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Law school drop-out, ex-digital agency owner, mom of two.

Some of you may know me from my past life in Hong Kong as owner of digital agency BeansBox, organizer of tech conference BarCamp, or the cat lady who had an Instagram full of street cat pics.

I have since moved to Canada in 2016 to start a new chapter. No longer a boss, I am happily working at Apply Digital, a product design studio.

After a 7-year hiatus, I have started blogging again because I miss writing, sharing and connecting with people outside of algorithmic social media feeds. I hope you enjoy your time here.

Topics I am enthusiastic about:

  • Entrepreneurship
  • Creative service business
  • B2B sales & marketing
  • Customer success
  • Productivity
  • PropTech
  • Fitness & wellness
  • Architecture & home design

Latest Posts

Retention vs. Acquisition

“Sorry, this promo is only for new customers.” I’ve been told that more than a few times by big service providers. Guess what? I’m…

Opportunity Cost

I hated Economics when I was in high school, but somehow I learned one thing that has influenced my daily life ever since. Opportunity…

Best time to take time off

When is the best time to take time off as a business owner? Never. There’s never a good time, but you must do it.…

The art of sending an invoice

Sending an invoice is like proposing to someone. If you are not 100% certain that they would say yes, you shouldn’t do it. Or…

Compete on the enchantment

Ron Baker writes about the Japanese concept of “Atarimae hinshitsu” – taken-for-granted quality. Things should work as they are supposed to. I’m also learning about…

Stop doing 50/50 payment schedule

50/50 payment schedules used to stress me out so I stopped doing them. In the creative field, “complete” is always subjective because there are…

How do you talk about what you do?

Ask yourself – what are you getting paid for? We usually focus on describing what we do vs. the value our customers receive. Example…

Pricing on Purpose

“Costs do not determine price, rather, price determines costs and value determines price.” I have been reading “Pricing on Purpose: Creating and Capturing Value”…

1% Better Makes a Big Difference

How I got rid of 6 apps and 20+ spreadsheets in my productivity toolbox In the book Atomic Habits, James Clear writes about the British cycling…

Selling works best when you are not selling

I was reading “12 Timeless Principles of Selling” by Josh Braun and “Principle 5: Don’t Chase Cats” reminded me of a prospect meeting I had while…

2020 Review

I recently swiped this “Yearly Review” list from Marie Poulin at Notion Mastery and found it way more insightful than the usual “what went well, what…

Who Do You Say Yes To When Hiring?

Who do you say YES to when you are hiring? I say yes to people who: lift others upare resilientshow passion and energydon’t wait…

Celebrating 5 Years in Canada

I am celebrating 5 years in Canada and 4 years as an employee at Apply Digital in January. Looking back on these first years living and…

Putting a Price on What You Do

In my last article, Your Clients Will Thank You for Charging More, I talked about creative professionals who price work based on their “costs” to…

Delivering Happiness – RIP Tony Hsieh

These past few days I can’t stop thinking about Tony Hsieh. I got his book “Delivering Happiness” as a birthday present from my fellow…

In defence of timesheets

Do you fill out timesheets? I do. 🤐 I know a lot of people hate them but I want to defend timesheets. Hear me…

WFH during COVID lockdown

This was my “home office” when COVID lockdown started and Apply Digital’s physical office was closed. I took this photo to remind myself of that…

Incentivizing referrals with money is awkward

There’s something awkward about incentivizing referrals with money. I can’t help but cringe every time I see someone offering or asking for a referral…

What makes a great job interview?

What makes a great job interview? For me, a good marker is that both the candidate and interviewer feel energized, not drained, when it’s…

Why I Don’t Miss Being a Boss

“Delivery for B. Liu?” “Yep, that’s me. You can bring it up.” Five minutes later, two guys were shuffling down the office’s hallway carrying…

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