Mildred Yuan: 'I aspired to be like Mary Poppins – stern but fair, fun but sensible'

My first paying job was as assistant dean for the Harvard Summer School Programme, looking after gifted 14 to 16-year-olds spending their first summers away from home. As an undergraduate, I had spent my summers as a proctor in exchange for room and board, looking after the welfare of a dozen teenagers in my residential group. After three summers as a proctor, I applied for and got the paid assistant dean position.

I managed about 10 proctors who were Harvard undergraduates, along with their teenage cohorts. I had to deal with everything from homesickness to behavioural, academic and medical issues, as well as managing a team. The best/worst bit was when one overenthusiastic 15-year-old jumped down the Memorial Church steps and broke his leg – only for his friend to land himself in hospital the next day after doing a comedy impression of the fall and succumbing to the same injury! I remember looking at their contrite faces and asking whether they would like to call their parents or prefer me to. “We’ll do it,” was the less-than-enthusiastic reply. 

It was a chaotic, hectic, hilarious, frustrating and very rewarding job, and, in many ways, the start of my journey towards nurturing and mentoring diverse talent. I always aspired to be like Mary Poppins – stern but fair, fun but sensible, and most of all helping talented individuals get the most from an intense period of transformation in their lives. Once the summer was done, I clicked my heels and it was over for another year.

Looking back, I wish I had soaked up and enjoyed even more of those moments and learned everything I could from the incredible people around me. I was young and worried about the future. If you’d told me that in 20 years I would still be nurturing and developing talent as an agent, diversity adviser and coach, I would never have believed you.

I think the moral of this story is that we all take different paths into this industry and bring different skills and experiences. Sometimes you just don’t know that your summer job looking after teenagers will be the first step towards your dream career.

CV Mildred Yuan

Job role: Agent
Education: Harvard University (BA Economics), University of Cambridge (MA English Literature), University of Cambridge Judge Business School (DEI Strategies for Business Impact), Ballet Austin Academy (Texas), Team Diablo Institute (Bologna, Italy)