Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Yvonne Liao. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Yvonne, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

The biggest risk I have taken in my life was to leave Singapore to follow my passion to study fashion in the United States in 2011. I was in my late 20s where it felt like I had it all – I was at the height of my teaching career where I was earning a stable income and poised for promotion. I had great family and friends, as well as the material comforts of being able to buy the things I wanted, and often travelling to different countries and experiencing new adventures. Life was very comfortable in Singapore.

But I felt stuck and unhappy. When I was growing up, my childhood ambition was to be a fashion designer. However, pursuing a career in fashion design is generally frowned upon in a conservative Asian society. It is an unspoken expectation that Asian parents want their children to have esteemed careers such as lawyers, accountants, engineers, and teachers because these jobs are considered the “iron rice bowls” – there will always be demand for these positions in every company. In contrast, a career in fashion design or arts is considered a frivolous hobby where one cannot possibly earn enough money to make a decent living. I felt confined in not being able to pursue my career in fashion, and having to conform to societal dress codes that did not allow me to fully express my individuality.

So, while I spent many years living up to my parents’ expectations of getting good grades in school, graduating from the university, and working as a teacher, deep inside I was growing increasingly dissatisfied with my life because I knew I was not being true to myself about what I really want to do in life. It was around this time that the dream of becoming a fashion designer resurfaced again, and after deliberating about this decision for a very long time, I finally decided to take a risk and further my studies in fashion in the United States.

My decision to leave Singapore was not met without resistance. I was lucky to have supportive friends who understood my reasons for leaving, but my parents were absolutely confounded with my decision that came way out of left field. Months prior to my departure, I lived with the big fear of the unknown. So many questions flooded in my mind – would I have enough money to survive? Would I be safe in where I live? What if I did not like my life in the United States? What if something happens to my parents? I was so nervous that I fell sick with a stomach flu days before my flight to the United States. I remembered crying at the airport while transiting through Atlanta as reality hit me like a ton of bricks that I was really leaving Singapore for good. I was desperately overwhelmed and deeply regretted my decision at that moment. Why did I resort to a drastic move when I had such a comfortable life in Singapore?

Fast forward 13 years later, it turns out that the decision to pursue my passion in fashion was worth the risk. There were many ups and downs along the way when I was studying and carving out my fashion career path in New York, but it is also by far the most rewarding journey because of the tremendous amount of personal growth and experiences I gained throughout the last 13 years. I am now living my dream of being a shoe designer starting my own footwear business, and I would not be sitting here for an interview with Canvas Rebel if I had not taken a risk years ago and board the flight to the United States.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Growing up, I have always wanted to be a fashion designer. When I was 15 years old, I visited my best friend who was living in Hong Kong. His father owned a shoe factory in China and I fell in love with shoes after my first visit to the shoe factory. It was exciting to see first-hand how shoes were made in a factory, and the best part of the trip was that I get to choose as many shoes as I wanted from the sample closet. I ended up choosing the most colorful shoes with the most outrageous designs. Since that trip, my love for fashion design gradually focused on shoes and footwear design. Personally, I felt like wearing brightly colored and fun shoes allowed me to express my creative individuality amidst a conservative society where I always felt like I had to conform to invisible societal norms.

Years later when I was working in the fashion industry in New York, I felt very uninspired by the footwear that women wore on the streets. To me, it is ironic that women living in one of the most famous fashion capitals in the world are wearing boring shoes that lack personality, creativity, and color. I thought about how cool it would be if I could design and make my own shoes for women who, like me, want to express their unique personalities. That’s when I decided to learn shoemaking at Brooklyn Shoe Space in 2018 and began designing and making a collection of colorful and fun flats, sandals, mules, stilettos, and sneakers.

Designed by women for women, our vibrant and distinctive footwear designs are conversation starters – about shoes, about fashion and about community for rebellious, trailblazing, badass women who are not afraid to stand out from the crowd and venture into paths less travelled. Our shoes are made from plant-based and recycled materials and have cushioned midsoles that allow women to wear them comfortably from day to night.

I am proud of the journey that I have taken to become a footwear designer and shoemaker; it has not been the easiest path to get to where I am, but there is a Buddhist saying that “nothing is ever wasted”. Every lesson I learnt along the way is a steppingstone to get to where I am today and where I want to be in future. I hope that every woman who wears my shoes has interesting and inspiring stories to share with other women in their journeys down the paths less travelled.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In 2022 I spent five months learning and writing my business plan to enter the New York StartUP! 2022 Business Plan Competition organized by the New York Public Library.

Prior to this competition, I have never written a formal business plan. One of the most challenging aspects of the process was to develop my financial plan. I am not a numbers person! But I bit the bullet anyway and was lucky to find a mentor who guided me through the financial planning section to make sure that my business financials made sense in real life.

I was beyond elated to be selected as one of the 10 finalists and worked really hard within the short timeline to prepare for the final presentation, which was a ten-minute business pitch to a panel of judges.

When I learnt that I did not win the competition, I took the loss very hard and my confidence level hit rock bottom. The rejection felt like a big steel door that slammed in my face and for months after the competition I felt like I failed and lost my drive, unsure of what I should do next. I was so fixated on winning the competition because I thought that it was the only way to get funding for my business.

But I was determined to not give up. Instead of being overwhelmed by the lack of funding, I went back to the drawing board, scaled back, and started asking myself what small, incremental steps I could take to launch my footwear collection. For example, instead of hiring a footwear designer (which costs a lot more money) to help me with designing my footwear collection, I decided that I would continue to learn shoemaking to hone my design and shoemaking skills. Making this choice turns out to be much better in the long run because I can test wear my own prototypes and better communicate to the factories exactly what I want in my footwear designs.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a shoe designer is the creation process. I enjoy the shoemaking process where I start with shoe design sketches and brainstorm about the various colors, materials and techniques that I need to bring my designs to life. Every pair of shoes that I make is a unique learning process on its own that allows me to hone my shoemaking skills.

Another rewarding aspect of being a creative comes from the smiles on my customers and friends’ faces when they wear my shoes, like the several occasions where I created sandals or customized a pair of sneakers as Christmas presents for my girlfriends.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yvonneliaonyc.com
• Instagram: yvonneliaonyc
• Other: Pinterest: yvonneliaonyc Tik Tok: yvonneliaonyc

Image Credits
Bonnie Andrus Boone Bussey