Business Grants to Beef Up Your Company?

Beauty care entrepreneur Jacqueline Goh started her business from a single table in a Penang shopping mall. Five years later, the La Herballe brand she created had begun distributing products throughout Malaysia, and even the world via online mall.

This year the brand celebrates its 8^th anniversary with Jac as the company group managing director and licensor for the La Herballe skin/beauty salon, which uses Japanese products first formulated over 30 years ago. She studied business in Japan as well as trained as a skin therapist and beauty consultant there, and naturally had since moonlight as a Japanese translator too.

La Herballe currently has 1 outlet on Penang Island, 2 in Seberang Prai and 2 in Selangor. It also actively distribute products through clinics, pharmacies and other salons.

The brand differentiate itself as the natural skin care/facial quick fix for urban lifestyle, attracting people with its effective, light and easy facial/spa experience at affordable prices.

La Herballe's latest concept of beauty kiosk

We are proud to have Jac as vice chairperson of NAWEM-PAN since its inception. Last year she was a recipient of NAWEM-HSBC skill training grant worth RM30,000. This allowed 10 eligible women in Penang to receive La Herballe beauty care training to enable them to at least start a home-based business, beauty kiosk or salon.

Certainly Jac has under her belt enough business experience and acumen to inspire other women. She had a regular job when she first started her business. “I would get up in the morning and go to my normal job as a PA/translator in factory uniform, and in the afternoon change into my skin therapist/consultant attire... in high heels.” For La Herballe, it had taken courage, effort, determination, belief in the products and the right image to succeed, Jac added.

A proud sponsor of Star Walk 2012...Jac @ centre

She recently applied for another NAWEM grant and hopes to train the next batch of deserving women entrepreneur wannabes. Jac has also been mulling on writing a women entrepreneur's guide titled 'The Warrior In Me...in High Heels.' We only wish she would get to it soon so more women can benefit from the La Herballe experience.

Meanwhile her company has, through NAWEM assistance, also received a SME Corp grant for La Herballe to obtain Franchise licence and ISO 9001 certification. For some immediate sharing with Jac, come join PAN sharing session this month on 'How to maximize your benefits being a member of NAWEM?' 

Jewellery talk, not on gold, this Saturday

The topic for PAN July sharing session has changed from gold to jewellery; both are favourites with us women, entrepreneurs or not. The earlier designated speaker, PAN member Monica, has a family emergency so another member Amee Philips has step up to take over the rostrum.

Yes, the speaker is the Amee Philips of the famous Penang jewellery house that has gone national as well as international as of this year. So free up your Saturday afternoon tomorrow to listen to and spend some personal time with this rising entrepreneur.

At the 6^th Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards earlier this month, Amee won the Most Promising Entrepreneur Award 2012. This particular award requires for the nominees to be entrepreneurs leading a registered business for no less than one year, and with a turnover of no less than USD1 million in the past one year.

The Most Promising Entrepreneurship Award is for entrepreneurs who have displayed promising accomplishments in the past and present and have the vision and potential to advance their companies to be leading businesses in the near future. They are deemed to hold the potential to make it big and inspire the young minds to follow their footsteps in becoming successful entrepreneurs in the future. 

Amee (L) receiving her Most Promising Entrepreneur Award

And Amee has been judged to fit that bill. So come prepared with questions to ask her over a cuppa. PAN sharing session is normally quite intimate with just 20 women or less chatting together.

Here's some Amee's basics to entice you further. 

She hailed from Nibong Tebal and got into the jewellery business by accident. She was in Germany and received a gemstone in the mail from mom, who asked Amee to send home more of the same.

At the time Amee could only afford costume jewellery to wear. “I didn't even know what gemstone my mom had sent. I took it to a crystal shop and look for its look-alike and bought some to send back home.”

Her mom shared the gems with friends and soon was asking Amee to get more, who then started sourcing them for much cheaper from wholesalers.

That was how her gems wholesaling business took hold, supplying to the jewellery shops along Pitt Street (now Lebuh Masjid Kapitan Keling) in George Town. “I walked door-to-door asking them to buy but they only agreed to sell the gems for me on consignment.”

