International Women's Day: Durablinds boss stronger after betrayal, gender inequality
The New Paper celebrates the hopes, dreams and achievements of trailblazers on International Women's Day today
She knew she would face many challenges when she made the career switch in 2001 to interior design and entered the male-dominated industry of home and furnishing solutions after a decade in the service industry.
But Ms Ong Shu Hwai, the managing director of local home expansion specialist Durablinds, could not foresee that she would end up suing her former business partner.
Back in 2010, Ms Ong recognised the rising needs in Singapore to utilise "unusable" balcony space at home and saw the opportunity to bring Glass Curtains, a Spanish brand of sliding glass panels, into Singapore.
OVERLOOKED
She recalled being called "little girl" by construction workers on-site when she first started, and being overlooked because many have "the general perception that females don't like to get their hands dirty and don't understand dimensions or what is needed of construction".
She eventually managed to win the workers over by gaining their trust with quality plans.
However, she felt she was still never a part of the "boys' club".
Ms Ong, 46, told The New Paper: "(My former business partner) is a typical contractor boss with a lot of 'brothers'. They would go for smoke breaks, pubs and drinking sessions... but I'm just different."
Eventually, as sales of Glass Curtains grew, he decided that Ms Ong was "not a fit for him", and wanted her to sell the products to him at cost for him to resell under a different branding, which she refused.
The harassment carried on for a few months until she eventually managed to end the partnership after a legal battle, but not without losing $100,000 in legal and administrative costs.
Despite the struggle, Ms Ong never considered backing down.
In 2015, she got back on her feet and set up her own company to continue the sale of Glass Curtains here and in the Asia-Pacific market.
Then in 2017, she founded Durablinds and introduced Ziptrak, the original track-guided blinds from Australia, to Singapore.
Although she believes "things would have been a lot easier" if she was a man, she still embraces her identity as an entrepreneur in this industry and encourages others in her position to "be brave".
Ms Ong, who has a six-year-old son, said: "It is okay and natural for us to feel intimidated and unsure. Overcome this with intense curiosity, accumulate knowledge and persevere with your innate feminine gift of empathy, negotiation and influence.
"As a woman holding this important role, I can embrace my feminine power to be soft and firm at the same time. To have the tenacity to tolerate yet have the wits to take a strong position on what matters to me - which are successful relationships."
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