The story of Tom Hung’s success is like a roadmap for any business school major with dreams of becoming a global entrepreneur: With over 40 years in the promo products business, the chairman of Hong Kong-based manufacturer Headwind Group started his career as the director of North American sales for Midway, a Canadian importer. At the time, Midway represented some of the largest trading companies in Asia dealing in caps, garments, plush toys, bags, shoes, drinkware and several other products.

Michael Hung, general manager (left) and Tom Hung, chairman of Headwind.

“This was the ‘golden era’ of trade between China and the advertising specialty industry, long before many importers had established manufacturing sources in Asia,” Tom Hung recalls. “Indeed, I was fortunate to be among the first wave of entrepreneurs to open up China to our industry.”

But it’s his legendary joie de vivre and enigmatic charisma that really makes Hung so memorable. “You’ve never truly lived if you haven’t experienced a night out in Hong Kong with Tom Hung, the OG, at the 50s Club as he’s sipping on Johnny Walker and singing Connie Francis with the band,” says Heather Smartt, director of global category management for Top 40 supplier PCNA (asi/78897). “I could sit for hours and listen to Tom tell stories about his business adventures. He’s truly one of a kind.”

Michael Hung, Tom’s son with whom he shares Counselor’s 2019 International Persons of the Year award and Headwind’s general manager, concurs. “Anyone who’s met my father knows his personality fills up a room. He’s charming, honest, sincere and above all else, he’s loyal. I’ve taken a lot of his values as a businessman and integrated them into our corporate culture because I believe strongly this is a recipe for continued success.”

The Momentum Behind Headwind
After his time at Midway, Tom Hung ventured out on his own, setting up Headwind. His first customer was RCC (Radio Cap) which was at the time a relatively small decorator and then became part of Norwood (asi/40480).

“With the help of Steve Hill, John Finnell and many other industry veterans, we were able to grow our headwear business significantly all during the ’80s,” Tom Hung says, pointing out that in the early years, China was a much more challenging environment than it is now. “Quality and labor standards, regulatory issues and costs were extremely volatile each year,” he acknowledges. “Our core customer base expanded rapidly during this period and I was fortunate to have a very loyal group of customers that included Norwood, Corvest, Hit (asi/61125), Magnet (asi/68507) and many other ASI suppliers. With the support of my customers, our mug business grew aggressively in the early 1990s – at our peak we were shipping nearly 2,000 containers of mugs and 700 containers of caps per year.”

But in 1994, China instituted a quota system on headwear exported to the United States, which caused a sharp rise in the price of caps. Tom decided at that moment to turn it into an advantage, moving quickly to open various factories in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. “We enjoyed strong sales during this period until China lifted the quota system sometime in the early 2000s,” he says. “At that time, I decided to move our production back to China, where the bulk of it remains to this day.” Michael, who’s 39, was raised in the U.S. but now lives – like his dad – in Hong Kong and manages the day-to-day of Headwind’s operations. “I got my start with the company about 15 years ago in sales,” Michael says. “Like a lot of people in this business, it’s where I earned my chops and developed a good portion of the relationships that support me to this day.”

“I was fortunate to be among the first wave of entrepreneurs to open up China to our industry.” — Tom Hung

Michelle Armstrong, global bags sourcing and compliance director at Polyconcept, has known and done business with the Hung family for more than a decade. “Tom is the coolest man in the business, and I think there are many Top 40 suppliers that would not be where they are today without his influence in their business – and you can see his biggest impact in Michael, who’s one of the most creative professionals in our industry,” she says. “I’ve spent the last 10+ years getting to know Michael, and he always impresses me with his ability to stay one step ahead of the industry.”

Characteristically, Michael points to Tom’s direct influence on the trajectory of the business. “He taught our company the value of relationships with our clients – they’re the ones we attribute our success to, and they’re part of our family,” Michael says. “People like Hit Promotional Products founder Bill Schmidt Sr. really helped create huge growth opportunities for us and we don’t take that lightly. This value system is now an intrinsic part of our corporate culture – every single employee is taught from day one the importance of establishing long-term relationships with our clients.”

CJ Schmidt, president of Hit, can attest to the level of loyalty and commitment Headwind, under the leadership of the Hung family, shows its clients. “Tom Hung was crucial to the success of Hit during its initial growth and has been key in the years proceeding,” he says. “Not only has he been a trusted business partner for many years, but he was one of my dad’s closest friends and has become a personal friend of mine, as has Michael.”

Employing over 150 employees and with additional offices in Bangladesh and Vietnam, Headwind’s largest product categories are drinkware, headwear, bags, folding chairs, blankets, plush toys, mobile phone accessories and several other categories. “Our company motto is ‘manufacturing made easy,’ so we attempt to streamline manufacturing, design and sourcing services for our clients,” Michael says. “This means leveraging our 40+ years in the industry with design solutions at price points that work – and staying on top of the changing compliance requirements. It’s not rocket science, but it’s difficult to manage year after year.”

Michael concedes that the promo business overall is experiencing a lot of structural changes on the manufacturing side, mainly due to advances in automation and increasingly sophisticated logistics programs that allow for faster lead times and lower minimum order quantities. “On top of that, we’re facing regulatory issues like the recent tariffs, which are forcing companies like ours to adapt and set up manufacturing bases in other non-Chinese markets like Myanmar or Vietnam,” he says. “Of course, we view these changes as opportunities, not as obstacles, and we’ve moved quickly to adapt our business and embrace these changes. I think where all this is leading to is a highly efficient business model that operates largely online in a comparatively more ‘seamless’ buying environment – similar to the Amazon model.”

But what sets Headwind apart from its competitors, Polyconcept’s Smartt maintains, is its formidable father-and-son duo. “In an industry where suppliers tend to end up with similar product portfolios, Tom and Michael have enabled Headwind to become a differentiator in the industry,” Smartt says. “Their ability to foresee a trend and execute while others are still sitting at their sketch pad is the reason why they’re innovators. Spending time with Michael has always been refreshing because we can talk about everything from business and design to the latest band. Having him as a friend is just a bonus for me.” 

For Michael Hung, the bonus is that he gets to work in an industry he loves with a father who continues – even after four decades in the business – to operate with an entrepreneur’s passion and fearlessness. “Headwind is a family business and I’m part of a tradition that I’m very proud of,” he says. “I feel incredibly lucky to be able to continue growing what my father built.”