N sustainability and impeccable design
lockdown and during the peak retail months for any swimwear brand. It was a massive setback.
Additionally, my business partner was moving back to the US. While her move was always part of the plan, as soon as we reopened the reality of our very shaky finances, navigating it all alone and moving into a new studio simply crushed me.
But all along, very, very slowly I dug Loop out of its hole, and we survived it. I also launched my second baby — The Nectar Foundry late last year and this year in November I had an exhibition of all my art and design — for Loop and TNF. Both brands have a long way to go in terms of really thriving as the economy this year has been a huge setback for retail brands everywhere, but I am proud to have survived all of that and come out the other side. A bit battered and bruised, but stronger than ever.
Q: What are you working on?
I am currently working on a multi-brand WeChat online shop that will bring together Loop, TNF and hopefully other sustainable lifestyle brands all under a single online destination. I hope to be able to launch this (with a lot of help from my developers) in early 2024. This is of course in addition to all new design and product development going on behind the scenes. Stay tuned for bold new offerings from both brands!
Q: Who is a female-role model who inspires you?
They are fictional, but I love Roz Doyle from the TV show “Frasier” and Joan Watson from “Elementary.”
Roz is an independent single mom and really reaches for her dreams during the show — her career trajectory takes her from a radio producer to a network head! She is funny, charming, easy going and laid back in ways I am not, and I learned how to be more personable, not to sweat the small stuff, live with more ease and less judgement of myself and to always look at the big picture from her.
Joan Watson played by one of favorites, Lucy Liu, is a modern day take on Sherlock Holmes where John Watson is recast as a woman, and rightfully so! I mean come on! To be able to stand working with and be good friends with someone like Sherlock, it has to be a woman! Joan is a brilliant, unflappable, patient, resilient and an extremely stylish modern-day woman who breaks from being a doctor to find joy in investigating. Her ability to always respond and not react to situations is something I admire the most.
Q: Do you have any advice for women entrepreneurs?
It will take longer than you think, it will be way harder than you think, and it will be very, very lonely, even if you have a partner — in business and/or in life. Only you will know your journey and not everyone will be interested in it either. You will bore friends and loved ones, so find a coach, find mentors, and find collaborators — FIND YOUR TRIBE.
Learn to eat your pride and ask for help. Learn to not hold grudges. I share my studio with the lovely Fernanda Sung and when we have arguments, we remind ourselves that at the base of it, with care and a lot of trust, we have built a friendship which will carry us through.
Stay humble. The good times won’t last, and the bad times probably will, so be extremely grateful for everything — a beautiful day, a coffee in the sun, a walk in the park, be grateful for it all.
And finally, PAY IT FORWARD. Reach out, laugh and cry with your fellow entrepreneurs, and recommend them. It won’t take away from your bottom-line, in fact, the goodwill will add to it in ways you never thought possible.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Authorities in Shanghai have been beefing up efforts to expand institutional opening-up with regard to rules, regulations, management, and standards, in an active response to answer the nation’s call to attract more foreign investment, which connects the domestic and international markets and resources, and serves as a crucial indicator of the country’s overall level of opening-up. In the first 10 months of 2023, the paid-in value of foreign direct investment in Shanghai gained 1 percent year on year to US$20.77 billion while a total of 4,908 foreign-invested firms were added, an increase of 37.7 percent from the same period a year earlier. To offer readers a peek into how the local government has been flexing its muscles to consolidate its role as a preferred destination for investors from around the globe, particularly against the backdrop of the volatile international situation and fragile world economic recovery, Shanghai Daily will publish a series of in-depth articles to check with companies in various industries to see how they’ve felt about or benefited from these government initiatives, as well as to share their vision on future growth prospects amid the continuously enhanced environment for business players.
Spot of land in the sea
Milky gem Chocolate — cake
13 Nowhere in
particular?
16 Villainous
17 Didn’t get eliminated Audio brand Glide down a snowy hill
20 Wine cave
container
21 Canal blocker? 23 Affirmative with roots in ball culture
25 Reason for overtime However briefly?
27 Versatile device for a catowning lecturer 33 Optimally
36 Solidify, as
mousse
37 “By —!”
(“Golly!”)