In October 1988, the signing of the “Women’s Business Ownership Act” marked a huge milestone for women entrepreneurs. This legislation allocated funding to establish women’s business centers nationwide, and facilitated the process for women to secure business loans without a male cosigner.

Since the passage of the Women’s Business Ownership Act, October has been celebrated as “National Women’s Small Business Month,” shining a spotlight on the tremendous impact and influence women entrepreneurs have in our communities.

To round out National Women’s Small Business Month, our MBDA Enterprising Women of Color Business Center shared two great stories of local women entrepreneurs from their Certification Cohorts. At YWCA O‘ahu, we are committed to providing resources and support to help women small businesses to succeed.

Stacey Leong, partner and founder of Stacey Leong Design (SLD) jumped at the opportunity to be a part of Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Enterprising Women of Color (EWOC) Business Center’s Certification Cohort 2 from February to April 2021.

Stacey holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa, where she met friend and co-owner of SLD, Karyn Yasui Lau. Both Stacey and Karyn have over 25 years of experience in the Graphic Design industry—working together at various well-known design studios and advertising companies in Honolulu.

Throughout their professional journey, they gained experience, an appreciation, and an understanding of what it takes to have a successful company while balancing family and created a stronger friendship along the way.

This dynamic duo’s big dreams of opening a studio and working together became reality in 2002 when Stacy first left her full-time job to open SLD and was later joined by Karyn in 2006.

“I realized I wanted to work with someone with similar experiences and goals as me. Since college, we always knew that we wanted to work together and open up our own design studio.

Keeping that conversation in mind, I called Karyn and asked her to take the leap with me” Stacey mentions. “That was the ultimate goal, and I couldn’t help but think what would be better than making this dream a reality,” Karyn added.

SLD is a design studio that focuses on creating meaningful connections directly with its audience. Their approach, style, and communication techniques in graphic design are distinct from their competitors.

Their niche lies in having a deep understanding and respect for Native Hawaiian culture and storytelling through design. “A lot of our clients are companies and organizations that focus on Native Hawaiian culture. Through our design, we transform the culture in a contemporary way that is thought-provoking, authentic, and respectful…” Stacey says

Their friendship is an important piece to the SLD story and the foundation of what they’ve built together. Their vast differences seen between their personalities only create a stronger bond as business partners.

When asked to describe each other, Karyn portrays Stacey as the “face of the company” and the energetic communicator who makes connections with the clients.

Stacey expressed that Karyn is the steady workhorse of SLD that provides the consistency and attention to detail need to be successful in their business.

When working with clients, SLD becomes partners in their company or organization. “We like to let our clients know that we are more than just their ‘hands’... we are also an outside resource for them to gain another perspective. We come from a place where we want to provide the best for our clients to ensure that they can attain their goals. Remaining respectful to our clients is our number one concern because they are the experts in what they do and vice versa.”

Stacey and Karyn expressed how they’ve always wanted to get SLD certified but finding the resources on how to do it was time-consuming. They were thrilled to learn about this opportunity that MBDA EWOC had to offer and signed up right away.

“We are so grateful to have the business center there to hold our hand through this process. It’s something we couldn’t imagine doing ourselves, but with the help of the MBDA team, we know we can accomplish this.”

SLD is in the beginning stages of getting its certification journey started. Stacey extends her gratitude towards the MBDA EWOC Business Center and the Villa Business Consulting Inc. (VBC Inc.) as they have been very helpful and understanding during this tedious certification process.

Stacey and Karyn’s piece of advice to aspiring women business owners:

“Believe in yourself. If you’re passionate about something, don’t let anything get in your way. Be confident in who you are, your skills, and what you’re doing. Have a solid foundation and team you trust, provide the best service, create successful design systems, and always remember to have fun!”