Shoe designer Christy Ng tells Kasmiah Mustapha that her journey is about grit, determination and the readiness to embrace failure
CHRISTY Ng’s journey to become one of the most sought-after shoe designers in the country is truly remarkable. Hers is a rags-to-riches story as she built her business with only her determination.
Her entrepreneurial spirit started when she was a teenager. Ng worked as a waitress and sold flowers at Light Rail Transit (LRT) stations to earn extra money. It continued when she was in college. She went to Thailand, bought shoes from factories there and sold them at night markets in Petaling Jaya to pay for her studies.
But even after she graduated with a degree in plant biotechnology and worked in a pharmaceutical company, Ng was still selling shoes at night and flea markets.
“I love drawing and wanted to study fashion design. But my parents were against it as they believed I won’t be able to make a living as a fashion designer.
“They told me to take a science course as it required analytical skills and problem solving. I followed their advice and with my science background, I believe I have been able to run my business well. It is because I think as a scientist first and designer second.”
After a while, Ng stopped selling shoes at night markets as it was tedious carrying them from her house to the markets. With many others selling the same shoes with the same styles, it was hard to compete.
Her friends then encouraged her to set up a website and sell the shoes online. Within a month of setting up her website in 2010, sales shot up with hundreds of page views recorded.
She made money but it was not enough for Ng. She wanted to sell shoes with her own designs. With the help of friends from Thailand, she visited a few shoe factories to learn about shoemaking.
“My first design was a five-inch shoe. At that time, there was a void in the market for shoes of this height,” says Ng.
COMFY SHOES ON HER MIND
With overwhelming response to her design, Ng resigned from her job and set up Christy Ng in 2012. It is the start of her successful career as a shoe designer.
She says her main focus is to design shoes that are comfortable and affordable. When she was working as a waitress, she wore cheap shoes as they were the only ones she could afford.
Due to the inferior material, she soon had a huge callus at the sole of one foot and had to have it removed.
“When I designed my first shoes, my goal was to make sure women would not be in pain wearing them due to calluses, bunions or corns.
“My shoes are designed especially for Asian women because they have wide feet. We can’t really wear Italian or American shoes because they are narrow and will hurt.”
Ng uses microfibre and applies an extra layer of rubber to the sole to make the shoes more comfortable and last longer.
In addition to selling ready-made shoes including wedges, sliders, sandals, heels, ballerina flats, slip-ins, pumps and stilettos, Ng also specialises in custom-made shoes.
It started when she was asked to design shoes for a bride from North Carolina, the United States.
The bride contacted Ng via email when she found out about her brand on the Internet. She wanted nine pairs of custom-made shoes — for her and her eight bridesmaids — in similar designs but in different colours and different heights.
“She told me that no shoe brand in North America would cater to her request. She wanted everyone to look similar in height and that was the reason for the different heights for the shoes.
“It was a huge break for me because it was my first step towards making custom-made shoes.”
When she won Alliance Bank’s Bizsmart SME Innovation Challenge in 2013, Ng used the RM250,000 prize money to build a 3D customisation design engine for custom-made shoes on her website.
Her online business went a step further when she received a RM500,000 grant from Cradle Fund that she used for marketing and advertising for the online business.
FIRST STORE
Despite the success, Ng was still selling her shoes online and working from her living room because to her it was the most effective and feasible way for customers to shop for Christy Ng shoes.
“You should have seen my living room back then because boxes of shoes were piled up everywhere. My mother would help me with orders and sending packages,” says Ng.
With her brand becoming the talk of town, Ng was invited by the management of 1 Utama Shopping Centre to set up her first store.
“I did not want to do it at first because it required a lot of capital. But they were very supportive as they wanted a local business to have physical presence in the mall. They tried very hard to accommodate my requests. The store eventually opened in September 2016.
“It was so successful that we have expanded to four more stores at Sogo, Aeon Mall Tebrau City, Ikea Cheras and MidValley Megamall.”
From using her living room as working space, Ng now has two factories in Johor and the Klang Valley.
She is no longer the sole designer as there are 50 employees working full time for two production arms — ready made and custom made.
She sells over 500 pairs of shoes every month — both locally and abroad. Her shoes are shipped worldwide including to the US, Australia, Singapore, Canada and Europe.
Her ready-made shoes are priced from RM120 to RM300 while the custom-made ones start from RM600.
Ng has also collaborated with actress Syatilla Melvin for a limited edition collection for this year’s Hari Raya. The collection comprised five shoes designs as well as signature handbags.
While she is proud of her success story, Ng says it does not mean that she never fails.
“When I sold shoes at night markets, there were days when I had zero sales. Some people also called my shoes ugly and expensive. There were also wasted materials, designs that did not work and orders that did not come through.
“But these failures taught me that you cannot do the same thing over and over again and expect the same results. When you fail, you need to analyse the reasons. We manage to succeed because we are comfortable with failing. Today my world would not end if I fail and I’m not scared. The mindset and willingness to fail are needed to run a business.”
Ng says she would not be where she is today without support from her parents and organisations such as Alliance Bank, Cradle Fund and 1Utama.
“I started the business using my savings because I don’t come from a rich family. I am not from a second generation family-owned business. I am where I am now because a lot of people helped me. They gave me the platform to grow.
“And with their help, I want to keep the production in Malaysia. It is a way for my brand to compete with foreign brands. We need to be more competitive and make our own products. I also hope other Malaysians who are starting their brand would get the same opportunities as me. “
There is also another dream that Ng hopes to achieve — setting up stores abroad. While her online business has promoted the brand to other parts of the world, having physical stores would push Christy Ng into becoming a worldwide brand.
It may sound far-fetched but people are saying that she may just be the next Jimmy Choo.