TLC x Fempreneurs Series: Valencia Chen (Little Bearnie)

In this special column called the “TLC x Fempreneurs Series”, we will be featuring inspiring Female Entrepreneurs (Fempreneurs) in short. You will be able to have a sneak peek at their mindsets and their daily habits.

Believe in the power of community. On some days when you feel big goals are impossible, or when you feel like giving up, you need to lean on your like-minded community. You can even “borrow” motivation, and in turn “return” with your own inspiring stories to pay it forward.

Meet Valencia Chen (Little Bearnie)

Tell us a little about yourself. What is your business/ brand about?

Hi! I’m Valencia, the founder of Little Bearnie. I founded Little Bearnie in 2016. The name comes from the combination of the phrases “little ones” and “bear in mind”. I want Little Bearnie to be the brand that people will always bear in mind when buying gifts for their little ones or their friends’ children

Little Bearnie is Singapore’s own, homegrown brand that started as a quest for sourcing baby products that stood out in a sea of mass-market brands. The result of years of research and design endeavours, Little Bearnie was created to offer the most stylish teething accessories and presents for little babies that we love gifting– and receiving!

Little Bearnie Ranging from a wide variety of baby teethers, and swaddles to feeding tools, you can be sure to find something that suits your needs in giving your little loved ones the (bear)st experience with our baby essentials.

What got you started on your business? 

When I was researching my business, my friends around me were already getting married and had a new addition to their family. When I was shopping for gifts for my friends and their little ones, the idea of creating a wonderful gift for the baby struck me.

The inspiration for Little Bearnie started when my friends were having babies, and I wanted to bless them with something unique, memorable, affordable, practical, and functional. Ideally, it should be something that both the parent and the baby liked.

Before you started your business, what did you do on a full-time basis?

I started my career path in various industries like FMCG as well as the Perfume and Skincare industry as an assistant to do buying and merchandising, which brought up my interest in sourcing products for my business.

What were some difficulties you faced in your life and how did you overcome them?

One of the biggest challenges that I have faced is that I am not a mother. I was faced with the challenge of convincing customers that Little Bearnie was a baby brand they could trust.

We tried numerous ways including, running events and pop-up stores to speak face-to-face to a lot of mothers or customers. Being on the ground, I would be able to let them feel and touch the quality of my product and obtain feedback about my products to make sure that they were satisfied with the quality of the items and earn their trust. As quality and safety are the top priorities of our business, just like how babies are every parent’s priority, we treat their babies like our own as well and we would try all means to make their growing journey happy and safe.

Who inspires you?

I do not have someone in particular that inspires me. However, at different stages of life, there is someone that I look up to when I can relate to the particular events that they went through during that period. The method of how they handle bad times inspires me to be a better person.

What excites you most about your industry?

To see every little children to grow up using Little Bearnie’s products. It makes me feel happy seeing Little Bearnie being part of their growing-up journey.

What is your vision / personal motto?

Enjoy what you are doing and do it with passion.

What have you learned recently that you hope the other ladies can take back?

Do remember to love yourself too!

How do you think you can help ladies to feel confident and empowered?

I would like to share the 3 “R” that I have created for myself which help me to move along my entrepreneurial journey.

1) Right Mindset & Passion
It is very important to have the right mindset when starting a business journey, and passion and love play a big part in building a business. To me, it is like maintaining a marriage, it takes time and effort to make things work.

2) Right Attitude
Our attitude is what influences all our actions. It is only the right attitude, will determine what our results will be. Opportunity knocks at every door but only with the right attitude, we will seize the opportunity and lead to success.

3) Face the Reality
Being an entrepreneur is often being glamorized by people, but that is not really true! It takes a lot of hard work to build up, countless sleepless nights working on strategies to improve, and expect many failures & have the positive thoughts to try again.

What is one thing you are grateful for?

Entrepreneurship is a lonely journey especially since I’m a one-person team. I’m grateful for the strong support from family and friends who helped me along the journey.

What do you do in your free time as self-care? How do you unwind?

Music and reading are what I love to do during my free time. My self-care is also very much spending time with my loved ones (my husband and my family) and meeting up with my close friends.

Let us know more about what you do!

Ranging from a wide variety of baby teethers, and swaddles to feeding tools, you can be sure to find something that suits your needs in giving your little loved ones the (bear)st experience with our baby essentials!

Little Bearnie is also featured in CNA-93.8, Noontalk Daddy Talk Series, Singapore Motherhood, The Smart Local, Expat Living, Parentsworld, Young Parents, Honeykids, Our Parenting World, Women’s Weekly, Vanilla Luxury, Tickikids, The New Age Parents, Little Steps Asia, and SassyMama.

Connect with Little Bearnie!

Website: https://www.littlebearnie.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/littlebearnie
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littlebearnie

Are you a Fempreneur too?

Connect with us – we’d love to feature you! Say hi to us at hello@theladiescue.com or reach out to us via our social media.