Richard Zinkiewicz
Group Director for International Operations
QI Ltd
Richard Zinkiewicz is Group Director for International Operations on the Board of QI Ltd,
a global conglomerate with over 25 offices worldwide, including 3 major centres in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Joining QI in April 1999 as Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Zi, as he is popularly known,
has been a critical member of the core management team responsible for the Group's expansion through vertical integration of its core businesses,
balancing of cash flow needs, and diversification into new business sectors through investment opportunities.
Mr. Zinkiewicz has over 25 years international business experience, initially qualifying as a Canadian Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young), and later on holding key senior positions in Canada, Europe and Asia. It was in the early 90's where Mr. Zinkiewicz gained a deep understanding of the powerful and unique network marketing business model and the art of balancing and managing the needs of the company against the needs of its distributors.
It was this experience that kept him in good stead when he joined QI Ltd, whose flagship subsidiary, QuestNet, operated as an international direct selling and network marketing company. In the years that followed, he helped with the phenomenal growth of the QI Group of Companies, representing the Group as its public spokesperson and advocating the tremendous potential of the network marketing industry in different parts of the world as well as proudly touting its corporate mission of RYTHM (Raise Yourself To Help Mankind) and its consensus management style decision making.
Born in Poland on a farm outside Luban, Mr. Zinkiewicz moved to Canada with his mother and sister at the age of 10. He was significantly influenced by his mother whom he considers his true hero and from whom he learnt his most important lesson, the importance of black and white honesty. He says, "the human mind often tends to rationalise in the grey area, but my mother taught me the importance of simple, straight forward and sincere honesty''.
Surprisingly, apart from his mother, his heroes are not any major world leaders of the past or present, but everyday people that he meets in the course of his life. "I believe you can learn a little bit from everyone, even and especially those you may not like much because those are lessons you will remember always." He counts his elementary math teacher and a former boss in Ernst & Whinney as two significant people who helped shape his thinking. He respects and admires historic explorers, international athletes, and anybody who embodies the attributes of hard work and excellence.
His philosophy in life is simple, "everyday I remind myself it is important I do something positive to help someone and leave the world a better place to live in".
An avid outdoor person, Mr. Zinkiewicz hikes regularly, works out at the gym and loves adventure sports. When he is not zipping around the world closing business deals, he lives in Hong Kong with his wife Vanessa Liu and their two dogs, Oscar and Milky.