Q. You were rushed practically off your feet last year with work. What significant achievements did you make in your work and what strategy is the New Growth BU working on this year?
The New Growth BU alone cannot take the credit for achievements made last year. Good quality products combined with an agile strategy to position us in line with dominant trends together give us a remarkable power in the market. The prestige of AMOREPACIFIC has soared along with the enhanced value of brands such as Sulwhasoo, LANEIGE and HERA and the implementation of solid business strategies that have helped support the creation of widespread synergies. HERA has marked particularly strong growth thanks to the success of the Cushion type of makeup product in the Korean duty-free market. The boom in Cushion sales that started in the digital channel was seen across both on and offline channels.

One of our most important goals this year is to provide customers with a better shopping experience at duty-free shops. Each year, we see a great increase in the number of tourists to Korea, particularly Chinese tourists. This year, more than 8 million Chinese tourists are expected to come to Korea. Yet, the number of duty-free shops is limited, which means that we are unable to provide enough places for customers to experience our brands. We must improve VMD at stores and raise the level of customer service. At the same time, we need to enhance public relations on routes through which Chinese tourists travel in order to increase brand value in the large duty-free markets of Asia. Success here will really help to globalize the Cushion.

Q. We would like to hear more about the career path that you used to walk before becoming Director of the New Growth BU. Please share with us the most memorable and meaningful moment in the 20 years of working for AMOREPACIFIC.
In 1993, I joined the AMOREPACIFIC Group Distribution Department and, in the years since, I have experienced many different sales channels. I was placed in positions in which I had to manage new distribution channels such as ARITAUM sales planning, the drug store sales team, home shopping sales team and online business unit, rather than more conventional channels. I still remember the excitement of jumping into a new market, as well as the passion and great determination to succeed that I felt upon becoming responsible for fostering new distribution channels and brands at the New Growth BU.

The most memorable moment is the year 2010 when I was made the head of the home shopping sales team. We exceeded 100 billion won in sales for the first time ever since opening the home shopping channel in 1998. It was a symbolic event. The question mark that had been hanging over the entire home shopping channel had turned into a big exclamation mark, with a ringing endorsement of this channel's sales. This experience laid the foundation for us to discover new channels such as the digital channel and promote our remarkable Cushion to customers.

Q. Your job must be stressful at times due to the demand it places on your work to always stay alert to ever-changing market conditions. Do you have any special stress reliever?
For me, the best stress relief is to simply talk with my colleagues. When I talk with others at work, it helps me find new answers to issues I had been pondering. I very often find that I get great insight from the creative, distinctive ideas of our young, new members. In many cases, mixing my own ideas with those of others opens my eyes to things that I would not be able to see on my own. Having a heart-to-heart talk with seniors and juniors is such a comforting thing and I'd like to encourage you all to do so.