Chris Cooper – 1,756 Words
Facebook @ Christal Ann Rice Cooper
Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend
“Before our time hand wipes were tiny little things
that you needed ten of just to clean your finger tips. Our wipes by comparison are seven times
larger and substantially thicker; it’s like a linen towel. Just as diamonds are the best in the jewelry
world, Diamond Wipes are the top of the line in our world.
And Diamond International Company is the one to bring
it to you. Diamonds truly are a woman’s
best friend.”
Eve Yen
Entrepreneur Eve Yen never dreamed of becoming a
business-person in her native Taiwan.
Instead she dreamed of becoming a singer, a teacher, wife and
mother.
Yen, the oldest of two brothers and one sister, was
born in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan and given the name Hsiao I which means elegant,
slender bamboo. She described her home
life as very comfortable, happy and never lacking in love or affection.
Her favorite memories of childhood
are of her father’s vespa scooter, which she described as being identical to
the one with which Gregory Peck courted Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.
“Every Sunday my father would
take us to the beach. My parents were
both good swimmers, a skill which I inherited from them. In later years, I would use this talent by
joining my high school and college swim teams.
I also inherited my father’s Vespa, and his passion for it, and rode it
throughout my high school and college years.”
Her father
supported the family by becoming a police officer at the age of 17. By the time she was three years old, her
father quit in order to venture into the world of business.
“He worked
for a shipping company at first and later become a distributor for apple
cider. It was a very popular drink at
that time. He later became involved in
the real estate business and this was his transition to becoming an
entrepreneur and a businessperson. I
think I inherited those characteristics from him.”
Unlike her father, Yen’s first
business was at a very young age – when she was in the fifth grade:
“I went to
the store and bought a whole bag of candy.
They were marble style candies that looked just like children’s
marbles. I then sold the candy
piece-by-piece to my friends and classmates.
That was fun.”
She proved her
leadership skills and financial savvy while in college where she sold
newspapers and designed and sold the school icon pin. She was also president of the Girl Scout Club
and vice president of her class.
“When I joined the club they were
almost broke but when I left there, they had savings in the bank that carried
them forward for years. I’m not into
money just for the sake of money but if there is a goal and a purpose then I
will try to find a way.”
Yen attended
National Chen- Kung University of Taiwan where she majored in Industrial
Management and learned how to set up and manage a production factory. She met her husband James, who was a graduate
student studying meteorological engineering, and they got married at 1979.
After graduating from NCKU, Yen
traveled to New York City to attend the New York Institute of Technology where
she received her Master’s Degree in Computer Science.
She worked for a
computer company only to find out that she was not a computer person but rather
a people person.
She left the computer business and decided to
open up her own business in Taiwan by distributing hot wipes, which were quite
popular in restaurants in Taiwan at the time.
Eventually, her girlfriend suggested that Yen come to the United States
to introduce hot wipes to an American audience.
Yen decided it
was time to go to America but not just to
sell the wet wipe but rather to find a good school for her daughter Vivian as
well as a nice neighborhood for the family to live.
"When Vivian was around junior high
age, my friend told me I should let her come to the United States to study
junior high, high school, and then get her into a better college. I didn’t want her to go to boarding
school. I didn’t want her to grow up by
herself. So, in 1994, I came looking for
schools and a place to live that would be close so Vivian could walk to
school.”
Yen found a nice neighborhood in
Rowland Heights, California and has been living there since 1995.
While Vivian was in school, Yen found
that she had time on her hands, and she also learned that hot wipes were
virtually unknown in the United States.
She set up an office and made a business plan and developed a business
budget to see if selling the hot wipes in America was feasible. She also went back to New York City and other
major U.S. cities to study the market.
“In the beginning, my concept was to
come here to sell a hot towel; one that you could microwave and put in a warmer
and serve to customers. At the time, hot
towels like that were only used in restaurants in Taiwan. Many told me that it wouldn’t work because American
people don’t use hot towels. Others
however said, “You have a great product so create the opportunity.”
“I therefore started calling on
restaurants door-to-door, and I began attending trade shows. The first and second year I did fourteen
trade shows per year, educating consumers and restaurant owners about the
disposable hot towel concept. Whenever I
gave away samples people would say, “Wow! This is very cool.” So I knew there was a market.”
In 1994, Yen established the Diamond
Wipes International Company. Yen began
her operation with one machine in a 1,700 square foot warehouse in El Monte,
California.
“The first four years we made some
money, but we kept putting it back into the business. We didn’t break even until the fourth
year. Since then every year we’ve
experienced a double-digit growth in sales.”
