The Moodie Davitt Report brings you the latest instalment in our popular series Ten Easy Pieces*, in which we get up close and personal with leading travel retail personalities via ten snapshot questions.
This time we meet Blue Chip Group Vice President Flora Lee. After stints at hotel group Hilton in Guam and JCDecaux Hong Kong, Flora began working at her husband’s newly founded travel retail distribution and e-commerce and media company Blue Chip Group in 2007. Flora, a South Korean, talks about her ‘full on’ backpacking trip to Europe as a student and her ‘career changing’ time at JCDecaux.
1) Where were you born and raised?
I was born and raised in Seoul, Korea however my parents sent me to the USA for winter camps to explore the world. My parents raised me full of love which made me want to be a better person and I believe it has made so up to now.
I remember when I was a kid, my parents took me for trips every weekend to the different provinces in Korea to let me learn everything with my eyes and not from books.
When I was in high school, I was really into hip hop and composed a rap song. I am pretty sure that my parents were not happy with this but they didn’t say much about my hobby as long as I didn’t do anything wrong and studied well. Funny days. Can you imagine when you see me now?
2) During your degree you went backpacking around Europe. Tell us about some of the highlights.
When I was studying for my degree, I went backpacking around Europe for a month. I think I was only 21 (nearly 15 years ago!). I went to nearly ten countries within a month so it was pretty full on. My first city was London and it was my favourite out of all. London was the first city in Europe I had visited and everything looked so fascinating, romantic and classic. I was a big fan of Hugh Grant so went to Notting Hill to look for him, haha! After that I went to London more than five times and it is still my favourite city… London has something about it which makes me admire it.
“Travelling and meeting different people were two of the best things I experienced”
From London, I travelled to the next cities by train with Eurail, sometimes taking overnight trains. It was really, really exhausting and I think I could do it because I was young; I could not make a trip like that now! After taking an overnight train, I would walk around the new city for the whole day until the night because I had to see each place within a limited time.
The day in Salzburg was so romantic – I loved the small city, it was one of the most beautiful places I had been to. An amazing mix of nature and culture. I still remember the small street full with rich culture and the beautiful scenery over the river. After that, I ended up cancelling the journey to Madrid as I was almost dead with the tough trip and I extended my stay in Switzerland.
Travelling and meeting different people were two of the best things I experienced. I was able to meet different nationalities and learnt how to respect all sorts of cultures, lifestyle, personalities, etc. These special experiences meant I was a girl full of dreams, trying to utilise the time to have different experiences for my future.
3) You worked on airport advertising at JCDecaux for five years. How did your experience there shape your future career?
Well, working at JCDecaux was THE most important time in my life in terms of my career and personal life. I started as a junior and ended up heading up the international team to oversee the international luxury brands for Hong Kong and Macau International airports. By being at JCDecaux, I was able to learn about not only the media industry, but also the airport business and travel retail.
It was not easy in the beginning as I was completely new to the industry and as the city (Hong Kong) never sleeps I had to put a lot of effort in to make it happen for both. I had no one in Hong Kong and had moved only for the job, which was extremely tough – any job in Hong Kong is tough as it is the most competitive city in the world – but I loved it so much because I really followed my passion.
I think one of my strengths was not giving up when tough times came. I worked more than 12 hours a day to learn all about the business. Another good thing was being able to work with international luxury travel retail brands such as Estée Lauder, La Mer, Dior, Clarins, La Prairie, Burberry, Amore Pacific, Hugo Boss, etc; it enriched my knowledge and the ability to foresee how the business runs and forecast market trend, revenue, etc. And last but not least, I really enjoyed my team and colleagues, they were like my second family in Hong Kong and I still miss them.
4) Before JCDecaux you worked for hotel group Hilton in Guam. What was it like living and working there?
I was in the Sales & Marketing team back then and stayed only for a year. Before moving to Guam I had been there only for travels and I thought it was heaven on earth. But living on a small island was a completely different story as a 25-year-old girl. The good thing is, I lived in a heavenly place; I went swimming and walked around the beautiful beaches. On the weekends, sometimes I drove around the island, went for boat trips and did some shopping. I also did snorkelling – I cannot describe how beautiful it was to look under the sea; different fish with beautiful colours, the ocean with its emerald colour.
“I think one of my strengths was not giving up when tough times came. I worked more than 12 hours a day to learn all about the business”
One piece of wisdom I learnt from there was that we can all be so happy even without much desire to succeed in life; there is such a thing as simply living happily. But I was a total city girl from Seoul and in the end I found it tough living on a small island so I tried my hardest to find opportunities in Hong Kong or Singapore so I could move to an international city and I got the job at JCDecaux Hong Kong. I always loved the tourism and travel industry though and knew I would like to be in a role related to travel. Hilton covered the travel industry, JCDecaux encompassed the airport business, and now I work in travel retail!
