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Tim Metcalfe

FORMER MISS HONG Kong finalist Ellen Wong now travels the world in her high-flying career marketing super-luxury cars.

But the ex-beauty queen said she would 'probably still be a housewife' if she had not enrolled at Henley Management School and devoted three years to earning her MBA.

After finishing second runner-up in the Miss Hong Kong finals at the age of 19 in 1985, Ellen got married, had two children, and worked as a volunteer on a part-time basis for the Wai Yin Association, a charity run by ex-beauty queens.

At the age of 30, Ms Wong decided she needed 'some more ink on my mind'.

'I realised I needed to achieve something more.

'A lot of things were missing in my life. I needed to fill that void,' she said.

'It was time for a change and a career, but I needed an academic background.'

A doctor friend who had graduated from Henley highly recommended the MBA programme, which she embarked on in 1996.

'Because I had not been to university, the course was very tough for me,' she said.

'Even though I was aware of the business world through working for 10 years with the Wai Yin Association, I had to put in three times as much effort as the other students.

'I needed a private tutor to coach me through the work.'

But her commitment eventually paid off.

'It was hard, but very worthwhile. I really learned a lot, and boosted my self-confidence.

'As a beauty queen, obviously I was confident about myself. But that was different. When you are young you are afraid of nothing.

'But as you get older you see more and start to seek more from life.'

On graduating in 1999, it was time to 'test myself' and find a job. From 500 applicants, she was delighted to be selected for a public relations role with the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club.

'The club had never promoted itself before, and most Chinese people considered sailing to be an expatriate sport, so I was like a bridge between the two cultures,' she said.

'I used what I learned at Henley to devise a strategic plan to seek sponsorship for regattas and achieved way over my target.'

Two years ago she landed her present high-profile post as assistant manager of marketing communications for Mercedes-Benz, promoting the luxury Maybach brand.

'My MBA definitely helped me get the job,' she said.

'An academic background is especially important to big companies. It's another challenge for me, working for a multinational, with a lot of travel involved and my career is developing. But the credit should go to Henley. Without that training my life would be a little different, to say the least.'



First step to accomplishment