In celebration of International Women’s Day in March, we’re putting the spotlight on trailblazing women who are leading and forging their own paths in the design industry. Learn more about what a typical day is like for them, their secrets to a fulfilling life, and the advice they have for young women starting out.
This is Part 3 of the series. Don’t forget to catch Parts 1 and 2 published earlier this week!
Anita Sam, Managing Director at Journey East
What’s a typical day like for you?
My day starts with a brisk walk with my two Singapore rescue dogs before I head either to the gym or directly to our showroom at Tan Boon Liat. As is the case for everyone’s work day, there are always emails to manage and clear – but what I look forward to most is the customer engagement. Every day, we get a lot of interesting people walking through our showroom. The retail team at the shop is fantastic so I can basically leave the operations to them, but I am still very much involved in talking to customers and sharing more about our products.
What’s your favourite/most rewarding part of your work?
We started Journey East in 1995 founded in our love for vintage furniture.
We realised at an early stage that we could bring vintage furniture back to life and bring these items to Singapore, to an audience that appreciates original craftsmanship and authenticity.
Anita Sam
The fun part about starting our business was exploring the villages in Central Java to connect with the locals and find our treasures. Thereafter, I enjoy running our retail showroom with great customers who are enthused about what we do.
This same principle is applied to each collection that we curate, every supplier or designer we work with, to help develop our brand. It is very rewarding for me that the same customers who bought from Journey East in 1995 are still revisiting us today, not only to reminisce about the beloved pieces they previously purchased, but to also support our new collections and offerings in 2021.
Can you tell us about the challenges you faced throughout the course of your career, and how you overcame them?
We were very comfortably ensconced in Dempsey Hill, our first home, but we had to make a decision to leave the enclave to move to our current location at Tan Boon Liat. We came to realize that the strength of our homegrown brand was very important to get our customers to follow us to the new ‘industrial’ showroom, that was in stark contrast to the green landscape of Dempsey.
I was very heartened to see that our unique product offerings and the strength of our brand, customer relations and shopping experience pulled us through.
Anita Sam
We’ve now been in Tan Boon Liat for 12 years, and we’ve doubled our showroom size and brought in numerous new brands and collections to continuously deliver refreshed retail offerings to new and existing customers of Journey East.
What’s your secret to living a fulfilling life?
The secret is simple: Lots of laughter and surrounding yourself with good people.
What advice would you give to young women aspiring to a similar career path?
Follow your dream and appreciate every individual along the way who enables your journey.
Ensure that every relationship you enter is fair and mutually beneficial.
Anita Sam
Who are some female leaders in Singapore’s design and retail space that you admire, and why?
It is so hard to name them, as there have been so many trail blazers before me.
What has impressed me is that Singapore has created an enabling environment for females to be independent career and family women who can concurrently pursue their visions and dreams.
Anita Sam
Pamela Ting, Director at Scene Shang
What’s a typical day like for you?
I am an early starter so typically I start my day with a short yoga session, some gardening, breakfast and maybe cycle to work if the weather permits. We communicate a lot with our team so there are a lot of internal meetings or discussions throughout the day. We also eat together with the team everyday just to have conversations that are not work related to get to know them better.
What’s your favourite/most rewarding part of your work?
I enjoy seeing the team grow individually. At SCENE SHANG, we believe that a lot of the culture and how we portray ourselves as a company and brand starts from the individuals that work with us. So our focus is also in guiding and grooming them to their full potential.
Can you tell us about the challenges you faced throughout the course of your career, and how you overcame them?
I think finding the right people to make the team is extremely challenging. We’ve had hits and misses and have hence learnt from those lessons. Since then, we’ve been blessed with talented, hardworking individuals who are slowly building the culture of the company and working towards a shared goal of creating a differentiated shopping experience for our customers.
I believe in being aware of what’s out there and constantly relevant, but I also strongly believe in blocking out white noise and focusing on where we want to go. That has helped us to move slow but steadily.
Pamela Ting
The past year when COVID-19 hit was also challenging for us because a lot of our makers are overseas and to have the supply chain blocked out posed a lot of issues. Thankfully, having our makers from different parts of the world allowed us to manage timelines to get some of our pieces in. We also communicated to our customers on our predicaments and they were all very understanding.
The pandemic also led us to direct a lot more resources towards digital marketing, especially when the Circuit Breaker forced our physical stores to close. It was an opportunity for us to focus our efforts on using SCENE SHANG’s online store and social media to sustain the brand, by creating content such as styling tips and videos for our customers to shop online and experience our designs digitally.
What’s your secret to living a fulfilling life?
We can find fulfilment in a quiet afternoon at home; a book, music and tea is all you need.
Sometimes the greatest joy can be derived from the smallest things.
Pamela Ting
What advice would you give to young women aspiring to a similar career path?
Women tend to be emotional creatures and that is our strength when we use it wisely and at the correct moments.
Who are some female leaders in Singapore’s design and retail space that you admire, and why?
Winnie Chan from Bynd Artisan. I admire the fact that she revolutionised the legacy of her family business in a sunset trade and started her business from scratch to cater to the audience today. She has also built a team of hardworking and talented individuals, giving them ownership of the brand.