MEGUMI ICHIHARA

Profile

Megumi joined Genesia Ventures as an Executive Assistant in July 2023. After graduating from university and spending a few years at a foreign-based insurance company in Tokyo, Megumi joined Goldman Sachs where she had spent 9 years as an executive assistant to work for the Asia-Pacific leadership in Technology Infrastructure Division and involved as a key role representing the executive assistants in Asia Pacific region in supporting several global-scale technology platform projects. After Goldman Sachs Megumi joined Nikko Asset Management, where she spent another 9 years as an executive assistant to support the product development team and its leadership.
Megumi graduated from San Francisco State University with a bachelor degree in Business Administration.

Q&A

Place of birth/residence

Nanao, Ishikawa-Pref. →The Bay Area, California →Yokohama →Chiba →Yokohama →Tokyo

Hobbies, Favorite Things, Holidays

pottery, yoga, cooking / Nothing but house chores and fun time - not always lol - with a little dinosaur (my son), plus sometimes yoga

Episodes from your school days (club activities, majors, etc.)

Played volleyball in elementary/junior-high school, and the Freshman year in college. During the college years in the U.S., influenced by my African-American step father, I took a few classes to learn more depth on African American history. I was the only Asian in the class. It was not easy at all for an international student with English as a second language like me to comprehend the difficult vocabulary in the lectures given by professors, the real Civil Rights activists. and keep up with class discussions, but was definitely one of the irreplaceable memories in my school years!

Favorite country/episode

The most life-changing trip was definitely Vrindavan and Varanasi, India. I tried parikrama (circumambulation of sacred places in Vrindavan) for the first time. It was pretty tough walking the parikrama path of 10km on barefoot, but stepping on poop from sacred cows protected my feet and helped ease the pain! LOL

Favorite Company/Vision/Value

Local fresh produce market my grand-mother used to run and the English language school my mother established on her own when I was a little girl back in Ishikawa. They are a huge part of what made me who I am today.

Why did you choose to work at a VC?

I was introduced on this new Executive Assistant role at Genesia Ventures by Miki-san. I just wanted challenge using my skills/experiences in the past in the new environment where I have never been before, to see how much I can grow and contribute to the team.