For 12 years, Xiao Chen worked in the aviation industry as a flight attendant. Today, her working day looks very different. Instead of preparing for flights and attending to passengers, she spends her time selecting crabs, packing seafood orders and coordinating deliveries in her hometown in China. Chen’s career change may seem unexpected, but it was driven by a family need. According to reports by Vietnam.vn and Sina, her mother’s crab business was growing and required additional help to manage its workload. Chen eventually decided to leave aviation and return to Ningbo, a coastal city in China’s Zhejiang province, to help the family business.What began as a move to support her mother has also given Chen an opportunity to apply her previous experience in a new setting. She has turned to short-video platforms to showcase the business, introduce potential customers to its products and bring more attention to the work that goes into selling seafood. The venture has reportedly recorded daily sales exceeding 100,000 yuan, or approximately Rs 14.45 lakh, during the busy Mid-Autumn Festival period. Yet, with demand rising, Chen faces a challenge that no amount of online promotion can solve on its own: finding enough high-quality crabs to fulfil every order.
From serving passengers to promoting crabs online
Changing careers after more than a decade in aviation meant stepping into a different kind of working life. Chen’s new responsibilities involve several stages of the family business, from choosing crabs to ensuring orders are packed and sent to customers. She has also found a way to make her experience as a flight attendant useful beyond the airport. Communication was an important part of her previous job, and she now uses those skills to present the business online and connect with potential buyers.Her short videos offer a look at the day-to-day work behind the sales. Rather than appearing in a flight attendant’s uniform, Chen is seen handling crabs, working near the ponds and supervising the packing process. The content gives viewers a glimpse of how the family business operates, rather than simply displaying the finished product.The videos have attracted attention on social media, with some viewers reportedly becoming customers after discovering the business online. This has helped the family reach buyers beyond its immediate locality and explore a sales channel that does not depend entirely on traditional methods. For a business dealing in fresh seafood, showing the work behind the product can also help customers understand the effort involved in selecting and preparing orders. Chen’s online presence has therefore become an important part of the family’s efforts to reach a wider market.
Festival demand brings bigger sales and a supply challenge
The family business experienced a rise in demand during the Mid-Autumn Festival, a period when crabs are popular purchases and gifts in China. The seasonal rush brought a heavier workload for Chen and the people working with her. Reports say the business recorded daily sales of more than 100,000 yuan during the festive period, equivalent to roughly Rs 14.45 lakh. The figure highlights the scale of demand the family business was handling at the time, although it refers to reported sales rather than profit.The surge has not made operations easier in every respect. Chen has struggled to secure sufficient quantities of high-quality green crabs to meet customer demand. When supplies are limited, accepting more orders than the business can fulfil could put pressure on quality and delivery commitments. Instead of attempting to sell as much as possible, Chen has chosen to restrict orders when the available supply is insufficient. The decision reflects a practical challenge for a growing seafood business: attracting customers is only one part of the process, while maintaining product quality depends on having enough suitable stock.Her move from aviation to the family business shows how a career change can involve more than simply exchanging one job for another. Chen has taken on hands-on responsibilities while using social media to help her family reach new customers. At the same time, the reported sales figures underline the need to balance growth with the realities of sourcing fresh seafood. For Chen, the transition has brought a new routine, a different way of using her professional skills and the responsibility of helping manage a growing business. The next challenge is ensuring that demand can be met without compromising the quality that customers expect.
