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So Who Is Kay And What Makes Her Unique?

Before we go any further, I want everyone to know that I agree to donate all my organs when I die (I won't need them).

Hi, I'm Kay Ross, a multi-talented Hong Kong-based marketing consultant & coach, editor, copywriter, performer and healer.

Here's my CV

I was born in Glasgow, Scotland. When I was three years old my family migrated to Adelaide, Australia. French was always my best subject at school, so I majored in French at Adelaide University.

Here's an article I wrote about my school days that was published in the South China Morning Post newspaper in Hong Kong on June 30, 2007.

My first proper job after finishing university was a one-year apprenticeship in arts administration and community cultural development at the Adelaide Festival Centre. That's where I first started learning about marketing.

In Adelaide and regional South Australia I worked in management and marketing for various arts, tourism, local government and book-retailing organisations. I was a full Member of the Australian Journalists' Association, the Australian Institute of Marketing and the Society of Business Communicators.

In August 1979 I headed off on a grand backpacking tour around Britain and Europe, and I lived and worked in Edinburgh, Scotland, for most of 1980 before heading back to the warmth of Australia.

A courageous leap into the unknown

In September 1993 I took a courageous leap into the unknown, and moved to Hong Kong in search of challenge, adventure and opportunity. I had no job and no grand plan, but my philosophy was: What have I got to lose?! With a British passport, I knew I could work here.

For 18 months I worked as the Assistant Editor and then Editor of a specialist trade magazine about hospital management.

Marketing

When that publishing company went bust in 1995, I decided to become a self-employed marketing consultant/coach, editor and copywriter. I officially set up my business, Kay Ross Marketing, in October 1996.

Since then, I've served a wide variety of clients in the arts, academic and corporate worlds. I also regularly present courses and seminars about marketing, copywriting and media relations. For details, visit my Marketing and Courses pages.

From April 1996 to May 2002 I was the part-time Listings Editor for Hong Kong's leading English-language newspaper, the South China Morning Post. That meant I compiled and edited the daily listings of what was on around town: performing arts shows, visual arts exhibitions, arthouse films and all sorts of interesting public talks, workshops, family-friendly activities, charity events etc. I received lots of media releases, so I quickly learned what journalists want and need.

In Hong Kong I'm a member of:

• The Australian Chamber of Commerce
• The Women Business Owners Club (I was the volunteer Editor of the WBOC newsletter, August 2004 - December 2005)
• The Women in Publishing Society (I was the President, November 1998 - October 2000)

So I've had 30 years' experience in marketing, editing, copywriting, training, public speaking and the stage management of shows, seminars and PR events.

Performing

I also LOVE the performing arts (both watching and participating).

I've performed in countless shows with theatre groups and choirs in Adelaide, Edinburgh and Hong Kong. And since February 2007 I've regularly performed stand-up comedy and comedy improv at Hong Kong's TakeOut Comedy Club.

For more information (and photos), visit my Performing page.

Healing

Alongside my passion for marketing and performing, I'm also fascinated by the fields of alternative health and healing, personal/spiritual development and human potential.

I've attended countless workshops, read hundreds of self-help books, and watched "What the Bleep Do We Know?" and "The Secret".

I'm also a practitioner of my own unique form of healing bodywork/coaching - I like to describe it as "bodywork for a life that works".

For more information (and photos), visit my Healing page.

My values and philosophy

The most significant influence that shaped my philosophy about life, the universe and everything was an intensive business/personal development seminar called "Money & You", which I did in Adelaide in March 1989. I went on to do the follow-up courses, "Creating Wealth" and "Powerful Presentations".

"Money & You" taught me about business, entrepreneurship, leadership, teamwork, communication, honesty, love, joy, trust, integrity, courage, responsibility, authenticity, abundance, God/Great Spirit, and yes, money. It was inspired by the ideas of famed thinker/designer/mathematician R. Buckminster Fuller.

As a graduate, I served for several years as a volunteer "Assistant" (i.e. helping with stage management/logistics) at the organisation's courses in Adelaide, Hong Kong and Singapore, and at its Business School for Entrepreneurs in Kuala Lumpur in July 1998. These courses are presented in several cities around the world by a company called Excellerated Business and its partners.

It was the skills and values that I learned in "Money & You" that gave me the courage to move to Hong Kong in September 1993. In fact, I came here to serve on the volunteer Assistants' team for the very first "Money & You" here.

