TALES OF TRANSFORMATION

AS BUSINESSES CONTINUE TO NEGOTIATE THE CHALLENGES OF LOCKDOWN, PRESTIGE TALKS TO FOUR RESOURCEFUL AND OPTIMISTIC ENTREPRENEURS WHO ARE MAKING THE MOST OF IT

As businesses continue to negotiate the pandemic, Prestige talks to four resourceful and optimistic entrepreneurs who are making the most of it

CASS CE REY AT IV GED AIR EN CT OR, CASSEY GAN

Cassey Gan began her eponymous label in 2013 with a vision to encourage everyday women to have a little fun through fashion. A Chemical Engineering graduate, the KL-based clothier does know what it means to take a leap of faith and follow your true passion. Today, the Cassey Gan label is a reliable source of stunning, ready-to-wear women’s apparel that seamlessly blends comfort and luxury. Best known for flowing silhouettes, vibrant prints, and playful textures, Cassey Gan continues to push the boundaries of style with timeless yet trendy attire.

Although Cassey Gan predominantly caters to customers through an e-commerce platform, the pandemic has not spared the label from its share of trials. According to Cassey, the biggest challenge the nationwide lockdown posed was a lack of access to industrial sewing machines to fulfil orders according to pre-planned timelines.

“As we are a studio-based design house, which means we design and produce all our products under one roof. It is extremely disruptive to our production schedule when we can’t work in our studio,” Cassey explains. Just one week before the lockdown following MCO 3.0, the designer and her team had already begun creating the brand’s latest collection.

“Our process of designing requires a lot of discussions as well as trial-and-error processes exploring different materials, machines and more. Due to the lockdown, we are unable to proceed as productively as usual. As a result, our collection launch date must delay to a much later time,” she admits. The young designer accepts that the wait for the pandemic to come under control is uncertain but maintains a hopeful and patient outlook.

“Since we cannot change the reality of the current situation, we have to change our attitude towards it.” Thankful for a tightknit team that shares a cheerful disposition, Cassey relays that the label is weathering disruption and isolation by maintaining close contact through new media.

“We try to stay in touch as much as we can and share lighthearted news, jokes and anecdotes via social media just to keep the mood merry,” Cassey explains. While working from home, the team relies on Zoom to keep tabs on progress and exchange feedback.

Navigating the reality of being unable to focus on production, Cassey has found ways to get creative. “I have taken this opportunity to think about what other products we can produce that do not physically require us to make them ourselves. As a result, we have embarked on a few collaborations with other brands to work on different products beyond fashion,” she remarks.

Last year Cassey Gan collaborated with Oh Cha Matcha to enhance a series of Festive Matcha Gift Sets by Malaysia’s first matcha boutique. The gift sets featured a limited-edition designer jute bag, Christmas card and labels that sparkled with Cassey Gan’s colourful prints. The design-house has also collaborated with Kews Patisserie, incorporating quirky tableware pieces from the CG Home Collection into a Raya gift box packed with festive treats.

“This journey has been extremely fulfilling because I get to meet different people from different creative fields and gain great insights into how they run their business. I have also learned to rely more on technology and social media to market my products online more effectively,” Cassey points out.

Despite the hurdles of the pandemic, Cassey has succeeded in attracting recognition in the past year. In honour of the 30th anniversary of the Asics Gel-Lyte III shoe, the designer was one of eight Malaysians out of 30 Southeast Asian artists invited to create an iteration of the Gel-Lyte III on a blank sneaker. Her meaningful concept dubbed “Rain or Shine” infers that “come rain or shine, life goes on, and everyone should make the most out of it with optimism.”

Hopeful for a bright future, the Prestige’s 40 Under 40 alumna looks forward to a time when she can return to the core of her brand by producing inspired collections. She also dreams of continuing to expand her label’s reach into areas beyond fashion. “I wish to see our home & lifestyle products flourish. Moreover, I would also like to continue to seek out more collaboration opportunities moving forward!”

Mark Choo founded Tribe Boxing Studio in 2018, with the vision that boxing should be for everyone. The community-based boutique gym offers a haven for all to experience an exhilarating guided workout regime, enhanced by reverberating beats from a surround-sound music system. The “Rave Cave” is a space for newcomers and fitness enthusiasts alike to unlock their full boxing potential amid an energetic nightclub atmosphere.

Since its launch, the studio experienced steady growth until the first national Movement Control Order, which Mark describes as a dark and confusing chapter. He witnessed Tribe’s record sales and bookings nosedive to the point of having almost no revenue. Unwilling to go down without a fight, the trainer and his team chose to tackle the crisis head-on, remaining transparent and flexible to new concepts and approaches.

“One of the first things we did was communicate with our customers,” Mark explains. Class bookings throughout March 2020 were cancelled, with customer credit returned or frozen for the duration of the MCO. “We made it a habit to continuously communicate with our team and customers whenever our business had to cease operations. That has massively contributed to building long-term customer loyalty and goodwill,” the young trainer asserts.

“Next, we knew we had to manage our cash flow wisely and extend it as long as possible,” Mark recalls. The strategy entailed negotiating with multiple stakeholders, including landlords, pausing all subscription payments, and requesting longer credit terms from suppliers. “Most of them were understanding as many were in the same position as us. But ensuring you have adequate funds saved for a rainy day was never more applicable than during the first MCO,” the young entrepreneur observes.

With Tribe’s primary revenue stream affected by the indefinite postponements, Mark realised the company needed to pivot to survive. “We started with free Instagram-based classes that garnered over 1,000 views per session. Once we saw the metrics, we knew we were onto something,” he says. In a short time, Tribe began to offer a new class package conducted over Zoom while designing and manufacturing Tribebranded equipment like standing bags to sell or rent to customers.

“Through the quick implementation of these initiatives, we are now in a good position to survive this FMCO. More than a year since the start of the pandemic, our rental and sales of home workout equipment make up close to half of our revenue during lockdown periods,” Mark enthuses. He admits he could not have envisioned these transformative steps for the business before 2020.

Asked to describe his experience working from home, Mark characterises it as a love-hate relationship. Without the demands of running a busy studio, attending meetings, assisting customers, and observing classes, the ambitious entrepreneur finds more time to nurture neglected projects. Although Mark appreciates the time saved on daily commutes, he also admits working in isolation comes at a price.

“I do find myself getting distracted more frequently, and it takes a while to get back into work mode. Also, there is a greater tendency for miscommunication when it is solely through texts. So, we try to engage with the team and stakeholders through virtual calls to better connect and express expectations from time to time.”

The young entrepreneur commits to allocating time for personal fitness through workout sessions before or after work, reaping the benefits of an endorphin surge to improve moods, reduce stress and aid concentration. “What has made a big difference for me is finding a spot somewhere in the house that is quiet, has a decent amount of sunlight and sticking to a consistent work routine. Nowadays, I look forward to starting the day!”

Mark also shares that he finds the motivation to weather challenges by gearing focus on the purpose of Tribe’s mission. “We want to impact lives through fitness positively. We will continue to do that through our online workouts and the home equipment we can now provide to our members.”

The passionate trainer looks forward to a return to normality by making up for the last two years. “On the business side for Tribe, hopefully, we can continue our plans of international expansion into other emerging markets. We were in talks with a few potential partners before the pandemic hit,” the Prestige’s 40 Under 40 alumnus reveals.

Mark also hopes to drive his company to embrace more technological innovations to increase resistance against the possibility of another “black swan event” in the future. Overall, Mark believes there is no better teacher than experience, and challenges of the global pandemic provided opportunities to learn and grow. “A favourite saying of mine is ‘tough times don’t last, tough people do’, and this has been especially true in the last year.”