I Help Corporate Professionals Gain Career Clarity & Fulfillment | Founder @Amplify Your Home | Global AI Tax Copilot Strategist @EY

Don't be fooled by my appearance. Quiet, Asian, tiny girl.

In the last decade, I've...

Successfully navigated the corporate giants: Goldman Sachs, PwC, Deloitte and EY.

Built communities, tax and financial models, and automations. (Excel wizard here)

Empowered employees to own their damn careers,

Challenge their norms to do something special.

That's when Problems become Opportunities,

Strategies into Actions.

You are not Alone.

Ready to redefine your career? Let's make it happen.

Mary Fung

McKinsey just dropped their State of AI 2025 report. The numbers are brutal.

88% of organizations say they're using AI. But only 6% qualify as 'high performers' actually seeing enterprise-level EBIT impact.

Let that sink in. 88% using, 6% winning.

What separates the 6%?

- They're 3x more likely to fundamentally redesign workflows (not just bolt AI onto existing processes)
- They spend 20%+ of digital budgets on AI
- Their senior leaders actively role model AI usage
- They've built actual data infrastructure, not just demos

Meanwhile, 64% of companies are still stuck in 'experimentation' or 'pilot' mode. Two years of pilots. Two years of POCs that never graduate.

The gap between AI leaders and everyone else is widening. Not because of better models - because of better execution.

If your AI strategy is 'let's try some use cases and see what sticks,' you're in the 94%.

That's not a strategy. That's hoping.

Own Your Damn Career | Founder @Amplify Your Home | Head of Synthetic Data & Simulations @EY

The 'AI wrapper' startups are dying. The market is finally figuring it out.

In 2023-2024, you could raise millions by putting a nice UI on top of GPT-4 and calling it a product. Those days are over.

OpenAI keeps shipping features that kill wrapper startups overnight.

Custom GPTs? Dead.

ChatGPT plugins? Dead.

The integrations announced last week? Another wave of startups just became features.

The surviving AI companies all have something the wrappers didn't:
- Proprietary data moats
- Deep workflow integration
- Vertical-specific fine-tuning
- Or actual ML teams building differentiated models

'We make ChatGPT easier to use' was never a defensible business. It just took 2 years for the market to figure that out.

RIP to the AI wrappers. 2023-2025. You will not be missed.

TCS just paid $700M for Coastal Cloud, a Salesforce consultancy. Becoming a top-5 Salesforce partner globally.

Why should you care about a consulting M&A deal?

Because it signals where the big players think enterprise AI is actually going.

TCS COO said the quiet part out loud: 'advancing our AI-led transformation agenda' through Salesforce expertise.

Not building custom AI. Not launching a foundation model. Embedding AI into the platforms enterprises already use.

This is the enterprise AI playbook that actually works:

1. Meet customers where they are (existing platforms like Salesforce)
2. Integrate AI into workflows that already exist
3. Don't ask enterprises to rip and replace - enhance what they have

The AI startups trying to replace Salesforce should be nervous. The big consultancies are betting that AI's value comes from integration, not disruption.

$700M is a lot of conviction in that thesis.

People ask why I’m okay sharing my “secrets.”

Why I teach everything I know.
Give away resources.
Tools.
Playbooks.

Because you can copy the output but
you can’t copy the process.

You won’t have my judgment.
My taste.
My reps.
My scars.

If sharing makes you afraid,
you were never the edge.

7 Lessons from My First Year Leading AI Transformation:

1. Nobody knows what they want until you show them something. Stop waiting for perfect requirements. Build a prototype and let them react.

2. Your biggest blocker isn't technology - it's the person two levels up who's afraid AI will make their team look redundant.

3. Quick wins buy you time. Deliver something useful in 30 days or leadership will move budget to whoever promises faster results.

4. The people closest to the work have the best AI use cases. Stop running executive workshops. Go sit with the analysts drowning in spreadsheets.

5. Governance isn't the enemy. The AI review board that feels like bureaucracy is actually protecting you from the lawsuit that kills the whole program.

6. You will be wrong about timelines. Multiply your estimate by 3, then add buffer for 'unknown unknowns.' You'll still probably be late.