“I develop good eyes for the good gem stones as I go through thousands of them daily. And I started designing jewellery too and was lucky enough to have sold every piece.” She opened her jewellery production studio in 1992.

 

With the 1997 Financial Crisis, the wholesaling business took a dive. Amee shifted her focus entirely on producing jewellery and hasn't look back since. Year 2012 brought the Amee Philips brand to the international arena through a smart partnership with Zhang Toi, a fellow Malaysian who is now a world renown fashion designer based in New York.

Amee Philips became an international brand overnight with Zhang Toi, she said. It all began with them meeting as participants in the George Town Festival 2011. She counted that among the lucky moments or breakthroughs in her business.

 

Amee Philips is looking forward to become a world renown brand in no time because, she said, “I'm the best in coloured gem stones, I love them, I believe in innovation and creativity, I'm a big dreamer, a doer, and have no worries about making mistakes.”

Awesome words and resolve; don't you wish to hear more from her in person?

 

July Sharing: Gold Intrigue

Are you noticing that lately gold is talked about quite often?

Yes, the shiny yellow metal has been gaining more attention than usual, at least for the past two years that I've noticed in Malaysia:

• My friends sell gold bar and promote the gold dinar and coin on FaceBook.
• Banks offer free gold wafers when you open an account and gold coins to win when you grow your balance.
• You can open gold account easily at any bank; two years ago only 2 or 3 banks have such facility. You have option to keep your gold bullions in the bank or take them home.
• There are also new companies dealing in gold bullions.
• 'Cash for your gold' event held in major city hotel and advertised in major papers.

PAN sharing session this month shall present some answers to the gold intrigue. Member Monica Toh wants to spread awareness of gold bullions as a good hedge against inflation and preserver of wealth.

People place their savings mostly in the bank, property or stock market, hoping to grow their wealth. Is now a good time to diversify and put some of your savings in the precious metal too?

Monica had joined the manufacturing sector right after school. After more than 20 years there, she left to go into financial planning and unit trust investment. Two years ago she expanded into trading of gold bullion.

She said gold bullion is providing her income regardless of the market movements, and helping others to do the same has been very financially rewarding as well.

 

Other Upcoming Events

26 & 27 July: NAMWEM  has 2 complimentary seats at the 16th Malaysian Banking Summit. Themed 'Charting the Future Direction of Banking and Finance in a New Era', the event is organised by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI) and held in Kuala Lumpur. Register with NAWEM Secretariat by noon, Friday the 16th, if you want to attend.

Sept 11 & 12: Join some 1,400 employers at the HRDF Conference & Exhibition 2012 this coming September. This annual event by Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB) will take place at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

The Human Resource Minister will give the keynote address. There will be other prominent speakers plus information-packed workshops to intensify information exchange pertaining to theoretical research and practical developments in HR development.

For details, contact NAWEM Secretariat at 03-2142 3325 or email secretariat.nawem@gmail.com

or visit www.hrdf.com.my.

Earlier Events

July 11: NAWEM is alloted 4 seats at a full day "International Population Conference on Population Ageing : Issues and Challenges" in Kuala Lumpur, held in conjunction with World Population Day 2012.

Expected attendance is about 230 representatives from government agencies, private sector, universities, international agencies as well as non-governmental organisations.

They are to discuss issues and challenges of the ageing population in Malaysia and other ASEAN countries in general. There will be Malaysian and international speakers, presenting a total of 13 papers.

Their top task is to evaluate the financial needs and family support for the older persons in view of the changing family scenario and current social economic situation.

Apart from sharing of information and experiences internationally, the conference would help programme managers and policy makers in the formulation of a more comprehensive policy for the
older persons.

The Social Security Research Centre, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya (UM) is jointly organising the conference with the National Population and Family Development Board under the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.

July 5 & 6: NAWEM had 2 complimentary seats at the e-commerce workshop "Versatile Innovation in Doing Business in the Global Market” held in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry organised it in collaboration with the Confederation of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry & Secure Online Shopping Association, Taiwan.

July 2-8: NAWEM had 2 complimentary seats at the forum and networking session held during the Economic Cooperation Development In Private Sector Between Malaysia & Iran in Kuala Lumpur. The organiser was SME Corp.

