The Female Focus: Hui Wang

Meet

Hui Wang, founder of Zebee

We had the pleasure of connecting at our workshop with Mac&Moore and Startups Magazine last year and this woman is on a mission to get people connected. Zebee is a community platform for people in their 20’s and 30’s who seek awesome experiences and friendships. Find out how Hui is making it happen.

Did you have a female role model or someone you admired as a kid?

No, not really. That’s probably why I didn’t really want to have a business for a long time. I wanted a normal life, nothing too crazy. I quit my job and went travelling and realised how difficult it is to meet people and travel with. I wanted to solve that problem, more than I was drawn to the concept of building a business. 

How do you think your early years have influenced what you do today?

It’s based on a bit of everything. I hated business from an early age - mainly because my dad was (and is) a businessman and was away a lot. My parents divorced and my mum then set up a business and then I recently found out that my great grandparents had done the same. It clearly runs in the family. As much as I disliked the concept of business as a child, I’ve come to realise that these were all positive influences on me down the line. I took a leap of faith to set up a business. I waited until something triggered me to take that jump. 

Before Zebee you honed your career in product development at brands such as John Lewis, Net A Porter and Rightmove. What skills have you been able to take with you into your venture? 

My soft skills have been invaluable and actually more so than my tech skills. I started gaining these skills at university when I was social secretary of the maths society running loads of events. Having worked in tech for several years I’ve learnt the importance of good practice and process and constantly communicating with people have all served me well in getting Zebee off the ground. 

Is there anything that has surprised you in building Zebee? 

Everything! It definitely hasn’t gone the way I thought it would. For example, the product and business model have changed a lot. The only thing that hasn’t wavered is the vision.

Zebee is a London based community platform for people in their 20’s and 30’s. What’s your ambition for the brand as it starts to take off?

I want to turn Zebee into a global community of people who want to do fun things with each other. Building an online platform is not my main goal - I want to do the reverse and bring people offline. There are so many apps these days and people aren’t connecting. They are lonely, they can’t trust people or companies and they don’t know who to do with their time. I want the platform to bring genuine value to society. 

Do you think we’re facing an epidemic of loneliness?

100%. People don’t talk about it enough. Loneliness doesn’t necessarily mean being alone but being in a state where you don’t feel supported and don’t have anyone to talk to. We want to help champion these people and make sure they’re doing things they want to do, not having to go along with what others want to do when slotting fun and leisure into their lives. I also aim to champion good causes and make people feel good in the process. 

What have been the essential factors that have enabled you to get to where you are today that you think you'd struggle without?

I had some savings to bootstrap the company and I wouldn’t have been able to get to where I am without that buffer. Having good people around me has been essential. I struggle to find female founders to talk to, which is essential as being a female founder can be lonely.

What do you think is missing from businesses in building true diversity?

I think there are two things. Awareness; you don’t know what you don’t know. Your parents would have done things a certain way, exposing you to a collection of people and places. You don’t think about it but being in certain circles means that you may have a lack of awareness of different cultures and ways of living. And then there’s resources. It can be difficult to find good female developers and those from ethnic backgrounds that can do the job you want them to do.

Who's a woman to watch or someone you admire in 2020?

Kerstin Robinson, co founder of Nix and Kix, has been really inspirational to me personally. I saw a talk with her when I was really in need of some advice from a female founder. I took her for coffee and she kindly took the time to talk to me and offered me great advice. There is a huge lack of support for women and Kerstin has taught me the importance of giving back as much as taking help when I need it.

Keep updated on Zebee’s events and movements on Facebook and Instagram.

THE FEMALE FOCUS SERIES: LAURA JACKSON, CO-FOUNDER, POPCORN SHED

Popcorn. It doesn't get better as a tasty treat. The little crunchy puffs of air have been experiencing a golden age of popularity due to the wide diversification in flavours and popping methods. We were delighted when Laura Jackson, co-founder of Popcorn Shed, agreed to be interviewed as we're big fans. Popcorn Shed are bringing the gourmet popcorn to the foodie palate with panache and some moreish varieties. She talks about what drove her to set up the business with her cousin Sam....

