For our Ladies Who Lead series, the founders of tech and lifestyle brands that disrupted their respective industries share their journeys from startup to success and the challenges they overcame. Here, Sarah Fung, founder of Hong Kong-based, pre-loved fashion business Hula, discusses the importance of managing stress, going with your gut and the loneliness of being a sole founder
What’s something Hula has achieved that you’re especially proud of?
Since starting this in a small office seven years ago, we now have a couple of stores and a ‘proper’ company and we successfully brought pre-owned fashion into Hong Kong to become the most popular pre-owned fashion brand here—it makes me feel so proud! The first years weren’t easy and business was very slow, but we are now seeing the business model grow and become more widely accepted. It’s really satisfying that we have also converted many women to shopping pre-owned, especially since we launched the Central boutique in Hong Kong.
What are some key learnings in your journey as a founder?
There are so many learnings. From every stage of the business, each year there is something else that challenges me. Early on, it was about learning how to get stuff done and off the ground. A few years back, during extremely unstable economic times, it was simply about survival and staying alive. And right now, I am learning how to be a good leader and how to create a happy yet productive workspace. During all these years there are two things that have helped: having a positive mindset, and not getting too stressed over things. This is so important as the business takes its many unpredictable twists and turns.
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Were there any specific challenges you faced as a woman or specifically a woman of colour along the way?
I never think I cannot do something because I am a woman or because of my race, especially as I have been working in fashion all my working life. However, I realise that being a female founder may put me at a disadvantage when it comes to raising funds in the future. Consider the latest annual report from the Female Founders Forum, which reveals that just 3.5 percent of equity investment went to female-led businesses, while 85 percent went to male-led firms. It’s even crazier when you read that companies with a female founder performed 63 percent better than those without a woman at the helm (A study by First Round Capital found, She Angel Investors).
In hindsight, what is something you wish you knew that could have helped you?
It would have been amazing to set up this business with a technology founder and create a tech business that serviced fashion and not a fashion business that has some tech. This would have enabled faster growth and scale, more streamlined operations and better efficiencies, and possibly lower costs.
What was the best advice you were given and when have you applied it?
When I was talking to my advisor about something that was troubling me as I was at a crossroads, she simply asked me what my gut was saying and I remembered how powerful that was. Being a business owner, especially as a woman, I have tried at times to think more with my head versus my gut, as this is what I presumed produced better decisions. In fact the ‘feeling’ side of you can be much more powerful, and as I grow the business I realise more and more that having a high EQ can be so useful.
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