Text: Zhao Gongzi
Editor|Zhao Gongzi
Sources: All of the information stated in this article is based on reliable sources, and is detailed at the end of the article
Preface
Those who like to eat hot pot must have heard of Haidilao, and those who have paid attention to Haidilao basically know that Haidilao has had major personnel changes.
In 2022, Daniel Zhang, the founder of Haidilao, handed over the position of CEO to Yang Lijuan, which caused heated discussions about Yang Lijuan's identity for a while.
What everyone didn't expect was that Yang Lijuan not only had no big background, but even came from a very poor background, and she didn't have any academic diplomas.
So, why can such a migrant girl who dropped out of school as a teenager to work let Daniel Zhang rest assured that she will hand over Haidilao's billions of assets to her to take care of?
The reason for this starts with Yang Lijuan's first work as a waitress in a restaurant.
The working girl counterattacked life
Born in 1978, Yang Lijuan's parents are ordinary farmers in rural Sichuan, while her two older brothers are in business outside the home.
Image source network
If the business of the two elder brothers can go smoothly, in fact, the life of the family is quite passable, but where is there a steady profit and no loss in the business field.
After the business failure of the two elder brothers, they also owed a lot of debt, which made Yang Lijuan have to drop out of school to work to subsidize the family since she was a child.
Image source network
Yang Lijuan, who had not finished junior high school at the time, went to work in a small restaurant in Jianyang County, Sichuan, and worked very hard every day.
Even if she is busy to take off, Yang Lijuan's monthly salary is only 120 yuan, and she needs to send it home to help her brothers pay off their debts.
Fortunately, although Yang Lijuan's diploma is not high, her hard-working spirit is no worse than anyone else.
And Yang Lijuan has always been very serious and meticulous about her work, although she is not very old, but many things at the front desk in the small restaurant are handled by her.
It is precisely because of Yang Lijuan's hard-working and serious work attitude and ability that a Bole who changed her life paid attention to herself.
In 1994, Daniel Zhang's Haidilao opened in Jianyang, Sichuan, and before that, Daniel Zhang and his wife often went to restaurants in Jianyang to study the market.
Among them was Yang Lijuan's small restaurant, so back and forth, Daniel Zhang found this hard-working and capable little waiter.
Daniel Zhang, who was moved by his love for talent, immediately extended an olive branch to Yang Lijuan, wanting Yang Lijuan to jump to work in his Haidilao, and increased his salary to 160 yuan.
But in the face of such a temptation, Yang Lijuan did not immediately agree, because she thought that the owner of the small restaurant had always been very good to her, and she could not be mercenary.
It was this way of being a person that made Daniel Zhang appreciate this little waiter even more, until the original small restaurant closed in 1995, and Yang Lijuan went to Haidilao.
And when Maxima meets his own Bole, the power of the two is enough to write a legendary chapter.
The struggle in Haidilao
Perhaps because she was not adapted to a new environment, Yang Lijuan did not behave amazingly at first after arriving in Haidilao.
The picture comes from the Internet
But under Daniel Zhang's relief, Yang Lijuan quickly regained her state and was promoted from an ordinary waiter to a lobby manager.
With many years of work experience in the catering industry, Yang Lijuan is also handy in dealing with Haidilao, but because she dropped out of school at an early age, Yang Lijuan's diploma is not high.
After Haidilao's industrial expansion, Yang Lijuan was sent to Xi'an to take charge of the branch, but the business of the Xi'an branch at that time was not good.
This incident hit Yang Lijuan deeply, thinking that with her diploma and ability, she could only be a waiter.
But Daniel Zhang did not give up on her, he always believed that Yang Lijuan's potential was more than this, and under Daniel Zhang's guidance, Yang Lijuan realized that he had to learn.
So Yang Lijuan first spent a lot of money to buy a computer, and went to the printing shop to find someone to teach her how to type, becoming the first batch of people in the store who could use computers at that time.