1. What drove you to create Popcorn Shed?

My cousin Sam and I discovered gourmet popcorn during a trip to the US, and on returning to the UK we realised that great tasting and high-quality popcorn was not easy to source and spotted a gap in the mainstream market. We had always flirted with the idea of running our own family food business together, and in a moment of madness around our 30th birthdays, we had a “now or never” moment.

2. What's the biggest lesson you've learnt from starting up Popcorn Shed? 

That creating a brand and business is not a static thing. You don’t just launch and that’s it. You need to be nimble and constantly reacting to feedback and adjusting to improve.

3. What's the one piece of business advice you wish you'd been given when you started? 

Talk to everyone and share your idea. Feedback and advice is invaluable. There is a tendency for people to feel like they don’t want to share their business idea for fear that someone may steal it. However, unless your idea is so revolutionary and the barrier to entry is very low, it is very unlikely to happen! Be bold and just do it! What’s the worst that can happen? I always say it’s ok to try and fail but it’s not ok to not try.

4. Was there ever a point when you wanted to give up? 

I’ve definitely had my moments! But running your own business has high highs and low lows so you learn to become resilient. I don’t think giving up is really in my blood. 

5. As cousins, does this bring up complications in your business relationship when it comes to making decisions? 

We’re very close, more like brother and sister so although we do fight, it’s never personal. It’s always for the good of the business. I think running your own business has enough stresses so having a business partner who you can fully trust and rely on is a must. We have complimentary skills but the same work ethic so it works very well.

6. What's been the biggest milestone for the business so far? 

There have been so many! I think for me it was getting our first fan letter.

7. Who is your inspiration? 

My father. He is a very hardworking man who was the first professional in his family and now runs a very successful business. 

8. What keeps you motivated? 

Popcorn Shed is all about enhancing those sharing moments that matter so hearing how much customers love the taste of our popcorn and our brand keeps me buzzing.

9. What other entrepreneurs do you look up to? 

Two other female food entrepreneurs who I really respect are Camilla Barnard and Pippa Murray. Camilla is the founder of Rude Health (the healthy eating brand). They started their business with no food background in their kitchen and today they have a huge range, stocked nationwide and she launched it with 2 young kids! I also think that what Pippa has achieved with her nut butter brand Pip and Nut is incredible and she isn’t even 30 yet!

10.  If you weren't doing this, you would be.... 

Hmmmm… probably what I was doing before- digital project management, making sure you can subscribe for binge TV and keeping your online banking working (most of the time!).

https://popcornshed.com

5 MINUTES WITH...SHEEZA SHAH, CEO OF UPEFFECT

Sheeza set up the crowdfunding platform, UpEffect, after she saw a great need to empower businesses doing good and give them the means to make a tangible impact on the ground. This young woman has big ambitions for social good in business. We're really excited about what's going to come next for the platform.

1. What motivated you to set up UpEffect?

While completing my Masters in Computer Science at the University of Nottingham, I volunteered for various nonprofits and continued to do so post graduation but soon learnt how inefficient the world’s most “reputable” nonprofit organisations were. Many aid projects required long-term solutions and most aid was dependent on donations which meant impact was always limited. I realised that we were going about it wrong - if we were to tackle today’s greatest problems, it could only be achieved and scaled through business.

After spending many months engaging with social enterprises and understanding best practices, in 2016, I launched UpEffectwith my cofounder, a crowdfunding and support platform for sustainable businesses doing good in the world. We're unlike any other crowdfunding website. Instead of simply providing another platform for campaigns to raise money without any help, UpEffect employs industry best practices to make sure founders are creating exceptional campaign pages and building a “crowd” to back their projects. In essence, UpEffect allows smaller fish that get neglected on larger platforms to convert their powerful ideas into successful campaigns, not only to meet a funding target but also to successfully launch a product to a loyal customer base.

