Exclusive Interview | Gao Xinghui, Founder of Xinghui Era: The Resilient Life of a Post-90s Small-Town Girl Who Left a Major Education and Training Company and Generated 200 Million GMV in Three Years

Image source: WeChat official account "Workplace Bonus" (ID: ZhiChangHongLi)

Xing Hui, from Shanxi, was hired by New Oriental after three interviews.

After moving to Gaotu Techedu, she and three male colleagues were named the "Three Kings and One Queen" of the company.

Now she has been running her own business for nearly three years. Out of curiosity about the development of the education and training industry, we visited Xing Hui's company.

As soon as we entered the door, colleagues called her "Brother Hui" - which is hard to associate with her slender appearance and the image of having tiger teeth when smiling.

But when we heard that in the three most chaotic and confused years of the entire education and training industry, she led the team from scratch and achieved a GMV of 200 million, it's not hard to understand all this.

● Welcome to watch and follow the original video account under "Workplace Bonus".

 

The following is the transcript of the interview. Some wordings have been adjusted by the editors of "Workplace Bonus".

Please hate me to your heart's content ╱ Part One

We earned 6 million in the second month of starting the business ╱ Part Two

Allow yourself to fall ╱ Part Three

 

Please hate me to your heart's content

Maji: How did you overcome your own spelling and pronunciation difficulties? Can hard work really solve 99% of the problems?

 Xing Hui : I started learning English in junior high school. My foundation was so poor that I ranked last in the class. As the class monitor, I felt really embarrassed. But I couldn't swallow this humiliation. At that time, there was only one children's palace in Datong where you could learn English. I didn't have the conditions to sign up, so I would go to Xinhua Bookstore every day. I would look at the bilingual versions of "Harry Potter" and "The Vampire Diaries" and learn bit by bit following the American TV shows played in the store.

Finding the right method and maintaining interest are the real "keys to breaking the deadlock". For example, I don't like rote memorization, so I summarized English grammar into a 10 - character mnemonic: "Sister got stronger and then flew away" (Sister = preposition, Stronger = adverbial, Then = subordinate clause, Flew away = non - predicate). I still use this method to teach students today.

Maji: Do you prefer to define yourself as an education practitioner or as an internet celebrity English blogger?

 Xing Hui : Of course, it's education. I've always believed in the saying "Slow is fast, and fast is slow". If I were an internet celebrity, I might suddenly become popular because of policies or the general environment, but I would also be short - lived because of the lack of products or services to undertake the traffic. I want to focus on making my own products well and accompany the growth of each student.

This sense of companionship cannot be replaced. As people in the education industry, we should have the mindset of "being friends with time". A student's growth cannot be achieved overnight. We may need to accompany them through getting married and having children and watch them change their lives with the skills they've learned. This is the meaning of education. English is just a carrier. My ultimate goal is to make more people better through our services.

Maji: Was the malicious reporting of your account with millions of fans across the network the most difficult moment since starting the business? What was the biggest impact on you?

 Xing Hui : Malicious reporting is really troublesome. At the beginning of our business, we encountered a competitor who bought 2,000 courses in one day and then returned all of them the next day, leaving bad reviews. But the most difficult time was actually when a partner left later. We started from a rental house and worked hard bit by bit, but there were differences when it came to dividing the money.

When people left one by one, I would fall into severe self - doubt. I even thought about dissolving the company. But since I've embarked on this path, I have to bear it. Instead of retaliating against the competitors, I spent my time improving the services. After the partner left, I took charge of the team myself and became clearer about what I wanted.

The biggest impact of these things is not how much I lost, but that I understand that malice always exists on the entrepreneurial path. A strong heart and a perfect system are the strongest backing.

Maji: You wrote "Please hate me" in your WeChat Moments. Ten compliments may not be able to offset one piece of slander. Can you really completely ignore negative comments? Do you feel wronged?

