Jenny Guo

Jenny Guo

State and Local Tax Director, Oracle

Figuring things out

During a recent conversation, Jenny Guo shared her family’s journey from Taiwan to the United States and talked about what inspires her to keep learning.

What were your early years like?

I was born in Taiwan, and I moved to Colorado when I was three and a half, along with my grandparents, my parents, and my two younger siblings. My family had never seen snow before and we didn’t speak English, so it was a pretty big change and culture shock.

What stands out from your childhood?

I remember how hard my parents worked and how important education was to them. In Taiwan, my mom was a journalist and my dad was an engineer. When we moved here, my dad got his master’s degree in civil engineering and taught himself computer programming, so he always had pretty stable jobs in those areas. My mom became more entrepreneurial. She opened a store that sold sunglasses. Then, she started a local magazine, Asian Avenue, which my sister now runs, and she recently opened an adult daycare that focuses on the Chinese community.

How was your experience at PwC?

It was great—and it was always about the people for me. I had wonderful mentors from when I started as an intern, to when I worked in audit and then tax.

What brought you from audit to tax?

I did my master’s degree in taxation, so I was actually looking for an opportunity in that area, but the openings at the time were in audit. Then, after about a year, I got the chance to help a tax team out and I started talking to a partner on that project about my background and goals. She helped me get assigned to a six-week tax project in Los Angeles, which was like my bootcamp in state tax and I just loved the challenge of it. So after that, I asked to be transferred to the tax team in LA, and I happily worked out of that office for more than 10 years.

What are you focusing on at Oracle now?

I lead the state income tax team, which is a wonderful group of people, and it’s an exciting area to work on because things change frequently. I also got my MBA while working here and I’m now part of the federal tax team as well as part of the team that's looking at different process improvements for our entire organization. I really enjoy all the parts of my job, especially the many opportunities to keep learning and get more visibility into global issues.

How would you describe yourself as a leader?

I try to listen and be empathetic. As a leader, I want to understand what your goals are, what you're looking for in your career, what your strengths are, and what you want to work on. Then I try to also understand how we can best work together as a team to not only achieve your personal goals, but to also achieve our team goals.

When things feel challenging for you, who or what inspires you to keep going?

Well, I think everybody's life is hard in different ways, but I always remind myself of the things that my grandparents and my parents had to overcome, from escaping China and moving to Taiwan, essentially as refugees, and then moving here to start over again. So I draw a lot of my strength from my family. Given what they’ve been through, I know I can figure things out and do pretty much any hard thing that I’m faced with.

At this point in your career, what makes you most proud?

I’m most proud when I see the people who I used to mentor move up in their own careers, whether it’s getting promoted or taking on new jobs. I also feel proud when people reach out to me to ask for my advice or run something by me. I deeply value all of my professional relationships, and that’s something that I definitely learned at PwC because I had so many wonderful coaches and mentors there myself.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

I like spending time with my two boys, who are seven and nine, and we love traveling. I also love scuba diving. I have about 100 dives under my belt now and I can’t wait to do more.

Where’s one of the best places you’ve gone scuba diving?

Sipadan. You get there by going through Malaysia, so you have to fly into Kuala Lumpur and then take a shuttle for an hour or so to where the dive area is located. It’s just remarkable to see all of the sea life and the coral, with sharks swimming by. It feels like you’re in another world.

What advice can you offer others?

Your career isn’t always a ladder up; it’s more like a jungle gym. Just try to stay curious and open to what you might see and learn along the way, meaning that sometimes a lateral move is the right move. Or, sometimes you maybe even need to go down a step, because then you get to experience something completely different. Eventually, you’ll get where you’re meant to go.