The founder of Feng Shui Concepts reveals how she left the corporate finance world to become a Feng Shui Master with an interior designer's sensibility.
It’s not often that people trade in a career in corporate finance to pursue the study of interior design and Feng Shui, but that’s exactly what Jane Langof, certified Feng Shui Master and the founder of consultation business Feng Shui Concepts, did.
Despite always having loved decoration, Jane began her professional career with a cadetship at an accounting firm. “One of my friends thought it would be ‘fun’ to apply for cadetships, and the idea of working in the city while studying at uni sounded very glamorous. In reality, it was a hard slog and a long way from what I really cared about learning, but I’m grateful I stuck with it,” says Jane. “I studied commerce at the University of New South Wales and got my postgraduate qualification as a certified public accountant. I had a 15-year career working in the corporate world and worked my way up to financial controller for an international company in the film industry.”
Jane Langof
Self discovery
During this time, Jane and her husband had purchased a home and were in the process of renovating it, an experience that awakened Jane’s passion for interior design. It wasn’t until Jane went on maternity leave that the idea of pursuing design as an alternative career path began to present itself as a viable option.
“A friend told me to see her amazing psychic. I did, and to my surprise she advised me to study interior design. She said I would not return to my accounting career – and this idea sounded fabulous,” says Jane. “I began studying interior design at Commercial Arts Training College in Sydney. I visited the psychic again and this time she told me to study Feng Shui and combine it with design.”
Jane went to the Australian College of Environmental Studies to explore the concept of Feng Shui, a decision that led her to establish a business based upon the principles of the Chinese practice, but with a design sensibility. As it turns out, Jane’s accounting experience was a valuable tool during this time, as she had already been exposed to all areas of business such as sales, marketing and operations.
According to Jane, Qi is the life force energy that connects all living things, and a Feng Shui master is a Qi engineer. “A Feng Shui master manipulates energy flow to create harmony and positively impact the way you think, feel and act. It’s a challenging role, and you need a great deal of resilience to thrive in the industry,” says Jane. “As a Feng Shui master, I’m privileged to be welcomed into clients' homes, learn about their visions and goals and help them to achieve abundance and success.”
However, Jane says there are a lot of myths associated with the practice of Feng Shui, and many people misunderstand it to be superstition, lucky objects or only relevant to those of Asian heritage. “Feng Shui is an ancient art and tradition that has been passed down through generations of Feng Shui masters over thousands of years. Some people think the job is to simply take a walk through a building, but there is a detailed technical process of analysis,” says Jane. “A Feng Shui master needs to be flexible and collaborate with multiple stakeholders such as clients, architects, designers and project managers. There’s a balancing act between achieving good Feng Shui and fitting in with a budget and design constraints.”
Jane looks at interior design through a different lens than a typical designer. Before deciding upon a design scheme for a property, she calculates the energy map of a property which will then determine the locations of main functional areas, room layout and which colour or finishes belong in which parts of the home. “This tells me where the wealth sector is located, where the best energy is for health and relationships and where the toxic energy zones are,” says Jane.
Darwin by Feng Shui Concepts
Rising to the challenge
Despite the success of her business now, Jane explains that it was difficult making the transition from a highly respected corporate career to one that is widely misunderstood, and recalls a time when she felt judged and criticised by the people around her. “I ignored them and kept faithful to my vision and purpose. I built my resilience and mindset by surrounding myself with positive people and listening to inspiring authors and motivational coaches,” says Jane.
Since establishing her business, Feng Shui Concepts, Jane has worked on project teams where people have openly disrespected her professionally or believed her input would disrupt a design. “The way I deal with this is with good humour. I assure my project teams that I am not the Feng Shui police – I’m here to collaborate with the design team and create amazing results for the client. After all, Feng Shui should be subtle, beautiful and consistent with the principles of good design,” says Jane.
One of Jane’s first big achievements was winning an international tender in 2015 for a casino and integrated resort in the Philippines. Since then, Jane has worked on projects that have won multiple Master Builders Association and Housing Industry Association awards and was recently named a winner in the 2022 Northern Districts local business awards.
“Regardless of whether you believe in Feng Shui or not, it’s important to many people in our community and must not be ignored. I love helping my clients create amazing homes that inspire abundance and I really enjoy being part of project teams, collaborating with architects and designers to build beautiful spaces,” says Jane. “But the most satisfying part of my job is helping people enhance the energy in their homes and making a positive difference in their lives.”