 Xing Hui : I used to be a typical people - pleaser. As a teacher, I was afraid that students would be dissatisfied. As a boss, I was afraid that employees would not recognize me. I always wanted everyone to like me. But later I found that this is simply a false proposition. For example, when Lei Jun pursues cost - effectiveness, some people will think it's "not classy"; when Luo Yonghao dares to tell the truth, some people won't agree.

Now I've figured it out. When you firmly represent the will of a group of people, there will definitely be some people who like you extremely and some who hate you extremely. The sentence in my WeChat Moments is a "declaration of war" against my former people - pleasing personality: I know what I'm doing and I accept different voices.

Of course, there will be times when I feel wronged. But compared to being wronged, disappointing those who trust me is even more terrifying. Now I care more about how to make the courses better and the services more detailed. As for those who hate me, let them be.

 

We earned 6 million in the second month of starting the business

Maji: When I first saw you, I thought you were an introvert. But when I watched your videos, I felt that you were overflowing with confidence. Have you ever had self - doubt? How often does it happen? How do you "hypnotize" yourself?

 Xing Hui : The frequency of self - doubt is actually quite high, especially when the partner left and the project was frustrated. I would repeatedly ask myself "Am I not good enough?" Even someone said "You're just a female teacher. You can't do well in management. You'd better just focus on being an IP". These words would really hit me.

But I have a "self - restart" method. First, admit my vulnerability. For example, when I'm at home, I'll completely "power off". I can't even find my socks. I'm a complete life idiot. Then find positive anchor points for myself - think about the goals achieved in the two years of starting the business, think about the feedback from students, and think about how I've gone from having spelling and pronunciation difficulties to being able to teach millions of people English. I've already achieved many "impossibles".

Finally, I'll tell myself: The person in charge of a startup doesn't need to be the most capable, but must be the bravest. Even if everyone leaves, I can carry this thing through on my own. This kind of "solitary courage" is my self - "hypnosis".

Image source: WeChat official account "Workplace Bonus" (ID: ZhiChangHongLi)

Maji: What was your state when the "double reduction" policy was implemented in the industry? Did you feel like the sky was falling? How long did it take you to figure things out?

 Xing Hui : At that time, everyone in the industry was panicked and said "The sky is falling", but I didn't think so. I've liked reading unofficial history and martial arts novels since I was a child. I know that history has cycles, just like the changing of the four seasons. The industry also has its peaks and valleys. The "double reduction" doesn't mean the disappearance of the education and training industry, but that the K12 model in China is gradually coming to an end.

Since it's a "cold winter", then we should hibernate and improve our internal strength. Many things are cyclical, whether in China or in the world. For example, the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States or the Great Depression in Europe. There will be a peak and a valley within 20 - 30 years. After the trough passes, we can start again, just like the four seasons. We may burst out in summer, harvest in autumn, and hibernate in winter.

At that time, I set a goal of 6 million for the year, but unexpectedly, I achieved it in the second month. Because I know that users' demand for good teachers and good courses will never change, we just need to change the track and the way.

Maji: Even giants like New Oriental have turned to e - commerce. Why do you still have a positive outlook on the education and training track?

 Xing Hui : Because education is a "long - slope and thick - snow" track. It's not a trendy business, but a business based on rigid demand. People always have the need to learn - young people want to improve their English to find a good job, middle - aged people want to cultivate interests to enrich their lives, and the elderly want to keep up with the times.

Moreover, no matter how developed AI is, it can't replace educators with warmth and thoughts. Translation software can help you communicate, but it can't help you understand the culture behind the language; AI can teach grammar, but it can't see your confusion and give you encouragement like a teacher. I always believe that the core of education is "people influencing people". This emotional connection and personalized guidance can't be replaced by any technology.

Maji: Achieving the annual goal in the second month of starting the business seems easier than you expected. Looking back, was it because the goal was set too low or just the luck of being a newbie?

