Reflecting on September 11 and My Start-Up Journeys ...
- OakvilleJoe
- Sep 26
- 3 min read
In my life, I have been blessed with several opportunities to start new things — from launching departments to founding companies. Each venture ignited my entrepreneurial spirit, and each carried lessons of courage, humility, and God’s timing.
• Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC Far East, Hong Kong). At the time, I was serving as an Account Executive at Burson-Marsteller, gaining valuable experience in PR and advertising. A professor from the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Journalism Department, who knew me well, mentioned my name to the HR Manager at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Through that introduction, I was “headhunted” and was invited to interview at DEC Far East Headquarters in Hong Kong.
Looking back, I see how the Lord used my accomplishments at Burson-Marsteller as a kind of frying pan — a training ground to season and prepare me — so that at the right time, those skills could be put to good use in serving the world’s second-largest computer company.
After interviews with four department managers and the President, I was offered the position to establish the Far East Marketing Communications Department, directing and coordinating programs across the region — from China to Japan, Thailand to Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
Manager: Bob Schmidt. Secretary: Lily Chow. President: Bobby Choonawala.
• BJ Communications, Canada. After emigrating to Canada, Betty and I started a small home-based writing and design company in Mississauga, serving clients such as the Mississauga Chinese Business Bureau. We later closed it to focus on full-time work and raising our family.
• eTrons Systems, Inc., California (.com era). After graduating in 1996 from the School of Landscape Architecture at what was then Ryerson Polytechnic University, I was engaged full-time by ENVision – The Hough Group as a landscape architectural designer. A few years later, a new door opened: I was “headhunted” to join a California.com start-up, eTrons Systems, Inc., during the height of the online B2B wave.
Through a providential connection, I met President Nicky Wu and Assistant Chan Siyin, and was invited to San Francisco for a Good Friday interview. Within days, I accepted the offer and helped build the Marketing Communications Department, designing the brand identity, communications programs, and trade show presence, with an IPO targeted for September 2001.
Then came September 11, 2001. The terrorist attacks froze venture capital overnight, and I was asked to wind down the company within one month. Yet when one door closed, another opened: my former boss at ENVision asked if I could help them part-time since they were short-staffed. My answer surprised them — I could rejoin full-time. It was a moment of grace, a reminder that God’s timing and provision are perfect, even when our plans collapse.
• Cloud Church (2019). Partnering with Pastor David Hoi and his wife, Jing, we launched an online church just before COVID. From logos and websites to Zoom services and a YouTube archive of sermons and songs, this ministry continues today.
• Rock House Publishers (today). My current “start-ups” are within a legacy: developing new workflow tools, writing books and e-books, and sharing weekly Facebook messages.
Lesson learned: Starting something new is exhilarating, but sustaining it takes faith, discipline, and humility. 9/11 taught me that human plans may collapse in a moment, but God’s provision opens new paths. So I will keep starting – with open hands, open mind, and open heart.
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