In 1996, DWI expanded the El Monte
warehouse to 3,500 square feet and added two machines. In 1997, DWI moved its headquarters to a
7,000 square foot warehouse, adding three machines and started contract
packaging projects.
“Customers sometimes say, “Hey, I
have an idea. I want to do this kind of
wipe. I want to put this kind of
chemical in the wipes. Can we do
it? This led us to start offering
contract packaging and private labeling for our customers.”
In 2000, the
30,000 square foot San Gabriel plant opened with more machines. In 2002, DWI grew another 70%. In 2003, DWI received FDA license and grew
83%. In 2004, DWI moved into a state-of-the-art
100,000 square foot facility in Ontario, California. In 2006, an additional 65,000 square foot
facility was purchased in Bucyrus, Ohio.
“Since
2008, we have grown 85% in sales. We
also moved from Ontario to Chino giving us 30% more space, creating 35% more
jobs.”
DWI supplies wipes to major
restaurants chains such as Tony Roma’s, Applebee’s, Outback Steakhouse, and
major foodservices distributors. DWI
also private labeled for major cosmetic companies and chain stores such as
Wal-Mart, Target, Whole Foods, and PETCO.
Even though she’s worked hard at
success she insists nothing was ever planed.
“When the opportunity comes I just do it. When I was in college I only wanted to work 9
to 5 and take care of my family. I
never dreamed or thought: “Someday I
will become an entrepreneur and go to the United States to open my own
business.”
DWI is a family business: Yen’s daughter Vivian, 28, works for DWI and
Yen’s husband, James, also works at DWI.
Yen treats each employee like family too.
With the company’s growth and success Yen’s schedule
has eased a bit. She used to work
16-hour days, six days a week and would travel every two weeks, at one point
visiting four different countries within two weeks. Now she works seven hours per day and travels
only once a month on average. She normally
gets up at 6 a.m., makes breakfast, reads the newspaper, and watches The Today
Show. She is at the office by 9 a.m. and
consults with her accounting manager, marketing manager, general manager, sales
people, and visitors. DWI now has 120
employees and also operators from temp agencies.
Even though her work schedule is
slower paced, she thinks about work 24 hours a day.
“I dream about work when I am
sleeping.”
When not working she plays ping-pong
with her husband at least three times a week.
She loves to cook and packs the dishes (usually the classic Chinese
dish) into small packs to send to her younger daughter, Tiffany, who is a
graphic artist based out of Chicago. She
reads voraciously; both in English and Chinese. Other than business and management
related books, she also loves fiction like espionage. Presently she is reading Robert Ludlum. She likes to go to the movies and leans
toward movies like Untraceable and Michael
Clayton.
“Every
Sunday I reserve a little time for myself.
I get up early and go hiking in the park.”
Yen’s advice for want-to-be
entrepreneurs is to be confident and don’t let others tell you no or that your
idea is impossible; do your homework, study the markets, focus on the goal, get
an education, and constantly read and learn.
“It’s important to reserve time for
yourself each week to read something, whether to grow your mind or excite the
soul; reading is the key to much of my knowledge and success.”
Yen insists that
perhaps the most important thing one needs to do to become an entrepreneur is
to surround oneself with positive uplifting people. Yen is thankful to America for welcoming her
and to those who uplifted her and supported her business.
“Can you imagine any other country in
the world allowing a foreigner to come to their land, especially a woman, and
to bring a product that nobody’s heard about and start promoting it? I was never turned away because I was a woman
or because I was Asian. They American
people helped me tremendously and opened their arms to me. I look back and see how far I’ve come during
my fourteen years in America (and) I’m just so blessed. I feel so lucky that I’m doing business here
and raising my kids in this country. We
have a good life. And if you work hard
and treat people right, good things will come to you.”
Photo Description and Copyright Info. Photo 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7
Eve Yen. Copyright by Eve Yen. Photo 3.
Film Clip from Roman Holiday of Greogry Peck and Audry Hepburn. Public Domain.
Photo 8.
National Chen-Kung University of Tawain Logo.
Photo 9.
Diamond Wipes Logo
Photo 10.
Eve Yen holding Diamond Wipes products. Copyright by Eve Yen.
Photo 11.
Diamond Wipes logo.
Photo 12.
Dog wipes. Copyright by Eve Yen.
Photo 13.
Make up remover wipes. Copyright by Eve Yen.
Photo 14.
Nail polisher remover wipes. Copyright by Eve Yen.
Photo 15.
Diamond Wipes spouts. Copyright by Eve Yen.
Photo 16.
Dental Wipes. Copyright by Eve Yen.
