Life Lessons From A Reluctant Entrepreneur

Many people planned all their lives to be an entrepreneur. This did not happen to me, it sort of all evolved. But along the way, I discovered how much I love what I do. I love the people i work with - my staff, the vendors and factories and my customers - I simply love the work I am doing. When asked what advice I would give to a new entrepreneur my advice is always the same ...to Marry Money. The truth is if you do not love what you are doing then you better just Marry Money. I count myself lucky as I really LOVE what I am doing. I live in Vietnam and China and we Manufacturer medium to high end products for the Home Décor industry I own a company called Mondoro (mondoro.com) Each day brings with it a new adventure. Life is never dull or boring. .

[mondoro]

Mondoro Challenge - UNIS 2018 At the end of this school year, we finished the 4th consecutive Mondoro Challenge with Mr. Ian Flude’s 10th grade design class. The students, ranging from ages 15 to 16 years, need to all design and develop a lamp for Mondoro from conception to finish. At the beginning of the semester I went to talk to them a bit about the color, trends, marketing and our collections. The students then randomly drew one of our collections they had to design to. They drew out preliminary ideas by hand, then picked 3 that they did CAD designs on the computer. Of those three designs they needed to pick one and then show the back up data as to why they choose that one design. They then did detailed drawings on their chosen lamp, and finally manufactured it. Their final step was to do the safety testing on their lamp and advise if it could pass or fail some standard lamps tests as the tip test. This year was very tough to pick a winner, there were so many amazing lamps, designs and products. This year is the first year everyone got a mention and prize. I can see some very talented future product designers coming out of Mr. Ian Flude’s #UNIS #design #classof2018 #mondoro #unis #vietnam #hanoi #amazinggroupofstudents (at UNIS Hanoi)

[mondoro]

Mondoro Challenge - UNIS 2018 At the end of this school year, we finished the 4th consecutive Mondoro Challenge with Mr. Ian Flude’s 10th grade design class. The students, ranging from ages 15 to 16 years, need to all design and develop a lamp for Mondoro from conception to finish. At the beginning of the semester I went to talk to them a bit about the color, trends, marketing and our collections. The students then randomly drew one of our collections they had to design to. They drew out preliminary ideas by hand, then picked 3 that they did CAD designs on the computer. Of those three designs they needed to pick one and then show the back up data as to why they choose that one design. They then did detailed drawings on their chosen lamp, and finally manufactured it. Their final step was to do the safety testing on their lamp and advise if it could pass or fail some standard lamps tests as the tip test. This year was very tough to pick a winner, there were so many amazing lamps, designs and products. This year is the first year everyone got a mention and prize. I can see some very talented future product designers coming out of Mr. Ian Flude’s #UNIS #design #classof2018 #mondoro #unis #vietnam #hanoi #amazinggroupofstudents (at UNIS Hanoi)

[mondoro]

Mondoro Challenge - UNIS 2018 At the end of this school year, we finished the 4th consecutive Mondoro Challenge with Mr. Ian Flude’s 10th grade design class. The students, ranging from ages 15 to 16 years, need to all design and develop a lamp for Mondoro from conception to finish. At the beginning of the semester I went to talk to them a bit about the color, trends, marketing and our collections. The students then randomly drew one of our collections they had to design to. They drew out preliminary ideas by hand, then picked 3 that they did CAD designs on the computer. Of those three designs they needed to pick one and then show the back up data as to why they choose that one design. They then did detailed drawings on their chosen lamp, and finally manufactured it. Their final step was to do the safety testing on their lamp and advise if it could pass or fail some standard lamps tests as the tip test. This year was very tough to pick a winner, there were so many amazing lamps, designs and products. This year is the first year everyone got a mention and prize. I can see some very talented future product designers coming out of Mr. Ian Flude’s #UNIS #design #classof2018 #mondoro #unis #vietnam #hanoi #amazinggroupofstudents (at UNIS Hanoi)

[mondoro]

Mondoro Challenge - UNIS 2018 At the end of this school year, we finished the 4th consecutive Mondoro Challenge with Mr. Ian Flude’s 10th grade design class. The students, ranging from ages 15 to 16 years, need to all design and develop a lamp for Mondoro from conception to finish. At the beginning of the semester I went to talk to them a bit about the color, trends, marketing and our collections. The students then randomly drew one of our collections they had to design to. They drew out preliminary ideas by hand, then picked 3 that they did CAD designs on the computer. Of those three designs they needed to pick one and then show the back up data as to why they choose that one design. They then did detailed drawings on their chosen lamp, and finally manufactured it. Their final step was to do the safety testing on their lamp and advise if it could pass or fail some standard lamps tests as the tip test. This year was very tough to pick a winner, there were so many amazing lamps, designs and products. This year is the first year everyone got a mention and prize. I can see some very talented future product designers coming out of Mr. Ian Flude’s #UNIS #design #classof2018 #mondoro #unis #vietnam #hanoi #amazinggroupofstudents (at UNIS Hanoi)

[mondoro]

