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Alumni Month Profile: Vivian Kao

Vivian Kao

When Vivian Kao (’94, Marketing) was in charge of one of the largest artificial Christmas tree sellers in the world, she wasn’t afraid to add a little color.

In fact thanks to Kao, Hong Kong-based Boto International Holdings Limited sold psychedelic pink varieties last holiday season.

Yes, pink.

“It is definitely important for Boto to offer a full range of trees to the market, whether they include basic designs or unique designs using new technology,” says Kao, the company’s recent chief executive officer who remains on its board of directors.

Boto’s pre-lit trees have specially-made fiber-optic needles that also glow in lime green, purple and even tangerine. Such glitzy innovation paid off for Kao and Boto shareholders in the past. Under Kao’s leadership, the company earned more than $150 million in 2004, up from nearly $135 million the year before.

She now hopes to have similar success with VK Consultancy Service, which she started last May. The company helps manufacturers in Hong Kong, Macau and China establish marketing plans.

As Boto’s CEO for nearly five years, Kao was credited with embracing creativity and enlarging Boto’s research and development staff. The company has major markets in countries such as the United States, Hong Kong, China and the United Kingdom, and sells six million artificial Christmas trees and hundreds of thousands of holiday accessories each year, as well as patio furniture to key retailers like Wal-Mart and Target.

“It is not necessary to change your value system and behavior to fit in other people’s worlds,” says Kao, who while at Boto was responsible for 8,000 employees in five countries. “You need to try to respect the differences between people and work together to achieve the end result without paying too much attention to the little steps of getting things done.”

Kao’s parents were Chinese immigrants who emigrated to Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution. Her father, Michael Kao, founded Boto in 1983. He is credited with reigniting the artificial tree market by making a more realistic tree using newer, more pliable plastic. The Washington-based Carlyle Group has since acquired the company, but Kao’s family still owns about 10 percent of its controlling interest.

Kao is also an heiress to a fake fur dynasty. She is thankful for the opportunity to move up in her family’s company where she started in 1994 as a merchandiser in the marketing department. She feels especially responsible for supporting other women in the corporate world.

Kao says having the chance to learn in an American educational system gave her the confidence to make tough business decisions.

“It encourages students to be open-minded to different cultures and it motivates students to be creative and outgoing,” she says. “I was very shy before I moved to the United States (to go to school).”