Need some career inspiration? Check out our interview with Shagi Defoe, marketing genius and managing partner of Dienastie.
Name: Shagi Defoe
Job: Managing Partner | Head of Biz Development at DIENASTIE | 3rd Emperor of DIENASTIE
Hi Shagi! Can you tell us a bit about your background and what made you decide to move to Beijing?
I arrived here on a whim, a jump into the complete unknown. Accepted a scholarship from the then newly formed alliance between my home The Commonwealth of Dominica, a tiny West Indian Island in the Caribbean and the PRC. A then 20yr old me said “Yes” without any real thought or knowledge of China to doing an undergrad in Marketing here in Beijing. Myself and my four other compatriots braved though the transcontinental journey within the confines of Air China travelling at breakneck speeds in cramped quarters and inhumane catering.
Towards the end of my university tenure with a few then friends of mine we wanted to make the night life scene here more attractive, so we created Street Hustle Promotions – an events and guerilla PR firm that specialized in the ‘TURN UP’ setting parties or other similar PR strategies. Most of our events were focused towards Beijing’s constant growing rotation of foreign students-Street Hustle was a grand success and a new great boost to the nightlife scene you see and know around Beijing/Shanghai. From theme parties at clubs, to special events at designated venues, to doing guerilla marketing work for the likes of Kanye, Usher and Sean Kingston (to name drop a few). Those 3+ years will remain as one of the most fun, and ultimately the best learning experiences of my life
What kind of opportunities do you see for young professionals in China/wanting to come to China?
There are unlimited opportunities: the checkers board is wide open which is one of the major problems. But it’s like any other space in the world and you need to be prepared for the normal issues. Do your research into China’s own distinct policies to entry, and growth of your company. For example don’t come to China and think, “Wow, they don’t have Taco Bell here so I will create the 1st taco chain”. That won’t fly on multiple fronts: local eating habits, proper ingredients sourcing, real estate pricing and policies etc. Something’s can’t scale here but if your growth plan is to make one great taco shop with a beachhead market [expats; global minded and creative Chinese] then that could work.
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