January Featured People: Cindy Mao
Interview &Translation / Steffi Chen
1. Welcome to Xindanwei.com, please introduce yourself. Could you tell us where you’re from and how you got started in the field?
Hello everyone! My name is Cindy Mao and I’m very glad to have this opportunity. I was born and raised in Shanghai. I always think I’m more of a liberal arts person, but I also had an interest for architecture. In my early years of career spent in the Swiss exhibition company I found a very interesting crossover between those two subjects. After 8 years in this industry, I established HIOS with my partners.
2. Can you tell us some of the interesting projects of your company？
This is kind of a difficult question to me, because it is our job to make projects interesting. Audience’s experience is the key to projects. The car show exhibits the top creativity in the car industry every year. We just finished the Expo Museum project in the Wuxi Expo area last year, which was a meaning milestone as the end of the Expo project for us. We are also involved in a few other museum projects, for example the Shanghai technology parks exhibition in Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. In the next two year we will possibly take on a Disney project on top our regular projects.
3. What keeps you going in this industry?
I’ve always been responsible for marketing of my company. The clients’ feedback is the most important. This industry has been fast developing in the past 10 year in China, but there are still a lot of problems. The purpose of starting HIOS is to provide the most creative design, the most reliable structure and most attentive service to our client. We want to make each project easier for our client. It all comes from our passion for this industry as well as our commitment to innovation and quality.
4. How do you feel along the way of setting up this company? What are your advices to other entrepreneurs? What plans and vision do you have for your company?
Establishing a company is a process of growing together. HIOS is a tight team, we hope in future, every member of this team can work happily and efficiently, have a work-life balance. We want to create a model different from the convention that allows us to grow as a lively team. Only a team can create a snowball effect, and we will endeavour to achieve that.
Our advice is: Remember your dream, and hold on to it until you achieve it.
5. How did you know about Xindanwei? Why did you choose Xindanwei as your workplace?
I heard about Xindanwei from a friend at first. Afterwards I attended a few events in Xindanwei and I realized it is a great platform for start-ups. And I like the deco style so I chose it. I hope this open, cooperative atmosphere will help us grow!
