We recently connected with Yock Li and have shared our conversation below.

Yock , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Women forget. Women forget to prioritize themselves. We see it every day, but consider it normal. Everything has a higher priority, but themselves; Children, family, work, community, partner, society’s opinion, … Our mission is to remind women to prioritize themselves and live with less doubts, so they can thrive as they take care of all their innumerable responsibilities. We want women to say Yes to themselves more regularly. Say Yes to their needs, being physical, spiritual, intellectual or emotional.

I come from a small country with very conservative values, where women were, and still are, expected to be mothers and wives first. That is not how I wanted my life to be.
After college I envisioned my life traveling all over the world, working in design, enjoying everything the world has to offer, the adventure of life.

Side note: Design was considered a career you take while you wait for marriage. For me, it was not so. I envisioned a long lasting career where I could develop and use my aesthetics and technical knowledge to resolve a need, any need. Marriage was the furthest thing on my mind. In 1999 I moved to Miami to take a challenging job as a commercial interior designer working with some of the biggest labels in Latin America and the Caribbean. I felt I was fulfilling all my career goals. Then life happened and I became an expat wife with a nomadic existence. I have lived in Central, North and South America as well as SouthEast Asia, living an expat privileged life, but always trying to keep my drive to work in design alive, still I prioritized all the duties and responsibilities patriarchal societies place on the shoulders of every adult woman. I felt I lost my “self.”

This drove my realization that women lose themselves in all the expectations encumbered by society. Then, the chaos of life keeps you from finding the essence you may have forgotten or left behind. You lose your inner voice or it gets blurred.

I also learned this happens to the vast majority of women, regardless of social and economic status. Privileged or unprivileged. This encumbrance happens regardless of status.

This is what drives me: I want to prioritize myself and live with less doubts and help women do the same, so we can be the best for ourselves first, then for the ones we love.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have a passion for art and design as well as problem solving and project execution. I believe all challenges can be solved with design, attention to detail, sweat, and a collaboration between beauty, form and function.

As an expat who couldn’t work, in Singapore I learned understanding with other women and our needs as dependents (something very foreign for me), in Brazil I discovered the craft I could use in my love of jewelry and in the USA I have the freedom and opportunity to put it all into practice.

In my brand Yoi I have found the ideal vessel to share my vision of prioritizing ourselves, my passion for design, my love for jewelry and my mission to help women put themselves first, to live with less doubts, so we can be the best for ourselves and the ones we love.

The self prioritization concept is our product and our message. Our bracelets are the tool we share with women to help them remember to act upon their needs and wants on a more regular basis, and continue a process of eliminating doubts, rediscover their voices and have lots and lots of fun along the way.
Society tells us we must re-invent ourselves (not a bad thing per se), however for Yoi, before you can re-invent yourself you must re-discover and accept who you are, what is your essence, what are your needs and wants; this is a step most often ignored.
Yoi wants to serve as a daily reminder: Don’t deny your needs and wants. Remember “you”.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Curiosity

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

NFTs have a place in the market however the value of a digital asset, in my opinion, is its capability of being dynamic. NFTs by definition are statics, inconvenient and easily forgotten.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yoibyyock
• Instagram: yoibyyock