Top of the Table
(Sampan, November 7, 1997)Interview by Robert O'Malley
(Madeline Wong and her husband William Wong founded the Kowloon Restaurant in Saugus. Madeline was also the first Chinese American to sell insurance in New England. Her career as a saleswoman for John Hancock has been phenomenally successful. In 1996 she received an honorary degree from Curry College for her success in business and for her charitable and community work.)
I was born in Providence and graduated from Central High School there. The Chinese population in Providence wasn't that great at the time, but we made friends. We had a lot of American friends. My father was partners with my brother-in-law in the Ming Garden Restaurant in Providence. There were more than a dozen Chinese restaurants and there was a small Chinatown a couple blocks from Central High School on Summer Street. It had maybe three or four buildings and a grocery store, but it wasn't much.
After I graduated from high school I went to work as a cashier for my brother-in-law and my father at the Ming Garden. That was in 1945, more than half a century ago. I can't believe it. Time really goes by fast. I wanted to go to college but my mother did not believe in a college education for the girls. She said, most of the daughters will be married, they will have husbands who support them, it's the man who needs the education, not the woman. My mother thought a woman would stay at home and take care of the family and not go into business themselves. My brother is the one who went to college.
A few years after I graduated from high school I met my husband. A mutual friend of our families who worked for my father-in-law at the time brought my husband to visit us at our home in Providence. My father and my husband's father had worked together many years ago in Boston. I guess his father knew that my father had a daughter, and my father knew that my husband's father had a son.
So that was our introduction. But I thought I was still too young to get married and didn't want to take anyone seriously at that time. We knew each other for about three years before we were married. That was 1948, so we've been married 49 years now.
After we were married we moved to Boston and had an apartment on Commonwealth Avenue. His father had opened a successful restaurant called the Mai Fong a block away from Symphony Hall in Boston. It was a very successful business. We both had grown up knowing how to take care of restaurants because his father and my father were in the restaurant business.
My husband worked for his dad for quite a few years before I had the opportunity in 1958 to buy my mother's share in a restaurant. My mother and dad had sold their share in the Ming Garden in Providence and had gone into business with another brother-in-law who had opened the Mandarin House at 948 Broadway in Saugus. After working for my father-in-law for a few years, we had a chance to buy shares in the Mandarin House. My older brother, who is now the executive vice president of a stock firm in California, had gone to Harvard and wasn't interested in the restaurant business. There's a lot of pressure in the restaurant business, and it's very difficult to make it a success unless you are there to watch over things all the time.
By about 1960 we owned all the shares of the Mandarin House and could do whatever we wanted to improve the business. We changed the name to Kowloon because the Mandarin House at that time wasn't doing too much business. We wanted to improve it by working long hours and putting everything we earned back into the restaurant. In 1960 we were not making money. My husband was the only chef and I was the only waitress and cashier at lunch-time. It was a two-person operation. We worked by ourselves for two or three years at lunch-time and were able to save some money to remodel the restaurant and add a lounge. We had only about $2,000 to our name.
After we opened the lounge it was awfully slow. We advertised, but it didn't take off. My husband had to put in long hours. But he took care of his customers really well, so they came back and introduced other people to the Kowloon Restaurant. That's how it started, by word of mouth and good service and good food. And after a few years it was quite successful and people were waiting for tables, so we added another 100 seats. And then it got even busier and we added another small party room. And the business was increasing every year and the people used to wait one or two hours for a table on weekends. This was about 15 years ago. And they still wait for tables now, but not for that long - maybe an hour at the most.
About four years after we were married I got into the insurance business. My husband was still working for his father and I thought I would like to work part-time. When we had our first restaurant I was selling insurance, working at the restaurant and taking care of the house at the same time. In 1952, I applied for a job as an agent at New York Life, but I was turned down because I was a woman. At that time they were not hiring any woman agents. They can't do that now (she laughs), but at that time they could. They had hired some woman agents but they did not have much luck.
So after I was turned down by New York Life I went to Sun Life, because they have offices in Hong Kong and I wanted to work with the Chinese people. I decided I wanted to go into the insurance business when my husband bought a couple of policies from a Sun Life agent from Chicago who came to Boston once a year to sell to Chinese people. But I thought that was ridiculous. Shouldn't we have an agent here to call for services instead of calling Chicago or the Sun Life Company? I wanted to be an agent right in town where people could reach me easily. But I was turned down by Sun Life too because of that agent from Chicago. But if at first you don't succeed, try try again. This time I went to John Hancock. I met a very nice person who gave me an aptitude test. I passed it with flying colors, and they hired me.
I would always ask for referrals when I got a client. And since nobody knew me I also canvassed businessmen. I went to different restaurants. Chinatown was not as busy as it is today but I knew Ruby Foo and a lot of other restaurant owners. My father in law knew most of the people because he had one of the busiest restaurants in Boston at that time. I used to go into Chinatown and I knew everyone. I would eat in different places just to introduce myself. Mostly in Chinatown. I would tell them I was a new agent in town. I just wanted to let them know there was a Chinese agent in town who could help them out. It was very difficult. Everyone said, Oh we bought from the agent in Chicago, you're too late. And that sort of discouraged me. I thought, well, it's just like a tree branching out. There will be more babies coming, more people getting married, more people coming over. That's what I tried to focus on: the newcomers and the new babies. But I was also quite discouraged because that agent from Chicago practically had a monopoly on selling to the Chinese here. At that time there were only about 6,000 Chinese - that's in the New England states. That's not a big number.