June Sharing

Polly Kheong will share her life passion for flower craft, which also has been her business for over 5 years. Join us and find out how to turn your passion into business that you love, can sustain and grow into your own unique success story.

Wish Flower Creation, her shop in Butterworth, offers better designs and arrangements of pretty stuff like...

fresh flowers hand bouquet and hamper,

everlasting bouquet,

flower basket,

gift & flower,

fruits & flower basket,

congratulatory floral stand,

clay flower & toy.

As you can see, Polly's arts extend to clay flowers and toys, patchwork and drawing as well as teaching them to children and adults, boys & girls, men & women.  

clay flowers that look like the real thing

Other June events

June 28-30:
SME Solutions / Entrepreneurship Expo in Kuala Lumpur.

NAWEM members have 15% discount on booth rental. Contact the event coordinator at 603 7880 3511 ext. 102 or mobile 6012-6129351.

June 28–30: Women Economic Forum at St Petersburg, Russia.

Join the Malaysian delegation to this regular event under the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which has theme of 'Women and Innovative Economic Growth'.

The forum is expected to attract some 300 high-profile participants from the public, private, NGO and academic sectors. There are 3 main elements of the forum:

1. APEC policy partnership on women and the economy.
2. Public-private dialogue on women and economy.
3. High-level policy dialogue on women and the economy.

To participate, register with the International Relations Division of the Malaysian Women, Family and Community Development Ministry. Telephone 03-8323 1403/1407 or email tanbeechin@kpwkm.gov.my or farahsalma@kpwkm.gov.my.

June 26: NAWEM invited to a luncheon business talk 'Creating a global brand; the Lewre Success Story' in Kuala Lumpur. Lewre is a Malaysian brand of quality footwear for men and women, marketed globally especially to Europe and the Middle East.

June 21&22: ASEAN-India SME Conference with the theme 'Breaking Barriers, Building Success' in Kuala Lumpur. NAWEM was given 30 complimentary seats.

June - NAWEM Exco member Jacqueline Francis is on a business trip to London and US, visiting women business association in the region as a spokesperson for NAWEM, and passing along business-related matters from other members.

May Events

The 2^nd Conference on Greater KL in Kuala Lumpur

3 Complimentary seats given to NAWEM

3-Day 'Women & Money Asia Convention' in Kuala Lumpur.

10 complimentary seats reserved for NAWEM members.

Fully sponsored course on 'Sexual Harassment at the Workplace' in Shah Alam. 2 Reserved seats for NAWEM members.

NAWEM Sarawak trip, scheduled for Friday, 18th May, has been postponed to a later date. 

Know Your S&P Agreement

PAN legal advisor is to speak on "Understanding your sale & purchase agreement" at our May sharing session that follows the monthly committee meeting.

Do come join us. The sharing session, open to all, starts at 12noon and includes Q&A time. More questions and/or extended discussion can be done over lunch that starts about 1pm. Let's have some women time together and enjoy!

Date: 26 May 2012
Venue: C-5-1, Bay Avenue
            Lorong Bayan Indah 3 (next to Queensbay Mall, Penang)


Curious about who is PAN legal adviser?

Catherine is 2nd from left.

Catherine Heah has accumulated extensive knowledge and practical experience in her seventeen (17) years in legal practice. She obtained her Bachelor of Laws degree (Honours) from University of East London, United Kingdom in 1992 and later also passed her Certificate of Legal Practice examination prior to being called to the BAR.

Currently, she is the head of the conveyancing department of Messrs Othman Hashim & Co.Advocates & Solicitors and the said Department comprises of three(3) other lawyers and together they are ably assisted by eight (8) clerical staffs. Her area of specialization covers General Conveyancing, Banking & Finance instruments including Corporate & Retail transactions, Probate & Admninistrative Law, Small Estates, Wills, Landlord & Tenant and Leases. To enhance her knowledge in companies and business sectors, Catherine recently took a Company Secretarial course so that she can be conscious of the legal impediments on one hand and on the other hand take charge of the legal assignments with dedication by ensuring the service level and quality of work rendered to the clients are not compromised.

