Sally Tian grew up between China and Canada, living and working in both countries at different points in her life.
After grad school, she decided against the corporate life and went to China to pursue a search fund.
She says that returning to China has reshaped her identity, work goals, and relationship with her parents.
Growing up between two cultures shaped Sally Tian’s perspective on the world.
Tian was born in Guangzhou, China, and lived there until she was 10, when her family moved to Vancouver. At 15, she returned to China to attend an international school before moving to Toronto for college, where she later began her career in management consulting.
“I thought, ‘I will fulfill the immigrant dream.’ I’m going to get a great corporate job and all that,” Tian, now 30, told Business Insider.
However, the predictability of her days left her wanting more, and after three years, she moved to Beijing in 2020 to work for a major Chinese technology company.
After completing her MBA, Tian realized that she did not want to be in a corporate job.Sally Tian.
What was meant to be a one-year stay in China dragged on for almost three years. After a year in Beijing, she was relocated to Shanghai, where she stayed in the role for another year before moving on to a startup.
In 2023, amid prolonged lockdowns in Shanghai, Tian and her boyfriend left for graduate school in the United States, hoping that time away would help them decide where to build their future.
After two years of pursuing her MBA at Harvard, Tian said she found her answer: The life she wanted didn’t include a corporate job.
Instead, she and her boyfriend wanted to start a search fund, which involved finding and acquiring a small business to run themselves.
“I would say a lot of the reason people want to do this is because they don’t want to work for someone else. They want to be their own boss, and I definitely want to do that as well,” Tian said.
While search funds are more common in the United States, Tian said China felt like the place where she could make it work. In September, she and her boyfriend packed their bags and moved back.
Tian moved into a three-bedroom apartment in Shanghai with her boyfriend.Sally Tian.
The couple considered several cities, including Guangzhou, but ultimately chose Shanghai for its strong network of investors and business opportunities.
With the help of a real estate agent, they found a three-bedroom apartment located about 40 minutes from the city center. The monthly rent is 8,900 Chinese yuan, or about $1,270.
The neighborhood has everything they need, including a mall, Sam’s Club, and Costco, Tian said. Due to its proximity to many international schools, there are many expats living in their area as well.
Rent is approximately $1,270 per month.Sally Tian.
“Culturally, I understand. I just feel like this is my home, and I don’t feel like I’m doing this in someone else’s home,” Tian said.
In addition, she said the success of her search fund in the United States will depend heavily on building relationships with potential vendors, which she felt would be more challenging because of cultural differences.
“I don’t think I can connect as well with, say, a 50- or 60-year-old Midwest person, or all the sports in them,” she said.
Tian said it is looking to acquire business in industries including B2B services, B2C franchises, and manufacturing.Sally Tian.
A 2024 Stanford report of 681 search funds formed in the US and Canada since 1984 found that investors put about $1.45 billion into search funds and companies acquired through search over the past four years.
While search funds remain rare in China compared to the United States, Tian believes the gap represents an opportunity.
While enterprise services and software dominate most North American search fund acquisitions, Tian said her focus in China is broader, covering B2B services, B2C franchises, and manufacturing.
Many first-generation business owners in China are likely now in their 60s and 70s and are looking for a plan to pass on their businesses to their children, who may not be interested in taking over, she said.
Private enterprises make up more than 90% of all companies in China, and about 80% of those private firms are family businesses, according to a 2023 report from the All China Federation of Industry and Commerce.
Tian says that returning to China made her understand more about the struggles her parents faced as immigrants.Sally Tian.
Tian said that living and working across countries forced her to rethink her identity.
She said growing up as an immigrant in Canada changed the family dynamic early on, because everyone was focused on living in a new country.
There was a sharp divide between those who had assimilated into Canadian culture and those who had not. In that environment, it was common for immigrant children to distance themselves from their own culture and even from their parents, she said.
“There’s this social behavior where you feel like you need to lower your identity so you can fit into the mainstream culture,” Tian said.
When she first returned to China for work, Tian said she believed she already knew who she was, with a settled life and friends in Canada. She didn’t expect it to change much. But that assumption quickly fell apart.
“I realized that if I wanted to do my job well, and relate to my friends, I have to really understand how they think,” she said.
Over time, this process led her to reflect more deeply on her own identity and become more empathetic towards the experiences of those around her.
Returning to China, she said, helped her reconnect with her roots — and, in the process, better understand the struggles of her immigrant parents.
“I feel like going to China really helped me heal my relationship with my parents as well, and see them in a completely different way,” she said.
Do you have a story to share about relocating to a new city? Contact this reporter at agoh@businessinsider.com.
