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Coco Chan, Founder & Managing Director – Voltage PR

A Scottish-Chinese who has made Hong Kong her home, Coco Chan founded Voltage PR five years ago. Hong Kong is her heart & her creative playground, she adds, where she grew up before moving to Los Angeles for education. She returned to HK in 2004 and decided to foray into the PR industry, with a focus on F&B and lifestyle brands. She recalls how her tough adolescent years and constant drive to excel has shaped her into a Woman that she is today, someone with sheer determination.

Her venture Voltage PR delivers digital solutions and events marketing, specialized in messages that resonate and create value for the stakeholders. Grounded in a proven – online, print and consumer facing – hybrid approach to communications, Team Voltage provides forward-thinking, 360 degrees engagement in an ever-changing media and consumer landscape. Our multi-level strategy allows us to propel brands through the clutter to the forefront of Asia’s multilingual media arena – turning them into market leaders with concepts and experiences that people can relate to”, adds Coco.

Coco Chan is highly influenced by spirituality, aromatherapy and wellness as well. Team ABT reached out to her to know more about her journey & plans.

What led you to a career in Public Relations & Communications?
To be frank, I wasn’t talented at many things growing up as a girl. My talents consisted of picking up languages easily, singing, dancing and acting. Having brought-up in a fairly Chinese upbringing neither of those were considered the typical Asian industries you want your children to end up in. Naturally, my theatrical and social abilities led my family to suggest me to try out a career in the PR field. I took their advice, drove right into PR and have never looked back since.

Who is your greatest inspiration? Why?
Real people with real problems who overcome hardship and are still able to smile in the face of adversity are my favourite source of inspiration. But one of my greatest inspirations is my partner as he is always & forever my cheerleader and supports me in whatever I want to do. He ignites my inner fire to want to do more for the world.

How did Voltage PR happen? Was there an inflexion point?
Voltage was born out of the encouragement of my fiancé, Dan, who is also my business partner. Both of us were working at a mobile tech start up and they announced bankruptcy after a year. During this period, I took up a lot of freelance PR assignments. One account turned into ten accounts and I needed help from Dan. He then suggested us to open an agency. I refused but caved eventually and now we have been up and running for almost 4.5 years.

Business has always been pouring in and we have a great network of constant referrals from family, friends and clients. We very blessed and have a great team.

Tell us about your most cherished milestone
I like celebrating and cherishing both big and small wins — makes you more appreciative of everything in life. But here are a few:
Getting our own office after working out of a co-working space the first 2 years.
Growing the team by 50% only after 6-months of operations
Signing our first international client within the 1st year
Team trip to Okinawa for hitting all of their goals

Your views on the opportunities for Women in Leadership & Entrepreneurship today?
I believe that the opportunities have increased exponentially in the past years and am happy to see the up-rise of women empowerment globally. I wish to see this trend continue and support the female generations to come to help make their dreams come true.

If you were to do any one thing differently, what would that be?
I don’t regret anything I’ve done in the past because I believe that it’s moulded me into the woman I am today. But if I really had to pick… I would have probably wanted to start Voltage earlier.

What would you like to achieve in the coming years?
I’m at the age now where materialism doesn’t satisfy me anymore. I’m in a stage in life where I want to life with purpose and leave a mark for future generations. I hope to de-stigmatise mental health issues in Hong Kong, then in South East Asia and eventually globally.