Presence east and west. Lets meet sonia cheng. With properties from new york to beijing, sonia cheng is taking rose woods altra Luxury Hotels to the next level. They welcome everyone from rockstar legends to heads of state to hot shots in the corporate world, but that is not enough. She is learning to double portfolio and make an effective push into asia. Time now for this high flyer to join us and map out the luxury route ahead. Sonia cheng, occam too high flyers. Sonia thank you. Haslinda he took over the company at the ripe old age of 29. You have been pretty aggressive in your strategy. You talk about you took over the Carlyle Hotel in new york, other Iconic Hotels including the one in paris. Were you trying to prove a point . Sonia i think when i started because of my age and that i do not have a standard resume of a typical professional, people are probably questioning whether i can do it so i think that really incentivized me and pushes me to achieve the goals and the vision that we were setting out to do. Haslinda it was new world hospitality, that was the brand. But when you took over rosewood he decided to use the rosewood brand. Why . Sonia the rosewood brand is known more globally so we thought it is more appropriate to use it as our umbrella brand. Haslinda you have always wanted a Luxury Hotel Brand as well, that has always been your vision. Sonia absolutely. When i started eight or nine years ago, i wanted to create a luxury brand from scratch. I have a vision, i have a concept of the brand. The rosewood beijing property was supposed to be my First Venture for this luxury brand. I even had a name for it. Haslinda and the name was . Sonia i might even create another brand for that name. It was a vision i was having and the concept aligned and everything complemented each other and fit perfectly. I believe the rosewood at the time had so much potential to be an even greater brand. Haslinda your grandfather, cheng yutung, he decided to get into the Hotel Business because he could not get the service he needed or wanted when he was in the hotel once. Butanted a glass of milk could not get someone to deliver it to him so he thought, i can do it better. How much inspiration do you get from your granddad . Sonia a lot. He has been a wonderful role model for me. When you work within the company you understand how much respect my grandfather has because he is so down to earth, he is so humble even though he is such a successful businessman. That kind of humility is very inspiring for me and how he created such a loyal group of people who work for him. I think it is very important. At the same time, the fact that he is the longterm vision of creating these landmarks in hong kong and china really inspires me to also create something of my own and do something different. Haslinda it is a family business. Was there apprehension . When you had the vision, was dad or granddad nervous . Sonia no, they were very supportive. When my grandfather and dad started, they were one of the most successful visionaries and the hotel space. They were the first people that developed luxury hotel in china. The hotels they developed in hong kong have the navel to set standards for the Hotel Industry for years to come so they have become a role model for me. When i started this company and what i want to create, i think they see similarities of what they wanted to do 23 years ago. They have been such a great inspiration and i wanted to, three generations down, achieve something similar. Haslinda you are possibly the youngest if not the youngest hotel ceos out there, one of few , very few women in the industry. How difficult was it for you starting out . Did you feel that you have to meet expectations . Sonia there were definitely challenges in the beginning so what i did, i disregard what other people think. I just go with my gut, go with what i believe in, and in the beginning i took a crash course on hotels. I studied sales and marketing and the hotel operation, how does a kitchen work, how does Human Resources work. It was a very steep learning curve and actually propelled me to work harder to make up for some of the standard experience that i should have. But i do not believe it is something that is necessary because i bring a different perspective, i think, to the industry and it complements with the team of professionals i have hired which have 30 and 40 years of experience. Haslinda truth be told, you always wanted to be different even and harvard when economics was popular you chose to read applied mathematics. You have always wanted to be different. Sonia i think that is my character. I have always wanted to stand out of the crowd. I do not want to go with the flow. And like with rosewood, i push the team to always be ahead of others, to always go out and explore because the whole industry is constantly evolving. Being a millennial yourself, do you think that is an advantage . Do you think you know the inspiration of your generation . Sonia i think it helps that i am in that age category. I think that age category complements very well with my team, who are more Seasoned Hotel professionals. Generation, younger i keep a very open mind and i see things differently and i bring a different perspective. I do think that the new thingsion do look at differently. They get attracted to different channels, for example. When we look at marketing in the past, traditional advertising, print is the way to go but now we should be focusing on social media, we should be focusing more on the digital channel. We should look at the different strategies of advertising at self. Haslinda what is key to playing with the big boys, to being a global band brand . Sonia i think hiring the