Netflix’s ‘Partner Track’ gets outpouring of support
By Cassie Sun and Michelle Li
Netflix’s “Partner Track” began as scribblings Helen Wang jotted down in her journal as she took the subway to work.
“My first job out of law school was at a large law firm in New York, and I just started writing about the patterns that I was observing,” Wan said.
Image via Helen Wan
Those patterns—glimpses of corporate culture that would ultimately be featured in her novel—were largely inspired by her own experiences working in what she described as a “very alien environment.”
“The Partner Track”, Wan’s 2013 novel, is now streaming on Netflix. The show features actress Arden Cho as Ingrid Yun, an Asian American attorney finding her way at a major law firm in New York City.
Image via Netflix
The following interview with Wan has been edited and condensed for clarity.
VAF: How are you feeling about Partner Track being on Netflix?
I feel very, very grateful. The outpouring of support that we have been getting has been overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic—honestly, beyond my wildest expectations.
The thing that has been the most meaningful about the support that we've been getting, is that it is not just coming from the legal community, the Asian American community, people of color, or women. It’s coming from such a diverse group of audiences and people have been really kind and generous in how much they appreciate seeing this story being told.
I’m really appreciative of that.
VAF: It really is a credit to you and the power of great storytelling. Do you feel proud of yourself?
Thank you for the compliment. I just feel very, very happy that I decided to put pen to paper so many decades ago.
Even though I majored in English in college and took a couple of non-fiction writing seminars in college, I never was serious about writing fiction. I never tried to write a novel in college or anything. So the book began as my little journal scribblings to and from work, which was at my first law firm.
My first job out of law school was at a large law firm in New York, and I just started writing about the patterns that I was observing about success and failure in that environment. It was a very alien environment to me, and I thought that I was the only one.
Now, years later, I know I wasn't the only one who had never experienced that kind of corporate culture before, and that we were all learning.
So yes, the book did start as my subway scribblings from work, and finally, I decided—Hey, why don’t I try to make something of these pages? And I took some writing classes in New York.
VAF: Can you talk about what Partner Track is about?
The book is definitely a novel. But, like many first novels, it is based on some biographical facts about the writing because aspiring writers are always told to try to ‘write what you know.’
I got some very good advice from a writing teacher. One of my earliest writing teachers said, ‘You know I love a good workplace story, and it sounds to me from things that you've said [in seminar] that you worked in a really interesting, fast-paced environment, and collected a lot of personal anecdotes and the experiences from that. Why don't you try writing from that place?’
I did, and that became this novel, The Partner Track.
Ingrid is a young Asian American woman who goes to law school, and her first job out of the gate is at this big law firm in New York City. And she just finds herself in this alien culture. She might as well have landed on the moon because it's just such an alien culture to her. There aren't a lot of others in the building who looked like her or who— frankly at that time— are willing to mentor her or sponsor her in the way that perhaps some of her colleagues may more easily find mentors or sponsors. So that’s the premise of the story.
Image via Netflix
VAF: Do you remember a time when you actually saw yourself in literature? Did that influence you when you were writing your story or was it just something that you wanted to write because you wanted to write?
I remember I was really lucky in that I had a really excellent school librarian who must have noticed me nerdily browsing the fiction shelves and losing myself in books when I was a kid. She was the one who told me about writers like Maxine Hong Kingston, and Toni Morrison, and other writers of color who I didn't even realize that those books could be written.
I just remember opening a copy of a friend's copy of Seventeen Magazine, and an Amy Tan story was in there. This was before she became the Amy Tan. And I just remember reading that story and thinking, ‘Oh, I didn't even know that Asian Americans—and particularly Asian American female writers—could be seen and could be read in places like this. Wow!’
I think the Asian American media and ats community is at a really interesting cultural moment right now.
VAF: And what do you think that cultural moment is?
Just more people are willing to listen to these compelling stories and give these stories a chance, which makes me really happy after a long time of not seeing a lot of diversity and representation in certain quarters.
VAF: I really love the tweet that you pinned because you have yourself looking at the billboard in Times Square with Arden Cho. You tweeted about having tears in your eyes. What were you thinking when you saw that?
So Georgia Lee, who is the wonderful creator of the show, had learned that there are some billboards featuring Partner Track—one is on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, and the other one is in Times Square in New York. So my husband and son, along with my agent, set out to look for this mythical billboard in Times Square.
And there it was on Broadway.
I just stood there, gazing up at it for over a minute, and it was like ‘Oh my gosh, there it is.’ It's Ozark, Squid game, Stranger Things, and Partner Track. I had tears in my eyes.
It was a really nice, magical, New York moment.
Images via Netflix
VAF: What does it mean to you to be #VeryAsian?
Well, first of all, I am so excited to be speaking with [Michelle], because I really think that what you have done with having created Very Asian [Foundation] is wonderful.
A lot of people will take something like that voicemail and just have that ruin your day and have that be it. You took it and transformed it into something really powerful and united so many communities and allies, so I just really love hearing inspiring stories like that.
Very Asian, to me, means taking something and making it a teachable moment that is transformative, and making something good happen out of it.
VAF: What do you want people to take away from Partner Track?
I hope that people will watch the show or read the book with an open mind.
When I began this journey, I reached out to some fellow novelist friends who had been through this book-to-screen journey before and asked them for advice. And people said two things: first of all, just try to savor and enjoy every moment. It’s a wonderful experience, and it’s exciting. Don’t stress over the stressors.
Number two, they said to keep in mind that you can’t please everyone. Don’t try to read every word of every review. If there are haters, don’t take it to heart.
So I would say I would love for people to see the show, hear the story, and keep an open mind while doing it.
Image via Netflix
