Angie Lau is an award-winning Canadian anchor for Bloomberg TV's flagship Asia news show, First Up with Angie Lau. She interviews high-profile business leaders about important market issues. Lau is proud that she achieved her career dreams and sees her main responsibility as being an advocate for viewers by delivering the most interesting and impactful business information. She has found success by doing more than what is expected of her.

1. 66 WINTER 2014 | womenofinfluence.ca
EXIT INTERVIEW
Angie Lau
ANCHOR, FIRST UP
WITH ANGIE LAU,
BLOOMBERG TV’S
FLAGSHIP, ASIA
NEWS SHOW
First on-air gig: summer
radio reporter in Toronto.
Today: she’s the face of
one of the most popular
business shows in Hong
Kong, her new home town.
One day she’s interviewing
the CEO of J. Crew, the
next she’s talking interest
rate implications with
the chairman of Franklin
Templeton Investments.
We wanted to learn more
about this award-winning
Canadian, so when she
found a few minutes
between make-up
and call time, we
dove right in. Here’s
what we learned.
Besides schooling, my most educational
experience was…My first trip abroad.
I was 17 and asked my parents to let me
go for a week vacation with girlfriends
(chaperoned only by a friend’s older sister
and her boyfriend). I anticipated a big fight;
instead I got a very easy yes. My father
encouraged us to travel because it will blow
your young mind. It will teach you that you
know nothing.
I am most proud of the fact that I…
achieved in my career exactly what I set
out to do. Dreams are to be nurtured and
protected and I am humbled every day that
mine became real.
At work, my main responsibility is...
to be the viewer’s advocate. If someone
has two minutes or 20 with us, what’s the
most interesting, impactful, market-moving
information we can deliver? It’s not brain
surgery, but it is a responsibility to provide a
window to a wider world.
I knew I would be good at that when…
I was a teenager and we were buying the
family car as a family. We all sat with the
manager of the dealership, trying to strike
a deal. I had done my homework and I saw
this guy talk circles around my parents. So I
stepped in and became the lead negotiator.
He took me seriously because he saw my
parents took me seriously. And I got a good
deal I think.That’s a powerful thing for a
young woman. Everyone has a voice. When
I learned to use mine, it helped me knock
on, and knock down, doors in my career.
2 words that described me when I was
25 years old are…scared but fearless.
My first job was…delivering Sears cata-
logues when I was 10. It was tough pulling
them in my little cart.They were damn
heavy! My dad drove me around. I think he
spent more on gas than I got paid.
One memorable failure happened
when I…did one of my first breaking live-
hits for CFTO News in Toronto. We had
just arrived on the scene, covering a military
base closure. I forget the story, but I sure
remember how I felt after. Not good. I
was overwhelmed and distracted by all the
things I needed to get a handle on but that
were technically unfamiliar. I knew my story,
I knew my facts, but I was so concerned
with doing a smooth job that I got the but-
terflies really bad. And it got the best of me.
I got over it by...realizing we are all afraid
of what we don’t know. So breathe, relax and
assess. When I focused on the right thing—
advocating for the viewer vs. wondering
what people would think of me—I did fine.
2 words that describe me today are…
intense and fun.
It won’t be a good day unless…I choose
for it to be. So I choose to be happy.
My first job taught me that…you do what
you are asked, but if you want to get any-
where, you do more than what is expected.
My workday starts at…3:30 a.m. when
I jump out of bed (if you don’t commit
early, you drag all day!). From there it’s a
whirlwind: grabbing my iPad and jumping
on Bloomberg.com, trying to wake up in the
shower, put on something decent. I have a
taxi waiting for me at 4:30 to whisk me to
the office by 4:45. More prepping and meet-
ings.Then it’s show time at 7:00 a.m.!
I seem to surprise people when I tell
them…I was a painfully shy child.
AS TOLD TO JASMINE MILLER
For Angie’s job interview advice and
career planning ideas, read the rest of
this conversation at womenofinfluence.ca