Germaine Chow is not your typical corporate CEO. The founder of I Quadrant, a real estate education company, uses entertaining skits and lively first-hand accounts on her socials to share about her personal life, entrepreneurial journey, and tips on property investing.
Outfit by Brunello Cucinelli
In real life, the musical theatre graduate from Lasalle College of the Arts comes across as more down-to-earth, although the occasional animated expression and hand gesture still come up.
After starting I Quadrant with her husband and two other partners in 2017, Chow launched boutique agency Crestbrick the following year to help homeowners and investors source for the best property deals and provide end-to-end support throughout the process. Besides Singapore, it now covers markets such as the United Kingdom (UK), Bali, and Malaysia. Last November, the team added hotels to their portfolio, launching the Kin Hotel chain in Ho Chi Minh.
It may look like Chow is living the dream life, but eight years ago, it had hardly felt so.
A couple of failed businesses, a car accident, and her then two-year-old daughter’s hospitalisation got the former air stewardess reflecting on the way her money was working for her.
She shared: “I had no insurance for the car accident. When my daughter was hospitalised, I stayed home for a month and had no income while caring for her. It made me realise I cannot keep doing the same thing and expect different results. It made me want to do something different.”
While attending a business mindset program in Kuala Lumpur, Chow and Lee met Ivan Cai, a seasoned property investor of over 20 properties who later became a good friend and one of their business partners. The couple started applying the investment principles Cai shared and their ability to purchase several properties within four months motivated Chow to empower other families to grow their wealth and achieve financial stability while enjoying fulfilling lives.
She said: “I think all of us don’t just want more money. Money is just a tool, to bring our families on holiday, to let our parents retire, to lead life in a fun way and very purposefully and meaningfully.”
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- LEARNING THE NECESSARY
- BUILDING FOR FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND SOCIETY
Learning the Necessary
Chow, flanked by family and members, at the I Quadrant office located in Hamilton Road (Photo courtesy of Germaine Chow)
A novice investor when she first started I Quadrant, Chow worked hard to gain credibility. She researches developer records, walks the grounds of overseas properties even at the construction phase, and maps out the commuting times between key amenities and the apartments. She also personally obtained property and tour agent licences so that she could bring interested investors abroad to have a first-hand look at potential property projects. Her approach to growth was to focus on the problems faced by the community and to present solutions in a fun and approachable manner to the masses.
She shared: “I was only 27 years old then and had only four properties. Why should people listen to what I had to say? But that also became my strength. Others can see how I’ve grown my portfolio and that whatever I shared is what I’ve done. I’m an investor as much as they are.”
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“In my earlier days as an entrepreneur, I took criticism very harshly and was really hard on myself. But I realised to grow the team from three to over 50, I needed to be more open, curious, and understanding towards different perspectives.”
But Chow emphasised that not everyone who goes through the I Quadrant programme, which now has over 5,000 members, will have the same level of success.
“There is a huge difference between knowing and doing. I will share all the knowledge and processes that I’ve gone through, let you see the possibilities, and support you on the journey. But you are, ultimately, the decision maker. You are in control of your investments, and you're not here to copy what I do, but rather, to take that knowledge and make your own decisions. Real estate is never a get-rich-quick (process).”
- LEARNING THE NECESSARY
- BUILDING FOR FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND SOCIETY
Building for Family, Community, and Society
Chow now wants to go beyond property purchasing for gains to making impact investments, such as developing homes for conducive living in the UK and partnering World Vision to improve the lives of families in Third World countries.
Crestbrick members have invested more than £420 million in properties across London, Manchester, and Birmingham. Last December, Chow led a group of 130 potential and existing investors to the three cities for a first-hand assessment. They also donated £10,000 to the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity to give the city’s homeless a leg-up.
The significant investment caught the eye of Manchester’s Minister of Parliament Lucy Powell, who invited Chow to the House of Commons last December to discuss ways to make the city an attractive place to live, work, and play.
Chow and partners at the opening of Kin Hotel in Ho Chi Minh (Photo courtesy of Germaine Chow)
She said: “We want to work with developers to create liveable cities with quality housing that add value to the property space, and to have the power to voice out the needs of the people living there.” For example, she had suggested parks around estates where tenants prioritise a pet-friendly environment. This year, she plans to boost financial literacy across Britain through educational and practical resources so that local families can be empowered to make informed financial decisions.
Nearer home, Chow had sensed an opportunity in Vietnam’s hospitality space. Last November, she launched two brands under the Kin Hotel group. Kin Wander has five townhouses with a kitchenette, bathtub and large projector screen in every room, while Kin Hotel has seven stylish bases in prime city centre locations. There are plans to expand the chain to the rest of Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
Chow, husband Shawn Lee, and family at the Women Entrepreneur Awards 2023 (Photo courtesy of Germaine Chow)
With three businesses and counting, Chow is still raring to go, but acknowledges that she is a more calculated risk-taker now as a mother of two aged 10 and 12.
“I failed a lot in my younger years, but at the later stage, you cannot fail too hard, because it's very hard for you to re-start your whole career and there’re more responsibilities,” she revealed.
With the business expansion, her leadership style has also evolved to a more nurturing and open one. “In my earlier days as an entrepreneur, I took criticism very harshly and was really hard on myself. But I realised to grow the team from three to over 250, I needed to be more open, curious, and understanding towards different perspectives. Sometimes the important thing is to develop a person’s confidence rather than a perfect execution.”
Outfit by Moschino
On whether she considers herself successful, Chow shared: “If success is defined as having a goal you can work towards and then having people to celebrate with you after that, yes, I do think that I am successful. I have a loving and close knitted family, an incredible team and I get to do what I love. Life is meaningful and purposeful.”
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