Adelina Pang, Principal Consultant and Founder of Adelina Pang Fengshui Consultancy Pte Ltd is today in considerable demand as a qualified Fengshui consultant and professional trainer. Her no-nonsense professionalism in her job has established her as a respected professional in Singapore and other major cities in Asia Pacific such as China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Middle East.

Company: ADELINA PANG FENGSHUI CONSULTANCY PTE LTD Address: Blk 13 Braddell Tech Toa Payoh Lorong 8 #06-04 Website: http://www.adelinapang.com/ Interview with Ms Adelina Pang by Tan Sharon on 17-May-2007. Student can be reached at shar0020@ntu.edu.sg   Business Profile: Adelina Pang Fengshui Consultancy Pte Ltd is a reputable fengshui consultancy in Singapore that has gained a lot of recognition for its success in helping many customers with their business, wealth and life. Contrary to the common misconception of fengshui, Adelina Pang's use of traditional fengshui is a form of metaphysical science. It has also gained wide media coverage for its good reputation.   Interviewer's Comments: Ms Adelina Pang is a very friendly, down to earth and humble lady. Her elegant presence will easily make her come across as someone in the fashion industry rather than a fengshui shifu. However, the passion and knowledge she has for fengshui can be seen throughout the interview and it is no wonder she's a highly regarded figure in the business industry.   1. What is the nature of your business? We are into Fengshui Consultancy. Traditional Fengshui is a metaphysical science. It's about accessing the energy pattern of the surroundings/environment, how we position ourselves to tap into the beneficial chi cycle. True Fengshui is about location and direction, nothing to do with "good luck items". I caution people who are looking for Fengshui to be cautious about Fengshui master who ask them to buy things. Basically, it's more of a metaphysical science that can almost be entirely be explained by logic.   2. What made you embark on this venture choice? I have never thought of doing Fengshui as a business. At that time when my elder daughter was very young, she was very sickly but all doctors said there's nothing with her. That bugged me and we have a old family friend who is a Fengshui master. He would give me advice on Fengshui. I tried that out like the bed positioning of my daughter's room. And we realized there was really a difference to my daughter's health. Slowly, i helped my husband to do the same for his career. I slowly embarked on this and understudied from a few Fengshui Masters. It became a point that I was so into it that i decided to take time off and travel away from my home to learn from my Sifu. Later, i helped my friends as a part time thing. It was like word of mouth and I've never really thought of embarking on this as a business. Slowly, it grew into a business due to my passion.   3. How does your business work? I should say a lot of word of mouth. My clientele is different from those Fengshui Masters who believes in good luck charms and doing things to strike lottery. My customers are mostly English educated middle to upper class people.   4. Did you have the capital to start the business or did you have to borrow from someone to get started? I don't do with products so there wasn't any overhead costs. It was when the business got bigger that I needed a business office, an assistant and accountant. So capital was really low.   5. Do your parents have their own businesses too? Have they inspired you in one way or another? No. My parents were not very pleased with my business concept due to the common misconception of Fengshui. They were quite skeptical that I had to spend so much money to learn from my shifu. But now, they are definitely very happy with my success.   6. What was your childhood dream? When did you decide that you would strike out on your own instead of working for someone else? My childhood dream was to be an air stewardess or a highly efficient secretary in a big company (smiles). Before venturing on my own, I was a PA in an MNC. When I found that I enjoy doing this and it makes a difference to people's lives, I think this is it.   7. Why does someone decide to be on their own rather than join an existing company? Maybe sometimes, they think that there is an opportunity there. Whatever you do for the company, it's for the company and not yourself. Some people like the challenge and do not like the stress of working for people. But not everyone can be on their own. Sometimes, there are some qualities that are involved. You should never try to succeed at the expense of others.   8. Are there at any point in your life that you experienced a significant event (WW2, racial riots of the 1960s, the Economic Crisis of the 80s or 90s, SARS, new competition or shifts in market behavior and trends) which affected or influenced you and your business that made you change the way you think and do your business? SARS affected me quite a bit but generally, the market doesn't really affect my business. If the market picks up, I'll get more customers from corporate organizations as they want to find out more about bringing in more foreign talents etc. If the market is bad, most families would want me to help them in their career and wealth etc.   9. What are some of the challenges in starting a business from scratch? (Modify question to what are some of the challenges in maintaining a family business if applicable.) Everything has been very smooth for me. This is a knowledge based business so it's very flexible and does not pose many problems for me.   10. Who/What motivates you? My husband.   