His master's choice

Apprentice, photographer, art director, then partner with his boss and head manager of a new brand. Yao Weiwei has gone far with the help of Zhou Shengjun.

After graduating from university with a major in engineering in 1992, Yao began his career climb following Zhou's first interview.

"I found the young boy had talent," recalls Zhou, CEO of Goldenlady Wedding Photography Co Ltd.

At that time, Zhou also worked as a photographer and designated Yao to be his assistant so he could "teach and bring him up".

After a year, Yao was promoted to be a photographer. His distinctive style suffered the reproach of other photographers, but won the appreciation of Zhou.

Under Zhou's instruction, Yao soon became art director of Goldenlady and his name was among China's Top-10 Portraitists for two years.

But in 2000, Yao left Goldenlady because he "was eager to have my own career and operation".

His sudden departure brought on the biggest talent crisis in Goldenlady's history. A studio managed by Yao soon closed its doors and several key staff members also left their jobs at Goldenlady.

Yao departed Chongqing for Hangzhou, joining another photography studio "to learn something different and new".

Yet Zhou placed no blame. "I felt sad about his leaving and I couldn't help worrying about him. I called him and even flew to Hangzhou to visit him," says Zhou. "One time I asked that Yao to come back to Goldenlady, but he refused."

A year later, Yao did return to Chongqing - planning his own business.

He met with Zhou and brought a big surprise. "He asked me to invest in his undertaking," says Zhou. And to everyone's surprise, he agreed.

"I prefer him to be my partner, not a competitor. That's the reason I choose cooperation," he says.

However, Zhou insisted on a controlling stake in Yao's start-up to make it a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldenlady.

The new company, Maya Photo, in which Zhou invested 500,000 yuan for a 60 percent stake, announced its debut.

"We agreed that Goldenlady is in charge of the finances of Maya," says Zhou.

Maya soon became popular for its fashionable and novel art photography tailored for the youth. After a year, Maya began a nationwide expansion like Goldenlady before it.

Zhou's expansion model using new subsidiary brands from his own staff is proving successful.

"In Goldenlady, we encourage the staff who have worked around seven years to open their own businesses, including chain stores," says Zhou. "The only condition is that Goldenlady will invest in no less than 51 percent of the stake."

Now more than 40 of Goldenlady's original employees have started their own businesses. "Almost all of them make a profit," Zhou says.

"The staff who worked at Goldenlady for such a long time have the same consciousness as the company and they understand Goldenlady's culture. Cooperation with them is much easier than with outside people," says Zhou.

"The success rate of new stores with my staff is more than 98 percent," he adds.

After Maya, Zhou has since developed six other photography brands as Goldenlady subsidiaries with different positioning in the market and artistic styles.

(China Daily 01/05/2008 page12)