Daisy J. Hung on Burnout in Law, Third Culture Identity and Publishing I Am Not a Tourist
"Their first question was: what job are you going to get with an ethnic studies degree?"
"I felt like I was always firefighting and that felt very draining too."
"I started to see kind of impacts in my own personality and my own life. Started being very angry. I felt angry all the time."
"Thinking about your own identity can be an individual solitary exercise, but also it can be one that connects you with other people."
Harper Collins author Daisy J. Hung shares her journey from burnout as an Asian-American lawyer in California to diversity practitioner at the University of Oxford. This transatlantic move drove her to confront her own third culture identity and purpose leading to her debut book 'I Am Not a Tourist: Conversations on Being British Chinese'.
What you'll learn
- How to recognise and respond to burnout in the legal profession
- The experience of navigating cultural identity as a British Chinese professional
- What community activism can contribute to a writing project
- Practical guidance for young professionals facing career crossroads
Key moments from the conversation
From corporate law to the University of Oxford: a burnout-driven pivot
Daisy trained as a lawyer in California, studying ethnic studies and then law with the goal of becoming a civil rights attorney. She worked with legal aid organisations in San Francisco serving Asian and Pacific Islander communities, housing, divorce, immigration, domestic abuse. The work was meaningful but relentless: fighting opposing counsel, fighting her own clients sometimes, always in crisis mode. After a few years she was angry all the time, starting to see domestic abuse dynamics everywhere, and could no longer bring her best self to her clients. She left active practice, took a role in diversity work at the San Francisco Bar Association, and eventually moved to the UK and the University of Oxford, where she has spent the last ten years as Head of EDI in the MPLS Division.
'I Am Not a Tourist': writing about being British Chinese
Daisy's debut book 'I Am Not a Tourist: Conversations on Being British Chinese' was published by Harper Collins. It grew from a culture shock: arriving in Oxford from San Francisco, where she had been nurtured by a large Asian American community and a huge network of Asian American lawyers, and finding almost no equivalent. She spent years researching British Chinese history, discovering extraordinary stories, from Shen Fuzong, the first recorded Chinese visitor to Britain in 1687 who translated Chinese manuscripts in the Bodleian, to the Diamond 4 and Diamond 5 court cases from the 1970s, and interviewing British Chinese actors, chefs, academics and activists. The book took from 2020 to July 2025 to complete.
Cultural identity across three citizenship
Daisy holds Canadian, American, and British citizenship. Moving from San Francisco, where 'Asian' meant East and Southeast Asian and had political history rooted in the civil rights movement, to the UK, where 'Asian' typically refers to South Asian identity, she had to rethink how she identified herself. She began reclaiming her Chinese identity and now describes herself as Chinese American and Canadian, while continuing to explore what British identity means to her.
Advice for young professionals on career decisions and burnout
Daisy advises young professionals to think about their career in the long term, opportunities that seem closed now may reopen. She applied for a careers advisor role, didn't get it, and got it when it came up again later. She also kept one foot in active law after leaving, doing pro bono immigration work on the side while she transitioned, which gave her time to detach her identity from her profession gradually rather than all at once.
The publishing path: Author Academy, Penguin Right Now, and finding an agent
Daisy went through multiple programmes for underrepresented writers before getting published: she was longlisted for the Penguin Right Now scheme, completed the Harper Collins Author Academy non-fiction stream (which taught her how a book proposal works, including that you do not need to write the whole book first), and connected with her agent through the Green and Heaton 'Green Door Project'. The biggest shift from her original pitch to the final book: her publisher pushed her to put more of herself and her own story into the narrative, which she initially resisted.
Frequently asked questions
What is 'I Am Not a Tourist' about?
'I Am Not a Tourist: Conversations on Being British Chinese' is Daisy J. Hung's debut book published by Harper Collins, exploring cultural identity through the lens of the British Chinese experience. It draws on historical research, interviews with British Chinese actors, chefs, academics and activists, and Daisy's own journey navigating identity across three countries.
What advice does Daisy Hung give on burnout?
Daisy advises those experiencing career burnout to recognise the signs early, persistent anger, the feeling of always firefighting, professional life invading your personal life, and to make pros and cons lists, talk to people who have made similar transitions, and not rush to leave everything behind at once. Keep one foot in what you are leaving while testing what you are moving toward.
Where can I get Daisy Hung's book?
Daisy's book 'I Am Not a Tourist: Conversations on Being British Chinese' is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Am-Not-Tourist-Daisy-Hung/dp/0008603243
What does Daisy Hung recommend for better mental health?
Daisy's recommendation: be willing to have conversations and ask for help. Recognise when you need that help and what form it might take, whether it is conversations with friends or professional support. The path to understanding your own needs is a journey that changes over time, and not being afraid to ask for help is central to it.
Who is Daisy J. Hung?
Daisy J. Hung
Diversity Practitioner and Author · University of Oxford
Daisy J. Hung is a diversity practitioner, author and artist, advocating for social justice across personal and professional spheres. She is the Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division at the University of Oxford. Daisy has a unique, international perspective on race, identity, and belonging, informed by a career of over two decades across legal, non-profit and education sectors working to support marginalised communities. As a person of Chinese descent, born in Canada with family from Hong Kong, raised in the US, and now settled in the UK, her sense of identity has shifted among many different contexts. Daisy was longlisted for the Penguin Random House WriteNow 2020 competition, and was selected for the inaugural HarperCollins Author Academy programme in 2021 and The Greene Door Project's mentoring scheme in November 2021.
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