Refactor Labs

Refactor Labs is a modern leadership advisory firm helping outliers and organizations lead through hard pivots. We specialize in resilience and reinvention, delivering remarkable experiences that thrill participants and build their courage + capacity for change.

Services:

🧢 Executive Coaching: 1:1 + small group sessions that unlock transformational growth through extended partnership.

🛠️ Participatory Workshops: Interactive seminars designed to learn and practice crucial skills for navigating complex transitions—storytelling, emotional intelligence, experimentation and more.

🎤 Keynote Talks: High energy presentations that challenges audiences to dream bigger and act bolder in the pursuit of excellence.

Clients:

Meta
Nielsen
Pinterest
Grubhub
Contenda
Coeus Ventures
Proctor & Gamble
Harmonic Message
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Executive Coach

Lunar Accel

Board Member

Merit

Angel Investor, Mentor

Contenda

Angel Investor

13 Fund

Angel Philanthropist

Jason Shen

Write about business, technology, and culture for publications with numerous bylines in TechCrunch, Fast Company, and Vox. My posts on Medium have a combined 800k+ views.

Speak and teach at conferences and events on topics like gaming & esports, product management, entrepreneurship, talent development, and leadership. Since 2012, I've spoken on four separate continents (North Am, Europe, Asia, Australia) at places like Google, Pinterest, General Assembly, and Empower. My TED talk on the future of hiring has 4M views.

Support ambitious startup founders as an executive coach.

Resilience Expert

Facebook

Led product for public groups which connect 400M+ people everyday to the interests, people, and  communities they care most about, without barriers. Incubated a new product experience in FB Groups to millions of people.

Product Manager

Presidential Innovation Fellows Foundation

The Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) program was established by the White House in 2012 to attract top innovators into government, capable of tackling issues at the convergence of technology, policy, and process.

The PIF Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization established to support and advance the PIF program, drive innovation in the US government, and connect our 100+ alumni. Board members are elected by members to 2-year terms.

The Asian American Man Study

The Asian American Man Study a national survey of the experiences and beliefs of American men of East, Southeast, and South Asian descent. Our findings have appeared in The Atlantic, NBC Asian America, Vox, and Quartz, and has reached over 100,000 people on Medium. Over 1000 Asian men have been surveyed since our founding in 2015.

Jason has shared his research and personal experience as a first-generation Asian American at Amazon, Pinterest, Proctor & Gamble, and Nielsen.

Founder

Helping unconventional founders & execs lead through hard pivots · Author: THE PATH TO PIVOT · Uncle Iroh with a side of Genie · 3x venture-backed startup founder · 1st gen immigrant · ADHD · Meta + Etsy alum

Hi, I'm Jason. I'm an executive coach to outliers & organizations facing hard pivots.

But let's talk about you for a sec. I'm guessing you've landed your fair share of funding, promotions, and industry recognition.

But somewhere along that grind, you noticed you saw the world differently than your peers and those ahead of you. You discovered that achieving inside someone else's definition of success isn't a sweet as winning on your own terms.

But at the same time, you've realized that building a company, career, and creative life that's out of the ordinary can be daunting.

I get it.

As an executive coach and the founder of a leadership advisory firm Refactor Labs, I help outliers like you lead through hard pivots in business and life. 

Having built teams, products, and companies in consumer, B2B, and marketplaces from inception to post-IPO—I've probably seen the problems you're facing.

As a three time startup founder with two exits and one very humbling failure under my belt—I know the pressure of having to manage your psychology and lead your team in pressure-cooker moments.

And as an ADHD kid transplanted from Suzhou to Silicon Valley, I've felt the sting of rejection and the struggle to find community when you don't fit in.

That's why I do what I do.

My clients are VC-backed founders, agency owners, and senior executives. Outliers who want to express their unique talents in spite of a system that tells them to just fit in. Leaders who want to transform their organizations to navigate a new reality.

I work with you to power through those hard pivots to land that next big thing.

That's what I did for Kevin.

Kevin had a growing family and a successful career as a marketing leader, but was tired of feeling tired and burned out.

Together we charted a path for him to leave his pre-IPO startup and launch a successful agency that's quickly becoming the go-to messaging agency for B2B SaaS companies while supporting his family and his health.

And for Edmar.

Edmar was the founder and former CEO one of Brazil's most successful tech companies, but when we met, he was stuck in first gear without much momentum in any direction.

Together we helped him find joy in coding again, develop genuine relationships and a community of Bay Area technologists, and shaped his vision to launch an AI venture studio.

So that's what I do. Here are some ways I can help you:

1. The Outlier Advantage Email Course (free)
2. The Path to Pivot book ($)
3. 1:1 or Group Executive Coaching ($$)
4. Keynote presentation ($$$)

Shoot me a DM to learn more and explore further.

