~ My old business adventures

Many of you know by now ~ I lived in Hong Kong for 16 years ~ not consecutively ~ 1992 to 2000 and then returned to it from Pittsburgh, Pa in 2007 to 2015. The first 8 years I had several jobs: the first being Director of Product Development for Claire's Boutique (I had owned my own costume jewelry company for 5 years and imported from the Philippines and India since 1985). The second was my having my own trading company named Key Item Traders. I was doing exclusive work for another trading company that was supplying Hallmark. Years later Hallmark found out that I was doing the initial work and hired me to run their giftware manufacturing and product development. I loved my job but found out we were returning to the USA.

When I returned a second time to Hong Kong ~ I again came with nothing ~ and we lived in a service flat for 2 years. It was not my cup of tea and I knew that our short stay was going to be lengthened a bit since my grown son and dog were joining us. I negotiated a great deal on a large flat in our old neighborhood and moved us to the suburbs. But I still had nothing. I'm not a novice to the internet and I know how to source ~ so I talked a friend and our husbands to take a trip to Zhuhai, China ~ only a ferry trip away. We bought everything we needed for the house and were set up quickly and on a reasonable budget.

Photo when my house was on Home and Garden tour.

Balcony on the 13th floor off the living room.

American Club South Side.

The curtains, chandeliers and paint color came with the house ~ so I designed around them.

My office ~ black curtains and carpet were there ~ I copied Pottery barn for my desk and shelves.

HHHUUUMMMM ~ there seems to be a business concept here and Home Redesign HK was created. My concept was to help other newcomer's on a tight budget and conduct tours of Chinese Furniture Factories. I was also able to be on a tennis team, take my summers off and travel all over Asia while doing this.
Life was very Good!

I wrote my own website (that was originally 10 pages long) showing all the different types of items we could find at the Antique Chinese factories. It took me a few months to create and write myself and scared to death to hit the ACTIVATE button. But no sooner than I did ~ I was in business immediately. Hong Kong may be massive but it's small for unique businesses ~ so when anyone did a GOOGLE search ~ my website popped up.

I then wrote a blog using 'blogspot'. All this was free and the website only cost me $25 a month. Through the blog I was able to show my customers a better visual storyboard ~ and explain why or what would be achieved. I purchased or designed most of the furniture in Zhuhai and sold them at 50% off of HK retail prices.

What I loved the most and miss the most ~ are my Zhuhai factory tours. It was a very grueling day but so rewarding. I left the house at 6am to catch an 8am ferry and managed 5 -7 people purchasing and designing all day ~ didn't get home until 7:30pm ~ hot and tired and waiting for my glass of wine.

View some of my Zhuhai photos and blog pages of tours: here

You would think I would be going often with what I was offering ~ but it was difficult to pull a group together on a regular basis. Many because they had kids at home or they had to have a Chinese Visa. That's expensive for a newcomer. My norm was only twice a month. However, when they realized I was leaving, I was going every week ~ and found that no one has taken up the business since my departure 2.5 years ago. I didn't share my contacts, although some have asked ~ it took me 6 years to develop the 'know how' of the business, and factories were changing constantly ~ not necessarily for the better. It's not a business you can just walk into and understand. I've been doing shipping and product development for for 30 years.

Old world manufacturing. No nails. Everything done by hand and assembled ~ in not the best conditions.

On the tour we would visit a market place with pottery. I learn how to make lamp shades from another source to go with the porcelain lamps they essembled. When they all arrived at my home ~ I would match up a shade and deliver them to the client.

This must be 2013 when I broke my right wrist in New Zealand. (Look how swollen my hand became).

Back in the USA

My life is very different now ~ tennis 3 to 4 times a week, traveling to see my boys, starting to paint again ~ and maybe take up some golf.
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I do miss the last 8 years in Hong Kong. I found my best friend, Elisabeth, and we've had many adventures together. She's also returned this year to the USA and moved to the other side of Florida ~ but as good friends do, we still see and talk to each other quite often.

She also took tours shopping.

Silk Road China

Together we explored, Mongolia, Upper China's Silk Road, Guilin, Shangri-la, Hunan, Golden Triangle Thailand, Luang Prabang Laos, Hanoi, and Great Wall Beijing. I've also done India, Java, Myanmar, Cambodia, New Zealand, Phuket, Ankor Wat, and the Philippines without her.