Simon Tam: marketing rockstar, author, musician, speaker, activist, and troublemaker
With 30,000 Twitter followers, Simon Tam is often the center of attention. He’s a part of many groups, and plays numerous different roles, defying conventional wisdom and charting new pathways as a role model for future leaders. We wanted to dive deeper into his work to learn more about how he’s leveraging small groups and big ideas to create a better world:
Who do you lean on to help you do what you do within each of your “hats” in life?
Quite a bit of the work I do is in isolation: writing, thinking, preparing, etc. It's probably a good fit since I tend to be introverted in nature. However, those activities require inspiration, support, and feedback from trusted loved ones around me. This means people get to hear me rehearse my talks, review some of my writings, and allow me to incubate my ideas to the point where I think they're ready.
For The Slants, we definitely rely on one another. Not only to we depend on each other for writing and performing songs, we also run the business as a team as well: we keep a shared calendar, store working documents or song files in a cloud based system, have weekly meetings to work on priorities, and even share driving responsibilities equally. While I do manage the group, a band is definitely not something a person can do alone. In addition to the band members, we also have a roadie, two attorneys, and a publicist.
With my work at the Oregon Environmental Council, most of it is deeply dependent on collaboration and coordination. We have work groups and committees to help build accountability and support, as well as have a natural feedback system. As with any non-profit, we each have multiple roles so it's important to have a good support system established. I have a core marketing and communications (MarCom) team that meets at least twice a week to go over ideas, reports, and priority projects. Often, having a team can help reevaluate priorities, especially with how something fits in the larger picture.
How did you come up with the idea behind The Slants?
The idea behind The Slants was inspired by a movie: Quentin Tarintino's Kill Bill. While watching it, there's a scene of a yakuza (Asian mafia) gang walking into the restaurant. I distinctly remember being surprised because it was the very first time that I had ever seen a group of Asians depicted as cool, confident, and sexy in an American produced film. Then I thought about my own art, indie rock music, and I couldn't think of a single example of an Asian American artist. Every Asian American musician I knew of was simply a token member of a larger group - there were no known lead singers or star players, let alone an all-Asian band. So that's when I decided to start the group.
Originally, it wasn't intended to be socio-political or activist in nature. That was something that developed over the years. I'd get emails and letters from Asian Pacific Islander (API) teenagers who said they felt inspired and empowered by us. Also, as we encountered deep racism - from music labels who made offers dependent on replacing my Asian members for caucasian ones, to people who only judged us by our ethnicities - we began to realize that we had an opportunity to better shape the discourse about API culture. So, we started holding workshops, panels, and discussions on Asian American stereotypes, injustice, equity, and diversity across North America. From that, I began traveling more and more as a speaker.
How did you end up being a thought leader - was it something intentional or did it happen organically?
The idea of being a "thought leader" is a strange one. It’s not something that I’ve ever referred to myself - I think it's just something that can happen when you take a bold stance and consistently give the world ideas worth sharing. With my band's music, we simply embed our relentless passion with our values. For some artists, it’s natural to have those personal experiences ingrained into the music or identity of the band (U2, System of a Down, and NWA come to mind). For others, it’s much tougher because the accusation that people are “putting their values for sale” or assumption that audiences would be turned off by “preaching” present a challenge. In any case, we just decided to be true to ourselves, which led to what we are now: music artists with a little activist spirit. We aren’t necessarily preachy (at least with our music), we just share our own Asian American “slant” or perspective on life.
In terms of my other work, I was tired of misinformation being shared so I started finding opportunities to share my thoughts: I created a few blogs, started delivering workshops, and volunteering for organizations by giving away my best ideas. That's one of the secrets of leadership: if you want to influence others, simply generously give to others. The boldness that comes from living a life based on values is unmatched: people who are driven by a dedication to their community will always overcome hardships and hurdles in ways that people driven by profits never will. That kind of passion, innovation, and transparency is what people want to follow.
What is your vision for how you want to create a better world and how does your work with the band/activism, environment, and thought leadership fit into it?
My ultimate desire is to help build a world with less prejudice: one where people ask questions before making assumptions. I do everything possible to help make the world a better place: fight climate change while protecting people and their environment (through Oregon Environmental Council), tear down systemic racism and empower the marginalized (through The Slants), and partner up with non-profit organizations/higher education institutions to develop new leaders with a values-based approach.
I often jokingly tell people that I have five jobs; but the reality is that it's more like ten. However, I sincerely enjoy everything that I do so it doesn't feel like work. I love waking up everyday knowing that I have the potential to shape the world, to leave it a little better than it was the day before. It's why I choose to work for non-profits, to teach at colleges, and to spend my nights and weekends touring as a musician or speaker. It's invigorating! When we think of a "better world," most people think of it as something far off, something unreachable in our lifetime. But the reality is that we can always find new opportunities to bring in more joy, wisdom, or love to the communities around us each day. Doing that can make turn the vision into a living reality.
Learn more about Simon’s work and follow him on Twitter.