I also used to go to Providence and Connecticut to make my rounds and introduce myself. I would let people know I was in Boston and tell them to give me a call. Sometimes people would call me up, which made me feel good. After making a few calls and not getting any sales, you'd finally get one on the third or fourth try, which would make up for all the time you'd spent on the previous ones. But you can't expect to sell to everyone you meet. You just need a lot of patience - and I do not have that much. But you have to make yourself be patient if you want to be successful in this business.
I remember one time I was very insulted when someone said, no, you're too late; and then returned my card. How do you think I felt? So I said, no, keep it just in case you need it. I said it with a smile, naturally. And so she kept it. And - you can't believe this - a few years later she called me up and said she wanted insurance for her five kids. I was going to give up because she gave me my card back. I still have her daughter and her son as my clients.
So over time it just grows and grows. The clients buy it for their husbands, their wives, and their children. Before you know it I have four generations of business. And that's quite good, because the four generations are still living. And because I sold insurance I didn't have to depend on my husband's income to support the family at that time. I was in insurance for eight years and was making substantial income. In fact, I think I was making more than he was at that time.
I think I was very young at the time and I made friends very easily. I had people who would introduce me to new workers and new employees. And I always made myself known to the boss of restaurants and laundries. They knew I was trying to be successful and make a go of it. I guess most of my clients and friends helped me a lot along the way and I'm very thankful for that. A friend would refer me to a person who owned a laundry, then I would go there and introduce myself. I would say, such and such a person referred me to you; I thought you might be interested in insurance. I 'll show you a plan to protect your family. And if he already had a policy he would introduce me to his employees.
There's really no technique to selling insurance. You just have to find out the needs of the customer. You try to see if they have a family. The question is, if anything should happen to them, who is going to support the family? At the same time you say you hope nothing will happen to them. I try to show them different plans that would be suitable for them. The idea is that whether they live or die someone is going to gain.
But some Chinese did not believe in insurance because there weren't any agents at the time to explain it to them. They all thought: death ,death - insurance deals with death. And they try not use the word death around New Year's because they're superstitious. So I do not go out to sell life insurance around New Year's because you always have to talk about living and dying one way or another. You had to be careful how you word it. You don't say you're going to die. You show them both sides. I would tell them that we hope we can live to old age and be able to live off this retirement policy. If you live long enough you will build up a pretty good estate for you and your family. If something should happen to you, the amount of your insurance will go to your family and help them out. But people are more knowledgable about the insurance business and the policy they are buying now. Almost everyone buys insurance now.
People did not believe I would do well. I had to show them I could be successful. Until Metropolitan came into the picture over 10 years ago, the only Asians selling insurance in Boston were a Korean fellow and another Chinese lady. And then people would say: Oh Metropolitan has a dozen agents. Now you won't do well. But I still made the Million Dollar Round Table; I still did better, because competition is good for business. You just try to better yourself and serve your clients better and go out more. I would generally go out once or twice a week because I had to take care of the children. I only had two when I started but I eventually had four more to make a family of six. I tried to arrange all my appointments on the day I had a baby sitter and did not have to work in the restaurant. I also tried to make the convention every year and make my Million Dollar Round Table every year. To make it we had to sell over a million dollars a year, which was a lot of money at that time. Now I've been a member for 30 years. But my biggest year was 1982 when I made Top of the Table. That requires double the production of the Million Dollar Round Table. I'm the only woman in John Hancock to make that. That was one of my goals, because I don't think any Asian in Boston had ever made it. That was one of my real goals. I think at that time I just wanted to be the leading John Hancock agent for the whole country.
But you know how people are. They would say, Oh, you're the leading woman agent, but you can't beat us men. And I would say, I'm going to show you one of these days. They used to kid me about it. They would say, so she's the leading woman agent, so what. But that was something being the leading woman agent too. But anyway I showed them in 1982 when I made Top of the Table. I think I was the only one who made Top of the Table at John Hancock that year. I sold the most insurance in the country for John Hancock that year and I beat all the men. That was my glory year. I went to the convention and they gave me a big plaque. That was very prestigious for me and my office and my agency. I really worked very hard at that time. I probably worked the summer and winter too. And my supervisor was very surprised. I said, Gee I need more premium, more volume to get number one. So in December I put in about 80 policies in one month. I just went full-time in November and December to try to make it. As a matter of fact, I'm the only woman who is in the Hall of Fame for making the convention for more than 25 years. My picture is at the home office with the other Hall of Fame people, and I'm the only woman
Now I want to enjoy life. My four sons are taking care of the business. Oh, yes, people still call me up. But I don't have a quota now, so there's no pressure on me. I can sell as much as I want or not sell anything at all. But I still enjoy it because it gives me a reason to make house calls and visit and socialize with my friends. I really enjoy what I'm doing. That's the main thing. If you do not enjoy your work you should take another job. I enjoy meeting people. I enjoy talking to them. I really don't mind if they do not buy from me. You cannot sell to everyone you meet. But percentage wise - you do well. You can make up to $250,000 a year; the sky is the limit in this business.
I never wanted an office job; I wanted to meet people. I'm more outgoing. It's really interesting when you meet different people. I have made many friends along the way. I think the key to my success was hard work and being in the right place at the right time. And you know I think I tried to help people out. I'm always trying to do whatever I can to make a better life for my clients.