I've also done many other workshops that combine business with spirit. Recently, I've participated in:

• an intensive three-day marketing seminar in Kuala Lumpur, led by renowned American marketing guru and author Jay Abraham
• a business/marketing coaching programme led by American coach Kendall SummerHawk, who is committed to "marrying money with meaning" and teaching entrepreneurs how to build a "soul-based business". (On her site, she offers several coaching programmes and information products that I highly recommend - check out my affiliate link.)

All of my skills complement each other and help me to serve you better. And I know that all my life experiences, and the values that they've taught me, help me to be a better person, friend, healer, businessperson, communicator, consultant, coach and performer.

For example:

• I believe in doing marketing with heart, spirit and integrity. I don't just do business, I do business with people - people like you, with hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes, fears and preconceptions.
• My studies in personal/spiritual development and healing help me to understand human psychology and behaviour, and that makes me a better writer, marketer, trainer and actor.
• My performing arts skills help me to be a better marketer, writer, public speaker, trainer and event organiser.

I also love...

• My brother and two sisters (and our brother who died in 1988)
• Marketing
• Writing in plain English
• The correct use of apostrophes and hyphens!
• Reading
• Salsa dancing
• Chocolate
• Travelling. I especially love Bali, and I've also been blessed to have had the opportunity to travel to the UK, France, the USA, Mexico, Italy, Greece, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan and of course many places in Australia
• Studying the human brain and mind (when I was 11, my ambition was to become a neurosurgeon!)
• Staying up late (I'm definitely a night owl, not an early bird)
• Laughing with children
• Playing Scrabble
• Studying languages
• Sitting under a shady tree on a warm sunny day, stroking a purring cat
• Giving and receiving foot (or should that be "feet"?) massages

Some amazing things I've experienced

• Being a member of CouchSurfing.org - that's a website that connects travellers with friendly hosts who are willing to offer their living-room couch (or a spare bedroom) for free. It's all about international friendship and understanding, not just free accommodation (and it's not an Internet dating site!). Since I joined in October 2005, I've hosted over 50 interesting people from all over the world, and I've surfed other people's couches in Los Angeles, Boston, New York City, Honolulu, Tucson and Macau. I even talk about CouchSurfing in my stand-up comedy act!
  

  Check out this TV interview about CouchSurfing (in English), which was broadcast on the "Inside Story" programme on ATV World in Hong Kong on November 20, 2007. Click on "Inside Story" in the left-hand menu, then choose "2007-11-20 Part 1" (12 minutes), then "2007-11-20 Part 2" (8 minutes).

  Unfortunately, my landlord informed me on November 29, 2007 that hosting strangers violates the terms of my tenancy agreement, so I'm forbidden to host any more CouchSurfing guests. Disappointing! However, I'm still keen to meet visiting members, organise gatherings, offer advice to members, promote CouchSurfing and Hong Kong, serve as a volunteer "City Ambassador", surf other people's couches on my travels...
  

• Handcuffed for the handover: On the night of the handover of Hong Kong to China, I participated in a crazy event to raise funds for a children's charity. For 24 hours, from 12noon on June 30, 1997, to 12noon on July 1, I was handcuffed to a total stranger of the opposite sex. We had to do everything together: eat, sleep (I mean literally sleep, no hanky-panky), shower, go to the bathroom, go to a party, catch trains... Actually, it was surprisingly easy!
  
  
• Books for Vietnamese children: In August 2004, when I was on holiday in Hanoi, Vietnam, I visited a big orphanage (the SOS Children's Village Hanoi). Over the following months I co-ordinated a charity campaign in Hong Kong to collect second-hand English-language children's books for the library in the orphanage's school. Many individuals, community organisations and publishing companies donated books. Eventually, with help from a generous donor and the Consulate-General of the People's Republic of Vietnam in Hong Kong, 1,121 books were delivered to the children. Several months later, the Director of the orphanage sent me some photos of the children with their books.
  
  
• My first-ever bungy jump: In June 2007, a CouchSurfing friend invited me to join her in a bungy jump off the Macau Tower (233 metres high). Wow, that was fantastic, terrifying fun!
  
  
• My trip to Bali in December 2008: Check out some photos.
  
  
• Lifelong memories: Climbing Mayan pyramids in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico...attending the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe...seeing shows on Broadway...walking on fire...flying in a light plane over the Grand Canyon...seeing/hearing the Dalai Lama at a gathering in Adelaide...strolling the streets of Paris...

So if I sound like someone you'd like to work or play with, I'd love you to contact me today!

By the way, I've discovered that there's ANOTHER woman named Kay Ross in the world. She’s a training and development consultant and she lives in Adelaide, where I grew up (she moved there after I left). Her website is www.kayross.com.au - don't get us mixed up!