Kicking off our Liberty Ladies series is Katrina Taib and Lin Tan, co-founders of not 1, but 2 businesses; Aloha Cycle Club & RubberDuck. The pair first ventured into business together with RubberDuck, an alfresco café in Plaza Damas famous for its charming ambience, healthy smoothie bowls and good coffee. In January 2017, the pair then set out on a new adventure with Aloha Cycle Club, an indoor cycling studio, along with 2 other partners; Emily Preiss and May Tan. Running one business is hard enough, but two? We just knew we had to include Katrina & Lin in our list of Liberty Ladies 😉
From L-R: Lin, Katrina, Emily & May
1. What have been the biggest challenges for both of you as female entrepreneurs?
We can’t say that we faced any specific challenges that were related to being female entrepreneurs. When we started both Aloha and Rubberduck, we worked with a mostly female crew. Our business partners, contractor, design head, HR team, company secretary, instructors and so on were all female. Working with all these accomplished women was and still is a great experience and we have always felt that women understand the softer elements of running and starting a business. Women listen and relate well. They take the time to explore a different perspective which is integral in creating a successful team that works well together.
2. What have you found the most rewarding about setting up Aloha and RubberDuck?
Meeting the people that we have and building meaningful relationships with people that started off as strangers are definitely experiences that make the hard times worthwhile, and the good times even better. It’s also such a magical feeling when ideas come into fruition and you know that it’s because you’re surrounded by such a good team that things you dream up together can become reality.
Cosy interior in RubberDuck Café at Plaza Damas, KL
3. What motivated both of you to launch Aloha and RubberDuck?
Passion initiated the creation of both businesses but curiosity, persistence and hard work has kept it going.
4. Who are the female entrepreneurs that both of you look up to?
Gosh so many, for different reasons but if we had to choose one lady it would be Oprah Winfrey.
Aloha Cycle Club at Plaza Damas, KL - adjacent to RubberDuck.
5. If both of you are not running RubberDuck and Aloha, what would you both be doing?
We’d be on holiday! :) All of us have our roots in different industries so you could say that we’d still be in those fields. However, it’s more likely that we’d be thinking of different entrepreneurial ideas and working at executing those.
We don't know about you, but the idea of going for a spin class at Aloha Cycle followed by a hearty smoothie bowl at RubberDuck directly after is awfully tempting right now. 😋 Gtg, we've got some plans to make!RubberDuck Cafe Address: Lot K-0-8B, Ground Floor, Dorchester Service Apartment, Plaza Damas, 60 Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, 50480, Kuala Lumpur Opening Hours: Daily, 8am - 6pm Phone: 03-6206 1832 Aloha Cycle Club