7. Celebrate the failures publicly. When a pilot doesn't work, tell everyone why. You'll build more trust than a hundred success stories.

What Executives Get Wrong About GenAI:

> They think it's plug and play. 'Just add AI to our existing processes.' That's like adding a jet engine to a bicycle and wondering why it doesn't fly.

> They underestimate the data problem. Your AI is only as good as your data. And your data has been accumulated across 47 systems with no consistent formatting for 15 years.

> They expect immediate ROI. GenAI is infrastructure, not a feature. You don't ask 'what's the ROI on electricity?' You ask 'what can we build now that we have power?'

> They compare themselves to tech companies. Google has 10,000 ML engineers. You have Dave who took a Coursera course. Calibrate expectations accordingly.

> They skip the change management. The AI works. Your employees are terrified it will replace them. Guess which problem kills your project?

> They buy platforms before defining problems. 'We need an AI strategy' leads to expensive enterprise licenses collecting dust. Start with 'we waste 400 hours/month on X.'

Prompt engineering is just Googling with extra steps. It's not a career.

Hear me out. In 2024, we created job titles around 'prompt engineering' like it was some mystical new discipline.

Every time a new technology emerges, we create artificial scarcity around basic skills. Remember when 'social media manager' was exotic? Or when knowing HTML made you a 'webmaster'?

Prompt engineering is the same pattern. Within 2 years, it'll be assumed competency - like knowing how to use a search engine. The people building careers around it are standing on melting ice.

The real skill isn't writing prompts. It's knowing what problems to solve and having the domain expertise to evaluate the outputs. That's not prompt engineering. That's just being good at your actual job.

The “AI experiment” phase is over.

New data out of Wharton shows 75% of companies already see positive ROI from AI.

Less than 5% see negative returns.
Nearly half of business leaders use AI daily themselves.

That matches what we see on the ground.

This isn’t about prompts anymore.
It’s not “improve this email” or “summarize this doc.”

That was Phase 1.

Phase 2 has started and it’s bigger:
• “Solve this customer’s problem”
• “Handle this contract end-to-end”
• “Optimize CSAT”
• “Run this workflow”

AI is moving from accelerating steps to owning processes.

And that’s when productivity actually compounds.

The companies still stuck debating pilots and guardrails are about to feel very behind, not because AI is new, but because process always beats tools.

We’re just exiting the first act.
The second one is about systems, not shortcuts.

And once AI is embedded in how work flows - not how tasks are typed - there’s no going back.

What a time to be alive!

Why does every job posting say 'AI experience required' now?

I've been watching job boards. Finance roles want 'AI skills.' Marketing wants 'AI experience.' HR wants 'familiarity with AI tools.' Even admin assistant postings are asking for it.

But 90% of these roles don't actually need AI skills. They need people who can think critically about when NOT to use AI.

What's actually happening:
- Recruiters are adding 'AI' because everyone else is
- Hiring managers don't know what AI skills actually means
- Companies want to signal they're 'modern'
- Nobody has defined what 'AI experience' looks like

My advice to job seekers: Don't panic. 'AI experience' usually means 'can use ChatGPT without supervision.' That bar is not high.

My advice to hiring managers: Stop adding buzzwords you can't evaluate. If you can't test for it in an interview, don't put it in the job posting.

I wish I could ask Copilot about a meeting I forgot to record.

Here's the trap:

> Option 1: 'Only during the meeting' - Copilot uses temporary speech-to-text. Meeting ends, data deleted. You can't ask questions later.

> Option 2: 'During and after' - Requires saving the full transcript. Now you have retention, compliance, and legal implications.

There's no middle ground.

Missed the meeting? Too bad. Forgot to enable transcription? Too bad. Your organization restricts transcript storage for compliance? Too bad.

What I wish existed:

> A 24-hour summary window. Copilot gives you the highlights, then the raw data is deleted.

> Personal-only transcripts that don't create discoverable records.

> Retroactive summary requests. 'I was in a meeting at 2pm, can you recap?' should work.

> Graceful degradation. If full transcript isn't allowed, at least give me action items.

