This Ex-OCBC CMO left her job to sell resistance bands

Previously a Senior Director at McDonald’s Singapore and Managing Partner at DDB Asia, Yvonne Low was the Chief Marketing Officer, Group Marketing, Global Consumer Financial Services at OCBC Bank when she stepped down in 2020.

“After nearly 25 years in the corporate world, I realised that a nice pay check every month should not be the only reason for staying in a job. I was pretty burnt out by then and decided it was time to check out,” says the 48-year-old.

“Also, I have an elderly mom suffering from dementia and two young daughters, and during that time, my elder daughter was going to have her PSLE while my younger daughter was diagnosed with a heart condition that required many visits to the doctor’s.”

She hadn’t quit with a plan in mind but, determined to not be a stay-at-home mum, pursued a personal trainer certification. This in turn inspired her to do something fitness related, which eventually led to a decision to sell resistance bands and Band of Sisters was launched in November last year.

Suffice it to say, Yvonne has had to adapt to a new lifestyle in the process, but if anything, she is driven by purpose. She opens up about why she decided to focus on resistance bands, how her products differ from others in the market and the biggest challenge she faced as an entrepreneur.

She realised that many people do not engage in strength training

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After earning her personal trainer certification in February 2021, Yvonne started exploring the use of various types fitness equipment to facilitate her workouts. It was then that she chanced upon resistance bands and realised that they were “not only great for flexibility exercises, but were amazing for strength training workouts”.

“However, when I spoke to my female friends, I realised that many of them do not engage in any form of strength training workout as they believed that strength training is for men who want to bulk up. They were unaware of the importance of strength training for building healthy bones and muscles that can reduce the risk of falls, injury and even osteoporosis,” she explains.

Having experienced the benefits of resistance bands, she wanted to “give back”. This made her decide on becoming a market player to encourage more women to incorporate simple strength training exercises with a highly affordable and accessible fitness tool.

The appeal is in the designs

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Yvonne works with a designer to design the bands and the inspiration for the three collections that have since been released were based on her love for marble, terrazzo and nature.

“Aesthetics is the core of our products. People like beautifully-designed things because they satisfy our senses beyond simple function, and visually appealing band can not only make them happy, but also motivate them to take action through a workout,” she says.

She adds that the brand’s signature products are the fabric bands that are gentle on the skin and feature a non-slip grip on the reverse side, but that they also carry a range of natural latex mini-loop bands and latex flat bands that are perfect for exercises that require a wider range of motion and stretch.

And she makes sure to use her own products at least three times a week — the regularity of her workouts.

“To warm up my muscles, I usually start with some shoulder flexibility exercises using a latex mini-band or a latex flat band. When I am doing barbells, I use the resistance bands as a finisher to work my abs and glutes. On days where I am rushing for time, I squeeze in a 15-minute full-body workout with just the bands.”

Her biggest challenge was picking up new skills

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To roll out her venture, Yvonne had to learn new skills including content creation, customer enquiry management, business development and order fulfilment.

“As a former CMO who was so used to having teams and cross-functional departments cover different aspects of the business like sourcing, quality control and customer service, it was a challenge for me to embrace the fact that I no longer have those resources. Plus, I had to learn how to multi-task and be solely accountable for all the decisions I make,” she muses.

But while daunted at first, she chose to rise up to the challenges.

“As an entrepreneur, you must bounce back faster to find immediate solutions. You should also not be afraid to ask for help from friends and family.”

Be willing to roll up your sleeves to get things done

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At present, Yvonne is working on establishing a stronger brand presence through fitness- and lifestyle-related partnerships and collaborations, but an expansion of production range is in the pipeline.

Her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs? Have patience and enjoy the process.

“Have the discipline to focus on mission-critical priorities and be flexible to changes. Always revert back to your brand mission and purpose to remind you of why you started the business and to guide you in your decision making process,” she says.

“Starting an online business looks easy, but to do it well and ensure its sustainability is a lot of hard work. There are a lot of unknowns and there is no textbook to teach you everything you need to know. Be humble, inquisitive and willing to roll up your sleeves to get things done.”

This article was first published in Her World Online.