 In the 2000s, Yu's chance to work in episodic TV came when she received an invitation to apprentice at John Wells Productions as the first participant of their director diversity program.Shadowing directors, Yu sensed she was a guinea pig.“If you screw this up,” she told herself, “they’ll never let another woman of color from documentaries do this again.” While working for John Wells’ production company, she began directing in television for shows like "Grey's Anatomy" and "The West Wing."