The first home-based speech in DISTED College Penang, Malaysia

Recently in February, my husband and I went back to Malaysia to celebrate Chinese New Year. During the time, I was honoured to be invited to hold a speech to the students of DISTED College in Penang.

Topic: Entrepreneurship- a journey to exceeding oneself.

Besides telling my transformation from a village girl in Malaysia to the CEO of Huone in Finland, I share a few learnings I gathered along this path:

• Bravery starts the minute you admit that you are vulnerable.
• Motive yourself with passion, not money.
• Your team is your biggest asset.
• Know your limits, take care of yourself- the entrepreneur, your team and business rely on you.

At DISTED College, Penang

The whole session took almost 2 hours. I spoke to the audience in a very honest way as I didn’t want to paint any other picture than what it actually is. I knew they would relate to my background as they are climbing those stairs themselves at the moment. They might even find themselves in my stories.

At the end of my speech I wonder if I could have sent a more positive message regarding entrepreneurship. But then again, I know the one who has what it takes will not hesitate to go forward.

It has been 10 years since I’ve been away. I feel very humbled to be able to speak to the next generation in my homeland. I believe young innovative entrepreneurs will make Malaysia flourish in this era of change. With this, I’m delighted to find many bright minds with valid questions and interesting reflections attending my talk.

If even one got inspired, I’m happy. 🙂

What a year of 2014.

It has been a while since my last post. Too many things happened since the fall. More than I can handle, to be honest.

Let’s rewind the year 2014.

1. January. ‘Maternity leave’ continues for this mothentrepreneur with the 2months old. Business were poor, Jussi and I feared for Huone’s survival. Then, Huone won the Paras Tapahtumapaikka by Evento Magazine. Mika Mäkelainen called about the book Taivas + Helvetti vol.2.
2. February. We took our 3 months old baby Enso to Malaysia to meet great-grandmother and grandfather for the first time. His first Chinese New Year that was.
3. March. Heart-aching interview with T+H writers. A crisis with Huone on going. Sad news from home: Malaysia Airlines of missing plane.
4. April. Huone was granted a fund for development.
5. May. Nerve-wrecking speech at Telakka for T+H. My first Mother’s day.
6. June. My 30th birthday.
7. July. A break from Huone. A caravan road trip around Europe: Finland-Sweden-Denmark-Germany-Holland-Belgium-France-Czech-Poland-Lithuania-Latvia-Estonia in 2 weeks. Then Jussi and I celebrated 9th Anniversary in Barcelona, Spain. Terrible news from home again: MAS MH17 being shot down.
8. August. Maternity leave ended. Full time back in Huone with uncertainty.
9. September. T+H 2 published. The wave started.
10. October. My baby’s first step! Nordic Business Forum. With full surprise, received the PwC’s Most Valuable Entrepreneur 2014. Interviewed on National TV. Met and kissed idol Tony Fernandes. Baby Enso’s 1st Birthday.
11. November. The craziest Pikkujoulu for Huone ever. Long shifts. Realised the power of networking. Speeches, speeches, speeches.
12. December. Pikkujoulu continues. Tired team in Huone but the spirit is the highest ever. Longest working hours but no complaint. Giving back to Unicef and Cambodia. Snowy holidays with relaxing mind. Then flood in Malaysia and AirAsia crashed.

It is the last day of the year today. It is ending with my baby Enso in my arms, pointing at the fireworks outside. So much has happened and so much I have grown. This year, with Huone, with a new born and with a husband, there is so little time. Sadly. I have no time to myself. I regret that I haven’t spent enough time with you, my friends and relatives. I beg for your understanding.

Thank you all for being a part of this colourful year. I look forward to the next exciting year with you. Hopefully no sad news anymore from home. A balance of mind, body and soul in life shall be my resolution. Hugs and kisses to you all and wishing you a prosperous New Year 2015.

Pregnancy + Maternity leave = New M.E.

First of all, my fellow female mom-entrepreneurs out there, did you really have maternity leave? Since I got pregnant while I was still starting my start up – Huone was only 3 months old, the timing could not have been worse. So In my case, the answer is: not really.

I had to work with my tummy growing until my due date. I literally did payroll in the hospital a day after my child, Enso, was born.

