From a TV celebrity in the United States to a cosmetics queen in Asia and a lifestyle icon in China, Yue-Sai Kan has lived a busy, colourful life. So what's her secret to success and what motivates her?
Yue-Sai Kan is a woman of firsts. Making her name in China as a TV host, her One World television series in 1986 was the first to open a window onto the outside world for Chinese audiences. As an American-Chinese, she was also one of the first foreigners to host a TV program on China's mainland. She has been compared to Oprah Winfrey but whereas Oprah is happy with an audience of 30 million, Kan commanded 300 million Chinese viewers every week with her early appearances.
But not content to be the first lady of the small screen, Kan went on to become one of the very first women entrepreneurs in China, providing lifestyle and fashion to other Chinese women.
"Markets are rarely ready for anything, you have to open them. And it's hard, but you open a whole new world to consumers; you lead them to a new understanding of themselves," she told Shanghai Daily in a recent interview.
The world she opened up to Chinese consumers included cosmetics with "Yue-Sai Cosmetics" in 1992, home decoration with the "House of Yue-Sai" in 2004, two instruction manuals on etiquette and, in 1999, she even released a Yue-Sai Doll so that, "Chinese girls can have a black eyed, black haired doll."
Yue-Sai identifies herself as an American who has crossed over to China.
Born in Guilin, China, Yue-Sai grew up in Hong Kong, and then the United States, studying at the University of Hawaii. She is an American national, but most of her "firsts" have occurred in China.
Though Kan's roots are Chinese, she introduced some very American, individualistic philosophies alongside her products.
"A modern woman is someone who can accept new concepts, and the world is open to you, you take your life in your hands."
"You may think cosmetics are not important, but I introduced a tool that makes women feel more confident, beautiful and modern - that's very important. A modern woman is someone who can accept new concepts, and the world is open to you, you take your life in your hands," Kan said.
Her business success was built on the massive personal fame she enjoyed as a TV host - "Yue-Sai" succeeded as a brand because she was already a household name in China.
Dressed in her signature red ensemble ("for happiness"), with red lipstick and red earrings in the interview, she has the unassailable, shiny glamorousness of an old hand in the celebrity business.
In the mid 1980s when Chinese women were still wearing drab colours and styles, Kan appeared in their homes dressed in American shoulder-padded suits, bright red lipstick and fashionably bobbed hair.
"Yue-Sai" became a lifestyle icon, laying the foundation for her subsequent business success.
"I don't think of myself as a celebrity...Happiness is not about fame, it's in doing what you love and, in the process, people appreciate you for it."
Since 1989, Yue-Sai has concentrated on her businesses in China. But she says doing business is never easy, especially in China's developing business environment.
Yue-Sai married an American businessman in the 1990s but she has since divorced and now lives alone. This does, however, give her the freedom and time to lavish on her businesses.
"I appreciate the freedom very much. Children are forever, and even, sometimes, husbands," she laughs mischievously.
Kan owes her enormous fame and subsequent brand success to a large dose of luck and her attitude to "celebrity" suggests that she knows this better than anyone.
Beneath the glamorous exterior she has struggled to get away from mere celebrity and build something more long lasting. At first this took the form of business, but she has bigger ambitions for branding.
"If a brand is successful, it doesn't relate to you as a person anymore. For example Christian Dior has been dead for years, but the brand lives on. That's the difference between a celebrity and a brand. That's my dream."
She reflects on her own fame. "I don't think of myself as a celebrity, but as a businesswoman who happens to be very famous. I know so many celebrities who are miserable. Happiness is not about fame, it's in doing what you love, and in the process people appreciate you for it."
(Shanghai Daily January 4, 2009)
