I’ve been thinking about a question lately: what does it actually mean to build a brand.
The answer I keep coming back to is this — building a brand is less like telling time, and more like building the clock itself. A brand that only chases trends might catch attention for a while. But a brand that outlasts time needs something deeper: a clear mission, firm values, real expertise, and a system that keeps running even when the founder is no longer at the center of it.
When I founded LA’DERM in 2002, I wasn’t thinking about building something big. I was trying to solve a problem I kept seeing, day after day, as a beauty therapist. Women living in Malaysia’s heat and humidity dealt with excess oil, dehydration underneath that oil, sensitivity, clogged pores, pigmentation, premature aging. But most of the products on the market back then were formulated for temperate climates. I believed tropical skin deserved to be properly understood, and to have skincare built specifically for it. That belief became the starting point for LA’DERM.
In the early years, I did almost everything myself. I chose the products, listened to what customers needed, supported the therapists, solved whatever problem came up that day. For a brand just starting out, that’s natural.
I know that I am someone who often makes decisions intuitively. In the past, I did not always think through every system and process from the beginning. Over the years, my team has helped turn those instincts into structures that can be implemented, repeated, and sustained.
Going from doing everything myself to sitting down with a team, discussing, pushing back on each other, even being persuaded, that took a long time to get to.
My team is not simply a group of people I manage. They are the people who stand beside me, share the responsibility, and move forward with me.
A brand can’t rely on one person forever. A founder can set the vision, but a brand built to last needs a team, professional standards, education, and a system that keeps creating value for customers over time. I’ve come to understand that the real responsibility isn’t making yourself irreplaceable. It’s building something that keeps moving forward even when it doesn’t depend on any one person, including me.
Over the years, through countless real skin consultations, professional treatments, and feedback from our salon partners, our understanding of tropical skin has kept deepening. Every person’s skin is different, shaped by climate, lifestyle, age, stress, daily habits. We’ve never believed in treating everyone the same way. That’s why professional analysis, personalized care, and ongoing follow-up have always mattered to how we approach skin management. I care less about selling more product, and more about therapists truly understanding skin, giving advice they can stand behind, and building trust with customers that lasts.
Today, LA’DERM works with more than 400 salon partners across Malaysia. Every partner, every therapist, carries a part of this brand. Their expertise, their care, their consistency, that’s what actually shapes how customers experience LA’DERM. And my role has shifted along with it. I used to focus on developing products and building the brand. Now, I spend more of my time building people, systems, and opportunities, so the next generation can take LA’DERM further than I could ever take it alone.
I often say: the founder writes the first chapter. The team gives the story a future.
Trends will change. Technology will keep advancing. New products and platforms will keep appearing. But some things I want to stay the same, understanding real skin, offering real expertise, helping people become better than they were before.
A clock that outlasts time doesn’t just tell the hour. Its real purpose is to keep going.
Skin Better Than Before.
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