COMING INTO HER OWN WITH RACHEL LIM,
FOUNDER, LOVE BONITO

In 2005, three Singaporean teenagers set up a secondhand clothes blog.

They didn’t realize it at the time, but it laid the framework for this multi-million dollar empire, one of the largest omni-channel womenswear brands in Southeast Asia, that has gone global, delivering to 18 countries with its most recent pop-up store in SoHo New York.

This week we dive into the story of Love, Bonito, in the business of serving the modern Asian women; which last raised a $50M Series C in 2021 led by Primavera Capital Group, China’s second-largest private-equity firm which previously invested in Alibaba and ByteDance.

We chat with Love Bonito’s co-founder Rachel Lim about risking her mother’s entire savings to overcoming jealousy of her new CEO and finding herself as a leader even as they scale profits, revenues, and markets, and build to an exit for their investors.

This is a conversation you don’t want to miss.

Some notable quotables from RACHEL:

1. take that leap of faith

“I knew that I needed to strike when the iron is hot. I’ve always believed in this concept that before we fire the cannonball, we fire bullets.”

Despite her father facing bankruptcy, her mother already juggling multiple jobs to keep the family afloat, and a huge sum owed to the Singaporean government that she had a scholarship from should she drop out of university,

Rachel decided to do so to pursue what she saw as a business opportunity. 

2. really understanding the product – beyond fashion

“Fashion is just a vehicle for us and an important vehicle for us to reach out to women. 

But ultimately, at the end of the day, what we’re really interested in is helping women discover who she is through their style, through expressing themselves, to embracing all of themselves, whether is it physical or whatever insecurities we might have of ourselves, and then to finally step into the largest versions of ourselves, the highest potential of ourselves.”

3. RACH DECIDING TO STEP DOWN AS CEO, AND HIRE DIONE

“And for me, it’s just a very objective decision that I just want to do what’s best for the company.”

But it took her a moment to get over her jealousy:

“In her role as CEO, I could not use this term enough, ‘like a fish in water’. She commanded the room, she commanded everything and everyone. And I was like ‘Wow, Dione’. I needed to excuse myself and in the corner of the office, let it all out. I was the co-founder, wasn’t I supposed to be good at this or better at this?”

She acknowledged the need to surround herself with people smarter than her and built a team based on complementary strengths. Rachel’s decision to bring in Dione as Love Bonito’s CEO has been instrumental in propelling the company’s growth and reaching its true potential.

4. THE IMPORTANCE OF STRATEGIC INVESTORS

“Money is just one of the benefits that you get from having a VC or investor on board. I think what’s important is also that strategic help that they can bring to the table to propel your business in a shorter amount of time than you could have done it by yourself.”