Spotlight Series: Interview with Dalayphone Sayasithsena, SAYA Founder
“Be the person you want to have in your life.”
— Dalayphone Sayasithsena (Gabi), SAYA Founder
In this interview, Dalayphone Sayasithsena (Gabi) shares her journey with us as the founder of SAYA in Laos. She shares her experiences as a female entrepreneur and how she has grown to manage and motivate her team.
Introduce yourself and your current role or startup.
I am Dalayphone Sayasithsena (Gabi), the founder of the SAYA brand.
Where are you from? What is your background?
I’m from the Vientiane capital, Laos. I earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations at the National University of Laos and a Master’s degree in International Communication and Development.
Who are your biggest inspirations?
My biggest inspirations are MUJI and Ichizawa Shinzaburo Hanpu (a Japanese brand). While they are not 100% social enterprises, they support talented local producers, serve good products to customers and know how to keep a company running. They inspired me to create Lao products by using our own materials which are hand-woven cotton with natural dyes. We not only support local producers in Laos, but we also provide jobs for Lao women in rural areas and at the same time, keep the hand-woven culture alive for the next generation.
What lessons have you learnt as a female entrepreneur?
Being an entrepreneur is not easy for me as I had to learn how to be a good leader who could think critically, carry more responsibilities, plan for the future of SAYA, and take care of my team as we continue to grow bigger. There are still many things and skills that I still need to improve on, and I won’t stop improving myself as the big sister of the SAYA team.
What are some of the challenges, biases or barriers you have encountered thus far?
One of the challenges that we faced early on was building teamwork. As we now have 10 members in SAYA, it’s difficult to ensure that everyone is on the same page and working towards a common goal, especially in terms of quality control. Things are better now, compared to our first month of operations; everyone is better at communicating, listening, and are more respectful of each other’s ideas. It’s good to see how things have changed in just a month!
Another challenge is working with local weavers from across 10 provinces. Sometimes local weavers cannot supply fabrics to us on time because creating hand-woven cotton fabrics is not their main job. Some of the villages also have their own traditions, such as how everyone has to stop working when someone passes away in their village until the funeral is finished. Thus, our team has to make plans for designing and ordering fabric up to 6 months in advance to stock up on fabrics. But these are fun challenges that make the team active and think all time.
Who is your role model?
My role model is my late grandfather, Mr Tham SAYASITHSENA. When I was a child, I always spent my time playing with my grandparents because my parents were busy working. My grandfather did many things for Laos; he was honest, responsible, kind and gentle to everyone. He worked hard for our family and taught my sibling and me how to be strong and survive. A story that touched my heart was when my grandfather offered his land to the local people (who were poor families) to use for farming, providing them with the knowledge of agriculture at the same time. As a result, the local people could make a living and take care of their own families. My grandfather did the same for other places too.
It was a small project but I could see that it had a great effect on the local people.
My grandfather never stopped working and learning until he was 97 years old. He told me: everything is possible if you believe in your goals, have faith in yourself and just do it, one step at a time.
When I feel a bit down or exhausted from my work, I always think of him to cheer myself up. My grandfather used to work ten times harder than me, yet he would not rest till his last breath. He said he was born to provide opportunities for people and make an impact on this country.
How do you motivate and lead your team?
I motivate my team by sharing with them the value of the product we make, the value of the job, and the impact we have on the local weavers, like increasing their livelihoods so that they can afford food and send their children to school. Another important thing that I always tell my team is to also think about the customers, “all products that are delivered to customers must be of good quality and be of use to them”.
What we do is not only for profit but also to create more job opportunities for those in this field.
What is the greatest risk you have undertaken?
I think the greatest risk for me was forming SAYA and its concept. We didn’t know if we could attract customers as our products’ style (timeless and minimalist design) is very new to the Lao market and the costs of production are high. Luckily, the COVID-19 pandemic was an opportunity in disguise, as Lao people were consuming more products online. We were able to build a strong customer base of people who believed, trusted in our products and would return to our shops again.
Any final words of wisdom?
Be the person you want to have in your life. If you want a quality team, become a quality leader. Don’t stop improving yourself.