Campaigns on most crowdfunding platforms suffer from limited curation, lack of personalised support, and mass-market focus.  In stark contrast, UpEffect’s enterprise solution approach and campaign consultant model drives their 100% success rate. Kickstarter and Indiegogo are not well positioned to support impact businesses as they rely on sensational stories and one-offs for their success. Hence, 56% of Kickstarter and 90% of Indiegogo campaigns fail, while 9% of Kickstarter campaigns have failed to deliver a single reward to supporters, essentially pocketing the crowdfunded money.  UpEffect is completely revolutionizing this model.

2. What’s the once piece of business advice you wish you’d been given?

I’ve made countless mistakes during the course of my journey. No one ever tells you how hard running a business is. The media has continuously glamorised entrepreneurship and painted many startups as “overnight successes”. There is no such thing. It takes a lot of resilience, tenacity and strength to run a business. 

3. What do you think are the qualities of a good entrepreneur?

Persistence. Most startups fail purely because the founder gave up trying. It takes many years of hard work, learnings and improvements before you start seeing results. 

I also think discipline and embedding healthy habits are vital in building a successful business. Looking after your personal health is the most important thing you can do for yourself, your customers and your team. 

4. You talk about embedding healthy habits into your schedule. What are your healthy habits?

When I made the decision to run a 100% remote business, I taught myself the importance of self-discipline. There are so many advantages to having the freedom and independence to work from anywhere in the world but staying motivated can be a real challenge if you don’t have structure. 

Every day, I plan my to do list for the next morning; a list typically made of 3 - 4 large tasks. This ensures that my brain is not scrambling for information in the morning or trying to remember all the things that I need to get done. It also means that I’m able to focus on personal development before I get started on work. I typically start my morning with prayer, a 20-minute run, getting ready and breakfast. Owning my morning and ensuring I make time for myself has been monumental in building a positive mindset. Also compartmentalising my days so that I focus on specific areas of the business in large blocks has really helped with task management. 

I try to wrap up the day between 6 and 7pm so that I have an evening to look forward to. Founder burntout is very real and incredibly tough to recover from. After having experienced it, I now take many measure to actively avoid repeating past mistakes of overworking myself. It’s just not worth it. Health is the most important thing. You can run a thriving business by managing your tasks and days well. It all comes down to discipline and organisation. 

5. What’s your greatest achievement so far?

Maintaining a 100% success rate in helping our companies get funded. It brings us so much joy to see the transformational journey of the entrepreneurs that we work with everyday. Witnessing an idea convert into a successful business and make a real impact in a community is incredibly satisfying. 

Sheeza at the MC Awards.

6. What do you think defines success?

It’s very difficult to define success. I don’t perceive success to be a destination. but rather a journey. You achieve one goal, then you move on to the next. We keep pushing the parameters of success in our lives, whether it’s at work with regards to a promotion or landing a particular client at your business, or it’s with finding the right partner and having children. The list grows as we progress in life, therefore, I personally don't attach a definition to success.

7. What keeps you awake at night?

The ultimate goal of UpEffect is to help every business go ethical and aid the fight against all forms of poverty. I love that we’re a driving force behind many businesses that are actively working on building a healthier planet and raising the standard of living for many local and global communities.

8. What social enterprises would you love to work with?

Brands like Warby Parker, Lxmi, The Krotchet Kids and The Soular Backpack are doing incredible work in the field of social entrepreneurship. We would also love to work with more local businesses and artisans to raise awareness on their work and connect them to a global marketplace.

9. If you weren’t building UpEffect, what would you be doing?

Probably working as a tech product manager for a social enterprise. I couldn’t see myself working for a non impact based company, I would need to be contributing to sustainable change through my work.

https://www.theupeffect.com