creates distance between who you are and who you allow yourself to become.
Being heard is not about being the loudest person in the room. It is about bringing so much value, presence, conviction, and consistency that people cannot ignore you.
As I matured in my career and experienced different environments, I became more comfortable being heard. Fortunately for me, I was never especially shy, but confidence evolves when you begin seeing the impact of your ideas in real time. I started realizing that what I contributed truly mattered. That my instincts were good. That my perspective added something valuable.
The more experience I gained, the more I trusted myself. Slowly and naturally, I became impossible to ignore.
And there is something incredibly freeing about that kind of confidence.
Not arrogance. Not ego. Just self-awareness. The ability to look at yourself honestly and say: I am smart. I am funny. I am clever. I am thoughtful. I am great at what I do.
I think women are often taught to dilute those thoughts before they fully form, as though confidence only becomes acceptable once it is wrapped in self-deprecation. But there is nothing shameful about recognizing your strengths. Confidence does not have to come at the expense of humility.
Many of us were raised to believe that being liked was just as important as being respected. That we should be careful not to come across as “too much.” Too ambitious. Too outspoken. Too assertive. But I believe there is a difference between being difficult and simply refusing to minimize yourself for the comfort of others.
That is something I tell my mentees all the time: stereotypes should not dictate the way we move through life. The moment you begin filtering your ambition, intelligence, or personality through someone else’s expectations, you lose pieces of yourself unnecessarily. If you know you bring value to a room, stop apologizing for taking up space in it.
I think leadership looks very different today than it did even a generation ago. The people creating the greatest impact are not always the loudest, the oldest, or the most traditionally polished. They are the people grounded in who they are, confident in what they bring, and unwilling to shrink themselves to fit outdated expectations.
For me, becoming impossible to ignore was never about demanding attention. It was about no longer questioning whether I belonged in the room in the first place.
And I think more women deserve to experience that feeling now, not someday.
But confidence also comes with responsibility. If we want to be heard, we must challenge ourselves to be exceptional. To be sharp. To be disciplined. To continue growing into women whose presence naturally commands respect, not because we demand it, but because our work, ideas, and character speak for themselves.
I believe more women are stepping into that mindset now. We are no longer waiting quietly for permission to contribute. We are becoming too capable, too thoughtful, and too impactful to overlook.
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