Audrey Chiang-Wee
I know why I have been in the Publishing industry since 1970 till now.
I was born in a Chinese family with a dad who was educated in Chinese, yet faithfully bought the TIME LIFE magazine since the 1950s. As a child, I just loved to touch the smooth pages of the magazine, admiring all the awesome photos printed in 4-color, yet having no clues of the contents; after all, I must have been 5 or 6 years old. On reflection, I never remembered whether my dad continued to buy TIME LIFE during my teen years. This habit developed in me, a love for books and good photography, until this day.
When I joined the workforce, I was working for the National Iron & Steel Mill in Jurong. In those days, we car-pooled and my colleague who brought me to work daily is an accountant. One day, he told me that McGraw Hill Books Company is looking for a Supervisor, why don’t I apply for it. I told him that I have no confidence, could he help me write the application letter. It was my lazy excuse not to do anything. Anyway, he did and I became the third employee to be hired by MGHBC. It was a great 7 years as I found out the Americans gave their staff tremendous freedom and empowerment to get things done. The Company grew ten-fold by the time I left. I was tired of the long journey to work, as I was pursuing further studies in the evenings.
My next employment took me to Eastern Book Services, a company that is 10 minutes away from home. We were representing Allen Unwin, Random House, Houston Mifflin, Allyn Bacon, Butterworth etc. The set-up was rather small – but the experience was varied as I was able to move from Customer Service, Office Administration, College Sales Rep and promotions. Almost 6 years went by when one day, Eric Newman of Butterworth asked me if I liked to join Butterworth Books. Butterworth was establishing their Singapore operation and I jumped at the opportunity to work for a British Publisher. That brought me to Kent, London and I fell in love with England and Scotland. I was able to acquire new skills in selling law books to lawyers and managing the direct marketing and promotional activities of both our legal and STM products, which included journals. This was the time that while I was in Beijing for the BIBF, I saw the huge display of Wiley products at the exhibition. In Singapore, whenever you see John Wiley's name, all that you see then were college books on display. I was impressed by Wiley's products in Beijing.
My service at each publishing company seems to be around 6 to 7 years. So I left Butterworth after 7 years to join a totally different industry – marketing training videos to institutions. I was hoping to become a trainer as helping people is such a part of my nature. Shortly, I received a call from PC Tham asking me if I like to have a chat with S Smith and him. Needless to say, I joined Wiley as the Promotions Manager on April 13, 1993. Having worked with Steve for a while, I liked what I saw and knew that this would the last Publisher I worked for. I was thrilled that we celebrated our 200 years anniversary in Singapore on my 14th anniversary in Wiley.
Like many things, bookselling and publishing have evolved so much. I started by using individual cards for each title in stock control and mainframes that look like monsters in the office. We were able to have very close relationships with Booksellers as orders were manually written, faxed through, called in and the pace of business was so much slower. Catalogs came in sizes like phonebooks – and the pace of order fulfillment wasn’t as fast as now. Publishing has come a long way since, and I personally felt that the challenges we face ultimately create within us, a spirit of entrepreneurship - which is great. Functions of each position are now so intermingled that we have to advance intellectually, get out of our boxes in order to excel at all times.
It was great to work at the pioneering stage of a Company and Wiley is the third Company I worked for that began their establishment and expansion in Singapore. With S Smith's leading us, we begin to develop the Asian base. During our 1994 Meeting in Bali, we had slightly over 30 colleagues from Sales & Marketing together with Eric Swanson and Charles Ellis. It was great to meet and work with all the different Territory Managers from Malaysia, India, Thailand, Philippines, Hong Kong, Korea and Indonesia. China was later added and Japan was the last to report to S Smith in their Sales & Marketing role. We soon found out that Asia isn't just one homogeneous market – but many complex markets with different language, culture, political and economic systems etc. This perhaps was the reason why Asia captured so much attention from all the different Business Units and leadership in Wiley as the potential for growth was and is very evident. Through merger and acquisitions, Wiley's business went through a metamorphosis – one that places us so strategically over and above many Publishers worldwide. Over time, the Wiley Asia Annual meeting grew to a size of over 200 signifying the complexity of our global business.
Personally and simplistically – this is how I see the emergence of Wiley Asia into what we are today. Our success came as a result of three charismatic and great leaders that I have the honor of knowing and came to respect. Steve's warm, gentle and yet firm personality has won many hearts – and this includes colleagues and external customers throughout Asia. We were sad to bid farewell to SS but we all knew there are greater plans for him in Wiley outside Asia. Next we needed the aggression and boldness of S Miron to bring us beyond our comfort zone. It was sad to see Steve Miron leave in 2004 – but we all knew that this decision in inevitable. When Mark Allin arrived, everyone was curious about his leadership style. I believe Mark is like a catalyst – he has the charisma to communicate between the US and UK global teams and magically integrated Asia into the Wiley network for the future. There is however ONE common denominator for all three- they are all down-to-earth, approachable, and full of fun, loved parties and had many hidden talents yet to be uncovered! We love you Steve, Steve and Mark – thank you for bringing Wiley Asia to such excellence. Needless to say, a BIG THANK YOU to all my colleagues in Asia – for your faithful support, teamwork, dedication and loyalty in making all things possible! I am so proud to be your team player!
When I read Natu Patel's note on his retirement – I kept nodding my head as I agree with everything he wrote about the Wiley family. It was great to work in the Singapore office as we had the privilege of meeting Brad, Linda, Peter, Valerie, Deborah, Jesse and Michela! I remembered one Managers Meeting in Kota Kinabalu, in November 1999 where 15 of us in Sales & Marketing were out on a hike. We ended our meeting early, hiked up a mountain to have our lunch at the end of the destination. Although Brad was the oldest in the group, I believe he was the first to reach the top! I almost gave up hiking but when I thought of everyone waiting for me – I persevered! I maybe the last to arrive but the thought of completing that hike was fabulous! I felt like I could soar on eagles' wings when I saw all the look of encouragement from my team members. Although the lunch was just a simple lunch box – the hike will always bring sweet memories to me. I have many, many wonderful memories of events and relationships in Wiley – they will be too many to pen here. I know my colleagues in Asia and beyond, share the same sentiment and I like to encourage them to contribute to Wiley's Living History website. Every one of us can make a difference in the world we live in – and my dream is to see this happen especially when Wiley is the PLACE TO BE!
In conversations with colleagues in US – I think many envy us when we told them that we could talk to members of the Wiley family like friends, or drop by their offices and Will Pesce's office to say hello when we were in Hoboken. I deeply appreciate and honor Brad, Peter, Charles Ellis and Will Pesce for being so dynamic and so real as members of the WLT! Thank you for leading us thus far – I know the next century is going to be greater than before!
I am even more proud to hang around till the year 2007 to celebrate the Bicentennial with everyone in Wiley. All the celebration in Singapore, Delhi, Beijing and Tokyo has been such a highlight in my simple and quiet life! I was reading the draft copy of Knowledge for Generations as a member of the Global Publicity team member! As I retire this December, I know I will take my copy of KFG (not KFC please) and complete my reading of Wiley’s highly respectable and rich history! I know I could not do that in one sitting – but this is one book I will read from cover to cover! What a great ending for my 38 years in publishing!