5) Since launching in 2007, Blue Chip Group has gone from strength to strength. Tell us about the team behind the company and what has made it a success so far.
The company started with a small team and a big proportion of the business was done on the internet. The company started to expand rapidly from 2014 when I spotted a huge opportunity for Korean brands in the global travel retail business. I saw the needs of the Korean wave and demands from the major spender, the Chinese, so I looked hard for opportunities with operators and, with the timing being right, I was able to grab the first launch with DFS in Hong Kong in 2014.
The business grew so fast, even beyond our expectations. But as the saying goes, there are always ups and downs. We faced our first challenge when revenue was flat because of the fast-changing nature of Korean beauty, so we started to source and make partnerships with a number of brands in order to catch up with the market trend quickly. Given the successful launches in 2014 and 2015 we were able to move on globally.
We now have more than 32 POS in over 15 countries, with a portfolio of more than 30 brands, not limited to Korean brands but also Asian and international brands such as Lifetrons, Dr. Morita etc. Our success was down to teamwork – I managed and drove the team in the international market to get more operators across the world and my other half worked on the brand management. Of course, the roles are sometimes mixed and we support each other well.
6) Blue Chip Group has offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul and Shanghai. Are there any plans to go even more global?
My aim is to extend to Europe and the USA. I see the local market and culture as being very strong in these continents, so it is really not easy to catch customers’ needs and get in there but we are trying. We have secured our first opportunity and will launch our brands in Venice this year. The details of the brands are confidential for now, though.
7) Your husband, Tae Hwan Kim, is CEO at Blue Chip Group. How do you find working alongside him and what effect does it have on your marriage?
Of course there were a lot of fights in the beginning. The way I work and the way he works are very different – I am more westernised and he is very Korean. But we both have different strengths; I am stronger with sales and business development with multinational corporations (MNC) and he is very strong with Asian, particularly Koreans which I am not really good at so our roles have been naturally set differently. Moreover, I support my husband with the media division of the company; I focus more on media, press and marketing activities.
As for the effect on my marriage, we have our rules at home – never talk about work at home! So we have a completely different relationship at work and at home. If he wants to discuss anything about work, he needs to go to the office and call me to discuss, not at home. This philosophy will keep your family happier, I believe.
8) Blue Chip Group represents over 20 brands in travel retail, mainly Korean. Where do you see the company in five years’ time?
This year, we recruited more experienced people to source non-Korean brands to expand our company profile. The Korean trend is predominant in the market now but no one can foresee how long it will last and how much further we can grow it. That is why we have started moving on to the next phase of development. We have started to launch brands from other countries, such as Lifetrons and Dr. Morita, and are in discussion with more companies. We would also like to launch our own brand, which is something that we would need to focus hard on.
9) Where is/are your favourite place(s) to visit for work and pleasure?
I think I should say Cannes is the favourite for work! We will know by the end of June if we have secured a stand at the TFWA World Exhibition; it will be the most important show for the company for the next five years. I have attended TFWA Cannes for the last three years and never really travelled as I was so packed with meetings.
Pleasure, definitely Barcelona! I travelled with my husband and we really loved it. We started our day with sangria and finished with sangria. The food, fashion and beautiful people mean every single street is full with culture. We are planning to go back there for our tenth wedding anniversary. Hopefully we can make it if our kids will be able to manage the long-haul flight.
10) Finally, what has been your greatest achievement in life? (Personal or professional).
I think it was getting a job at JCDecaux. By working for JCDecaux, I was able to set my direction to move on with my career. And by working for JCDecaux, I was able to move to Hong Kong and meet my husband who is full of love and we are now a family of four, with two beautiful boys.
*PREVIOUSLY FEATURED IN TEN EASY PIECES
Meet ‘Mr Braun’, the ever-effervescent Klaus Mellin
Meet Karelia Tobacco Company ‘voice’ Joanna Kamarinopoulos
Meet Monzelez WTR marketing specialist Irina Tarabanko
Meet the underwater wine woman Irina Wiedemann
Meet JTI Worldwide Duty Free’s Gemma Bateson
Meet Perricone MD’s Virginie Descamps
Meet Marie Brizard Wine & Spirits Global Travel Retail Director Kevin Baker
Meet Moroccanoil VP Sales John Gates
Meet Furla Global Travel Retail Director Gerry Munday
Meet Genie-S Vice President Ralph Bou Nader
Meet Daniel Wellington Founder Filip Tysander
Meet Tumi’s Fernando Ciccarelli
Meet ‘Mr Danzka’, Torben Andersen
Meet Mr Wild Tiger, Gautom Menon
