Ep 145: Are You a Masochistic Book Lover? | Kenny Chan (ex-diplomat & ex-Senior Director at Kinokuniya Book Stores (Asia Pacific))

“Are you a masochist?” “Do you love books that much?” If you want to be a bookseller, than those are the questions you need to ask yourself - according to Kenny Chan, the former Senior Director at Kinokuniya Book Stores (Asia Pacific) - he spent ~20 years of his career there prior to his retirement! But prior to bookseller, Kenny was a foreign diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore, where he was posted to London as their Trade and Culture Attache. He then switched to bookselling, first at Popular Holdings Limited, then MPH Bookstores Sdn Bhd, and back again at Popular when they launched their IPO! And finally interviewed for a position at Kinokuniya. The President & Chairman of Kinokuniya flew from Japan to Singapore to conduct the interview and asked Kenny just one question: “Do you love books?” As it turns out, Kenny gave me the exact answer he was looking for! And even after retirement, Kenny remains deep in the bookselling world. If you haven’t already guessed it, Kenny is the latest guest on STIMY! And we dive deep into all things books & the art of evangelising. ❓Why does Kenny not judge people by their educational level? ❓Why did he initially become a foreign diplomat? ❓What was it like opening bookstores throughout Asia Pacific, Dubai and New York? ❓What was it like working at his dream company? ❓What is the secret to buying books & why is bookselling a spiritual experience? ❓How can aspiring authors can get Kenny’s attention? Are you intrigued yet? The YouTube version is out now too. 😎 Highlights: 1:01 The Punisher 1:50 Don’t judge people by their level of education 2:59 Do your best in everything that you touch 3:58 My education was a roller-coaster 5:31 Didn't want to be a bookseller! 7:56 Getting into foreign affairs 9:51 Hunted down a book for Lee Kuan Yew & the power of connections 11:35 Lee Kuan Yew was a hard task master 14:54 Life isn't fair 18:32 How to get rid of inventory/books for bookstores 20:21 Leaving Popular for MPH 21:00 Introducing comics & Sanrio (Hello Popular) to Singapore 22:12 How Kenny knew it was time to bring Hello Kitty in 24:07 Memorable stories 26:43 What was it like working in his dream company? 27:46 Becoming store manager of the MPH Stamford Bookstore 28:22 You need to be a dictator 32:22 A great success 36:23 The IPO 37:11 The secret behind buying books & working at Popular 41:29 Moving to Kinokuniya 43:03 Meeting 43:30 The 1 question asked by the President & Chairman of Kinokuniya from Japan 44:44 Working with someone who doesn’t understand English 46:09 The spiritual aspect of book selling 47:01 Opening a store in Dubai 48:16 Love of books 49:13 The Kinovirus & training to become a great bookseller 50:45 The Speech 52:05 Biggest achievements while at Kinokuniya 54:44 Kinokuniya isn’t a bookstore. It’s a lifestyle choice 56:15 The importance of building a brand 58:51 The Twin Lemons Act 59:50 Getting Kenny’s attention 1:00:25 Ask a bookseller, what questions should you ask yourself? 🙊 Like STIMY? Buy us a ☕️?: https://beacons.ai/sothisismywhy 🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/1uCeI8LOI5Y 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/145 💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 ✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442