Messrs Othman Hashim & Co. was established in October 1983 in Kuala Lumpur and has expanded beyond the city limits of Kuala Lumpur to Sepang, Wangsa Maju, Melaka, Johor Bahru, Kota Bahru, Sibu & Kuching in Sarawak. In addition, the firm has close association in Shenzen, China and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. The firm continues to grow at a steady pace to 53 lawyers to date.

As the firm undertakes litigation and non-litigation work, its vision has always been to provide its clients a wide range of legal services and strongly believe that there is strength in diversity .

Catherine is an active member and a Past President of the Lions Club, known to many as the largest service organization/NGO in the world with more than 1.7 million members. For more than ten ( 10 ) years, she gave freely her time to serve the less fortunate in the community by participating and organizing many meaningful projects/activities with the aim of raising funds towards humanitarian efforts.

 

Heart of a Mother

For all those who are and have a mom, entrepreneur or not, in conjunction with the coming Mother's Day, I'm sharing this... beautiful, beautiful words, sound and images that just touch the soul and draw warm tears to the eyes.

It begins like this...

"The moment a child is born,
   the mother is also born.

She never existed before.
The woman existed,
   but the mother, never.

A mother is something
   absolutely new."  - Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

"Making a decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide
   forever to have your heart go
      walking around outside your body."  - Elizabeth Stone


"A mother is she who
   can take the place of all others
      but whose place no one else can take."  - Cardinal Mermillod

"The heart of a mother
   is a deep abyss at the bottom of which
      you will always find forgiveness."  - Honore de Balzac

"It's not what you do for your children
   but what you have taught them to do for themselves
      that will make them successful human beings."  - Ann Landers

"A mother holds her children's hands for a while,
   but their hearts forever."  - Author unknown

"A hundred years from now it will not matter
   what my bank account was,
      the sort of house I lived in,
         or the kind of car I drove,
   but the world may be different because
         I was important in the life of a child."  - Forest E Witcraft

"The greatest gift you can give your children
   are roots of responsibility
      and wings of independence."  - Denis Waitley

And it ends with...

"Before you were conceived,
   I wanted you.
Before you were born,
   I loved you.
Before you were here an hour,
   I would die for you.
This is a miracle of life."  - Maureen Hawkins


Now for the full beautiful effect, go to Heart of a Mother. And don't forget to turn up the volume. Wish I could just have the video embedded in here. Sigh, the life of a non-techie...

Sharing on Health and Wellness

Children, adolescents, adults and the elderly have different nutritional requirements. Knowing what they are is especially important to women as the main care giver of the family.

Thus we are delighted to have someone shares on this topic at PAN sharing session this Saturday. Pauline Cheah will speak on 'Your Health Is Your Greatest Asset' starting at noon, following PAN committee meeting.

Pauline's favourite saying is "your body is like a car."

"If at the beginning we don't know how to maintain it well, until it breaks down one day as part of the aging process, then we panic to repair it. Even if the situation improves, it will also leave irreparable regrets."

So why do people get sick? What is the ideal life style? Explore some of the answers with Pauline, whose credentials include below list:

   

Pauline Cheah, a BSc (Maths) graduate from University Malaya, started her career as a consultant for Statistical Engineering and Process Control Systems in the semiconductor industry in Penang for 15 years, attached to two giant MNCs, AMD and Intel respectively.

The year 2007 marked a turning point of her career from an employee to a freelance trainer-cum-consultant for Quality/Process Improvements courses and project consultation for MNC, SMI and local companies in Northern Region and KL.

Concurrently, Pauline has also established herself as an Independent Business Owner and Consultant to provide global business opportunities to individuals who seek financial independence and time freedom to pursue their dreams in life. Pauline’s Free Enterprise business is affiliated with Britt WorldWide (BWW), which is one of the biggest business education and training company in the USA, to provide a systematic business education and mentorship.

In addition, as Brand Ambassadors of Nutrilite and Artistry, part of her role is to provide consultation and service in wellness and beauty.

In 2011, Pauline had the opportunity to attend a training workshop in China to enhance her knowledge in Traditional Chinese Health Therapy for prevention of most of the chronic diseases.