Ever wondered what CEOs and founders are like? Are they all work and no play? Do they have a nurturing or intimidating personality? In Employee No. 1, catch a glimpse of what it is like being a homegrown boss under 40. Take an inside look into their day, how they run their successful companies, and learn what it takes to be employee number one.

At just 30, Jaslyn Chan is the boss of Iuiga, one of the most recognisable lifestyle brands in Singapore selling everything from home decor to diamond rings.

With her success, you might be forgiven for assuming that the Chief Growth Officer and co-founder of Iuiga is a bona fide workaholic. But Jaslyn tells AsiaOne that family comes first.

Things weren't always this way for her — before having her two-year-old son Aidan, work was her life. In fact, she was working throughout her pregnancy, and even on the hospital delivery bed, she admits with a sheepish chuckle.

Back then, the marketing and management graduate had trouble letting go of work commitments.

"I think work gave me an identity that I cannot find elsewhere," she explains.

Even so, she'd always known she wanted to start a family early. As she puts it: "My ambition is to be a young mum."

She and her husband conceived just three months after their wedding, and had Aidan in 2019.

Overwhelmed as a first-time mother struggling with post-natal depression, Jaslyn found herself taking a break from work for the first time. And that was when she decided to reframe her priorities in life.

"I found very profound meaning in understanding that, you know, the show has to go on, the business will still go on. But your role as a mother doesn't work that way."

Now, Jaslyn says she plans her work schedule around her family.

A typical day starts at about 7am and sending Aidan off to pre-school is usually her first task of the day.

In between back-to-back meetings, she makes sure to create little pockets of time in her day for her family, such as her daily afternoon stroll with Aidan and tea-time at around 5pm with her mum.

This philosophy extends to the way she promotes work-life balance at Iuiga.

While many define work-life balance as knocking off on time, Jaslyn has a different idea. She explains that for Iuiga, it refers to the freedom of deciding your own working hours.

For employees who work better in the evenings, this could mean starting work in the afternoon and leaving their mornings free for other commitments like family matters and hobbies.

"I don't like to sit down in one place for eight hours," says Jaslyn. "So how can I expect my staff to power through eight hours, stopping for just one meal in a day and expecting them to perform above and beyond?"

It's a refreshing perspective, at least in Singapore, where many bosses are still obsessed with 'face time'.

It's also no surprise that Jaslyn, who's been nothing but chill during our chat, also has a fresh take on negative reviews.

"I feel that the worst thing that can happen is actually no reviews. Because if you have zero feedback, then you don't even know what went wrong and how you can improve."

In fact, she says that her team makes it a point not to delete any negative reviews. Instead, they discuss them and even implement some of the customer's feedback if it is sound.

For now, it seems as if her hard work has paid off.

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From pooling money with her co-founders and starting Iuiga with less than half a million dollars, the brand — which now has outlets across Singapore and Indonesia — has come a long way. Jaslyn tells us that the company secured $10 million in Series A funding in May last year, and is on its way to becoming cashflow positive.

But it's still the simplest things that make her the happiest, she says. Even to this day, she still gets a thrill at seeing someone toting an Iuiga paper bag on public transport.

"When I go on public transport, and I see people buying our products or talking about the brand, I feel very happy.

"I don't have a single proudest moment, because it's a build-up of all these small little moments."

kimberlylim@asiaone.com

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