 

As an entrepreneur, I am my own boss. Most of the time, I get to decide when and where I work. But being a first time mother, I struggled to work in peace with a plus one. In fact, I struggled even in dealing with my new identity, a mother- entrepreneur. All the sudden, the baby became my boss.

I did not want to choose between Huone and Enso, they are both my babies. Neither should suffer due to the existence of another.

During my maternity leave, I force-fed my newborn a strict daily routine, I believed that is the only way I can manage to have time for work. When he sleeps, I work. Work continued long into the evening but tiredness goes away when I stared at the baby sleeping. I know why I had to work hard. It makes me happy that I managed to get things done so that Huone continues its operation without big disruptions.

9 months has passed and I have enjoyed every minute with my little one. Not only the ‘being away’ made me see things outside the bubble, my vision became clearer. I can now see pass the every day’s never ending tasks and have clarity where Huone is heading to. Having a baby changed my priorities in life. It made me realize that life is bigger than me, myself and I. I am no longer only responsible for my own life, but the lives of others. I started to venture thoughts into how Huone should contribute to the society, not just making a difference in the hospitality industry.

Last week I had to leave my boy to the nanny and came back to work. I felt awful; he is so small, just started crawling and interacting with me. I have fallen so deeply in love with him that I didn’t know how to let go. But I remembered that’s exactly how I felt when I had to leave Huone for Jussi (my husband) to take care of. It went just fine. Now I must learn to find balance between the two, so that both of them grow and glow.

I discovered how much more I could love. The answer is: A whole lot! And that big big love is motivating me to fight for a better future.

It was time to get back to work.

Full of energy and love, I am ready to add ‘Mom’ to my entrepreneur identity. A new M.E. –Mother Entrepreneur.

 

The reality of entrepreneur-mommyship

Our son- Enso just turned 6 months old last week. This means I have been staying home on maternity leave for 7 months now. Though it hasn’t been a complete ‘leave’ for me as I still handle the paper work at home, e.g. bookkeeping, calculating salaries, updating website, replying emails etc. Some how I feel distanced from Huone. I often think about how Huone is doing, which customers are there now, what are they doing, are they happy with Huone, how is the service process now and so on. When Jussi comes home from work, I often ask these from him, but it is not the same, I am missing out.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy being a mother. I love Enso to death. To me, he is the cutest baby on earth. Being a mother has opened my mind to a different level and made me see life in a deeper way that I never knew existed before. I am no longer just ‘I’, I have a child. My values in life have changed in priority. I want to be with him in every milestone he achieves, he is growing so fast! You can just imagine how I tear up when he learned to sit there by himself! My heart tells me that this is the phase when he needs me most, a mother who is there for him, to support him, to bond with him.

But what about my first ‘baby’- Huone? I am also the mother of Huone.

Many things have happened during my absence, I follow them at the side. Jussi has taken the leadership and worked hard. I really appreciate him letting me to have the time to be the mother I wanted to be. I hope he can nurture Huone in his own way, as I believe I can learn from him as well when I get back. You always see things differently when you stepped out for a while. In a way, I can’t wait to slowly get back to Huone, but first, I need to find a balance between being a mother, a wife, a CEO, and an individual. It is challenging, but I am getting there. Just need a little time.

As a teaser, during my maternity leave, besides winning the ‘Best Event Venue in Finland 2014’ in Evento awards, there is another wonderful news for Huone. I can’t wait to tell the whole world as soon as I heard about it, but I can’t just yet. It has to wait until the end of May to be unveiled.  So stay tuned!

ps. while I nervously wait for my very first Mother’s day, I would like to wish all my mommy colleagues out there a blissful Mother’s day. ♥ 

 

 

This post was originally published in http://www.huone.fi in May 2014.

My first months of entrepreneur-mommyship

First, just let me say this: for all the mothers out there, I salute you. If you have more than 1 child and working a day job, you must be a superwoman.

Nothing prepares you for mommyship, nothing. Jussi and I have not felt this way in our entire life. Getting a child is really THE episode of life.  3 months has gone passed so fast and yet so much has happened.

