Marcus Lui, 31, is creative director of brand concepts at KramerHutchison, a full-service retail design firm in New York. The company plans and designs stores in the US and abroad for clients including Barneys and Donna Karan. Lui grew up in Hong Kong where he attended an international high school and then moved to Sydney, Australia, when he was 14 years old. After receiving a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Sydney, he moved to the US in 1992 to attend the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where he received a second bachelor's degree in industrial design.

Monster.com: Did you experience any culture shock when you moved to the US?

Marcus Lui: The biggest challenge was the size of Los Angeles. It's such an urban sprawl, and it was the first time I lived away from home. In terms of lifestyle, I think the difference between Southern California and Australia's east coast is less of a culture shock than most people would imagine. Relatively speaking, my move between Hong Kong and Sydney when I was a teenager was a much bigger cultural adjustment.

Mc: Did the transition from Hong Kong to Australia help you make the move from Australia to the US?

ML: It certainly equipped me with an ability to adapt to a new culture quite well. Another factor was that when I was living in Hong Kong, I actually attended four years of American schooling. I went to the local international school for junior high and the first few years of high school. Before I ever lived in LA or the States, I had an American education. I know as much American history as any American student. In terms of American vocabulary and culture, it was a bit of deja vu when I came to the US. Yet (school) in Australia reverted to a very traditional model based on English public schools. I've been living this cultural schizophrenia my entire life.

Mc: How was the adjustment to New York?

ML: New York has been a place where I always wanted to live. The month after I graduated, I moved to New York. The city doesn't intimidate me the way it does a lot of other people. I've spent enough of my life in what may be the one city that's on par with New York in terms of speed and being a 24-hour city and based off of commerce, and that's Hong Kong. I grew up pretty much in an urban jungle, admittedly an Asian one, but it shares a lot of characteristics with New York.

Mc: Is the design industry particularly international?

ML: It is a very international field. With the whole trend of globalization, it really is necessary for the design community to be international. Whatever design you're creating, chances are, it could be applied in many different places. As a result, people need to have a degree of cultural savvy that allows them to apply design and creative solutions in different cultural contexts.

Mc: What advice would you give to someone thinking about working abroad?

ML: First and foremost, I would advise people to be open-minded. This country has a tremendous capacity to integrate as well as reinvent the different cultures and knowledge that people bring here. In places like California and New York, it's always been about the integration of immigrants -- this is a country of immigrants. You don't want to lose your own heritage, but you should learn from all the cultures this country has to offer.