Mondoro Challenge - UNIS 2018 At the end of this school year, we finished the 4th consecutive Mondoro Challenge with Mr. Ian Flude’s 10th grade design class. The students, ranging from ages 15 to 16 years, need to all design and develop a lamp for Mondoro from conception to finish. At the beginning of the semester I went to talk to them a bit about the color, trends, marketing and our collections. The students then randomly drew one of our collections they had to design to. They drew out preliminary ideas by hand, then picked 3 that they did CAD designs on the computer. Of those three designs they needed to pick one and then show the back up data as to why they choose that one design. They then did detailed drawings on their chosen lamp, and finally manufactured it. Their final step was to do the safety testing on their lamp and advise if it could pass or fail some standard lamps tests as the tip test. This year was very tough to pick a winner, there were so many amazing lamps, designs and products. This year is the first year everyone got a mention and prize. I can see some very talented future product designers coming out of Mr. Ian Flude’s #UNIS #design #classof2018 #mondoro #unis #vietnam #hanoi #amazinggroupofstudents (at UNIS Hanoi)

[mondoro]

Mondoro Challenge - UNIS 2018 At the end of this school year, we finished the 4th consecutive Mondoro Challenge with Mr. Ian Flude’s 10th grade design class. The students, ranging from ages 15 to 16 years, need to all design and develop a lamp for Mondoro from conception to finish. At the beginning of the semester I went to talk to them a bit about the color, trends, marketing and our collections. The students then randomly drew one of our collections they had to design to. They drew out preliminary ideas by hand, then picked 3 that they did CAD designs on the computer. Of those three designs they needed to pick one and then show the back up data as to why they choose that one design. They then did detailed drawings on their chosen lamp, and finally manufactured it. Their final step was to do the safety testing on their lamp and advise if it could pass or fail some standard lamps tests as the tip test. This year was very tough to pick a winner, there were so many amazing lamps, designs and products. This year is the first year everyone got a mention and prize. I can see some very talented future product designers coming out of Mr. Ian Flude’s #UNIS #design #classof2018 #mondoro #unis #vietnam #hanoi #amazinggroupofstudents (at UNIS Hanoi)

[mondoro]

Mondoro Challenge - UNIS 2018 At the end of this school year, we finished the 4th consecutive Mondoro Challenge with Mr. Ian Flude’s 10th grade design class. The students, ranging from ages 15 to 16 years, need to all design and develop a lamp for Mondoro from conception to finish. At the beginning of the semester I went to talk to them a bit about the color, trends, marketing and our collections. The students then randomly drew one of our collections they had to design to. They drew out preliminary ideas by hand, then picked 3 that they did CAD designs on the computer. Of those three designs they needed to pick one and then show the back up data as to why they choose that one design. They then did detailed drawings on their chosen lamp, and finally manufactured it. Their final step was to do the safety testing on their lamp and advise if it could pass or fail some standard lamps tests as the tip test. This year was very tough to pick a winner, there were so many amazing lamps, designs and products. This year is the first year everyone got a mention and prize. I can see some very talented future product designers coming out of Mr. Ian Flude’s #UNIS #design #classof2018 #mondoro #unis #vietnam #hanoi #amazinggroupofstudents (at UNIS Hanoi)

[mondoro]

The Amazing Team. This is a photo of the Mondoro team that makes things happen. Judy and Kuan from our China office came to visit Vietnam these last few days. Last night we all celebrated with Japanese food. Steve Jobs from Apple said “great things in business are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people.” This is very true with Mondoro. It is this team, the core of Mondoro that helps to get things done and build greatness. For this I honor and salute them for all their hard work. Thank you - two words that are not even adequate enough to express how grateful I am. (The amazing team - from left to right - Judy, Kuan, Suu, Chi, Phuong and Dung) #mondoro #greatteamwork #greatteam #vietnam #china (at Tay Ho, Ha Noi, Vietnam)

[mondoro]

My Dog Mona’s Funeral Last Friday we had a small funeral for our beloved dog Mona. Our Vet helped us to cremate her. When you cremate a dog in #vietnam they cremate them in their favorites outfit, so we cremated Mona in her favorite red Christmas dress. The #Vietnamese believe she will have that dress with her in the afterlife. Mona’s ashes were placed in a lovely blue and white urn and then the urn was wrapped with red paper and a bow was placed on the box. We also had a lovely bouquet of fresh flowers. I learned a few things about the Vietnamese #culutral with our funeral. One was you do not bring anything dead into a home or office, so we needed to put the ashes in river. The other was the best time to do that was at dusk, dawn or in the night time. We decided on dusk on Friday afternoon. Also it is best to throw the ashes directly into the river as the river is moving and flowing so that means the spirits in the afterlife can do the same. Suu, Mona’s main caretaker and I decide the best spot for this was the old French #longbienbridge. The Long Bỉen bridge was designed by the same architect that designed the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris and has a walkway that allows you to look right into the river. It was around dusk on Friday so the traffic on the bridge was quite heavy. Suu and I went to our chosen spot and Suu tossed everything - and I mean everything - into the river - the box, flowers, the red wrapping paper, the porcelain urn and Mona’s ashes. We look down at the flowing river that had carried Mona away and said “bye, bye Mona, we love you and will miss you”. May you Rest In Peace. #belovedpets #dogs #funeral #expatlife #mondoro #hanoi (at Mondoro Living)