Our son, Enso Söderlund was born on 30.10.2013. It was a day of wonders. Looking back at the photos of that day, it felt like yesterday. Everything went smoothly at the hospital but the work only really begins when we took the little one home. I have learned many new things since. For one: if you are good at running a company, it doesn’t mean that you are good at taking care of a child. Not to mention just how much I appreciate a good night sleep now.

Being an entrepreneur meaning there is no real maternity leave. The day I got home from the hospital, I was doing payroll. Remember the blog post I wrote earlier about Jussi’s horrifying reaction of the baby being born in the Pikkujoulu season? Well, it came true.  He had so much work at hand that he barely had time to see the baby, yet being a new daddy, he really wants to! I must say he is my rock since he has been trying to take control of everything so that I can concentrate being a mommy. He has gone far and beyond his comfort zone and surprised everyone of his true ability. Huone held 160 events during Pikkujoulu season after Enso was born.

During the pregnancy, many have said to me: ‘Evon, if you can start a company like Huone with nothing, you will do just fine with a baby.’ So wrong they were. I literally feel like an incapable person around the few days old baby, not knowing what to do. It really doesn’t help when he can’t speak/tell me what he wants. Besides, he has a magical power to make me cry. Currently, I cry about everything, happy or sad. I feel like a crazy person.  Apparently, it is normal to be a little crazy during these beginning months of mommyship.

Before all this, my heart and soul were with Huone. Now my heart belongs to Enso, but my brain belongs to Huone. It is really nice that Jussi keep me updated with what’s going on in Huone. Instead of working together at Huone, I now work 2-3 hours a day at home when the little one take his naps. Jussi holds the fort in Huone and share everything with me after work. In a way, it has been a nice twist. I find comfort knowing that the team has done everything they can to support this episode of our life.

Since Enso’s arrival, I have learned that I must appreciate and capture every moment of my life, in career or family, it passes and doesn’t come back. Our baby is growing so fast that those moments when he can barely open his eyes have passed, and now he learns to smile and make sounds. In a way, Huone was a baby a year ago, it could not speak out to people, had no resources to do that extra and now it is charming our guests with excellence. I would not trade that difficult beginning phase with anything as it has made me wiser.

I don’t know if you have heard that we are the only candidate in Helsinki in the Evento Awards for Best Event Venue. I am humbled by our guests’ support along our adventure of Huone. A lot still need to be done and there is a long path to go for Huone, but at least now I know with my absence that a great team has made Huone, not me, I am just a part of that great team.

 

This post was originally published in http://www.huone.fi in January 2014.

 

What happens when the entrepreneur becomes a mother?

Jussi and I have been married for 8 years. The main reason why we never had children was because we wanted to wait until our dream – HUONE is built, up and running before we commit to having children. Let’s face it, it is much easier to focus and put all our efforts into HUONE without having children in our lives. We just never thought it took us 6 years to develop and build HUONE.

You can imagine how my Malaysian mother has been mad at us for making her wait 8 years for her first grandchild.

In February 2013 (3months after HUONE was launched), I remember vividly the morning when I dragged my shaken body from the bathroom to the bedroom. In my hand held the double lined pregnancy test, I woke Jussi up with tears in my eyes and told: ‘Honey, there is two lines on my test.’ Jussi stunned for 3 seconds and responded: ‘What? Oh my god, the baby is going to be born in Pikkujoulu season, the busiest time of HUONE!’ After scolded him for a minute, we hugged in tears.

The mixed feeling of joy and stress started to kicked in.

I spent weeks having mixed feelings. I was feeling happy at one point and terrified on the other. Especially when I can’t tell anyone yet. In my mind, I was also thinking: how am I going to tell the board and owners? Will they fear the future of this firm when I go for maternity leave? This mixture of joy and stress bothered me for a couple of months.

Your responsibility just went from ‘you might face a bankruptcy if this start-up fails’ to ‘your family might face a bankruptcy if this start-up fails’.

Rovio’s executive gave me this lovely hoodie. I’m wearing it as my maternity clothes!

For the first few months Jussi and I tried to not think about the baby too much. I had my tummy growing but I was just working like any other day. I was among one of the lucky ones who didn’t suffer from bad nausea in their first trimester, however, I was tired easily.We didn’t plan for the baby stuff or budgeting. No purchase of anything, no baby clothes, no baby strollers, nothing. There was only one thing in our mind: we have to work extra hard to make sure by the end of the year when the baby is born, HUONE has made it.  Jussi was stressed, he still is today.