The 'catch up on meetings I missed' use case - the one Microsoft demos constantly - only works if someone remembered to hit record.

That's not AI. That's a tape recorder with extra steps.

Helping execs in new roles accelerate impact, build credibility fast and avoid costly transition mistakes | xIBM Consulting | xPwC | Certified Executive Coach

You’ve just landed your next big executive role - congratulations!

Now comes the part no one prepares you for: making it successful.

The hard truth is, 40% of executive transitions fail within 18 months.

And the cost is staggering:

2.5x to 30x the executive’s salary in lost productivity, turnover, and disruption.

Career damage for the executive that can take years to recover from.

Maybe it's your first time at the senior leadership table. 
Maybe you've done this before, but this time, the stakes feel higher. 
Different company, industry, department or role.

Either way, you know this first year will define your reputation and your results.

Tell me if this sounds familiar:

You've inherited a team that doesn't fully trust you yet. 
You're navigating company politics, shifting priorities, and sky-high expectations. 
Everyone's watching, but no one's guiding. 
You're smart, experienced, and capable. 
But the pressure to prove yourself is relentless.

This is exactly where I come in.

I help new executives thrive where 40% fail by guiding them through the high-stakes first year.

My coaching is confidential, personalized, and focused on helping you:

✔ Earn trust quickly and secure early credibility
✔ Navigate politics and hidden organizational dynamics
✔ Build and align your leadership team for quick wins
✔ Make high-impact decisions without costly missteps
✔ Lay the foundation for long-term success and legacy

 Why Trust Me?
• 25+ years in Fortune 500 consulting, partnering with senior executives 
• Led $30M+ transformation portfolios and 250+ person practices at IBM 
• Led risk strategy for $100M+ proposals and complex transformations 
• Built and delivered IBM's top global executive coaching programs 
• Certified executive coach with 300+ leaders coached

If you’re ready to accelerate your impact and avoid costly missteps,

let’s make your first year your strongest. 

📩 DM me “Executive Transition” and let’s talk.

Dora Vanourek

The most painful part of growth:

The people closest to you will try to stop it.

And the faster you grow, the more uncomfortable others become.

It's not personal - it's human nature:

-  The edge in "wow, you've changed"
-  The unsolicited advice to "be careful"
-  The subtle comments that diminish what you've built

People prefer the version of you they're used to.

Some feel threatened by your progress.

Others try to keep you "safe" in your comfort zone.

5 ways to protect your growth:

1. Audit Your Circle 👥
↳ Who celebrates your wins vs. who diminishes them?
↳ Distance isn't betrayal, it's boundaries

2. Stop Explaining Yourself 🤐
↳ You don't owe anyone a justification for growth
↳ Let your results do the talking

3. Track Your Progress 📈
↳ Screenshot encouraging feedback and messages
↳ Celebrate small victories, they compound into big changes

4. Find Your Growth Squad 🔗
↳ Seek people 2-3 steps ahead of you
↳ Invest in mentors who've walked your path

5. Trust Yourself 💪
↳ Your intuition knows before your mind does
↳ Bet on yourself when no one else will

The people who truly support you will celebrate your growth.

Don't shrink yourself to make others comfortable.

♻️ Repost to remind someone they don’t need permission to grow
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Hard work doesn't burn people out.

Poor leadership does.

We used to have chair yoga sessions and 
stress management workshops at work.

The people who needed them most couldn't attend.
 
They were triple-booked in meetings.

That's not a wellness problem. 
That's a leadership problem.

A boss tells you to manage your stress.

A leader removes what's causing it.

Stop offering meditation apps while scheduling back-to-back meetings.

Stop promoting "work-life balance" while rewarding those who never log off.

Stop blaming people for burning out in systems designed to break them.

If your team is struggling, look for the real causes:

→ Unrealistic deadlines with no room to breathe
→ Back-to-back meetings with no time to think
→ Unclear priorities that change every week
→ Rewarding "always on" while preaching balance

If you're exhausted, you're not weak. 

You're stuck in a broken system.

And you deserve leaders who fix it - not blame you for it.