11. Tell me about the first few customers and the first few years of business. I know this friend of mine who was suffering from a serous health issue. At that time, I asked him to allow me to go to his house to take a look at the fengshui. True enough, that was something wrong about the fengshui of his house. After my guidance, he made the necessary changes to the house and he has since recovered from his illness. Now, we're good friends and he even bought a house close to mine as I joked with him that the fengshui around my estate is good!   12. Please tell me some stories of your best day in business or your proudest achievement to date. When my customers are happy with my services and stories like the above makes me very happy.   13. Do you recall your worst day in business? Have you ever felt like giving up? It may be meeting a few unpleasant customers along the way. For example, few years ago, there was this lady who had engaged my services before. Then the last time, when she had agreed to pay for the fees to ask me to view another house, she shun payment. When we asked for payment, we ended up not getting paid but harassing smses instead. It was such a disturbing experience that we have to make a police report.   14. When was the moment you realised the business would work and support you? Actually, I've started the business in pursuit of my hobby and passion more than anything else. What's more important is I'm very comfortable with what I'm doing.   15. What are some of the things you have had to overcome to succeed? Actually, the business has been rather smooth for me.   16. What are some qualities that you feel you possess which differentiate you from someone who works for others? You have to have the interest of others, like your clients, at heart. Just like the slogan of my company which says that "It's you we care about". Also, be honest and never take advantage of others for your own gains.   17. To succeed in business, what qualities are essential? What are some of the secrets in making a successful business? Like the qualities that I've mentioned above. You need to have good interpersonal skills. EQ is extremely important. There are people who have high qualitfications but cannot succeed in their career because of the lack of EQ.   18. Who or what inspires you? My husband. He taught me a lot about business and has been my pillar of support all these years.   19. Have you ever thought of expanding the business in some way or in multiple locations? How and where? What makes me special and create a differentiation from others is that I like to see to my clients personally. They appreciate this very much that I do not try to grow by being commercialized as this will lose the personal touch in my business.   20. What aspects of expansion would you like to see for your enterprise? Not at the moment.   21. In your opinion, how would you define entrepreneurship? Someone who decide to try out on their own and make a success out of it.   22. To what extent does ones educational level help or hinder entrepreneurialship? It depends on what kind of business you're doing. If you're doing something that doesn't require you to be good in studies, one's educational level will not affect entrepreneurship as in this case, the skill of a person is more important. On the other hand, if you are in a business that requires you to possess certain educational level, then it will definitely help you in the business.   23. As we try to select the final 2007 entrepreneurs, what qualities would you think a person should have to inspire others? You need to dare to take up challeneges.   24. What are some of your own values in doing business and what do you like to pass down to others, particularly the younger generation? Be honest and down to earth.   25. What advice would you give young people who want to start their own business? Be realistic. Start small but then progress from there. Some people think too big when they may not even have capital to start with. For example, someone who wants to start a business should weigh their options and not jump straight into an expensive one when their business may not even be able to cope. You need to learn from experience and then slowly mould the pieces together. Be down to earth.   26. Do you foresee the future entrepreneurs conducting their businesses in a different way than entrepreneurs from the past 5 years? (Yes or No) Yes   27. Do you feel that the future entrepreneurs have a higher chance to succeed than the entrepreneurs from the past 5 years? (Yes or No) Yes   28. What are your reasons for your answers in Q.26 and Q27? Future entrepreneurs will be more educated and more computer savvy compared to past entrepreneurs. They may be able to multitasked.