🌱 Jason Shen

You built the thing.

You wrote the first lines of code, made the first sale, hired the first employee. You were the company.

But now you're scaling. You have a team of 5, 25, 50.

The skills that got you here, the relentless doing, the hands-on control... they are becoming the bottleneck. You feel you "should" be more strategic, but you're uneasy letting go.

You look at your title:

CEO
CTO
COO

And you wonder if you're still the right person for the job.

Your challenge isn't to become a different person. It's to find your new point of leverage.

It's to graduate from being the best "doer" to being the most effective "enabler."

What's one task you're still holding onto that you know you need to hand off to scale your impact?

Jason 🧠 Shen

The Outlier Coach · Helping venture-backed founders build conviction and win *their* game. Author of 'The Path to Pivot' & 'Weirdly Brilliant' · Retired NCAA 🏆 gymnast

The Wall Street Journal

- Serve as the only London-based social editor responsible for deciding priorities for the day and staying ahead of trends
- Lead social video experimentation with formats, topics and new AI tools; making data-informed decisions and refining content pillars, curation and posting cadence
- Independently produce social videos featuring self and other reporters around the newsroom, including 
 conceptualization, scripting, shooting, editing and distributing
- Advocate for the needs of off-platform channels with coverage chiefs and serve as an evangelist for digital storytelling in the newsroom
- Serve as key voice in product improvements for digital platforms and editorial tools
- Shape storytelling experiments on and off platform

Senior Editor, Social

- Guide social video strategy and production across platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Snapchat, Facebook and WhatsApp
- Launched and built creative, brand-aligned strategy for WSJ TikTok, achieving over 400 million organic views, 148% YoY follower growth, and 126% YoY engagement growth 
- Edit and direct producers responsible for creating videos, graphics and animations across social platforms (Instagram, WhatsApp, X, Facebook, LinkedIn)
- Ideate, produce and edit original content on a daily basis, ensuring consistent brand voice and cultural relevance
- Manage daily content calendar, ensuring posts are publishing at times optimized for reach and engagement 
- Analyze weekly video data and adjust strategy accordingly to meet goals and KPIs
- Oversee social media initiatives and long-term projects from concept to execution, including during fast-paced breaking news
- Manage community connections via comment section and act as liaison to platform partners to strength relationships 
- Provide key performance and programming TikTok updates to marketing and product stakeholders 
- Developed and conducted company trainings on latest trends and technologies in social media 
- Curate, produce and design social media posts posted across Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and Snapchat
- Pitch and report original stories related to the intersection of business, Gen Z trends and pop culture

Senior Platform Editor, Social Visuals

- Develop and deliver comprehensive social video training programs and classes for professionals, students and organizations like Google/NewsCorp's Digital News Academy, the Online News Association, the Poynter Institute, The Wall Street Journal, and Yahoo News
- Conduct workshops and provide 1:1 individualized coaching to help people shine on camera, produce their own videos, develop sustainable content plans and long-term digital strategy
- Lead variety of trainings on social video strategy, on-camera presence, and simple video production techniques

Social Video Trainer and Coach

Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY

- Developed curriculum for Social Media Tools in the Engagement Journalism master's program at CUNY
- Teach weekly 3-hour seminar to students on social media strategy, platform algorithms, content production and more

Adjunct Lecturer

Fulbright Germany

The Berlin Capital Program, operated by and fully funded by the Fulbright Germany program, begins in April with monthly online meetings and culminates with an intensive week in Germany in September. The initial, virtually held sessions will introduce the grantees to major program themes and feature guest speakers, in preparation for the group seminar in Germany that provides a closer look at the German media landscape and a deeper awareness of German and European society. 

The on-the-ground experience in Germany included meetings, visits, discussions and workshops with German and U.S. expat members of the media, experts in various fields, government officials, and engaged citizens.

Grantee, Berlin Capital Program

 Atlantik-Brücke

The New Bridge Program is a fully funded, highly competitive program for fellows to learn and engage in conversations about transatlantic relations. An 11-person cohort, with a variety of personal and professional backgrounds, dove into a wide range of topics spanning historical and contemporary political and social issues involving the U.S. and Europe over the course of 10 days.

New Bridge Fellow

Yahoo

Spearheaded various special projects including on social media (TikTok, Instagram), curated and edited newsletters on politics and Covid-19, and reported and wrote stories related to Gen Z and international affairs. Represented company as spokesperson in articles and at conferences. 

