We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Irene Kwong. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Irene below.

Hi Irene, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

Overall, I’m would say I am happy as a business owner & entrepreneur. On any given day, my answer might vary slightly (especially if we are going through something challenging or if I have a pressing deadline) – but owning a business has given me a sense of personal satisfaction that I rarely felt with any prior jobs.

I had a ‘regular’ job prior to starting my business. Occasionally I think back to the amount of freedom I had then, especially after work since I didn’t have to ‘take the job home with me.’ I often think of this when I have to stay up extra late to design or when I’m problem solving for my team remotely while I’m on vacation.

Although I do miss turning off my ‘work brain’ more often, I really enjoy not having to answer to anybody else. I get to set my own schedule AND my own goals! I have more liberty to dictate the direction of my business and -in my case- literally design my own products. I also am able to spend more time with my family, which has been a huge blessing. The pros definitely outweigh the cons and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Irene Kwong – a former pharmacist and forever stationery & crafting enthusiast. I stumbled into the world of paper planning while browsing instagram over 8 years ago and fell down the rabbit hole. There was a whole world of adults who were decorating their planners with stickers and making things their own. I was delighted to find a community of people who embraced the things that I loved as a child and still loved as an adult! I immediately set to work on creating a brand with designs and technology that I didn’t see offered anywhere else.

I have since created a brand steeped in my lifelong adoration of the color pink and the ethereal world I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid. My business – simply gilded – now ships exclusively designed notebooks, washi tape, sticker sheets, subscription kits and more to stationery lovers around the globe.

Simply gilded has been ranked number one on Etsy, been a top-ranked shop on Shopify, and continues to service thousands of customers every month!

One of my favorite parts of the business is having the opportunity to connect with my community in a way that feels authentic. I’m most proud of the relationships I’ve cultivated and the connections over the years with both customers and fellow shop owners.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Despite having grown up loving art, I was encouraged by my family to pursue a more ‘stable’ job that would ‘pay the bills.’ I went into the sciences and became a pharmacist. After almost a decade of working as a pharmacist, I felt burned out and started to look for an outlet for my creativity. I discovered washi tape, stickers, and paper planning while scrolling through Instagram one night. I decided I wanted to try creating my own designs and started hunting down manufacturers and producing samples eventually leading to my ‘moonlighting’ as a creative entrepreneur. I continued to work as a pharmacist, until I felt comfortable enough on my new side income and took the leap to full time business owner and creative!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A hard lesson I had to unlearn was to completely rely on myself for everything. It was my stubbornly held belief that I shouldn’t depend on anybody else. I was convinced that nobody could do what I wanted the way I wanted and the easiest way to do things was to do it myself.

I was running the business, figuring out how to use new tools, navigate business taxes and finances, and working until 2am every night before waking up at 7am to go to the pharmacy for my full time job. I was exhausting myself and near burn out when I realized I had to do things a different way in order to continue.

Although I knew it was important to learn how to do things on my own, I realized that it was healthy and necessary to ask for help. I hired an additional assistant to help pull orders and I asked my husband to help me pack orders at night so I could get more sleep. I hired an accountant to help with bookkeeping and taxes. I joined a community of entrepreneurs to lean on for support and encouragement.

In hindsight, I am so thankful for the lessons and for my eventual decision to ask for help. Since asking for help, I have embraced the art of delegation and how to ask for help when I was uncertain on how to move forwards. I learned that even though I *could* do things on my own, it wasn’t necessarily what I *should* do. This has led to both personal and professional growth, as well as a much happier and balanced life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://simplygilded.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simplygilded/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Simplygilded/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/irene-kwong-simply-gilded/

Image Credits
Photos of Irene at home: Yuena Li All product photos: Irene Kwong Photo of Irene with simply gilded cart: Breanna Lauren Photography