5 JOURNALS ABOUT WOMAN ENTREPRENEUR

Journal 1

Journal 2

Journal 3

Journal 4

Journal 5

SUCCESS STORY VIDEO : CHRISTY NG

FedEx Customer Success Story: Christy Ng

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkTAT30D2mU

SUCCESS STORY OF MAC CHUNG LYNN; CEO NANDO'S MALAYSIA

 Born in the year 1978 in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, Mac Chung Lynn is currently the CEO of Nando’s Malaysia. She had her primary and secondary education in Methodist Primary School, the Garden School, and a boarding school in England. Afterward, she moved to London to study architecture at the University of Wales, in Cardiff. While studying at Wales, she was a customer of the Nando’s eatery; a South African food chain, she loved their menu and was always there to eat. On one occasion her father visited and they went to the Nando’s for their lunch. Having tasted their meal, he loved the hot peri-peri sauce and requested to speak with the manager. A few months later Mac got a call from her dad with a proposal to run the Nando’s branch in her home country Malaysia. It sounded strange, she was an architect who just got certified with only a two-year work experience in her field of study. Food business was not the family business line, her father was into constructions and he owned a construction company called Muhibbah Engineering (M) Bhd. Mac wondered what she would do with a food company, but after thinking about it, she decided to take the offer. At the time in Malaysia, women were not given room for top executive positions coupled with the fact that 

 Mac was 24 years old but she had her mind made up to strive and survive in the business. She packed her stuff and headed home in 1998 to Malaysia in order to open her country’s version of Nando’s restaurant in Bangsar. Back in Malaysia, the people loved it, consumers trooped in and out of Nando’s with the desire to eat a good meal. Asides every food they sold, their customers were totally in love with their well-spiced grilled chicken which was not gotten from anywhere else but Nando’s.

The joy of meeting people’s need by making them satisfied and having to add value in the society, filled Mac’s heart that she forgot about architecture and dwelled completely on the food business.

As the consumer demand increase with good testimonies about how they felt with the existence of the eatery, improvements were made in style and routine to meet customer needs. At some point, the eatery changed from being a quick, self-service restaurant to a casual dining outlet that offers full table service.

 Currently, Nando’s Malaysia has become a household name, best amongst others in the country. After gaining grounds in Malaysia with about 69 outlets scattered across the country, they moved to Singapore to start up Nando’s over there.

Becoming an entrepreneur has groomed her to stand in the face of any challenges and tackle it until there is a solution.

Mac is a happily married woman and a mother of three children, she and her family are based in Malaysia.

SUCCESS STORY OF CHRISTY NG

Our Story

How it all came to life

Shoe heaven’s bitter sweet journey began in the living room of Christy’s mother house in Taman Bukit Emas, Petaling Jaya.  Due to the lack of funds, bootstrapping was the only feasible way the business could kick off the ground.

It all started when Christina Ng, then working for a Swiss Pharmaceutical company decided to put her childhood dream to life and make some side income. Christy Ng is a pseudonym used in the initial stage during brand conceptualization as a symbol of reinvention in hopes of great things to come. After loading a few unique shoe designs on Facebook, the news went viral and the Christy Ng Shoes fan page gained thousands of fans within the first month.

Encouraged by the response, a simple blog using free wordpress shopping cart plugins was created.

Christy used her savings from her part time jobs as a waitress and her winnings from Nescafe Kickstart Season 5 as capital to create more new designs to put up for sale.

As sales picked up in early-2011, a full-fledged e-commerce store was required to cater to the increasing demands and orders which were pouring in.

Growing Up & Education

Growing up was tough. Due to financial constraints, Christy was constantly working part time to support her expenses. Some of the jobs included selling flowers at a nearby LRT station when she was 12, selling ice-cream when she was 15, and working as a waitress at different F& B joints from the age of 16 – 23 years. She would often be sleeping thru most of her classes in school due to exhaustion from working at night.

When Christy was 15, she wanted to join the design team in her school's editorial board but was rejected by her school teacher who thought she wasn't good enough to handle the job.

While in University, Christy continued working as a waitress to help fund her expenses through her degree in Biotechnology and Life Science until she finally graduated in 2010. Christy Ng has never studied fashion design prior to starting the business.

Most of the savings accumulated from these part time jobs together with her winnings from Nescafe Kickstart Season 5 were put into good use when shoe heaven first kicked off.

  
Exposure to social media

Christy's first exposure to social media was during the days or internet chat relay (mIRC). At that time, there were chat room channels where people of the common interest could connect and talk.

It was obvious that the internet was a great way to share and gain the support of the people who shared the same believes.


A store which runs 24 hours, 7 days a week

Christy thought that it would be a convenient way for consumers to shop for shoes at the luxury of their own home -with just a click of the mouse!  Mainstream brands were not readily available in the rural areas of Malaysia and e-commerce would be the most effective and feasible way for woman to shop for shoes.

The idea of having one single store where people from any part of this globe can shop at 24 hours a day and 365 days in a year was sexy. Being able to sell products we believed in and sharing our passion with the rest of mankind was mind blowing.  The world just suddenly becomes your oyster and possibilities started to seem limitless.

Relocating Shoe Heaven

To provide a better shopping environment for customers and a more conducive environment for all Christy Ng team members, Christy decided to relocate Shoe Heaven to Damansara Uptown, Petaling Jaya. The Shoe House was becoming cramp and team members will be soaking in their own pool of sweat all afternoon trying to get things in order.

One Fine Sun Shiny Day

This was momentous event of our signboard installation. From left to right: Crystal Ng, Operations, Christy and Sabrina Lai, Finance.

Both Sabrina & Crystal would spend their nights sleeping inside the office during the early days on relocation. We were working on a shoe string budget trying to set up the storage facilities, POS facilities, computer systems and everything from mending the furniture to throwing away old shoe boxes.

The team played an exceptional role and contributed heavily in bringing the office to life today.

“The office storeroom is a great place to sleep. I can sleep very peacefully.” – Sabrina Lai

Shoe Heaven’s mini Show Room

Brand’s Philosophy

Shoe Heaven is all about turning our childhood dreams to life.

Every girl wants a closet filled with fabulous shoes. With that in mind, it is Christy Ng’s goal to recreate every girl’s shoe fantasies and turning them into reality by manufacturing unique, exceptional quality footwear at a decent price tag.
“With the right pair of heels, she can conquer the world.”

Welcome to Shoe Heaven, we hope we make a dent in your Universe!

HERE'S THE LINK : https://www.christyng.com/

WOMAN ENTREPRENEURS

Christy Ng

Here is a true rags-to-riches story. To make extra money during her school days, Christy Ng sold flowers at a local metro station. It was this entrepreneurial spirit that saw her start selling shoes at the tender age of 18 at flea markets in Petaling Jaya. She procured these shoes from a source in Thailand and made a small profit off each one.

In 2012, after two years of working for a Swiss pharmaceutical company, Christy started Christyng.com, an online shoe company that specialises in customising women's footwear. And the rest, as they say, is history. The company is profitable and has 12 staff members.