WHO WE ARE & WHY WE STARTED

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Hi there, I’m Emily and I recently graduated from USC with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. Straight up, I have to honestly say that it wasn’t easy for me to start this site. As long as I can remember, my parents have always urged me to take up Finance. They encouraged me to apply to business schools and work several internships in banks and accounting firms. Even though I learnt a lot and had great experiences then, fashion continues to be my main interest.

However, I had a hard time deciding if I should really turn my interest into a full-time career. I had countless questions on my mind: “Can I really start my own business?” “Am I good enough?” “Is it worth the risk?” and “What would the others say?” Those questions made me doubt myself and I started to think that maybe pursuing the fashion industry is not a good idea after all. I was scared. Scared of being a disappointment to my family and terrified of the possibility of failing. I thought perhaps I should just follow what the others expect of me to do and stay within the comfort zone. I accepted this early on and grew content with it.

It wasn’t until my grandfather, who I held very dear in my heart, got sick and passed away that I had a turning point. This is quite personal for me to share and I had repeatedly pressed on the ‘delete’ and undo button on this paragraph. But, my grandfather was a special man in every way and he was a self-made businessman by heart. I used to sit by his side at night before bed and ask him to story tell his success story– how he managed to start from the bottom and manage to the top on his very own. And, as he relived his journey, I could tell that he loved what he did by how excited and proud he got when talking about it. He did what he really wants to do and steered clear of the otherwise.

I realized that at the end of the day, I cannot regret the things that I’ve done but I can regret those that I’ve not done. It was difficult to break free from others’ expectation, but I haven’t regretted this decision for a minute. We tend to make our own prisons with rules that we create for ourselves, locking us into specific roles and out of the endless possibilities. While it is easy to stay on the prescribed path, I learned that it’s often more interesting to discover the world of surprises lurking just around the corner.

With that realization and courage, I partnered up with my best friend and combined effort into bringing our passion to life. After all the 3AM meetings and 17-hour workdays, we are so proud to launch this site for business ! We hope you’ll have a great shopping experience here and please know, we’re always here to listen.

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Emily

Hello !

I guess… it’s because I am raised to think of life as like a series of questions and choices. What we decide to do, we have to be accountable for. Everyone go through each phase in life with questions like: “Should I do this?”, “Is that really true?”. It is within the nature of our humanity to question everything that we see because we just find the need to. And all the answers we find usually show what we fight for, what we believe in, and who we are as individuals.

So…I think at 23, I feel like I owe myself answers to what I want and what I should do to pursue what I’m passionate about. And guess what, starting my own business venture has always been in the back of my mind. It is probably the way I was brought up. I always like to think that my parents raised me differently from the other kids in school. When I turned 15, my after-school activities does not include things like hanging out at the mall or the theaters, but it is to help out at my family’s restaurant. From book-keeping to restocking–I was raised in a way where I had to “work for everything” (my mom’s voice echoes in my head). So, I think my family values became a huge part of shaping my world view and myself as an individual.

At this day and age, with the emergence of faster and better technology, future generations is slowly becoming extremely capable of getting things done quick and in so many ways you can imagine. I may be wrong, but this “instant culture” has poisoned humanity’s capacity to innovate and understand a process. It is the obsession with youth and how people always want things done NOW AND FAST. For example, you often hear your little brother on his gaming console exclaiming, “I want to get on level 99 fast!”. Or your fellow graduating mates be like “I wanna get from 0 to 100 real quick!”. Most of us fail to recognize the process, the struggle and the pain which is inevitable for every successful person. It took Leonardo Da Vinci four decades to perfect his craft and to get recognized. Marie Curie got kicked out of her house while researching on radioactivity. I can go on and on. People do not get successful in only a decade or two. It is within the struggle where we truly find salvation.

Emily and I chose the struggle of learning every aspect of our venture from scratch. We cried, we fought, we laughed and we learned so much from this project. After knowing someone for so long, you always find the need to encourage each other to become better individuals. So I encourage all of you out there to stop wondering whether you are “ready” to do something. If you keep pondering on that idea, you will never be ready. Act upon it, trust your struggle, and be really patient. It will not be a walk in a park, it will be a bloodsport.Your failures do not reflect your future endeavours. Life is about choices and do not mock the pain you have not endured.

With that said, welcome to Love + Flair! We hope you love what you see and if you have questions or suggestions do not hesitate to express your concerns!

We all love you here at Love + Flair <3

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Dewi