Working in my ‘pregnant women’s office corner’

I worked hard and got very tired in the evening. I refused to feel ‘now that I am pregnant I don’t have the motivation to push in my career’. I work hard so that I can be sure that Jussi and the team get a good foundation to work with after I take off for a while. The funny thing is, when I eventually get to lay on my bed preparing to go to sleep, this little guy in my tummy is making me calm and happy. In a way, he motivates me, he symbolises the future.  Many successful career women have made it, I guess I will find my way too.

Today, as of the publication of this article, I am a month away from the baby’s due date. I am sure not all things will be the same with HUONE, but looking at my team, I find comfort that they will continue HUONE’s charming practice from now on, with or without me. I thank each and everyone one of them for giving me peace by constantly developing and outperforming in their roles so far.

As for me, although I am ready for a new chapter of my life but I know one string will stay attached to my other baby, which I’ve nursed with passion.

 

This post was originally published in www.huone.fi on 25 September 2013.

Excuse me, you are taking a holiday?!?

By now you should probably know that Jussi and I are two bold (or crazy) entrepreneurs who started the HUONE Events Hotel with literally no money. We have to compensate by working extra hard, doing everything by ourselves if possible, in order to save money. Working hard is granted, but it seems to me that there is a common perception that: of course we have to work 24/7 because we are the entrepreneurs, so what if we have to work 16 hours shift, we are the one who started this; of course we don’t get salaries because this is our own business. Yes, we admit that most of it is true. But we are still human with feelings; we also have family, friends and private life. Entrepreneurs are not robots.

Funny thing is, we have forgotten that.

End of June to beginning of August, companies are not organising events. Simply due to the summer holidays, no one is around. HUONE managed to host a few bachelor parties and small weddings but there were very little going on. Jussi and I decided to make ourselves useful by doing the events ourselves, planning for the fall, doing small renovations, cleaning, re-organising HUONE etc. We were working everyday.

From a business partner we got free tickets to the Tallinn ferry and had a free hotel night from previous hotel loyalty points. We decided to hop to Tallinn for a 2 days break. Then came weekends where I thought that maybe we could go to the forest to pick blueberries and grill. It was so wonderful to have a ‘zone out’ but Jussi and I felt guilty doing it because we weren’t doing work and we enjoyed ourselves.

Every year on our wedding anniversary we would take a trip abroad to celebrate. This year is our 8^th anniversary, and with a baby growing in my tummy, this is the last chance Jussi and I could spend a proper holiday as a couple. We decided that it is too precious to skip this and bought a week trip to Turkey. We delegated our work of that week and went feeling guilty.

On our 8th wedding anniversary trip to Turkey while I was 7months pregnant.

The trip was absolutely wonderful, we had to spare few hours a day to answer emails and phone calls but we were relaxing and resting our brains most of the time. I forgot how it was to spend time with Jussi as a couple not as business partners.

Not surprisingly, we came back to work having lots of new ideas and energy to develop HUONE. We have clear vision and plans on how to proceed in operating HUONE from now on.  Ideas of new products and new approaches are hitting our head that we can’t wait to jump into it.

So I say, fellow entrepreneurs, don’t burn yourselves out unconsciously. Yes, our work is stressful, it never ends and we have tons of responsibilities, but to rest is not to be lazy. To rest, is to be able to walk a longer road. I, for one, am not going to feel guilty taking a break every now and then anymore. I believe I have earned it and so have you.

This post was originally published in http://www.huone.fi on 7 August 2013.

How much money do you need?

Money is powerful. Money can buy a lot of things: sailboat, apartment by the sea, first class plane ticket… If I were to ask you: What are the things in life that money can’t buy? What will you say? I can at least name a few:

TIME, LOVE, HEALTH.

Money cannot buy time. Yes we can argue that if I had money I can save time by traveling with a private jet than travel with train etc. But money cannot buy time that has passed; it won’t give you back your youth. Do you regret the times you have lived before you?

