Women
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Janet Lee G
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Founder and owner, ZenFish Poke Bar
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anet Lee first came to Durham 11 years ago as a grad student at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business
after transferring from Columbia University. Her path to that point wasn’t easy. She’d attended three different high schools and struggled with depression for much of her youth, but after the shock of earning a 0.7 GPA at San Diego State University, Janet says she finally focused on her mental health and “started working hard.” She went to community college in Santa Monica and eventually transferred to UCLA, graduating with honors. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to do something with the community and give back,” Janet says. After graduating from Fuqua, Janet gave the corporate world a shot as a project manager at a pharmaceutical company, but “it wasn’t fulfilling,” she says. A yoga lesson at Threehouse Studios changed everything, Janet says. The instructor shared a simple message with the class – “You only have one life, so do what makes you happy.” It was exactly what Janet needed to hear. “I put in my two weeks notice the very next day, impulsively, without a plan,” Janet says. “Of course, that probably wasn’t the wisest choice, because it takes at least a year to open up a business.”
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