♻️ Repost to help someone who needs to hear this
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Executive Advisor for Senior Leaders Navigating a New Role | ex-IBM | ex-PwC | CPCC

20+ years of experience means nothing
if people dread working with you.

We've all met them:

The senior leader who humiliates in meetings.

The expert who makes everyone feel small.

The exec who treats people like obstacles.

Experience teaches you process.
It doesn't teach you humanity.

The most skilled person in the room
can also be the most damaging.

Signs someone has experience but lacks humanity:

→ They interrupt constantly
→ They take credit but never give it
→ They dismiss ideas without listening
→ They remember every mistake you made
→ They make you feel stupid for asking questions

Meanwhile, leaders who treat people well:

→ Ask questions before judging
→ Celebrate wins that aren't theirs
→ Make space for others to speak
→ Create safety for honest conversations
→ Leave people feeling capable, not small

Your years of experience don't define your value.

How people feel after working with you does.

Be the leader people want to work with.

Not the one they have to survive.

♻️ Repost to remind someone that people first leadership matters
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We've built hiring systems that strip away humanity.

Then we wonder why trust is broken from day one.

It’s because we have normalized 
the unacceptable:

❌ Posting ghost jobs to signal growth
→ while real people wait for an email that never comes

❌ Automated rejections
→ after someone spent hours filling out a complicated application form

❌ Six rounds of interviews
→ because no one trusts anyone else's judgement

❌ Ghosting people after the final rounds
→ because giving feedback is not a priority

❌ "Not enough experience"
→ when they could learn the job in a month

The hiring managers feel this too.

They're drowning in reqs.
Pressured by systems they didn't design.
Told to move fast while also de-risking every hire.

People are not numbers.

Every resume represents someone's hopes.
Their rent. Their kids' futures.
Their career turning point.

To the hiring managers doing their best within broken systems:

Thank you. It matters more than you know.

♻️ Repost if you believe hiring should be more human
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Leadership isn’t earned with a title.

It’s built when people feel safe.

Safe to speak up.
Safe to fail.
Safe to rest.

Build a culture where taking time off doesn’t come with guilt.

What to do as a leader:

✅ Be a role model for taking time off:
↳ Take time off - and talk about it. Normalize rest

✅ Recognize efforts: 
↳ Acknowledge achievements that promote well-being rather than appreciating health sacrifices

✅ Encourage flexibility: 
↳ Trust your team to deliver in ways that work for them

✅ Prevent post-vacation overload: 
↳ Plan ahead to make returning from time off manageable

✅ Conduct meaningful check-ins: 
↳ Make 1:1s safe spaces to talk about well-being and workload

What to avoid as a leader:

❌ Praising work while sick:
↳ "Thank you for working even though you don't feel well" 
↳ This sends the wrong message about your company's values

❌ Neglecting feedback: 
↳ Ignoring employee feedback about workload and stress

❌ Discouraging time off:
↳ Making employees feel guilty for taking breaks

❌ Setting unrealistic goals: 
↳ Targets that require overwork are unsustainable

❌ Promoting an "Always On" culture: 
↳ Expecting 24/7 availability, even on weekends or vacations

Be the leader you wish you had.

📌 Navigating your first year in a new role?
Get weekly insights in The First Year newsletter:

dora.coach

Image credit: Adam Grant

Betting on myself scared me more than staying stuck.

So I finally chose fear instead.

You might be there right now:

❌ Waiting to feel confident before starting
❌ Seeking perfection before launching
❌ Taking "one more certification" before applying

A year ago, I left my 25+ year corporate career.

And what made leaving possible  
was writing on LinkedIn.

Before that, I was stuck.

Overthinking. Doubting myself. 

Who am I to give career advice when my career isn't perfect?

One day, I just hit ‘post’.

Writing here opened doors I didn't know existed:

New people. New projects. New possibilities.

If you're stuck like I was - start anyway.

The hardest part was taking that first step.

If I'd had a tool like Stanley back then, I would've started sooner.

Stanley isn’t another AI.

