WEDA – Steph Low Of Yong Studio

Women Empowering Designer Award

As the founder and art director of Yong Studio, Steph Low is truly the epitome of an entrepreneurial woman who has pulled herself up by her bootstraps to achieve great heights. She is certainly a designer befitting of the women’s empowering design award.

MH: Hi Steph, thanks for talking to us! Can you tell us about what design means to you, and why you chose to pursue this career?

SL: Love space planning and this thought made me move toward interior design. I feel satisfied and comforted when a small room can fit giant stuff through the power of design.

MH: How is it working in an industry that’s saturated with male peers? How’s the attitude toward female designers like?

SL: I ventured into this so called “manly” industry as a woman. As I walked the journey, the industry changed me and I became braver and stronger so that I could work toward what I want.

At times, I did receive doubtful looks from people when a construction project is completed. People would ask, “Steph, are you sure you did this? Or did you have partners and subcontractors doing it for you?” All the doubts happened simply because I’m a woman. At times, I also missed some opportunities because I’m a woman. But what I’d like to stress is, women should never be seen as weak or incapable, we are as competitive as our male counterparts.

As a female leader for a construction company, I learned everything from scratch because I believe that with the knowledge and experience that I have gone through, I will be able to be a role model and become a good leader in this “manly” industry.

Oh and women are more detailed, hence we are able to see and do things in a more meticulous way!

MH: Women definitely do bring their unique expertise to the table. As you mentioned, it’s a challenging industry, but what’s your biggest challenge?

SL: As I said, I began from scratch. I learned alongside my colleagues and workers, and we grew together. I used to wake up at 5 a.m. to fetch the abang-abang (site workers) from one site to another site. You can often find me walking on the construction site to check on the structure base from the footing, the underground beams, the beams, the columns to the slabs and walls. The construction sites are always dusty and noisy, so over the years, my voice became louder and louder. I was worried the demolition workers can’t hear me and thus don’t follow the instructions properly. These are the kinds of challenges I’ve faced over the years.

MH: That sounds challenging, but I’m sure the results of your work makes it worth it. What’s your greatest achievement?

SL: My greatest achievement is the moment when my house owners unbox their dream home with a joyful and satisfied expression. At Yong Studio, we work with the owners from start to end in order to craft the dream abode that they have in mind. Our goal is to make our owner exclaim, “This is it!” when they are introduced to the final product.