The Implication of Gentleness
《The Power of Softness: Who Defines Women’s Value?》
Author: Frances Chen
Company: Diamond Phoenix Sdn Bhd
Professional: Postnatal Care
I’m Frances, the founder of Diamond Phoenix Postpartum Care Center and a mother of three. Every movement I’ve made, from a country girl to my current CEO in the city, has expanded the potential of being a Chinese woman.
Chinese women in Malaysia are frequently viewed as submissive, reserved, and strange. However, I would like to emphasize that a woman’s worth is never bestowed; rather, it is passionately lived out.
My First Life | The responsibilities of a Daughter Require a Different Form of Filial Piety
Being a senior daughter in an average household with two younger sisters, I was born. From a young age, I was far from a typical “good girl.” I loved being in charge and having adventures. My younger sister was being bullied in the fourth grade.
In an attempt to argue, I hurried into the other student’s classroom—I was that bold “big sister.”
However, my father left the house in poverty after his business failed during my first year of junior high school. Suddenly, our family fell away. I had to grow up overnight at the age of 14 years old. I became the main income earner for the family after my mother passed away. During the holidays, I was washing dishes and worked after school. There was isolation and responsibility instead of enjoyment or friends my age. But I was aware that I had to keep going because I had nothing else to choose from. My father survived from a serious medical condition years later. He told me, just before he passed away, “You are the one I trust most.” I simply nodded without actually crying. I understood that being filial religious meant rising up and clinging to the final vestige of our broken home and ignoring orders.
Second Life | Age is never a barrier to a mother’s energy
My first child appeared unexpectedly just as I was getting ready to start my first job after graduating from STPM. I became a young mommy when I was 22 years old. Even though I was entirely unprepared and had few funds, I persisted in following my passion. My mother-in-law and lover helped me create my first daycare facility in my hometown.
I’m especially curious about kids who have been classified as “unteachable.” I really feel that teachers who give up are the only ones who are able to continue teaching. In just two years, I opened three more daycare centers in Kuala Lumpur and even hosted the district’s sole “recognition ceremony” for elementary school pupils. I am a fearless and enterprising professional lady rather than the stereotypical nice wife. I appreciate my husband’s unwavering support of my true self.
Being a mother at the age of 22 years old was the beginning of my journey rather than a limitation.
Third Life | The Innovative Revolution in Entrepreneurship
Every movement I made from tutor to dean of three schools to starting a breastfeeding support center was a “step-up challenge.”
It was only a four-bedroom townhouse that served as my first confinement facility. I managed everything, including postpartum care, baby care, and confinement meals. Later, just as we were ready to take off after upgrading to a second center, the MCO approached and everything ended.
However, I think the only way out is transformation, and that crisis is an opportunity. By using a “participation model,” I was able to acquire a failed confinement institution at a reduced cost, put standardized processes in place to enhance quality, and then turned it over to investors to run in exchange for a management fee. We grew from four to nine sites in just two years, making us one of the brands with the most branches in the business.
But the real storm was just beginning.
My most reliable partner and senior management planned to take advantage of me in July 2023, removing me from the company and eliminating half of the staff. I wondered to fate, “Why give me something, then take it away?” as I plunged into the depths.
I didn’t give up anymore. In order to assist me, my sister resigned her profession, and my husband remained by my side as I rebuilt the business. Between 6 and 2 a.m., the three of us worked in alternating hours, and I even prepared meals for myself. “Don’t say you’re tired,” I said a lot. You’ll love your work when you approach it with passion.
Our sales were about two million at last year and they are expected to exceed one million in the first half of this year. We continued to grow and our finances have steadily recovered from the bottom. Despite their small size, these figures demonstrate my progress.
Adversity serves as the furnace that shapes the new and the fire that eliminates the past.
God provided me another benefactor when I was at my lowest. “Are you serious?” asked She Rises founder GG Wong. Let’s take off together after that. She became my closest friend and helped Diamond Phoenix enter a new phase, providing wellness and beauty services around-the-clock, making it a “home” for working women as well as a comfortable haven for new mothers.
I’ve always held the view that adaptability is a wise transformation rather than a compromise; it’s perseverance in the face of change.
Light can only shine after the fire.
I can tell you this based on three chapters of my life: Women’s worth isn’t a label or a predetermined response.
It’s the environment that we gradually build.
I am an entrepreneur, a mother, a daughter
In addition, I am a Diamond Phoenix, having been raised from the ashes.
When combined with the flexibility’s power,
Let’s create a fresh definition of womanhood for the modern world.