It works as a true AI LinkedIn coach:

- shows you what your audience actually wants
- finds patterns you'd never notice yourself
- tells you which posts flopped and why
- gives feedback that stings a little (in a good way)

My posts created with Stanley outperform my others by 35-40%.

Try a free trial of Stanley today: https://lnkd.in/g9nvAJzJ

#stanleypartner

By 30, you should have it figured out.
By 40, you definitely should.
By 50, you shouldn't still be searching.

Society sells us a lie about what "on track" means.

That life should be a clean upward line.

That restarting means you failed.

That feeling lost means something is wrong with you.

When you believe those lies, you end up thinking:

This isn't where I thought I'd be.
I should have done more by now.
I should be further along.

I've felt that since walking away from 25 years in corporate.

The exhausting performance of "I'm fine."

The promise that tomorrow will be different 
- and then another day passes and nothing changes.

The shame of feeling behind, 
based on someone else's timeline.

You're not broken.

You're in process.

The most successful people I know restarted more times than they'll ever admit:

- New careers at 35
- New cities at 42
- New identities at 53

The only regret would be staying stuck 
because someone told you it's too late.

You are the greatest project you'll ever work on.

Don't give up on yourself.

♻️ Repost for someone who needs a restart
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A year ago, I left my 25+ years tech consulting career.

To build something of my own.

My friends couldn't understand why I'd leave stability.

Others questioned if it was "too late" to start over.

A few called it a midlife crisis.

But then I found my new people.

Entrepreneurs who'd walked away from golden handcuffs.

Creators building empires from their expertise.

Leaders who measured success differently.

Their ambition didn't make me feel behind.

It showed me what was possible.

When you change your path, you need people who've already taken the leap.

5 ways to upgrade your circle:

1. Audit your conversations - are you talking about problems or possibilities?

2. Join spaces where your future self would hang out, not where you currently are.

3. Share your bold goals openly - ambitious people are drawn to other dreamers.

4. Ask "What are you building?" instead of "How's work?"

5. Give yourself permission to outgrow relationships that hold you to your old life.

Your old circle will keep you comfortable.

Your new circle will keep you growing.

Evolve your circle.
Choose growth.

♻️ Repost to remind someone to find their circle
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You watched them get promoted.

The ones who laughed at the offensive joke.

The ones who stayed quiet when they should've spoken up.

The ones who took credit for your work.

And you wondered if YOU were the problem:

- Maybe I'm too naive
- Maybe I need to "play the game"
- Maybe integrity is just a fancy word for staying stuck

Those promotions came at a cost you can’t see at first.

The person who got ahead by compromising?
They have to keep compromising to stay there.

The person who sold out their values for a title?
They wake up every day performing a version of themselves they won’t recognize.

Adam Grant said it perfectly:

“The highest form of accomplishment is standing by your principles when they're tested.”

You didn't lose.

You refused to pay for a "win" that would have cost you everything.

Your integrity isn't holding you back.

It's the only thing that will matter when the titles fade.

📌 Navigating your first year in a new role?
Get weekly insights in The First Year newsletter:

dora.coach

♻️ Repost to remind someone integrity wins in the end

Image credit: Adam Grant

You know it's time to leave when you
can't recognize yourself anymore.

It's not the tasks that make you miserable.

It's not even the long hours.

It's having to wear a mask every single day:

- Apologizing for having boundaries
- Staying quiet when ethics get violated
- Laughing at your boss's offensive jokes
- Saying "great idea" when you know it'll fail

You tell yourself this is just how work is.

Everyone deals with it.

This is what being professional means.

But when you look in the mirror,
you don't recognize yourself.

People don't quit jobs.
They quit the person they had to become to survive there.

Start small:

- Stop apologizing for leaving on time
- Update your resume tonight
- Connect with one person in your field
- Remember: this isn't forever

There are workplaces where you can disagree without fear.

Where boundaries are respected, not mocked.

Where you don't have to pretend.

You deserve to feel whole again.

♻️ Repost to remind someone this isn't forever
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75% of people fear public speaking more than death.

Yet it's the No. 1 skill that accelerates careers.

Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, held me back for years.

I avoided roles where I'd need to speak a lot. 

Declined podcast invitations.

