AAPI Achieve Mentor Spotlight | Deme Yuan

Name: Deme Yuan | Business/Profession: FR8relay

Can you share a bit about your professional background and what inspired you to become a mentor for the AAPI Achieve program?

Since 2018, I’ve been COO and Cofounder at FR8relay, a tech startup developing a novel software solution to implement relay in the long-haul freight trucking industry. FR8relay reclaims capacity from existing resources to reduce shipping times and increase fleet profitability, while supporting happier and healthier truck drivers and cleaner fuel options. In my role, I bring focus to both strategic planning and organizational minutia. I’ve got over a decade of experience building teams, through human resources, project management, and community organizing.

I actually came into the logistics tech startup world from the nonprofit sector. I was a Sociology major with a minor in Asian Studies, and I got my Masters in Social Work–with a concentration in Leadership for Organizational Development. In my earlier career, I supported workforce development with folks with disabilities, advocated for refugee youth, and facilitated cross-race, cross-class dialogues and leadership development programs. In my last three jobs, I implemented pilot programs based on innovative social justice models. This work was deeply rooted in empathy, community, and the pursuit of equity. My journey into the tech and trucking industries has been guided by these core values, and driven by FR8relay’s potential to transform working conditions for long-haul truck drivers.

As someone who has benefited greatly from the support of others who have shared their knowledge and experience with me, I wanted to give back through the AAPI Achieve program. Mentorship offers a unique opportunity to be a part of another person’s success story–to meet them where they are at and support them in progressing toward their goals. I believe in the power of community and the positive impact we can make when we uplift each other. And I was eager for the opportunity for deeper connections in Arkansas’ AAPI community.

What do you hope to achieve by mentoring other AAPI professionals, and how do you plan to support your mentee in their career development?

My mentee actually has an established brick and mortar business, but she is interested in strategically leveraging technology to automate appropriate parts of her business so that she can establish a sustainable work-life balance. I have experience with technology, organizational processes, and their intersections with human users. I hope that by providing structure around her goal, personalized guidance, and sharing my experiences, I can support my mentee’s process of analyzing her needs, evaluating potential solutions, and operationalizing new systems. Beyond our roles as entrepreneurs, my mentee and I are also both mothers of 5-year-old children. This shared experience is meaningful when examining the goal of work-life balance, as we both navigate similar challenges of balancing professional ambitions and workloads with the joys and responsibilities of parenthood.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you wish someone had given you when you were starting out in your career?

I wish that I’d been told: “Not only do you belong in this industry–where you think you are out of place–but your ideas and perspectives are especially needed.” And I wish that I had been guided sooner to affinity groups and organizations, like the Achieve mentorship programs at the Venture Center or Women in Tech NWA. Communities like these take the isolation out of the negative encounters, and make it easier not to attach to unhelpful opinions and micro-aggressions. I wish that I had known that integrating a fuller version of myself as a woman of color in the trucking and tech industry would be a powerful tool in strengthening my own sense of belonging, my ability to build something new, and my part in effecting meaningful change in the world.

In what ways has your cultural heritage influenced your career, and how do you integrate these experiences into your mentoring style?

My personal experience is common among many Asian (and female) people, where I was raised with a more collective mindset. That said, as a mixed race person, I also often felt like I didn’t fully belong in the communities I was a part of. I think my lived experiences show up in my mentoring style in that I strive to listen over making fast assumptions, I am sensitive to power dynamics, and I’m passionate about collective liberation.

What is a professional achievement that you are most proud of and why?

It’s funny that two of the things I least wanted to do in my earlier career–grant writing and research reports–are two of my key functions at FR8relay. To date, I have helped FR8relay secure $1.5 million in R&D grant awards from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. I had support from amazing coaches at Science Venture Studio and the Arkansas Small Business Technology Development Center, but if you’d told me this would be a part of my story–even 5 years ago–I never would have believed you.