Get to know our Business Operations Manager – Joshua SPIRGI

Joshua SPIRGI came in to support Dani MIJIC and Blue Concept Asia in March of this year. Before joining the team, he had already been involved in running various businesses with a heavy focus on digital marketing and social media.

Get to know a bit about Joshua’s background and how he spent his last 11 years in Hong Kong after his family moved here from Switzerland in this short internal interview, we held with him.

In the almost half of a year that Joshua has been working for Blue Concept Asia he has been a valuable addition to the team already and he truly embraces the “East meets West” spirit of Blue Concept Asia.

Read the interview below:

My name is Joshua Spirgi. Most people just call me Josh, and I'm the Business Operations Manager for Blue Contact Asia since March of 2021.

What brought you to Hong Kong?

I was born and raised in a very small town in Switzerland, near Lucerne, that's in the German speaking part. Back then I never thought I would move out of my town, or especially out of the country until I would go to university, but out of nowhere my dad got a big job opportunity to work on a project in Hong Kong.

So, in August of 2010, as a family, and three months after he told us, we moved to Hong Kong.

How did the move to Hong Kong affect you?

Well, at first, I missed Switzerland a lot as I had started my first two years of secondary school. So, the change was quite big, especially the environment with my friends. But I started to like the city of Hong Kong fairly quickly. After about half a year I felt almost at home, and I got over the first hurdle of integrating to the new system.

It helped that I was studying in German Swiss International School (GSIS) as there was a bit of a familiarity with the German language. After finishing my remaining four years at secondary school I understood quite quickly that I would want to stay in Hong Kong long term.

The GSIS actually offers a business college program where you can get some work experience while studying, and getting that bit of working experience in Hong Kong was a great opportunity for me.

What did you do before joining Blue Concept Asia?

After getting my diploma at the business college I started my bachelor's in business management. It was perfect for me as I had taken over a small ecommerce store called Hong Kong Breadbox, and I would be able to put into practice what I was learning at uni.

Moving to Hong Kong obviously was a big change and I would still miss Switzerland quite a bit. I would go back every summer to visit my friends, I joined more events of the Swiss Association in Hong Kong, and I joined the Swiss Dragon Boat team and the Swiss football team. It was important for me to keep a connection to my roots of Switzerland, so in early 2019 I also joined the Swiss Association of Hong Kong as a volunteer.

Later that year I also started a part time job as social media and operations manager of a successful events company in Hong Kong, where I had a small team reporting directly to me which was a very good experience. I also had to manage the company through tough times of a global pandemic which was not that great for the entertainment sector, obviously.

Given that situation in early 2020. I went back to visit my family in Switzerland, and ended up staying for seven months because of obvious reasons, which was great for me because I could reconnect with my family.

I would actually have a longer time to spend with my friends and I realized I still miss Switzerland a lot, but I also understood that I still want to stay in Hong Kong for the foreseeable future and then build up my career here.

How and why did you join Blue Concept Asia?

I've known Dani Mijic for a few years through the Swiss football team. We've even worked together on some small projects related to social media, and he knew what I was doing with my e-commerce shop.

When he started his own company, Blue Concept Asia, he came to me to see if we could possibly work together. We talked a bit back and forth and realized that it was the best for me to join the team. I first joined as digital marketing manager.

After a short while however we quickly realized that I was getting more and more involved in the Operation Side as well, since Dani was teaching me a lot and helping me improve my business sense, so to say. So we switched my position from digital marketing manager to business operations manager, which is my current job.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I definitely see myself in Hong Kong for the time being. Obviously, we also can't travel much these days, but I would really like to make Switzerland a bigger part of my life.

I definitely want to grow myself both professionally and personally. Still, in Hong Kong as there's a lot of opportunity in the city and it's a bit more exciting than Switzerland. But the trip last year has made me realize that I miss my home country and I definitely want to go back more to visit friends and family and hopefully also implement that in my career and my projects. I think Blue Concept Asia will be a big part of that and it's a great fit since the company also operates between Asia and Europe.