Keith Bartlett on How China Prepared Him For a Life of Entrepreneurship
BY LEROY ADAMS
Keith Bartlett is someone who beat the odds. From growing up in Detroit to becoming a fluent Mandarin speaker to running successful consulting businesses in China, his story symbolizes a phenomenon we saw all over Asia -- African-Americans are creating success in Asia that would be harder to achieve in America. What we loved most about Keith, is that he gave clear tips and strategies as to how you can do the same.
“…the moment you open your mouth as a Black person who can speak Chinese, opportunities come to you because they look at you as family...”
Birthplace: Michigan
Location: Shenzhen, China
Occupation: Branding Consultant
I’m a Black guy from the hood of Detroit. PRock is what we call it. Plymouth -- for all my people from Detroit. So when I came to China, first it was, “This guy is Black. That’s interesting.” Then I learned Chinese. [And it became] Wow, this guy is Black and he can speak Chinese.
And I’m gonna tell you, the moment you open your mouth as a Black person who can speak Chinese, opportunities come to you because they look at you as family... Detroit toughens you up for the street. But China toughens you up for the world. I’m going to be honest with you. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.
Living a Life of Freedom
No matter what situation you’re in, the world has much to offer you. You can create a life of freedom. You can create the lifestyle that you want. For specifics, every 2 months for the last 5 - 6 years, I’m traveling to another country. In the beginning, I did that through [working as a teacher], but I was still able to create a life for myself that was amazing.
And that woke me up to say, I don’t have to be brainwashed by this American illusion. Don’t get me wrong, I love my country. But I started to explore different avenues of how I could create a prosperous future for myself. I stepped out of my comfort zone. And I said, “I’m going to try. At least try.”
Shenzhen, China
With a population of 17.56 million as of 2020, Shenzhen is the fourth most populous city proper in China. Shenzhen is a global center in technology, research, manufacturing, business and economics, finance, tourism and transportation, and the Port of Shenzhen is the world’s fourth busiest container port.
On why the traditional 9-to-5 is a lot more unstable than we think...
Early on, I set out to tell myself, I never want a boss. Because that boss essentially controls when I go home, the amount of time I spend with my kids, when I can go on vacation. When you start trading your time for money, that’s what happens. So early on, I said, I have to figure out what value I can create on my own. Because I can be a CEO, I can be making $135,000 a year, but if the next day, someone says, “Sorry, we’re going to have to lay you off.” Everything that I did right -- I went to college, I got my degree. I’m in debt. I paid off my debt. I got married. I get 2 vacations a year -- and you’re telling me that someone can tell me tomorrow that we’re doing some layoffs and we’re going to have to let you go?! That never sat well with me. And early on, I said, You know what? It’s important for me to start finding ways to create value for myself. Which is why I got into consulting. And why I understood that knowledge is everything.