Justin Wang is the CEO of PIA (Property Investors Alliance). He is the embodiment of the self-made businessperson. From unassuming beginnings to life as a property magnate – he now personifies the paradigm for financial freedom. MoneyCentral Magazine recently caught up with Justin to discuss multiculturalism in the industry and here’s what went down:
Please Share With Us What Multiculturalism Means to You.
I came to Australia back in 1993 as a young, Chinese, Mandarin teacher. Luckily, the Australian Government heavily promotes multiculturalism in Australia and even encourages students to learn other languages. That’s why I was able to come to Australia, if the government of Australia wasn’t firm advocates of multiculturalism then there’s no chance I’d be able to go to this beautiful country. Because of my background of being Chinese, most of my staff, in the beginning, were also Chinese. But eventually, as the years went by, we expanded and opened our doors to various communities and people from different backgrounds. So now, PIA is made up of people from various backgrounds because embracing multiculturalism is important to me and my company.
Is there a way to help potential clients better understand why buying properties is a must in life?
Based on my personal experience, buying Sydney residential property is definitely the key to financial freedom. That said, making people understand the importance of our concept is a case-by-case basis because every single person has a different background and way of thinking. For example, with Chinese people, we usually follow a long-term wealth creation plan. So if you want to convince a Chinese person about getting into a long-term investment to accumulate wealth for their retirement – the key is to make them understand that buying a property is the best way to help secure the future of the next generation. That said, if you try to convince a young athlete to buy a property, for example, they won’t care too much about looking out for the next generation – they would care more about establishing their own retirement. So you really need to be flexible when it comes to convincing potential clients hailing from different backgrounds.
In your opinion, what is the most challenging aspect of working in a Multicultural Environment?
The real challenge is dealing with people of various backgrounds. Each person has their own set of cultures and traditions so the biggest challenge is making sure our message gets across despite everyone’s different nationalities. We always try our best, even though it can be quite challenging.
What Is Your Approach to Understanding the Perspectives of Clients From Different Backgrounds?
Getting your message across to people of various backgrounds may be very challenging, but I believe that the main recipe for getting your message across is “love.” It doesn’t matter what your background or nationality is, if you put yourself out there and love other people then other people will be able to genuinely feel it. Hence, I believe love is everything.
What are you doing to make sure people from different backgrounds are welcome in PIA?
Most of my staff in PIA are Chinese so I always brief them to be very sensitive when it comes to dealing with other people especially if they come from a different background to avoid any misunderstanding. I always tell them to smile and be friendly so that everyone feels welcomed in the PIA office. So far we’ve done very well because 50% of staff now are from other backgrounds while initially, it was 100% Chinese.
What are your thoughts on how the world will be different after COVID-19, and how are you moving to address that new world?
We all know that Covid-19 caused a massive disaster in the economy. But I’ve always believed that crisis actually creates opportunity. I believe this Covid-19 pandemic has woken a lot of people. When I say it has woken up other people, here’s an example: Back then when you ask someone to buy and accumulate assets to secure their financial security – they would’ve probably said no because they had a job or business so they had income coming through. Now when you talk about it in this day and age due to the effects of the pandemic, it has become important to accumulate assets as soon as possible since job or business security is not guaranteed. For example, as a real estate agent, you have to set up an office, pay for setting up the business, etc.. nowadays you can just work as a freelancer, using your car and laptop – since PIA is now online, anyone can run their business using just a laptop.
What is the greatest challenge that lies ahead for 2021?
2020 has definitely been tough for all businesses and various sectors. I believe the greatest challenge is figuring out how a business can survive or even grow in these tough times.
What opportunities do you see for 2021?
More and more people are more interested to buy in Sydney residential property despite the current situation. The traditional real estate business model is under threat so, this is a good opportunity for PIA to take over because we have a very cost-efficient model. From PIA’s current model, we are starting to create a new platform – Property Agency Alliance, to attract and empower stuggling agents to continually run their business.
