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same quality materials, authentic design
and careful craftsmanship go into them.
Apart from the lower price, the main
difference is that the reproduction is new
and the artisan is still alive!
Reputation is everything. Our rule
is never to even
think
of implying that
something might be older than we know
it to be – and if we don’t know its age,
we just say so.
Has your previous working
experience been of help in this
new venture?
Enormously! It’s as though everything
I’ve done in the past – communications,
marketing, branding, all the languages
I’ve learnt and my experience in dealing
with a variety of cultures – is nowmaking
sense.
German is my mother tongue, I speak
English, French and Spanish and I
picked up a bit of Arabic while we were
living in Dubai. After my A-levels I worked
as a GO (
gentil organisateur
) at Club
Med for a couple of years, both in Italy
and in France. I like to say that I learnt
my French on the ski slopes of France!
And in my student years, I studied
communications at the University of
Westminster, London; and art history
at the Universitat de Barcelona, Spain.
All of this helps me engage with the
multinational audience of Singapore.
In Germany, I did client servicing and
new business for the country’s biggest
magazine publishing company. In the
UAE, I worked for a French packaging
design and branding company, after
building up a new office for a Lebanese
company that developed a whole new
city there. All this business experience
is proving infinitely valuable to me now.
What about needing Mandarin
for your sourcing trips to Beijing?
I’ve always enjoyed shopping and
haggling at markets, and enthusiasm
helps!
However, though I can get by with
market Chinese and my smattering of
street Mandarin – that includes counting
with finger-signs, and working a lot with
the calculator! – I do currently have a
tutor for Mandarin.
How difficult was the handover?
It wasn’t, because of Helle’s wonderful
mentorship. For example, we went to
Beijing together on a sourcing trip where
she introduced me to all the suppliers,
and then she generously spent five
weeks here with me to do the handover.
Fortunately, Singapore makes things
really easy for a business owner. People
have been incredibly friendly and
supportive, from the accountant who
looked at the books for me but refused
to bill me for his services, to the SME
government agency man who came
to brief me on my business-related
entitlements. That would never happen
in Germany!
How good is your work-life
balance?
Quite good, although I’ve extended the
opening hours to run from11am to 6pm–
seven days a week, of course. I’m lucky to
have Aishah, my sales assistant. Because
of her, I’m able tomake Sunday my family
day, though I do work Saturdays.
Havingmy own business gives me the
flexibility to still be with my son when he
needs me. Actually, though, it’s good for
the whole family that the boys spend
Saturday together: it gives my husband
the opportunity to make up for the rest
of the week!
Many things are still new for me, but
every time I walk through this door and
the little bell rings, I feel so blessed. In
the past, I have sometimes envied other
people because of the work they do.
That no longer happens – so I know that
I’m exactly where I should be.
FairPrice Antique is at Tan Boon Liat
Building, 315 Outram Road; on the
ground level and accessed from the
spacious car park.
6270 2544 |
fairpriceantique.com