How My Liferay Journey Started

My name is Vincent Liu, and I’m the Regional Support Manager at Liferay. I’m originally from China, and my team and I support customers across Southeast Asia and Australia/New Zealand. I’ve been at Liferay for 14 years now — though honestly, it sometimes feels like I accidentally worked at three or four different companies along the way!

When I joined, we were still on Liferay Portal version 5. The technical tricks that helped me solve customer problems back then are completely useless now. The product evolved, the platform evolved, the company evolved — and every phase felt like hitting the “New Game” button.

Yet what kept me here wasn’t just the technology.

It was everything that didn’t change — our culture, our values, and this belief that technology and business can be used as a vehicle for good.

Staying True to Ourselves

From the outside, Liferay may look like just another software company. But on the inside, it feels different — and genuinely special. One of the first things that surprised me was that we don’t take external investments or venture capital. That independence gives us the freedom to stay true to our mission instead of chasing investors’ quarterly expectations.

Liferay also gave me space to use my strengths in ways that felt meaningful. I first started as a Support Engineer, and I loved solving customer problems. But what fulfilled me most was realizing that I enjoy working with a group of people to help another group of people succeed. At the center of everything I do — teammates, customers, partners, communities — is the word “people.”
And one of the most transformative expressions of that is our Employee Volunteer Program (EVP).

"Impact One Life": The Heart of Liferay’s EVP

At the core of Liferay’s EVP is a mission we call "Impact One Life". It’s not a marketing slogan — it’s the belief that even one meaningful connection can create lasting change, for the person you’re helping and for yourself.

Years ago in Yunnan, I met a special-needs child named Xiao Ping. Despite facing unimaginable hardship and discrimination her whole life, Xiao Ping's mother was more positive than anyone I had ever met. She always said, “笑給天看” — smile for the heavens to see.

It’s hard to translate, but what she meant was something like: no matter what life throws at you, choose to face it with lightness and courage. Hearing that from a mother was incredibly powerful. It wasn’t naïve optimism — it was a kind of strength and calm that most people do not have.

That line has stayed with me ever since.

And it reminded me that “impact” isn’t one-directional. Sometimes we go hoping to help others, but they’re the ones who end up shaping us.

I can’t remember last year’s work fire-drills, but moments like this stay with me for life.

EVP in Action: Stories That Changed Me

Liferay gives each employee five days of EVP leave each year. That's just one work week out of 52 — but those five days always turn out to be the most memorable of the entire year.

In Dalian — Supporting Children with Autism

In Dalian, where our China office was located, we partnered with an NGO called AiNa (爱纳) which supports children with autism. On the outside, the kids looked like any other children, but they expressed themselves in ways people often misunderstood. Our goal was simple: help people see these behaviors as natural expressions of who they are.

The organization also helped prepare the kids for adulthood — teaching vocational skills and creating a small shop where they could sell handmade crafts. Supporters could buy these items not just as souvenirs, but as recognition of their effort and talent. It was a simple idea, but deeply empowering for the children and their families.

In Tianjin — Bridging Education and Opportunity

In Tianjin, we worked with Shepherd's Field Children’s Village, an organization that cared for kids from all across China, many with medical needs or disabilities. The staff was dedicated but stretched thin, so we helped in the best way we knew how: technology!

We donated used computers, secured support for tablets and IT infrastructure, and eventually built a small computer lab. Each year, Liferay teams visited to teach lessons, organize activities, or simply help clean and prepare the space. Everyone contributed in their own way — and we learned just as much as we gave.

In Yunnan — A Journey That Changed Me Deeply

Of all the places I’ve volunteered, our partnership with an NGO called The Starting Line in Yunnan (thousands of kilometers away from Dalian) made the deepest impact. This organization serves special-needs children in a remote village where education and access to the outside world were very limited. The area was so isolated that we even saw signs encouraging residents to speak Mandarin — a small detail that showed just how far removed the community was, even linguistically, from the rest of the country.

Over the ten years we collaborated, I formed meaningful relationships with both the teachers and the children there. The teachers—most in their early twenties yet already juggling full-time work and raising multiple children—carried a resilience and maturity far beyond their age. Their strength humbled me every time I visited.

Eventually, I even started bringing my parents and close friends along. Even though the journey was extremely long and inconvenient, we built a small group that believed in the mission enough to make the trip annually.

Some moments were joyful; others were heartbreaking. You might spend a day laughing with a child, only to hear weeks later that they had passed away. Experiences like these never leave you. They remind you how precious life is — and how easily we take things for granted.

Through all of this, I learned something important: we often receive more than we give.

The children didn’t need expensive donations. They needed consistency, presence, and to feel seen — to know that people far away cared about them.
In return, we learned empathy, humility, resilience, and compassion — lessons that shaped how we work, lead, and care for one another.

EVP also bonded my colleagues in ways normal work never could. Living together during those trips showed us sides of each other you’ll never see in a meeting or Slack chat. Those shared experiences became part of our culture — one rooted in compassion and community.

A New Chapter in Japan

About a year and a half ago, Liferay offered me the chance to relocate from our China office to Japan. It wasn’t an easy decision because it meant I had to be apart from my family, but it was built on trust: trust in the leadership here and in the mission we share.

Thankfully, my family was very supportive. But what truly gave me confidence were the people I would be working with: Craig Kaneko, Daniel Ozeki, and Tony Lim — leaders I’ve known and respected for many years. Craig has been at Liferay for 19 years, Daniel for 13. Like me, they’ve grown with Liferay since our early startup days.

I respect them not just as professionals, but as servant leaders who live Liferay’s values every day. Joining them felt less like a new beginning and more like returning to a journey we had started together long ago.

What I Hope Others See

If you ask me why I’ve stayed at Liferay for 14 years, the answer is simple:

Because the work is meaningful.
Because the people are genuine.
Because the company sincerely tries to use its technology, resources, and business as a vehicle for good.

We’re far from perfect — but we keep trying. And that effort has shaped not only my career, but also who I am as a person.

EVP taught me that even if we can’t change the whole world, we can change one person’s world.

And sometimes, that’s more than enough.