right people, holding the right culture is very important component of creating a Successful Hotel brand. Haslinda next on highfliers sonia they are not looking for glitz and glam anymore. It is not about chandeliers. Haslinda when you acquired rosewood you talked about taking the brand to the next level. What is that . Sonia rosewood has been a very established brand in the u. S. Mostly in the u. S. , x ago, caribbean, and it has been a brand that has been established for 30 years. Philosophy really resonates with todays affluent travelers and they wanted to take the brand across and introduce the brand to other parts of the world in asia and europe. So when we acquired the brand with our background and connection in asia, we thought it is a great marriage to bring the brand across through asia and introduce this wonderful philosophy to this part of the world. Haslinda what is that philosophy . What is the rosewood dna . You are talking about the next wave of travelers. Travelers, they are not looking for the traditional glitz and glam anymore. It is not about chandeliers in the hotels. Haslinda no chandeliers . Sonia it is all about the experience that you give to the guest and the customers. It is about personalizing the experience in creating a special experience for our guest. The brandd rosewood, in asia two years ago in beijing, and rosewood beijing has been a very successful flagship and introducing the brand. Constantly we get great Guest Feedback saying we just want to stay in the hotel all day because we provide such a great experience. We bring the culture and sense of place of beijing and to the hotel. Haslinda including the restaurants. Sonia we do not create typical hotel restaurants. Restaurantsandalone that reflect the cuisine. We cater to the local residents of beijing. It becomes a destination for the local people, so we bring the culture into the hotel rather than having the guest go out. That is the ideal and the experience, the journey we want to create. Haslinda your strategy in the next five to 10 years, i know there are a lot of expansions planned. Sonia we have 16 hotels in the pipeline under construction so our target is to double the portfolio in the next five years. We are very selective when choosing our next hotel. We wanted in the right location, the right city. We do not want to be a cookiecutter hotel chain. You want to be a special collection of landmark property so that is our strategy for let four rosewood. We want to be one of the leading Hotel Operators and asia. Our Lifestyle Hotel brand is really a fun, edgy lifestyle brand targeting the next generation of travelers that are much more liberal, much more openminded. It is not stuffy. It is introducing the informal hospitality to this new generation. We have 27 around the world at the moment and we are targeting to double the size in the next couple of years. Haslinda what are you looking for in a location . Are there attributes it must have . Sonia definitely within a city, location is very important. Haslinda history . Sonia history will be an advantage so sometimes we look at heritage buildings that have a strong culture and a strong story behind it. Rosewood london was open in a building that was built in the 1920s and it has a beautiful courtyard, a strong history. It all fits. We also look at exotic resort locations. We wanted to explore locations in terms of resorts that are untapped as well as the ones that are very popular as well. So it depends on the location and the vision of the owner, whether we are aligned, and the program as well. Haslinda you have a very strong and experienced management team. Was this difficult putting that team in place . You have people with 30 Years Experience in the industry. Sonia it was definitely not easy. , remember when i just started this company was about eight years ago. , 28, years ago i was 28 29. I was supposed to run this company. I was supposed to create this brand and create this wonderful portfolio and have the vision. And at that time, i did not know anything about hotels. I grew up surrounded by hotels that my family has been developing for a long time, but actually being in a hotel and running a business, it was definitely my first time. To convince this team of professionals where they are the best professionals in the industry, to come over, was a very challenging task. It takes a lot of persuasion. Haslinda what was the selling point . Sonia i think it was very exciting for them to be part of a Young Company where they can really roll up their sleeves and create a culture from scratch, and create what they really believe in and what their passion is for, and build their own team and be a cofounder almost. They are not just working for a big Hotel Company that they are part of the making of brands. Haslinda is it more difficult getting talent in asia versus the europe versus the u. S. , europe . Sonia i think it the end of the day it is about creating an environment where associates are very passionate about what they do. They believe in the vision, they believe in the dream, and you give them the opportunity to grow. It is important particularly for the younger generations, they want to know what their career path will be. I think it is about engaging them and giving them opportunities. And for us, the senior leadership, my philosophy is that we are very down to earth. We engage our people to be part of the creation of the company so i think that is something that is very important, and great loyalty within the company. Regreta coming up haslinda you have achieved so much in about 5, 6 years. Is it increasingly difficult to meet expectations, exceed expectations . And you are a go getter as well. You set a