[mondoro]

Wabi-Sabi Trend 2018. During 2018 expect to see the #wabisabi #trend to continue to play an important role in home decor. Wabi-Sabi is described as the beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent and incomplete.” One way to incorporate this in your #homedecor is to think of items which have a handmade feel or in someway emphasis the beauty of their inherent flaws. At Mondoro’s #Vietnam office we manufacture our products in many of the handicraft villages such as the lacquer, ceramic and bamboo villages. All those items we produce are truly handmade. But not only are you getting a handmade item, you are also helping a #villagecraft to survive. Home decor products can #lookgreatanddogood at the same time. #trends #trends2018 #mondoro #mondoroliving #handmade

[mondoro]

Trends 2018. Pantone has named Meadowlark Yellow as one of their #trendcolors for the #trends2018. I have always really loved yellow as it is such a bright and happy color. The attached is from the #MondoroLookBook2018. Nothing like some nice yellow tones to brighten up your day. #pantone #meadowlarkyellow #2018Trends #Mondoro #homedecortrends

[mondoro]

Giving Back - Project Sprouts - Vietnam. Right before Christmas the #ProjectSprouts team went up to a very remote mountain school in North #Vietnam. This area has many #Vietnamese minority groups. We all commented on how the area was so #remote that there was not even one single store or restaurant that we could see in the small town. In fact any significant shopping was over 45 minutes away driving through mountain roads. We were told that once a month or so a mobile kind of store may come into the town so people can buy some essentials. The Project Sprouts team came to the school to help deliver school supplies, winter coats and boots along with many items that had been donated to us from many foreigners and Vietnamese living in Hanoi. This area was recently hit hard by some flooding and many families lost a great deal, so the donated items will go to help the entire #community. North Vietnam can also get very cold in the winter, in fact some mountain areas have even had snow flurries or freezing rain. So if you look at the feet of these children you will see many had on just plastic slippers. Buying child size boots here is not easy, and I was told that even if they had the money to buy them in a child’s size, finding the right size would not be easy. We also gave each student a packet of school supplies. Tears came to my eyes as I saw the look of joy and happiness of the children as we handed out to each of them a fun packet of school supplies. It also reminds me that sometimes in life it is just the #smallandsimplethings that can make all the difference. Teachers in this area also received a lot of school supplies as paper, colored markers, colored chalk and even clay. I am proud to be part of Project Sprouts and to be working together with such a wonderful team of caring people. A team that sacrifices their time, talents and money to #makeadifference. Thank you to the wonderful people of this area that opened up their hearts to us. #youlightedmyworld #lighttheworld #givingback #expatlife #charity #changetheworld #amazingday #spreadthelove (at Vietnam)

[mondoro]

The Wedding Dancer. At the Vietnamese #wedding I recently attended, part of the entertainment was this #gogo girl who was singing and dancing away to some Vietnamese songs. Some of the most interesting and unique Wedding entertainment I think I have ever seen. #expatlife #vietnamesewedding #weddingentertainer #onlyinvietnam

[mondoro]

The Vietnamese Wedding. Last week I was invited to a Vietnamese wedding of my friend’s son. A #wedding in #vietnam is always a treat. There are sparklers, wine pouring fountains, a cake and a massive dinner with hundreds of guests. As foreigners we were placed right up front near the speakers that were blasting out both Vietnamese and English rock n roll songs. The entire thing was like a well staged production. #expatlife #vietnamesewedding #brides #groom (at Mondoro Living)

[mondoro]

Angels We Have Heard On High! Our cute new #Christmas #angels for the upcoming Christmas market in #TayHo #westlake #Hanoi #vietnam #mondoro will be there selling our Christmas goodies. The Market is on Dec 10th from 10 am to 3:30 pm at the Quang Ba Temple Community Centre. #christmastime #expatlife #nativityscene #nativity #tayhochristmascommunitymarket #mondoroliving #bikupandecor (at Mondoro Living)

[mondoro]

Back to Nature. This afternoon this new sample we produced in #vietnam came into my office here at #mondoro. I love the natural look and feel of this fabulous rattan Chair. This chair was #manufactured and woven in a small #handicraft village outside #hanoi Vietnam by craftsmen and women whose families have been weaving for many generations. #2018trends #love #whatsnext #anotherdayattheoffice #hygge #hyggehome (at Mondoro Living)

[mondoro]

The Bike On The Bike. One of the things I love about #hanoi #vietnam is that life on the roads in Vietnam is never dull or boring. This is s great example of a #bike on the top of a #motorbike. I mean who needs a #bikerack when you can transport your bike this way? #hanoiroads #neveradullmoment #expatlife #lifeinhanoi #lifeinvietnam #lifewithmondoro #amazing #travel #mondoro #anotherdayatwork (at Hanoi, Vietnam)