Lazada’s Forward Women Awards 2022 celebrates female entrepreneurs across Southeast Asia

This content was produced in partnership with Lazada

We don’t need an excuse to celebrate remarkable women, but we do love it when women entrepreneurs are recognised for their accomplishments, especially when they’ve built successful businesses by challenging social norms with creativity, determination and grit.

eCommerce platform Lazada has always made its mission to empower women entrepreneurs, and honoured its top businesswomen at the second-annual Lazada Forward Women Awards, held to coincide with International Women’s Day, on March 8th, 2022.

Four new awards categories were added this year, including the Lazada Forward Woman of the Year, Rising Star, Social Star and Bricks to Clicks Tech Adopter.

A total of 18 women from Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and other countries across Southeast Asia were recognised for their contributions to digital commerce as well as the impact made on their families, local communities and home countries.

Not only do Lazada’s Forward Woman of the Year winners stand out as successful entrepreneurs and business owners, they’re also mentors that give back to others, helping future female business-owners with support and advice.

The awards presentation, held at Lazada One headquarters in Singapore and broadcasted on LazLive, featured guest performances from musicians and bands, Weish, Aisyah Aziz and Coming Up Roses.

Shining a light on women entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia

The awards also coincide with Lazada’s celebration of its 10th anniversary in the eCommerce space this year. From its start, the company has championed innovation in the digital commerce space as well as female talent, encouraging women across Southeast Asia to start home businesses around their family commitments. All sellers, whether aspiring, new or existing, can kickstart their eCommerce journey with a wealth of resources accessible via Lazada University, which houses online videos and tutorials on every aspect of eCommerce.

The winners of the Lazada Forward Women Awards 2022 have found success in a wide-variety of product areas, with online businesses focused on consumer electronics, baby goods, menstrual health, furniture, pharmaceuticals and more. They are active in mentoring other Lazada sellers, honest about challenges they’ve faced and passionate about helping other women find a way to build their businesses through the digital economy.

Meet Lazada’s Forward Women of the Year 2022 from Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines

Lazada’s Forward Woman of the Year winners from Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines all started their eCommerce businesses from scratch, learning the ropes of digital sales and entrepreneurship while juggling family commitments.

Singapore’s Lazada Forward Woman of the Year, Liang Wee Ling, is a 45-year-old product design engineer and mother-of-two, who launched her business 8miles on Lazada after taking an eCommerce course in 2017.

8miles initially sold handmade hair accessories, but Wee Ling decided to pivot her business and focus on mother and baby products instead. Until recently, she did everything from her home, which doubled as an office and a warehouse.

The flexibility afforded by Lazada not only allowed Wee Ling to switch her product offering early on, but ensured she could grow the business alongside spending time with her family.

“By starting my own business, I’ve enriched my life. It gave me a greater sense of achievement. I learned a lot of new things along the way and I really enjoy it,” Wee Ling says.

Participating in Lazada mega-campaigns like 11.11 and 12.12 also helped Liang expand her business significantly. She now rents a warehouse space to cater to rising customer demand and sales, in addition to being as a Seller Ambassador for Lazada to offer support and tips to other sellers.

For the Selangor, Malaysia-based winner of Lazada’s Woman of the Year, Kong Wai Theng, Lazada provided an opportunity to turn her flailing bricks-and-mortar pharmacy into a successful online business.

The 44-year-old pharmacist owns Big Care Mart, which she decided to transition into an eCommerce shop in 2015, after learning the basics of selling online through Lazada University.

“I would like to see more people growing their online business,” says Kong.

“I believe in the power of small. No matter how small you think you are, as long as you dare to dream, you can do it.”

Kong picked up the top seller award in the platform’s Health category in both 2018 and 2019 and uses various Lazada tools, like vouchers and free shipping, to drive sales. She also gives time back as a mentor to new sellers on the platform and is a certified LazStar trainer at Lazada University, encouraging aspiring businesswomen to persevere in the face of any challenges and to look at any setbacks as potential new opportunities.

Like Kong, Filipina winner Monalisa Gao, previously owned physical stores and decided to become an online retailer instead. 45-year-old Gao opened her consumer electronics business after college and had 15 stores across the Philippines, but decided to close them all in 2013 in order to spend more time with her family.

She launched Lucky HR as an online consumer electronics business after learning about online retail platform Taobao on a visit to China. Gao partnered with Lazada in the Philippines and was one of the first to sell electronics on the platform, picking up the differences in how to run an online business compared to bricks-and-mortar retail along the way.

Lucky HR has given Gao financial independence and a sense of personal success. She now oversees 3 warehouses, as well as training new sellers on Lazada University and introducing the Filipino market to Chinese sellers through Taobao University.

“In my seven years in the business, I learned a lot. I have encountered challenges and these challenges motivated me to work hard and be successful,” she explains.

Inspiring more women entrepreneurs through Lazada

Celebrating the achievements of women in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore who launched their own eCommerce businesses from scratch, pivoted their careers to adopt digital technologies and focused on creating work opportunities for themselves that are flexible and home-based is at the heart of Lazada’s Forward Women Awards celebrations.

Not only are these women being applauded for their resilience and business acumen, but recognised for their continued commitment to supporting others by giving back to their communities and further afield.

Other winners included:

• Enterprising Award: Kelly Chan Jun Wen (Runner-up), Spreesuki, Singapore

• Inspiring Award: Pauline Ng, Porcelain, Singapore

• Bricks to Clicks Tech Adopter Award: Elyse Janina P. Juan, Papemelroti, Philippines & Pang Jie Hui (Runner-up), Healthy Baker, Malaysia

What an achievement; well done to all of Lazada’s female winners, and the many women in tech and female entrepreneurs they’ve inspired and helped along the way.

If learning about these success stories has ignited your entrepreneurial spark, you can sign up to become a seller on Lazada here.