Our Story
How We Begin
SweetLife & Co. was born out of a deeply personal journey. Our founder, Anna, was struggling with her mental health due to an unhealthy working environment and immense family pressures.
In 2017, the weight of these challenges prompted her to make a bold decision: to leave it all behind.
In the midst of this upheaval, Anna discovered her passion in arts and floristry significantly improved her mental well-being. As she delved deeper, she found a sense of purpose that soon blossomed into a full-fledged career.
Two Is Better Than One
But it wasn’t just Anna’s journey alone. Alongside her stood UT, her boyfriend turned husband and eventual co-founder of SweetLife & Co. π©ββ€οΈβπ¨
Do you ever think how we brand our name – SweetLife & Co.? If thatβs tickle you, read our brand story.
Up Till Today, We’re Still Humbled by Our Journey
In 2017, after leaving the corporate world, Anna started to follow her passion in art illustration, incorporating preserved flowers into her art pieces, as well as floral arrangement.
Here’s some of her art pieces that uses the combination of water colour art and preserved flowers
We never expect the preserved flowers art workshop respond was so overwhelming!
And, as a creator, we really wanted to thank Hin Market for giving us a platform to showcase our product and talent.
People do cafe hopping, but we do pop-up market hopping
We Started with RM5,000
Things turn out to be positive, especially people love Anna’s floral arrangement.
In December 2019, with only RM5,000 (all that we can afford to fork out), we decided to start our entrepreneur journey and humbly launched SweetLife & Co.
We still remembered when we deliver our first order. Both of us reached the delivery location one hour earlier to make sure we don’t failed our customer. Those were the days….
You might wonder, where do the RM5,000 go to?
We’ll be very transparent with you…
RM2,000 were used for Anna to attend a beginner florist workshop. Since all the while her floristry skills were self-taught, so we think it was good to attend one.
RM1,500 for marketing and promotion.
And the rest were used it as our working capital.
Our Dream Crushed After 3 Months
The journey was not without its hurdles. Just three months after starting SweetLife & Co., the COVID-19 pandemic struck, forcing us to temporarily cease operations until 2022.
During this challenging period, Anna turned to selling lunch boxes to financially sustain herself and her dreams while UT took his full-time marketing job in one of a MNC in Penang.
Both our resilience and determination never wavered, and in January 2022, SweetLife & Co. reopened.
We Have To Restart Everything and Bloom Again
When we reopened, we rented a modest 10ft x 10ft room, no chiller, no aircond – not a fancy florist workplace you could ever imagine.
But as the business grew, we moved into a decently equipped studio in Georgetown, Penang.
To date, we grew from one-man-show operations to 5 team members.
The Drive to Keep Blooming
At SweetLife & Co., we believe that nothing is impossible.
Our journey has been marked by significant challenges, but our grit and the continuous improvement of our team keep us moving forward.
We are inspired by the progress we see in ourselves and in the people around us every day. This relentless pursuit of growth and betterment is always at the heart of SweetLife & Co.
