SingaporeMotherhood | Parenting

April 2015

CRIB: Celebrating Women Entrepreneurs

Earlier on the 26th of March, CRIB held the launch of its “CRIB Women for Women Initiative” at the Glass Hall of the Singapore Arts Museum in an effort to celebrate the achievements of local female entrepreneurs. What is CRIB? A simple and effortlessly memorable acronym which stands for “Creating Responsible & Innovative Businesses”. It is Singapore’s pioneer business and lifestyle incubator aimed at women. Founded in September 2014, CRIB intends to empower and motivate women from all walks of life to kickstart successful and innovative businesses via networking, matchmaking and business incubation. It simultaneously aims to help women in fulfilling the ever elusive work-life balance.
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entrepreneurs-3Left to right: Julia Gabriel, Shermay Lee and Sabrina Tan.

Inspired by SG50, the “CRIB Women for Women Initiative” was launched with the purpose of motivating the next generation of Singaporean entrepreneurs. As a gesture of support and commitment to CRIB and its “CRIB Women for Women Initiative”, nine iconic female entrepreneurs have each pledged at least S$1000 worth of products and services to CRIB Equip; a branch of CRIB which offers professional training programmes, seminars, mentorship, speaker events, business advisory and services to CRIB members seeking to advance their business ideas. The founders of CRIB – Tjin Lee, Dr Elaine Kim, Marilyn Lum and Mei Chee (featured image), were present at the media launch at the Singapore Arts Museum, alongside three brand-founders; Elim Chew (77th Street), Cheryl Gan (Mount Sapola) and Shermay Lee (Shermay’s Cooking School), who make up a third of the nine iconic entrepreneurs. The event, which was modelled after a speed dating session (media representatives took turns to spend ten minutes at each round table before moving on to the next one), saw the members of the media rubbing shoulders with the founders of CRIB as well as the panel of established entrepreneurs.

entrepreneurs-2Left to right: Claire Chiang, Elim Chew and Priscilla Shunmugam.

This initiative sets its sights on creating a platform for displaying and commemorating the nation’s most recognisable female business owners and their homegrown labels. It brings onboard veteran women entrepreneurs as mentors and business consultants for CRIB members. They include Claire Chiang (Banyan Tree), Julia Gabriel (Julia Gabriel Education), Sabrina Tan (Skin Inc.) and Priscilla Shunmugam (Ong Shunmugam). Tjin Lee shares, “It has always been in the CRIB DNA to empower the current and future generations of entrepreneurs in Singapore with the right network, support and mentorship. After speaking to many working and stay-at-home mums, my team and I realised that many women lack the support and confidence to embark on their entrepreneurial journey. This was the catalyst for us to launch the CRIB Women for Women Initiative.” It is most definitely a one-of-its-kind effort to draw women into the typically male dominated field of business ownership. She adds, “With this initiative, we hope to further propel women entrepreneurs with inspirational stories and advice from their predecessors, as well as to provide the emotional and financial boost they require.”

entrepreneurs-1Left to right: Anastasia Ling (founder of Bengawan Solo), Carolyn Kan (founder of Carrie K. Atelier) and Cheryl Gan.

With the exception of Marilyn Lum, who is intending to start a family soon, the other three co-founders of CRIB are mothers of young children. Hence, it is highly commendable that they manage to effectively juggle the equally demanding realms of work and family. So, what’s their secret? It really does not involve any complex formulae; truth be told, it all boils down to managing one’s priorities well and welcoming the additional support offered by family members, as agreed upon by the trio of successful businesswomen. They also shared similar sentiments that CRIB has truly provided some stay-at-home mothers with that extra push they required to finally give life to their entrepreneurial dreams. Are you feeling inspired yet? If so, do visit the CRIB website to learn more about how you can kickstart your aspiration of becoming a business owner, just like these inspirational ladies! All the best with that!

 

All images of CRIB’s co-founders and the nine iconic female entrepreneurs are courtesy of CRIB.

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CRIB: Celebrating Women Entrepreneurs