 Xing Hui : It's neither because the goal was low nor because of luck. It's just my "normal performance". I was an outstanding teacher of the year at New Oriental, had zero negative reviews when doing teacher training at Beijing Foreign Studies University, and even rushed to the first place in half a year in the competition of the "Three Kings and One Queen" at Gaotu. These accumulations are not for nothing. My course system and teaching methods have been verified by countless people.

At that time, many people said "The TikTok trend is over" and advised me not to start a business. But I know that the trend is just a "tactic", and products and services are the "principle". Whether it's on Weibo, WeChat official accounts or TikTok, it's just changing the platform to display my courses. The core remains the same. So it's not that I'm lucky. I was already prepared and just happened to meet the right opportunity.

 

Allow yourself to fall

Maji: English training is the most "competitive" among all language trainings. You have to compete with traditional big brands and also face the competition from AI and emerging anchors. What's your differential competitive advantage?

 Xing Hui : I never regard AI as an opponent. Instead, I regard it as a friend. AI can help students memorize words and do exercises, but it can't provide the "experience" and "thinking training". For example, the new product I'm working on now is to "act out" English courses with foreign actors. We use the form of American TV shows to let people learn English in real - life scenarios. This is something AI can't do.

Maji: Your company is growing rapidly, and you also mentioned expanding the range of subjects. Users have both expectations and concerns. What's your view?

 Xing Hui : Expanding the range of subjects is not a blind expansion, but a natural progression. Now the aging of the population is becoming more and more obvious, and the silver - haired dividend is coming. Many middle - aged and elderly people have the need to learn out of interest, but there are few high - quality products in the market.

Our plan is to proceed steadily. We'll launch a new product every year. First, we'll make the English courses more in - depth and thorough, and then gradually expand to other courses in the field of interests. We won't expand too much at once, but ensure that each product is embedded with our educational core.

I understand users' concerns, so we'll take it slow and let the products speak for themselves. We want to show that expanding the range of subjects is not for making quick money, but to extend the concept of "making learning fun" to more fields.

Maji: What today's office workers lack the most is passion. They don't care about anything. How can we break this mindset? What conditions are needed to maintain passion?

 Xing Hui : Passion can withstand the long years. This saying is really true.

First, find what you really care about - for example, I like to see students grow, so every time I receive good news from students, it's positive feedback for me. Second, allow yourself to "fall". Just like when swimming, you have to sink first before you can float up. There are troughs in the industry and setbacks at work. These are not reasons to give up, but can make you clearer about what you really love.

Maji: What's your value system when it comes to hiring people?

 Xing Hui : The core lies in three words: sincerity, bravery, and "ambition". Sincerity is the bottom line. Whether it's towards colleagues or users, one should be honest. Bravery means not shrinking back in the face of difficulties. A startup company faces new problems every day, and it needs people who dare to take risks. Having "ambition" means having a strong desire to do things well, rather than being "indifferent" or "satisfied with mediocrity".

I don't look at academic qualifications. Even if someone graduated from Tsinghua, Peking University, or Harvard, if they're not suitable, it won't work. If you're from a vocational college but very excellent, that's okay too. Teacher Yu was able to admit Luo Yonghao without following the normal rules back then, so I can also admit "Wang Xiaoming" without following the normal rules. No matter what the academic qualification is, I'm willing to give a chance.

Image source: WeChat official account "Workplace Bonus" (ID: ZhiChangHongLi)

Maji: When recruiting in the education industry, are there any particularly valued qualities or strict requirements?

 Xing Hui : There are two strict requirements: one is to love education, and the other is to uphold the bottom line.

I always ask in interviews "Do you love what you're doing?" I need people who love their work with a score of over 8. If you just regard this job as a "means of making a living", it's hard to do well.

The bottom line is also very clear: first, don't hire those with problems in private morality, such as having improper relationships in the workplace; second, don't allow