Yen Kuok was never handed anything on a silver platter. In spite of being the daughter of Malaysia’s richest man, Robert Kuok, she worked her way through trial and error to make a success of her online consignment fashion store in Hong Kong.
In an article by social news network SAYS Malaysia, Yen relates how she had a no-nonsense upbringing and went to school with only a moderate amount of pocket money.
“The way my family brought me up was very strict. In fact, I was not given much pocket money. When I was in school, my friends’ pocket money was usually much more than mine,” she was quoted as telling the media in Hong Kong.
She even talked about how her first piece of branded clothing by Viktor & Rolf was a gift from her brother when she was 17 years old.
Yen explained that her grandmother set these strict rules when advising her son that her granddaughter should not be raised like a “princess” just because she came from a wealthy family.
Even her father’s approach to education was unconventional, because unlike many other parents of today, he never pressured her to bring home a string of As.
“My father kept telling me that going to school is not only about studying and getting good grades, but instead, education is meant to expand one’s horizons,” Says Malaysia reported her as saying.
“My father had never forced me to get an A in my exams, and he said it doesn’t matter if I get a B.”
That approach worked wonders, as Yen excelled academically and was eventually accepted into both Stanford and Harvard (opting for the former in sunny California) before settling down in Hong Kong upon graduation.
Her online consignment store, called ‘Guiltless’, is the first of its kind in Hong Kong to offer luxury goods at “pre-loved” prices, “with a first-class retail experience”, she told Wundrful, an online platform that highlights the people behind their respective brands.
“Besides collecting and curating second-hand luxury goods, the site also offers new items from past collections at up to 80% off their original retail price,” SAYS Malaysia reported.
But even after she had overcome various obstacles to establish her business, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the self-made entrepreneur.
With little in her pocket when she first started out her business, Yen resorted to modelling the clothes herself and cropping off her head before uploading the pictures onto the site.
Soon, profits started trickling in, and she was able to hire real models and pay professional photographers to take better shots of her merchandise.
“Finally, I worked on the packaging to improve the buyer experience. After about five months of trial and error, we finally got it right,” she told Wundrful.
Her father must certainly be proud.