Fear was costing me too much.

Then I found Ultraspeaking.

Here are the 8 techniques that transformed how I speak:

📌 Save these for later.

1. The Accordion Method 
→ Compress your talk to 60s, then 30s, then 15s 
→ Expand back, keeping only what matters 
→ Forces you to find your actual point

2. The Bow & Arrow 
→ Your Arrow = the ONE thing to remember 
→ Your Bow = supporting evidence

3. The Power Pause 
→ Stop for 3-5 seconds after key points 
→ Gives your audience time to absorb 
→ Silence is powerful, not awkward

4. The 2-3 Word Bookmark 
→ Create 2-3 word triggers, don't memorize scripts 
→ "Customer save" → your problem-solving story

5. Never Break Character 
→ Don't apologize for nervousness or mistakes
→ Your anxiety is invisible until you reveal it 

6. The Pushback Pivot 
→ Pause and acknowledge: "That's an important point" 
→ Reframe: "Here's how I see it..." 
→ Use challenges to strengthen your message

7. Use Clarity Prompts when Stuck
→ "The most important thing is..."
→ "If you remember one thing..."

8. The Opening Rule 
→ Rehearse your opening 3x more than the rest 
→ Early confidence will carry you through

These 8 techniques are just the beginning.

Ultraspeaking is different: 

It’s live practice, speaking games, and real-time feedback from other leaders and world-class coaches.

If communication is holding you back, I recommend joining their flagship course:

https://lnkd.in/gH9yVFE8

#ultraspeaking

26% of your promotion depends on executive presence.

But no one explains what those words really mean.

"She lacks executive presence" might be 
the most frustrating feedback ever.

Because it's rarely followed by what to actually do about it.

I've helped leaders work through this exact challenge.

Here are 8 ways to build executive presence:

1. Practise Strategic Silence
→ Leaders who listen first command more respect
→ Ask: "What are your thoughts?" - then pause

2. Name the Elephant
→ The person who calmly names the tension earns instant credibility
→ Say: "Can we talk about what's really going on?"

3. Make Others Look Brilliant
→ The most respected leaders give credit, not take it
→ Say: "That was Sarah's idea" before adding your own take

4. Simplify Complex Ideas
→ True expertise is ensuring others understand
→ Replace jargon with everyday language

5. Own Your Authority
→ Undermining phrases erase years of hard work
→ Drop "just," "kind of," "I think maybe." Say "I recommend."

6. Calibrate Your Reactions
→ Overreacting undermines credibility
→ Ask yourself: "Will this matter in 6 months?"

7. Bring Solutions, Not Problems
→ Great leaders are valued when they solve issues
→ Never raise an issue empty-handed

8. Learn to Disagree Without Drama
→ Executive presence lives in the middle: calm, direct, unafraid
→ Use: "I see it differently. Here's why."

Executive presence isn't about changing who you are.

It’s about showing up as your real, confident self.

📌 Navigating your first year in a new role?
Get weekly insights in The First Year newsletter:

Dora.coach 

♻️ Repost to help your network
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It starts with one small compromise.

"It's just this once."
"Everyone does it."
"This is how the game is played."

The system doesn't force you to compromise.

It just rewards the people who do with promotions, access, favour.

And makes you wonder what's 
wrong with you for hesitating.

But here's what nobody tells you:

The lies we tell ourselves are the most dangerous ones.

"I'll go back to my values when I make it."
→ You won't. The higher you climb this way, the more you have to protect.

"No one will notice."
→ You will. Every time you look in the mirror.

"I'm doing this for my family."
→ Your family needs your integrity intact - not a sacrifice they never asked you to make.

"I don't have a choice."
→ You do. It's just not the easy one.

The corporate world doesn't break people with one big ask.

It breaks them with a thousand small ones.

You're not naive for wanting to do the right thing.

You're not stuck because you have standards.

You'll sleep better than the ones who traded theirs for a title.

♻️ Repost to remind someone they're not the problem
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Mary Fung

Dora Vanourek

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The Battle

Mary Fung

Dora Vanourek

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Mary Fung's LinkedIn Performance

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