Image source network
Later, when Haidilao launched the computer system, Yang Lijuan's ability had already come up, and she also took the initiative to understand management, hoping to make up for her own shortcomings.
And the reason why Yang Lijuan is desperate for Daniel Zhang is that in addition to Daniel Zhang's cultivation of her, there is another thing that deeply touches Yang Lijuan.
Once Yang Lijuan, who was working, suddenly received a call from home, and it turned out that a creditor came to the door, saying that he would not leave if he did not repay the money.
But Yang Lijuan's salary at that time was not high, not to mention that she had just sent all the money to her home, and she only had a dozen yuan of living expenses left on hand.
After Daniel Zhang knew about this matter, he directly asked the finance department to advance 800 yuan to Yang Lijuan for emergency, which solved the current matter.
But what Yang Lijuan didn't expect was that when it was time to pay her salary, Yang Lijuan's salary would still be paid as usual.
After understanding the situation, Yang Lijuan knew that Daniel Zhang explained that the money was sent to him as a bonus, and Daniel Zhang's move completely conquered Yang Lijuan.
It was from that time that Yang Lijuan regarded Haidilao as her home.
Through her own efforts, Yang Lijuan finally made some achievements in Haidilao, and Yang Lijuan's efforts were also seen by Daniel Zhang.
Daniel Zhang knew that he had not mistaken people, and Yang Lijuan was also reborn in the process of continuous learning and became a core member of Haidilao.
Even when Haidilao was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2018, in addition to Daniel Zhang, there was also Yang Lijuan, who was COO at the time.
In 2001, Yang Lijuan, as a core employee of Haidilao, became one of the top ten original investors of Sichuan Haidilao and one of the directors of Haidilao.
For Yang Lijuan, the biggest turning point in her life was that she met Daniel Zhang and his wife that year and chose to work in Haidilao.
Now that she has worked in Haidilao for almost 30 years, Yang Lijuan's net worth has also increased I don't know how many times, and she herself said: It is very important to follow people.
It's important to follow people
As the so-called Maxima often exists and Bole does not often have, it is her Bole Daniel Zhang who has achieved the legendary figure of Yang Lijuan.
After Haidilao's listing, Yang Lijuan's 3.67% stake in the company was converted into a market value of about 3 billion yuan.
From the initial monthly salary of 120 yuan to today's 3 billion catering billion, Yang Lijuan can have today's achievements, in addition to her own hard work, but also to choose the right boss.
According to reports, Daniel Zhang has always been a very generous person, and he once said that it is impossible for an old employee who has worked for so long not to give some equity to others.
And Daniel Zhang said so and did so, in 2014, Daniel Zhang distributed equity to 5 old employees, including Yang Lijuan.
started as a waiter, followed the boss for 30 years, and finally had a net worth of 3 billion, it can be said that Yang Lijuan's career development is legendary.
Now that Yang Lijuan is on the Forbes list of China's Outstanding Business Women, she is no longer the little girl who dropped out of school to work to help her brothers pay off their debts.
epilogue
It is said that Yang Lijuan is "China's best waiter", and this title is not only because of the waiter's background but net worth of more than 100 million, but because of her spirit.
Persistence, hard work, continuous learning to improve oneself, and finally find the right person, these together finally achieved Yang Lijuan.
Finally, what do you think of Yang Lijuan's "counterattack road"?
Sources of information:
Refer to the CCTV March 3, 2022 report on "Born as a waiter, now taking over a 100 billion catering empire!How good is Haidilao Yang Lijuan?".
Refer to the Beijing News on March 1, 2022 on "Haidilao personnel changes: Daniel Zhang stepped down as CEO, Yang Lijuan took over, and two new COOs were appointed".
Refer to the report on "Yang Lijuan, the new CEO of Haidilao: the counterattack road of the best waiter" on March 3, 2022
Refer to Baidu Encyclopedia for information about Yang Lijuan