TikTok: 
- Launched and managed Webby-nominated TikTok account (1.2 million followers in 16 months); developed first successful strategy for short-form video content aimed at Gen Z across Verizon Media properties
- Drove 350 million+ views in one year for TikTok coverage, including Webby-nominated coverage of Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection
- Pitched and produced videos daily on breaking news, politics, culture and science; edited tone, visuals and audio
- Produced and hosted informative live TikTok interview series featuring Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, White House press secretary Jen Psaki and various Yahoo reporters 

Curation:
- Curated, wrote and programmed COVID-19 and politics newsletters, delivered to 900K+ subscribers with open rates of 11% and 25%, respectively
- Collaborated with product team to plan and build topic pages and tested notifications for mobile mail
- Curated coronavirus and election 2020 pages; wrote daily news push alerts to drive reader engagement on tight deadlines

Reporting:
- Reported and wrote stories on politics and culture, sourcing diverse voices on Gen Z, Asian identity and foreign affairs

Strategy:
- Served on Gen Z task force, partnering with newsroom leaders to ideate content strategy and present work to company
- Spoke at news conferences about TikTok and Gen Z content strategy, including ONA21 and NENPA21

Special Projects Editor, Yahoo News

The Fulbright Program

- Directed and developed inaugural national English storytelling conference "Saya Malaysia//Kita Malaysia" for 100+ students, focused on issues of identity and media literacy
- Delivered speech as ETA representative for Malaysian king and queen, U.S. ambassador to Malaysia, and other U.S. and Malaysian government representatives
- Supervised creation and production of school's first English newsletter and taught journalism skills to secondary school students
- Served as a U.S. cultural ambassador in Malaysia while teaching secondary school students in rural area 
- Applied for and received 3 Small Grants from U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to direct and hold English programs

Grantee

- Developed ‘The 360,’ a Yahoo News app feature that examines diverse perspectives on the day’s top news stories to provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of major issues
- Published 25+ explanatory stories for ‘The 360’ on national political and cultural news 
- Curated and programmed top stories for home page and app on day-to-day basis, including writing headlines and teasers
- Crafted breaking news updates on the app and social media for over 1 million readers while maintaining editorial standards and product vision
- Monitored news and programmed timely stories across Yahoo News platforms on weekend solo shift
- Analyzed data trends to inform team members of best practices and to communicate ideas with product team

Associate Editor at Yahoo! News

- Published 60+ stories covering national political news such as health care and Congress
- Interviewed Congressional staff and members, reported on Senate hearings
- Brainstormed and pitched stories at daily news team editorial meetings
- Reported on breaking news events, often through social media mining
- Drafted social media posts for stories, assembled text copy and photos on content management system

News and Politics Intern

Novelis

- Full-time corporate communications intern working for Novelis' global headquarters
- Wrote and edited press releases and articles for $11 billion B2B company's global audience
- Designed custom images on InDesign, Photoshop
- Published WordPress posts with attention to SEO

Communications & Government Affairs Intern

Hi! I'm Julia, a journalist at The Wall Street Journal talking all things careers, work, and business on LinkedIn.

At WSJ, I lead social media strategy and social video production, as well as write and report stories. I frequently appear on panels as an expert speaker and moderator, and have served as an adjunct lecturer at The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.

My current fascinations: 
- creator-journalists
- building personal brands that convert on social 
- innovative digital storytelling 
- social video strategy

I love building things. I'm happiest when I'm brainstorming, planning strategy, teaching others, or working on innovative storytelling projects.

My work has been featured in:
- Nieman Lab
- Digiday
- Vanity Fair
- Business Insider

I've spoken at:
- Cannes Lions 
- Online News Association Convention
- Poynter Institute Workshop
- TechCrunch Disrupt
- Google / NewsCorp Digital News Academy
- The Lenfest Institute 
- NewsWhip Publishers' Summit

My reporting and writing has been in:
- The Wall Street Journal
- Yahoo News
- NPR's Marketplace

With work experience across the U.S., Malaysia, the U.K., and Germany, I've traveled to 30+ countries. I'm always chasing new adventures.

Let’s build something together!

Julia Munslow

Renters are conning their way into luxury apartments. 

Read more in The Wall Street Journal: https://lnkd.in/eEUPPcMr

Journalist @ The Wall Street Journal | Content Creation, Social Video and Digital Strategy | Adjunct Lecturer | 30 under 30, International News Media Association

Employers have a warning for the Class of 2026: Next spring’s graduate-hiring market is likely to be even worse than this year’s.

Read more in The Wall Street Journal: https://lnkd.in/enZuvqC8

What do you do when your most prominent landmark is too historic to tear down, yet too costly to save? WSJ's Peter Grant took a look at the fate of the boarded-up Superman Building in Providence, R.I.

Read more: https://lnkd.in/eSGTwwHv

taplio

The Battle

🌱 Jason Shen

Julia Munslow

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score🌱 Jason Shen's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJulia Munslow's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

🌱 Jason Shen

Julia Munslow

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}🌱 Jason Shen's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJulia Munslow's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance Score🌱 Jason Shen's LinkedIn Performance