"Stay true to who you are and remember why you started" with Alexandra Chu

Photo Credit: Alexandra Chu

Alexandra Chu is a fifteen-year-old entrepreneur focusing on both the sciences and the humanities. Despite her young age, she is working to create an impact in both healthcare and education by merging the worlds of medicine and creativity.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

My name is Alexandra Chu, and I’m a high school junior in New York. When I was fourteen, I started my own nonprofit, MedCreate, an international organization that works to merge the worlds of medicine and creativity as well as foster a community of students who are enthusiastic about both science and the humanities.

What inspired you to start your business? 

It all started with a simple childhood question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I always thought about becoming a dentist like several members of my family, but I was also drawn to the humanities. Ever since I was little, I have enjoyed writing, dancing, producing music, and creating art. As a result, I considered pursuing a career in the arts as well. This question kept coming back to me as I grew older, and eventually, I started thinking about ways I could merge science and the humanities instead of choosing between them. 

Where is your business based?

New York, but we have chapters globally. 

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

For years, I read articles about creativity and medicine and did as much research as possible. Once I felt confident enough in what I had learned, I thought about starting my organization for quite some time. However, even though I had faith in the research, I didn’t have faith in myself to be a leader. Because of this, I kept procrastinating, and it wasn’t until I had a spontaneous thought in the middle of the night to launch the org that I actually started working on doing it rather than just thinking about it. The next morning, I came up with a name, designed a logo, created an Instagram account, and MedCreate was officially born.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

Social media has been an extremely effective method of raising awareness. My organization is geared towards Gen Z, and no one knows their way around social media more than teenagers. A lot of youth organizations help each other out with business promotions via Instagram, so that is something we’ve focused on.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them? 

My biggest challenge was my own self-doubt. When I founded MedCreate, I was driven by passion and determination, but I lacked experience. Because of this, I was often afraid that I was driving my organization off a cliff. After some time, I mostly overcame this when I realized that mistakes were inevitable. I was also inspired by BTS lyrics and my meetings with other young women entrepreneurs.

How do you stay focused?

My team members motivate me to be a better leader, and they’re the people who help me focus. While I’m working, I always drink lots of water and have a to-do list next to me so I remember all the tasks I need to accomplish for the day.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition? 

Something that I have noticed is that most people don’t think about how science and the humanities are connected. There are plenty of other founders who are dedicated to teaching people about medicine or inspiring youth to write, but there are very few—if any—who do both. This was also a reason that I launched MedCreate—because there was no one else who was already discussing these topics. In that sense, our organization is already different from the competition.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

As I mentioned earlier, social media is an incredibly powerful tool for teenagers. We post regularly on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and we’re starting a TikTok account soon. On these platforms, we regularly collaborate with other youth-led organizations which allows us to expand our reach.  

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Stay true to who you are and remember why you started. Sometimes, you will hit a wall you think you can’t overcome. In this hopeless sort of situation when you’re thinking of giving up, you need to remember why you started on this journey in the first place. Don’t be so intent on the negative aspects or focus so much on fame and fortune that you become a completely different person.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

My favorite app would most definitely be Spotify. I spend so many long hours working on my laptop that I would likely go insane if I didn’t listen to music. To be honest, I don’t read many blogs, and I’ve read so many books that I don’t know if I can pick a favorite. I do love reading the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini though. I’ve re-read the series more times than I can remember since I first discovered it in fifth grade.  

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

I love using Slack to communicate with my team members. The site is divided into customizable channels which makes planning and organizing so much easier. In addition, we are able to host meetings and call each other through Slack, making it unnecessary to use a separate platform such as Zoom.

Who is your business role model? Why?

Jackson Wang is definitely one of my role models. It constantly amazes me how he is able to juggle being the creative director of his own company, being a member of Got7 in Korea, and being a solo artist in China at age 27. I often express regret about lack of time, but watching how hard Jackson works to accomplish his goals in such limited amounts of time inspires me to work harder.

How do you balance work and life?

I’m a full-time student, so it can be hard for me to run an international organization while tackling homework, tests, the SATs, and college admissions. Balancing all of this while maintaining a decent social life is tiring, but I think the key is just knowing when to take a break. There are weeks when I go to school, finish all my school work, work on projects for MedCreate for a couple of hours, and hang out with my friends afterwards. There are also weeks when I just take a step back from my organization and live my life. I would rather leave my other team members to run MedCreate for a period of time than risk burnout.  

What’s your favorite way to decompress? 

Netflix and a snack!  

What do you have planned for the next six months? 

Last March, we launched a series of pilot classes in medicine, writing, art, dance, and music over Zoom. They were met with success, so we’re now working on formally launching these virtual classes internationally. We are also reaching out to local hospitals and schools to have our classes implemented there for kids.

How can our readers connect with you? 

My personal handles:

●      IG: @alex.mchu

●      Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-chu-06132013/

●      Email: alexchu@medcreate.org

MedCreate handles:

●      IG: @medxcreate

●      LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/66621046/

●      Email: medcreateofficial@gmail.com

●      Website: https://www.medcreate.org/