Winnie Wen-Chiung Yen talks about entrepreneurship

1. Winnie Wen-Chiung Yen, a Taiwanese girl from Changhua, is always smiling and caring, and has an open mind. She gives people the impression of a warm-hearted girl, while also a successful young entrepreneur. Winnie established Causeway Mercantile Ltd. in her thirties and was named "Global Junior Entrepreneurship Star" by the Overseas Community Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan) (OCAC).  Causeway Mercantile Ltd. is the first international trading company in Canada that integrates online retail, wholesale, and central kitchen production into one operating business. Its subsidiaries include Sang Yuan Online Market Inc., Ravishing Beauty, and The Origin.

2. In order to keep pace with market trends and expect the stay-at-home economy continuing to prosper post-pandemic, Winnie and her two friends established M2W Media live streaming e-commerce platform in 2020 to seize business opportunities during the pandemic. That strategy has proven to be successful. The main subsidiary launched on the platform, Sang Yuan Online Market Inc., has built its own logistics supply chain, and the Sang Yuan online shopping(symall.ca) offers a large variety of products including fresh fruit and vegetables, home appliances, electronics, and grocery products. Sang Yuan's large-scale warehouse and the 1000sq ft central kitchen are located in Richmond where transportation is convenient with highways and ports nearby.

3. When being asked about the motivation behind starting her own business, Winnie said that although she immigrated to Canada when she was a child, she travelled back to Taiwan every year with her parents who worked in construction, and because of her grandparents' wide connections in Taiwan, she had many opportunities visiting their friends who worked in agricultural and food manufacturing industries. Hence, she had always been wanted to promote Taiwan's high-quality agricultural products overseas. In 2016, Winnie and her husband established their company, and overcame the challenges of long-distance logistics and the Canadian government's strict requirements for importing agricultural products. The company has also grown from two people at the beginning to the current 10 employees working well together. In earlier 2021, when China declared a ban on the import of Taiwanese pineapples in a sudden announcement, citing the presence of harmful pests in the fruit, Winnie immediately imported Taiwanese pineapples and invested in research and development of making them into tasty and appealing pineapple cakes as a way of supporting Taiwan farmers.

4. In the first "Global Young Entrepreneur Star Competition" held by the OCAC, Winnie, representing Vancouver, was one of the 30 outstanding young entrepreneurs around the world to receive the honor of being named "Global Young Entrepreneur Star". Winnie was grateful to the OCAC for providing this opportunity that allowed her to meet with mentors from Taiwan for one-on-one consulting services for her company. In particular, she benefited a lot from the valuable advice on her e-commerce business. She believes this opportunity will help her business grow more prominently.

5. Winnie advised youths, "Believe in yourself, walk on the right path, and stick to your dreams! "Winnie is also dedicated to bringing high-quality products from all around the world to customers.  Influenced by her father, "In hard times, seek self-development; when successful, try to help others", Winnie always bears in mind  social responsibilities, and gives back to society whenever possible. She constantly reminds herself to never forgets her original intention and continues chasing her dreams!

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