BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY
The Kiwis making it in New York
MICHELLE NG Founder and CEO of MYN North America @MYNnorthamerica MYNnorthamerica.com
Where did you grow up? I was raised in South Auckland and later moved to Epsom, where I attended St Cuthbert’s College. My mother worked extremely hard to provide my siblings and I with the best opportunities, and education was of particular importance. As they say, you are never poor with high education. What was the appeal of New York? The time limit on the J-1 [student] visa. I had to apply within a year of graduating, so that made going there a priority over anywhere else. When did you move? July 2009. I could only bring two suitcases, but that didn’t stop me packing a ton of very large, fashion coffee-table books to keep me inspired. The move was meant to be temporary, but in my heart of hearts, I knew it would be a while before I was back in New Zealand. What
was your first week like? It was tough. No one would rent me an apartment, as I did not have social security, a job to guarantee income, or a USA-based guarantor. After a week I was literally looking to sleep on the subway when I finally found a place – I think the realtor felt sorry for me. The day I moved in he left a burrito on my doorstep, as he knew I did not know where to get food. My bed was delivered just as I was making a nest out of clothes on the floor. It was one of the best nights of my life. How did you get your first job? Against everyone’s advice I found my first job on Craigslist. It was a role at a small, luxury, exotic-skin handbag company. I was working 80-90 hours a week on a salary that barely paid my rent, but I was so grateful. When did you get your big break? When I got fired. Finding myself back at square one, I had no choice but to make fear my friend and throw my mind, body and soul into making my dreams a reality. I started building my business, MYN North America, and after being named one of Worth’s ‘Top 20 Young Entrepreneurs in America’ I was shortlisted for Forbes’ ‘30 under 30’. What is MYN North America? It’s a digital agency that works to improve revenue for brands targeting the USA market. We help many high-profile companies with their advertising and branding, web development, social media and PR strategies, among other things. We are currently looking at opening agencies in other cities and countries. What other work do you do? In 2015 we launched a philanthropic arm of the business, MYN Hope. We team up with other organisations to create events that will raise awareness of human rights abuses around the world. An event we’re currently working on is a collaboration with Flywheel Sports, called #werodeforfreedom. It’s a spin class with seats being sold to fund the Yazda organisation's fight against ISIS. We have another event planned after that to aid the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Tell us about setting up a business in the USA. You need a good, trustworthy accountant. Oh, and lawyers. Get as many on your side as possible. Filing a corporation is easy – it’s the stuff that comes next that you’ll need help with. Was there a moment where you thought your New York dream might fall apart? Too many times to count. I booked so many tickets home, only to cancel them at the last minute. The fear never leaves, you just learn to make it what drives you. It helps talking to someone. My poor mother used to answer my calls at 3am just to hear me cry. But knowing that she would always pick up the phone, regardless of the time, that was my saviour. Did you have a support network
when you first arrived in NYC? No, and it wasn’t easy making friends, but eventually the people who are meant to be in your life – whether short or long term – will gravitate to you. My first night in the city I walked past a group of people laughing and eating at an outdoor restaurant, and I wished I had that. Now, I do. Where are you living now? In Gramercy on 3rd Avenue. Richard Gere lives around the corner. What’s the best thing about New York? There are endless possibilities, it’s just up to you to grab them. Nothing is impossible. What’s your advice to anyone wanting to make the move? You will never be prepared enough, so don’t worry about it. Take every challenge as it comes and just continue to be kind and open-minded.
PHILIP ROCHE President at Plant Specialists @plantsnyc plantspecialists.com
Where did you grow up? Wellington. My father worked at Kirkcaldie & Stains and when I was 15 years old I got a job there, doing everything from driving the lifts on Friday nights to temping in all departments during the busy Christmas period. I was also mowing lawns and doing gardening after school and in the weekends. I think I worked so hard because I hated school. I was bullied for not fitting in and I eventually left thinking I was a huge failure. What did you do next? I got a four-year horticulture and gardening apprenticeship with the Wellington Parks Department. It was amazing. I made lots of friends and did really well, passing all my exams with flying colours which was a first for me. What was the appeal of New York? New York always fascinated me. I saved up and came over for the first time at the age of 17. I visited a few more times before returning when I was 30 for what was meant to be a three-week holiday. I was staying with a friend, Tim DuVal, and his wife, Dagny, who’d started a landscape firm called Plant Specialists in 1972. A couple of weeks into my trip they said they would give me some cash if I wanted to stay a few weeks longer and work for them. After a couple of months, they got me an immigration lawyer. Ten years later they retired and I bought the company with my current business partner, Grahame Hubbard. I’ve been here 22 years now. Tell us about Plant
Specialists. We provide a full design, build and maintenance service for approximately 400 clients in Manhattan. Lots of bankers and hedge fund people, but many famous names too, including Paul Simon, Massimo Ferragamo, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Giorgio Armani, the families that own Estée Lauder and L’Oréal… even some Arab royalty. I started out doing sales and design for new and existing clients and now I oversee all of that as well as the accounting side of the business – hilarious considering my highest mark in maths was 50%. The company has 60 staff, 12 trucks, and we rack up $2000 a month in parking tickets. What was your experience of house hunting in NYC? It’s the most difficult part of moving here. In New Zealand we expect and take for granted things like space, light, outdoor access and parking. Apartments in New
York are expensive, small, dark, and anything you can afford probably doesn’t come with a view. That said, I was so lucky that my friends Tim and Dagny had a storage space in the building that they were happy to turn into a very cool, 1100 square foot apartment for me. It had views of the city, a garden and even a car park – Nirvana for a new immigrant! To this day they give me a hard time, calling me the guest that never left. Where are you living now? I still live in the loft upstairs from the office, but after meeting my partner, Doug, and us getting a rescue mutt, we also bought a house in New Jersey – one and a half hours out of the city. It’s a very rural area that makes me feel like I’m back in New Zealand, and it’s here that I’ve been able to reignite my passion for renovating old houses. Built in 1740, our home was an abandoned crack-house on six acres of riverfront. It had been on the market for five years and nobody would even venture inside until a crazed, renovating Kiwi came along. Nothing 30-plus dumpsters of waste and a year of hard work couldn’t fix, I thought. What’s
been the biggest win for you in New York? The people I’ve met, friends I’ve made, and clients I’ve worked with have been great. Americans love New Zealanders and are, at least in my experience, very welcoming. I think it’s because we have that ‘can do’ attitude and will happily fit in anywhere. What’s been the biggest challenge? Immigration for Kiwis is not easy – I think it would be near impossible to make the move with no promise of employment. And living and working here is very hard work on every level. People are demanding, the traffic sucks, it’s always busy, and it’s rarely relaxing. But it’s exciting.
What’s something they don’t tell you about New York? How incredible the weather is. From mid-April until Christmas the weather is great. January, February and early March are hideous but that’s when it’s time to go home to Kiwiland.