Tetsu: Pharmaceutical Consultant Leading with Japanese, French, Mandarin & more!

Meet Tetsu—a Pharmaceutical Consultant and Founder of TETSUNAGI Consulting, Inc.

In my case, I would say that my cultural-linguistics skills have easily brought me more opportunities than my PhD and MBA combined.

Languages: English, Japanese, French, Mandarin and Spanish

Grew Up In: Taiwan

College & Degrees Held: McGill University – MBA, Finance & International Business; Université Laval – PhD, Cellular & Molecular Biology

How have your language and cultural skills supported and/or enhanced your professional opportunities?

As a Global Japan Pharma Consultant, I essentially connect Japan and the world bilaterally: Japanese clients wanting to go abroad or global clients wanting to penetrate the Japanese market.

Beginning as early as my university years, when I offered my services as an interpreter for the five languages that I speak fluently, I have strategically built my career around my cultural-linguistic skills. Sometimes the work paid handsomely, especially for a broke student, while other times, it was paid in experience...

For my doctoral studies, I intentionally chose a Japanese supervisor, as I had plans to work in Japan one day to leverage my Japanese skills in my career. After my PhD, I worked as a post-doc at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

A few years later, I joined a Japanese pharmaceutical company called Eisai—known to be very aggressive in its global expansion at the time. My hypothesis was that there would be a lot of opportunities for Japanese-English bilingual leaders in such a company: Indeed, before I had time to settle into my new role, I was already sent traveling around the world to push my assignments forward. Other than Japanese, English was the main language that I depended on. But I also worked on projects in China, where my Mandarin came in very handy.

After Eisai, I moved to another company where I served as a project manager who integrated Japan into global clinical studies. This role required both Japanese and English skills—along with all the cultural, business, and operational know-how to run studies in Japan. In 2023, I opened my own consultancy: TETSUNAGI Consulting.

Many years and countless projects later, my conclusion is that my language and cultural skills allowed me to develop relationships with people very quickly, earning their trust and respect.

If you are easy to talk to and you speak your counterpart’s language, you will be able to leave a lasting impression even before showing your credentials.

What advice would you share with current language learners or those considering studying a language?

If you are learning languages for the love of languages, I have no advice for you other than to enjoy what you are learning. But if you are learning languages in the hopes of improving your career prospects, here are my thoughts:

1. Choose the target language wisely. Some languages have tremendous market appeal, and while they may be challenging to begin (think Mandarin Chinese), if you master them well, you will have little competition in the workforce. Spanish, on the other hand, also has tremendous global impact and is much more accessible to English speakers—but if it comes easier for you, it will come easier for others also, and you will have more competitors. There is no right answer, just think it through.
2. A language on its own does not necessarily have strong career impact: The key is to combine your language skills with something that you have expertise in. In my case, it is pharmaceutical development in Japan and around the world—backed up with a PhD, an MBA, and 20+ years of experience in the field.

It’s often said that English is the language of global business, and because of that, language skills aren’t necessary to succeed. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

Disagree. Sure, occasionally there are some people who are very good communicators, despite being a beginner at speaking other languages. But for the majority, a world language will help tremendously with relationship building, often making it one of the key reasons for success. After all, business happens through communication between people, which, at the global level, would be greatly facilitated by using your counterpart’s language.

Check out our Connect with Japanese—or explore another language of your choosing—for information about university programs, scholarship opportunities, testimonials, and more! Then tell us how you put your language skills to work @LangConnectsFdn on social media.

You can also explore Tetsu's website and YouTube Channels TETSUNAGI Consulting & Global Parenting – Ask Tetsu.

Know a multilingual professional who's using language skills in their work or career? Refer them to us for consideration in an upcoming Professional Profile.