boutique property developer. She says that at
first there were many challenges to overcome.
“I didn’t know anything about the industry,
real estate or construction,” Michelle confides.
“As I said, I grew up thinking I was not
going to join the family business. But I did
do economics, accounting and law as part
of my studies, so I had quite a broad
background. All of the due diligence work
I did as a management consultant – all the
number crunching and feasibility analyses
- helped me greatly.”
In addition to learning on the job,
Michelle signed up for a part-time course at
the National University of Singapore (NUS)
to understand the foundations of real estate.
But her best teacher, she says, was her uncle.
“He was instrumental in guiding me. He’s an
architect by training, so he taught me how to
read drawings, how to critique them, and
how to add value in that sense,” she shares.
A focus for Michelle has been to
continue to nurture the user-centric approach
that differentiates Aurum Land from other property
developers. “We take a hands-on approach in the design–
development process. We don’t just leave it to the architects,
consultants and contractors to coordinate the design and
build. We see ourselves as representing the end user, the
owner, the buyer, at the decision table because they’re the
most important stakeholder,” she says.
With a proven track record of success at Aurum
Land, Michelle has become the co-founder of Collision 8- a co-working space for innovators. Developed in
collaboration with a former colleague from her consulting
days, Collision 8 was spawned from the idea of combining
the residential development experience with the co-working
style of operating and building an empowered community
instead of just building spaces. “It’s a curated members club,
but for innovators, bringing together those from the
technology, start-up and investor world and the traditional
corporate world that my family business inhabits.
“I was hearing a lot of talk among corporates about
better ways to encourage engagement and co-creation,
so Collision 8 was born as a platform to create new
growth opportunities for both sides of the equation.”
As Michelle continues with her business ventures, she
INSPIRE | Interview