Q. How do you view the current state of the local real estate market?

A. It did soften a little bit, and we are seeing a little bit less volume. But we also are seeing a continuation of appreciation in prices. I think in six years, we have never seen a median home price fall. In terms of sales, our 2007 sales as a company are outperforming 2006. We're also entering the summer months, which historically is a little bit more of a peak season for the real estate industry, so we're really looking forward to seeing how 2007 will finish up, and it's looking quite strong so far.

Q. You came to Prudential from Sony. Was there a big adjustment to make because of the different types of businesses?

A. The industry itself for Sony was a retail and Prudential is more of a service, so in terms of an industry, there was quite a contrast. Sony's also a very structured corporate environment, as you can imagine, whereas Prudential is a private company and so there's a little bit more autonomous environment here. We can push through changes a little bit easier. It is a big adjustment, but I felt like I had the foundation necessary coming from a compliance-oriented environment to a very less-rigorous environment, which I hope to strive in.

Q. Do you have more freedom to implement your own ideas?

A. Correct. The company is very entrepreneurial. We encourage entrepreneurial thinking, and we do push for innovative ideas and try to implement that. We're always adapting to change and trying to be the cutting edge of the industry. So I thrive on that.

Q. How would you compare working for Prudential versus Sony?

A. In any company, it comes down to market share and sales volume as well. So they are very similar in that. At Prudential, it's a very client-service oriented environment, whereas at Sony it was more of a "give your customer the inventory that they were asking for." As a company, we do try to empower our agents to provide the best service for our customers and our clients, so my role has departed a little bit from just closing the books and making sure the numbers are right, which I'm fully responsible for here. But at the same time, really helping executive management push to provide our agents with everything they need to provide the best service to our clients.

Q. Real estate is very competitive; what does Prudential do to set it apart from other companies?

A. The industry is a very competitive market, but I think the company is very unique in four different ways. The first is it's been around for 40 years so we have a lot of knowledge, obviously. We provide partnership and ownership of the company to our agents and employees. We own our own building. What really sets us apart is really our diverse operations and ancillary services. Those are the four main points that differentiate us from our competitors.

Q. This is a new position for you; what have you found to be some of your challenges?

A. Coming from compliant-oriented positions, some of the challenges might be juggling the compliance and the best-practice efforts as well as mainstreaming processes while still trying to adapt to changes in implementing these innovative ideas. I've always thought that I wanted to implement innovative, fresh ideas within a company, and I'm very grateful that I'm having that chance here.

Q. You're 32 years old. That's a little young to be in your position.

A. I am on the younger side, but I think with age I have a little bit more hopefully youthful thinking in trying to push this company forward to being No. 1. Hopefully (my age) played in favor of me. Being I'm more on the young side, I don't have any bad habits. I don't have any set, old habits that I'll have trouble breaking. I come in with a very new, fresh look onto things, and I'll make changes accordingly to hopefully improve things here?

Q. What is the Prudential Locations Foundation?

A. That's one of the other things that makes our company unique. We're the only real estate company that has a not-for-profit arm. We primarily collect money from our agents as well as our employees and we help various not-for-profit organizations strictly in Hawai'i. We try to give back to the community as much as possible. That is one of my goals to be more involved with not-for-profit and voluntary work. I do want to be a little bit more involved in giving back to the community, and I hope to get more and more involved as I get more accustomed to my new position.

Q. What drew you to Hawai'i?

A. July 24 will make 13 years. ... I think primarily the people. Ever since I came here, everyone's treated me very kindly. I feel like this is a home here that I never knew of until I moved here. My in-laws have been great in accepting me as their son. It just feels really good to be here and part of the community. It's great to be accepted, and hopefully I can give back.

Q. What are your goals at Prudential?

A. Our goals are always to strive to be the best company, to develop the most innovative, cutting edge programs. How I fit in is looking for other venues of income and stabilizing expenses and keep growing as a company. I do like the environment. Bill Chee, our founder, is very visionary and entrepreneurial minded himself, and he sets the tone for the rest of us and he supports us. It's a really good environment to be in. Whatever you get out of life, you gotta work hard for and keep striving. Keep setting your goals and keep striving for them and little things will come at a time.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.