This leadapreneur turned an experience from her motherhood into a winning product concept

Leong Yew-May

Childbirth unravels different experiences for different women. For Leong Yew-May, a New Product Introduction Specialist at MRT, her childbirth journey wasn’t just life changing, it also inspired her career growth recently.

Yew-May works with MRT or Molecular Reform Therapy, a health product company – and a subsidiary of Elken Sdn Bhd – which formulates, manufacturers and co-packs traditional medicine and health supplements and her role has been predominantly focused on finding the right packaging solutions for the business.

When her manager had suggested her name for the 2019 Elken Leadapreneur Accelerator Series (Cycle 3), Yew-May thought it would be a great platform for her to discuss innovative packaging solutions with her teammates who were assembled based on the commonality of their interest and business focus. 

After giving birth to her daughter two years ago, Yew-May found the need to carry a lot of things with her as she travelled, regardless the distance. So, when she had to present a product concept of her own at the tournament, she came up with the idea of a mini travel pack that can hold various supplements and products – an idea that was inspired by her “mummy pack”.

Her innovative thinking would not only make it convenient for consumers to carry one-week worth of MRT products wherever they go, it also increases consumption and inevitably, sales for the company.

Her travel pack was an instant hit because her ‘stakeholders’ could immediately picture cost saving measures and climbing sales figures in their minds as she pitched her concept. This evidently worked in Yew-May’s favour, winning her the championship title for her cohort.

After that little milestone, life was never the same again for the introverted Yew-May as her management started taking note of her talent. Now, not only is she focused on finding new and improved packaging solutions, she is also being roped into meeting customers and taking the lead in coordinating some of the new projects.

Though the limelight isn’t something Yew-May naturally enjoys, she is currently excited about the prospects of learning new skills and making a difference at her workplace. If she was to name the one thing that the Leadapreneur training helped instill, it would be the courage to stand in front of a crowd and present her ideas confidently.

More than the prospects of professional growth, Yew-May feels that Leadapreneur had helped unlock valuable skills set that helps her see things differently now.

Besides the determination to successfully implement her travel pack idea at MRT, she is also trying to accustom herself to think like a leadapreneur by looking at strategies that could maximise profit by minimising risks and resources. 

Congratulations Yew-May in becoming a Star of the Accelerator!