Money cannot buy love. People spent their lifetime searching for love; and sadly it doesn’t come with a price tag. Some people might be friendly to you because of your wealth, but these are not true love. Are you loved and have you found love? Does your family and friends love and care about you?

Money cannot buy health. Of course, if you are ill and you need money to go to doctor etc. However, are you healthy now? They are rich people suffering cancer and died with their wealth. If you are healthy now, remember: money did not give you that.

Yet, why are we chasing after money? It is nice that you can buy LOUIS VUITTON bags and have a fancy meal in Chez Dominique. But how long does that make you happy? A week? Money is only a currency to trade, you only NEED that for survival, and you don’t need that million dollar to live. Don’t spend your life chasing after things that doesn’t matter. Time, love and health on the other hand matter the world.

I started working as an entrepreneur with our HUONE Events Hotel for 1,5 years now. I have not been able to pay myself (nor my husband, Jussi) salaries. We live off the staff food in HUONE and the company carries our rent. On top of that, I don’t have money to buy clothes or a pair of Jimmy Choo, or take a long vacation abroad in the summer.  Nevertheless, I am healthy, I found love and am still in love (and he still loves me, I hope) and I have not regretted the times I have lived before me. We didn’t start and founded HUONE with the wish of becoming millionaires, but we are extremely happy when our customers give us raving feedback. It is out of passion and devotion.

My friend asked me once: wow, you own a hotel now, are you rich? I complaint and said that I am more poor than when I was a student working a part time job. I can’t even afford clothes that I like. Now that I think of it, I have everything that matters: I am healthy, I am using my times doing work that I love and I am happily living with my one and only. Next time when someone asks me if I were rich, I am going to say: I am the richest person in the world.

So, how rich are you?    🙂

 

Published originally in http://www.huone.fi on 30.4.2013.

Is entrepreneur a ‘good job’?

There are many different jobs out there. Sometimes people are able to tell you if they have a good job. Whether or not the job is good for you really depends on many things, your career ambition, personality, interest etc. I mean is celebrity/public figure a good job? Many people seem to fancy that line of work, but it is not for everyone.

Entrepreneur as a job has its pros and cons. It is definitely not for everyone. Many say the greatest thing of this job is that ‘you are your own boss’. The down side is no one is telling what should you be doing so you might spend most of your ‘working days’ being lost. Having grown up without my parents, I am a person who seeks recognition. I love to out-perform so that I get recognition for a job well done. Similar to when I was a dancer, training 2 months for that 3 minutes of performance on stage was worth every blood, sweat and tear when your audience stood on their feet to clap at the end. Nowadays, no one is giving me a pat on the back for my good work so I don’t really even know whether I have done my job well or not.

Ironically, I am supposed to be the one telling my team members ‘good job’ which I tend to forget every now and then.

Originally published in huone.fi on 15.2.2013.

Being an entrepreneur-couple, risky?

I am not sure if this is known to all but Huone is founded and owned by my husband and I. We are a family company. Founding and running a company together as a married couple is a very risky move, many has warned us. We didn’t just invested our savings, time, effort and soul but also our marriage into Huone.

There are both pros and cons.

PROS:
There is no doubt that without Jussi, despite how passionate and determine I was, I will never be able to pull Huone through on my own. He is the biggest support in this. He doesn’t just support me by sharing my responsibilities but he also pull me up when I am down. You can imagine the entrepreneurship journey has not been smooth. We have this magical rhythm to only allow one of us to be upset, another will be the shoulder to cry on. We do that to each other and that is something I can never ask from anyone else. I am a creative person, with that comes emotional and impulsiveness. Jussi is calm and analogical but lacks creativity. Together, we compliment each other also professionally.

CONS:
Since we have very different take in how we should work, inevitably disagreements occur from time to time. The key is not to let it explode when our team is around, it is hard for them to take side. As entrepreneurs, we naturally work hard. So hard that we are 24hours talking about Huone. We love what we are doing, but there is a limit to everything. I mean last time we spend a full day without talking about Huone is probably a year ago. We are yet to find a work – life balance.

All and all, we love what we do even the part where tears are shed, that is how we are reminded to appreciate laughter.

Originally published in www.huone.fi in November 2012.