Glenfiddich x Prestige Indonesia Present “The Where Next Club” with David Soong

Discover your “Where Next?” in this final episode of the Glenfiddich x Prestige Indonesia’s “The Where Next Club” campaign, featuring how David Soong continuously pushes boundaries

Bringing Together Indonesia’s Changemakers

Last year, Glenfiddich successfully presented “The Where Next Club” in Indonesia by introducing several notable Mavericks – leading entrepreneurs who successfully pushed and broke boundaries to excel in their business, each with inspiring stories about their passion, their career journey and how the two elements ultimately supported one another. At the end of 2022, “The Where Next Club” returned in collaboration with Prestige Indonesia, to continue inspiring the next generation of change-makers.

As their collective nickname implies, these individuals share the same maverick attitude that allowed Glenfiddich to excel for over a hundred and thirty years following its founding in Dufftown, Scotland by innovator William Grant. Glenfiddich became the first single malt whisky to be promoted outside of Scotland and, since the year 2000, has received more awards than any other single malt Scotch whisky in two of the world’s most prestigious competitions, namely the International Wine & Spirit Competition and the International Spirits Challenge. Today, it is one of the few single malt distilleries to remain entirely family-owned and is still produced in the same distillery which William Grant and his children hand-built.

This legacy and the spirit that made it all possible resonates strongly with the latest Mavericks selected by Glenfiddich to share their stories through a series of in-depth interviews. As each session goes, we learn about their passion and the source of their motivation, how they push and break boundaries in their respective field, and how they answer the all-important question: “Where next?”

The campaign began in earnest at the end of November with the very first episode starring professional model and Asia’s Next Top Model champion Ayu Gani. Fast forward to January 2023, and host Rory Asyari chatted with automotive icon William Tjandra in the second episode. And then, in early March, the third and final episode went online, featuring an intriguing heart-to-heart with serial entrepreneur David Soong.

Breaking new Ground

Arguably the most inspiring part of David Soong’s story is not just the long list of successful ventures that he has started – which makes the descriptor “serial entrepreneur” extremely fitting in his case – is how he has managed to turn his hobbies and passions into profitable businesses.

Around 20 years ago, buoyed by his interest in photography, David Soong founded Axioo, which offers photography and videography services with a focus on weddings and family photos. “When I first started, wedding photography was usually handled by people with real experience. We’re talking about veterans who have been at it for years,” Soong recalls. “But I didn’t understand that. I just wanted to capture every moment – from the beginning to the end of the day, capturing not only the bride and groom but also their story as grandmas cry and little kids run around. A wedding, to me, is more than just the couple: It’s the story of everyone celebrating there with them.” This approach, as it happens, became the breakthrough that catapulted Axioo’s reputation.

In short, David Soong leveraged his passion and his personal vision to break new ground in an already-established industry.

Around halfway through the interview, the conversation turned to inspiration, and both the interviewer and interviewee came to the same conclusion. “Other people’s happiness – that is your inspiration,” host Rory Asyari summed up. Soong then observed how he saw parallels between his inspiration and Glenfiddich’s long and successful history as The World’s Most Awarded Single Malt Scotch Whisky. “Glenfiddich celebrates success, and that’s very much in line with our business,” Soong elaborates. “We celebrate people’s joy, happiness and ensure the quality of our services as we grow.”

Helping people celebrate joy and happiness, by the by, is the basic idea behind another of Soong’s business ventures: Sweet Escape. In short, this platform links customers to more than 8,000 photographers in 100 cities all across the world. Whether it’s immortalizing a trip to Paris or capturing the perfect moment from a proposal on the Danube, Sweet Escape offers travellers an easy way to procure the services of local, professional photographers who are not only skilled but are more than familiar with each locale.

The third hallmark from David Soong’s portfolio is Boga Group, the company behind famous chain restaurants such as Bakerzin, Pepper Lunch, Shaburi, Kintan, Kimukatsu, etc. And this happens to be an exciting time for the group and its founder as the industry rebounds from the slump caused by the pandemic. By now, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Soong has quite a unique perspective on things that’s worthy of his status as a true Maverick. “We see restaurants as more than just a venue that serves food,” he explains. “It’s a place where people can catch up, where families will gather, colleagues work together … so, we create dining spaces for people to celebrate.”

Discover your “Where Next?”

In the end, what would arguably be the best takeaway from the final episode of this “The Where Next Club” campaign is David Soong’s view on accomplishment. “Don’t dismiss the small curiosities that are the seeds of success,” the entrepreneur concludes. “If we pursue our curiosity, we will be good at it. When you become good at it, it can open a lot of doors in your career.” Just as Glenfiddich always pushes boundaries, David is also in his own way of pushing and breaking boundaries.

Catch the complete interview with David Soong by scrolling down or visiting Prestige Indonesia’s YouTube channel: