IT IS EEVIDENT FROM THE JOYJ TTHAT SHE RADIATESRAD AS SHE TALKS ABOUTAB HER DAUGHTERDA THAT CHRYSEISCH TAN LOVES BEING A MOTHER.
“She is so independent,” she says with a laugh, before elaborating on why she describes the one-and-a-half-year-old as such. Little Arianna Kyla, she explains, is so accustomed to seeing mummy and daddy (Chryseis’ husband of four years, SM Faliq SM Nasimuddin) leave for work daily that the toddler will simply coolly bid them goodbye when they leave the house – no teary farewells for this independent girl.
Taking care of a child while running her various business ventures is no easy feat without help from others, be it from a family member or a hired staff, Chryseis admits. “Honestly, help is so important, I’m not going to discredit that,” she says, at the same time expressing
her admiration not just for working mothers who multitask but also mothers who choose to focus on being stay-at-home mums.
“There’s no right or wrong, it really depends on the individual. Being a mum is also a full-time job and please don’t discredit that, it is not easy taking care of a child. If you are able to multitask, if you can do it, go for it,” she encourages women who are deliberating starting a family while also building a successful business. “No two persons are the same. Some people might find that it’s okay to multitask, some just want to spend time with their kids at home and be a full-time mum.”
Her advice to these budding entrepreneurs? “We all have to start somewhere. You’re going to need to get out of your comfort zone to try something new. It doesn’t matter where you are on the ladder, you just have to start somewhere. Get out of your comfort zone and just accept the challenge out there.”
It would do well to heed Chryseis’ advice on entrepreneurism. Born into a business-oriented family, she has proven time and time again that she has the chops to build a business or two from the ground up. When not working on the upcoming Four Seasons in Okinawa, one of the projects in Japan that Berjaya Corp Berhad – the Malaysia-based conglomerate founded by her father Tan Sri Vincent Tan – has in the pipeline, she can be found giving her all to her F&B and beauty ventures. As the head and founder of the Curate Group, she is looking at adding four more outlets to the company’s repertoire, which currently comprises seven restaurants including Sushi Den, Park Grill and Bar Shake.
She also has plans to grow the offerings of LUMI Beauty, the beauty brand she launched in September 2020, alongside expanding the brand’s presence in Southeast Asia and other parts of Asia. “I think we will try to do physical stores,” she mulls, as the brand is only available online at the moment. “We’ll start with Malaysia first. We’ll do it step by step.”
“We’re working on launching more products,” she shares. “It’s a bit slow because there is so much back and forth. I take time to choose each one because I need to make sure that it’s effective as a product and cost-effective. It’s not as easy as going ‘I want this product, please make the same one for me.’ It takes a bit of time but we hope to speed things up and launch a few more products by this year.” Calling these her passion-projects-turned-businesses, she stresses that it is important for one to feel passionate about his or her business venture or it will fail to take off. She admits that she herself wouldn’t have continued if she didn’t like and weren’t happy with any of her own businesses.
Talking about the challenges one would face in getting a business off t he ground, she advises, “In every business there are challenges. There are times you will think ‘Why did I do this? What have I gotten myself i nto?’ But there is a solution to every problem. What you need to do is identify it. Just take your time and enjoy the process. That’s most i mportant. If you keep rushing everything, trying to make it perfect, sometimes it just doesn’t work. Just enjoy the process, it will work out.”
For Chryseis, who is turning 34 this coming October, her entrepreneurial j ourney began during her teen years. She recalls being assigned to the science stream class after scoring straight A’s in her PMR (the now-abolished Malaysian public examination for lower secondary students) but she rejected this to pursue commerce. “Since then, I kind of knew that I was more interested in the business sector rather than being a doctor or anything related to science. When I tried it out, I thought, ‘This is probably what I like to do and this is my forte.’ Sometimes it’s just a matter of trying different things to find what suits you.”
There’s no denying that entrepreneurship is i n her blood. She names her business tycoon father as one of her biggest inspirations. “All my father talks about at dinner is business,” she shares with a smile. “He always tells us to be persistent. Even if you think your business is failing, don’t give up. He had so many businesses that were losing money for years but he managed to break even and after that, they did well. He always tells us that we just have to persevere and try to make the best out of the situation.”
It’s not just his business knowledge that she admires, it’s also his philanthropy. “He helps people who are i n need, he does a l ot of charity. He’s not just an i dol for people who want to do business. People see him as an idol because he’s so charitable and he helps so many people,” she explains, stating that it was initially bemusing to her when her friends called her father their “idol” but as she grew older, she began to see him through their eyes.
Her mother, Puan Sri Esther Tan, is someone she similarly looks up to. “Without her, I wouldn’t be who I am today. She always encourages me. She tells me to just go with what I feel. That’s what I would like to teach my daughter, too. Go with what she feels and just take up any challenges that come to her. Don’t be afraid. Never fear failing because failing is always the first step to success.”
Does this mean Chryseis is grooming Arianna to be an
“IN EVERY BUSINESS THERE ARE CHALLENGES, BUT THERE IS A SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM. WHAT YOU NEED TO DO IS IDENTIFY IT. JUST TAKE YOUR TIME AND ENJOY THE PROCESS.”