_Exceptional Woman: Meet Alice Tan

Alice Tan started her career at Knight Frank Singapore in 2012 as a senior manager in Consultancy & Research (C&R), to advance her career in real estate after nine years in construction-related disciplines. After seven years, Alice decided to venture into regional research and consulting. She returned to Knight Frank in 2020 as Head of Consultancy, leading the service line to provide feasibility analysis, bespoke advisory, and development consultancy to our clients.

The editorial team has interviewed Alice to find out more about her aspirations and why she deserves to be of our exceptional women this year.

Editorial Team: How do you ensure you bring your best every day?

Alice Tan: I believe in nurturing the right mindset. I start each day with a sense of gratitude – to be thankful for a new day given to me. I also develop this sense of desire – setting a goal to achieve each day with purpose and joy, not just for myself but with the people I interact with.

To bring purpose, I embrace a team player spirit and a selfless mindset to work with the people around me. This enables me to deliver authentic and effective service and advice to clients. I feel a great sense of joy and meaning whenever I am fully engaged with colleagues and superiors, each upholding trust, respect, and compassion to work together harmoniously for a common goal. 

ET: How do you contribute to a more inclusive environment in the workplace?

AT: Each of us can play a part to bring a spark, warmth, and energy to keep the ‘fire’ going in our workplace. I seek to be proactive to reach out to catch up with colleagues, get to know new members, and be present to offer suggestions and help when others need me. Amid the hustle and bustle to get work done, we could be oblivious to the people around us and what’s evolving. Therefore I seek to be attentive to the people’s needs, listen more and talk less, then deliberate what’s possible to help our organization become better as a place for the people.

I spur myself to have courage – to be not afraid to raise issues to the management when it means a lot to the people in the organisation.

ET: Can you give us an example of long-term decisions that contributed to a client’s success?

AT: I was in charge of a retail consultancy assignment for an integrated hub (Our Tampines Hub) for a government agency. The project was under tight timelines to complete key milestones. Contrary to the project team’s initial plans, I raised an alternative scope of works that would be able to achieve the desired outcomes for the client within a shorter completion time and bring long-term benefits in the business and operating model for the government agency. My proposal was presented to Minister Heng Swee Kiat. It was eventually accepted, and Knight Frank was later appointed as a joint retail marketing agent. The project is now an exemplar of a successful community-integrated hub and the retail spaces, boosting an attractive array of retail, F&B, and educational amenities, are enjoying good patronage from residents.

ET: How do you contribute to your community?

AT: I strive to be an advocate of environmental sustainability through the little acts of caring for the environment. I was engaged in a beach cleaning effort with my like-minded lady friends last 2021 and that activity has instilled in us the importance of protecting marine life and the consequences of sea pollution. We wish to do more of such activities and to encourage more people to join us in time to come. At home, we recycle plastics as much as we can, and I advocate my friends to do the same. In spiritual well-being, I am a volunteer in my church as a choir chorister.

ET: How do you invest in your personal growth?

AT: Since having made the switch from construction to real estate with a master’s degree in Real Estate in 2011, I seek to enrich my learning journey by firstly learning from the experienced and the wise. I seek to connect with the industry in an interactive manner - having regular dialogues with industry veterans such as property developers, consultants, and financiers. I also often engage in deep discussions with industry partners and friends to discuss things that matter in real estate and encourage like-minded people to join us. I constantly explore new discoveries and invest time to learn new things and perspectives through engagements with friends, short courses, books, and travel.

ET: Relating to this year’s Women International day theme #BreakTheBias, how do you think you could contribute to breaking the bias?

AT: I can contribute to breaking the bias by spreading the word to the women out there that we must have faith - in ourselves and in the people who matter to you, and most importantly, to be true to ourselves. As societies grapple with stereotypes, constant expectations, and apathy, many women are still coping with bias, inequality, and discrimination. We often doubt our own abilities and get swept by the perceptions and bias that tend to impact women, especially in the workplace. I wish to encourage women to step out, boldly share their stories, and be encouraged through others’ testimonies. I wish to advocate unity among people, women and men alike, through mutual understanding and acceptance that everyone can have an active role to foster happier and tighter communities in every place we are in. If there are such avenues to enable people to come together and share, it will be a meaningful encounter of minds and hearts on the possibilities women can do and help one another, including men, open-minded ones of course.