really high bar for yourself. Is it difficult . Sonia i think it is a great challenge. When you continuously raise your bar, it is something that we push ourselves to achieve because i think the industry is constantly evolving, things are changing very fast, and we have to push ourselves to move forward. We have to be continuously ahead of others, that is the goal we set for ourselves. Haslinda growing up, you had the best of both worlds, east and west. You were educated in harvard. How does that help you develop a global perspective . Sonia i grew up in hong kong so i have a very strong asian values. My family is very traditional, they are very chinese, so i think that sets a very Good Foundation in terms of the values that i believe in. And then when i was 13, 14, i went to boarding school in the United States and i spent eight years there. I think the blend of east and way i manageed the my company and the way i see the business, both international, having an International View as well as very strong asian values is very important, particularly in this industry. Asia,so globalized so being such a strong Feeder Market to the west and being able to understand the culture in asia and how asian people think and the philosophy, it helps as well. Haslinda it is very asian and very chinese to consult the elders before making a decision. How much does that happen within the family before you make decisions for rosewood . Sonia my father is a very, i guess, i would say cool boss. Haslinda that makes him a cool dad. Sonia he is not micromanaging. He actually gives you the freedom to build a business on your own. From time to time when it comes to major decisions we will need his approval, and im very transparent with him and very direct in terms of what needs to be done and what needs to be reported. And of course, there will be ideas and incidents where we disagree, and i will not be afraid to speak out and voice my opinion. Haslinda but how our differences ironed out . Sonia usually i win. Haslinda because you are the daughter. Sonia because he is very experienced and he has a lot of strong business acumen so theres a lot i learned from him. One thing i make a conscious effort to do is listen to others. It is not always about what i think is right. There are so many people around me that have such great experience that you need to learn from, so i listen a lot to my father. And at the end of the day, we would enter, we would argue, we would share ideas and somehow come to a conclusion together that we are both involved with. Haslinda there is a chinese saying that wealth never survives three generations. You are the thirdgeneration. How do you view that . Sonia yes, i have heard that saying. I have not failed yet and i hope that i will not, but there is a pressure to xl and a pressure to succeed because seeing how my father has been so successful and my grandfather has been so successful, you do not want to be the person who pulls everything down. Theres a significant amount of pressure on your shoulders to keep his legacy and to create the next Success Story for the family. Haslinda you have proven to be very dedicated, very committed, because i remember you cut short your honeymoon to go back to work. What happened . Sonia i am very passionate about the brazenness. Business. I am very passionate about the brand we are creating so there are certain search sacrifices you have to make in your personal life. Haslinda and your husband was ok with it . Sonia he was ok with it, and i stand by the decision. It is so important to be there and to be present and to be really handson and involved in the business, and to work with a team very closely to create the business. Haslinda you are a mom of three. How do you spread yourself . It must be very thin. It must be tough. Sonia i have three children and my oldest is three and a half, my youngest is five months. It is definitely not an easy task to balance but i think it is about how you make the most of your time. When i am at work, i really focus on being productive and make the most of my time at the office to do everything that i need to do about the business. And then when im with the children, i do not get distracted by work and i focus 100 of my attention with the children as well so that balance helps keep me sane and keep me balanced. Haslinda do you see yourself as a roles a role model . Mid 30s you have achieved so much. You are probably seen as a role model to a lot of girls, women out there. Do you see yourself as one . Sonia i am not sure i am a role model but because of my experience and the journey ive had, i probably can give quite a bit of advice to younger girls and boys, not just girls. For the next generation. Hopefully they can learn from a but for me, i still have a lot to learn. There is a lot of room for me to grow as well and im constantly looking for different learning opportunities, and constantly looking to discover new experience and ideas. Haslinda your own ambitions for yourself maybe 10, 15 years from now, if you were to look back what would you like people to admire you for or acknowledge the achievements of . Sonia 10, 15 years down the road i would love rosewood to be the hotel brand that everyone is talking about, that we are the a companyrs, we are that everyone would love to work for. We are the role model that everyone looks up to. Road if5 years down the that is something i have created, i will be very happy and very proud. Haslinda sonia cheng, thank you so much. Sonia thank you. The following is a paid program. The following is a paid program for arthur seven. Ro seven. Hello. I am your host. Welcome to u. S. Dr. Tv. Bringing top reticle experts directly to you to discuss the late