"YOU name it, I've tried it all! The GM (General Motors) diet, intermittent fasting and whatever plan you can possibly think of to lose weight," begins Tiew Xin Yu, or Rebecca, as she prefers to be called.
Continuing, the indefatigable 25-year-old declares with a disarming laugh: "In the end, it just ended up affecting my mental health. Essentially, I was starving myself."
Her experience with poor body image and dieting began when she was a mere teenager. But these very issues would later inspire her to launch her handmade chocolate business called Soul Good, which is currently based in Johor Baru.
The eldest child in a family of five, Tiew shares that she was really obsessed with dieting, her body and how she looked when she was younger. Wryly, she confides: "Even when I was 15 or 16, I wanted to get 11-line abs. I was once into strict dieting, which involved eating raw broccoli and tofu only."
That worked for a while until she started experiencing health issues.
"At one point, I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome)," she recalls, her brows furrowing, before adding: "With all the extreme dieting and reducing my sugar intake, it made me crave sweets even more, which subsequently led to binge eating. When I had PCOS, I gained weight and started getting acne and developing an intense craving for sugar."
All this happened while she was working in a multinational food and beverage company in Kuala Lumpur. Although she enjoyed working in the capital (apart from the traffic, she's quick to add), Tiew wasn't exactly adopting a healthy lifestyle.
"My desk was always stuffed with chocolates because I was constantly buying them!" she concedes sheepishly. Before long, Tiew's weight ballooned to 73kg and she was overweight. "I became very depressed," she declares, her voice dipping low.
What was even more worrying was the disruption to her menstrual cycle, which led her to consult a doctor. "I was afraid that it would affect my fertility and ability to have children in future. I may be single now, but back then, I was really worried," shares Tiew, chuckling good-naturedly.
She was prescribed medication and not long after, Tiew decided to embark on a keto diet. "The combination (of medication and keto) really helped with my recovery. I learnt not to be too strict with dieting and counting my calories all the time."
However, Tiew was still bent on finding a solution for herself. "I wanted to find a way to enjoy chocolates and curb my cravings instead of consuming chocolates too much, which mostly have high sugar content," she shares.
Adding, she says: "I discovered that once I started consuming my own chocolate, I didn't have such bad cravings. I even started losing weight. There was no stress or binge eating. From then on, I vowed that there'd be no more strict dieting for me!"
BIRTH OF SOUL GOOD
These days, Tiew continues to help out with the family business, particularly in digital marketing. She describes her father as somewhat semi-retired; he still runs his own business and is ably supported by Tiew's mother.
With no one in the family actually having any kind of experience running a food-related business, our conversation in the near-empty, quiet kopitiam soon led to the question of how she ended up making chocolates.
"My father wanted me to study and get a corporate job," she replies somewhat matter-of-factly. While studying in university, she coincidently took a side job selling protein balls made from dates.
"After I graduated, I thought there must be women out there who faced the same issues as me with body image, PCOS and dieting. I wanted to help these women. I wasn't even thinking about making money or turning it into a business at the time. I just wanted to test my business idea."
However, she was soon faced with a challenge: The protein balls that she sold had a short shelf life.
"I consulted a food scientist, who advised me to use chocolate coating to extend the shelf life of my products," divulges Tiew, expression earnest. Adding, she says: "But there's pros and cons. The pros are that they taste good and do have a longer shelf life. The con? I needed a chiller to store the finished products."
It was the onset of the pandemic that led her to turn her endeavour into a proper business. She took approximately a year to formulate her products through extensive research and development.
"Malaysians are usually not too concerned about their fibre and protein intake," declares Tiew, adding: "But I wanted my products to have a higher fibre and protein content." Starting the business by bootstrapping, she used up her personal savings of RM10,000 to launch Soul Good chocolates in 2020.
Tiew wants her business to be founded on the philosophy of embracing life without restrictions, guilt or self-doubt. This may be achieved by loving one's soul and being able to freely indulge while moving away from deprivation and guilt. She explains that she's driven to advocate against the dieting culture.
"If we're constantly restricting ourselves, it's going to affect our mental health. You deprive yourself, then you feel unhappy. And when you fail, you become frustrated and stressed, and then you gain a lot of unwanted weight. What good does that do? This is what I have been through myself."
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
With a thoughtful expression, Tiew says: "Some customers expect instant availability and delivery. However, Soul Good chocolates are not produced by machines; they're freshly handmade. This takes time.
"That said, I'm trying to improve my inventory to meet demand. There are no preservatives, so I need a chiller to store the products. Luckily, they sell quite fast, so storage isn't a huge problem."
Her biggest challenge is marketing. Shares Tiew: "I'm just starting out, so I don't have a big team to focus on marketing to get the word out." She's had to be creative to overcome these challenges.
"Time management is important," she elaborates, adding: "I'm handling my parents' business and my own business, and now, I'm also running a café with my younger sister. I need to be resilient. When problems arise, I need to be calm and think through the solutions."
And she's grateful to her family for their unwavering support.
Beaming, Tiew shares: "My mother and sister have been helping me, especially when I don't have enough workers to run the business. Basically, I need to have people helping me — from making the chocolates to packing them, and of course, the social media marketing. All these little things really helped my business, which is still essentially a start-up."
FINDING THE SWEET SPOT
Curious, I ask Tiew about the difference between Soul Good chocolates and other brands.
She smiles, before replying: "From a young age, we've been surrounded by different types of snacks. There's no wrong or right. My chocolates are crafted on the beliefs and values that it's all about making a better choice for ourselves and taking care of our bodies."
It's for this reason that Tiew is selective about what goes into her products. "I don't use preservatives," she declares proudly, before telling me that she only utilises natural and raw ingredients, such as almonds, dates and peanuts.
And of course, these ingredients don't come cheap. "Some customers have mentioned that our chocolates are expensive compared with other types," she laments, before swiftly adding: "It's because of the premium ingredients!" Presently, Soul Good chocolates come in two varieties.
"I use peanut butter for the filling because it's widely accepted in the market, and many of us grew up with peanut butter in our homes," elaborates Tiew. She has created two sub-varieties: one has a smooth texture and the other, a crunchy one.
"Of course, this isn't for people with nut allergies," she cautions swiftly. Tiew confides: "We're definitely looking to introduce nut-free products for our customers in the future."
MAINTAINING A BALANCE
To avoid being burned out by the growing demands of her business, the fledgling chocolatier makes it a point to allocate time for herself.
"Me time is so important," exclaims Tiew, adding: "We need to be self-aware and give ourselves that free time too, even if it's just a few minutes of sitting down and having a cup of tea."
Regardless of how busy she gets, Tiew ensures that she commits herself to working out three times a week, for between 30 minutes to an hour each time. "I either run, walk or go to the gym, just to keep myself physically active. I believe that you should do whatever you enjoy doing."
Aside from exercising, she also enjoys reading self-development books and autobiographies.
Returning our chat back to her business, Tiew concedes earnestly: "It is really a lot of work. My team and I can produce 400 pieces a day, but that's from 10pm to 6pm making the fillings and coating the products with chocolates. They're all individually hand-rolled into a ball, which takes a long time."
Her endeavour has since grown from a home-based business to operating in a halal-certified commercial kitchen. Tiew continues to be driven by her belief that one does not need to resort to dieting and deprivation to attain their weight goals.
"I want all, especially women out there, to understand that you don't need to starve yourself to achieve your body goals. Instead, prioritise your health — not your body image. This is why my company's tagline is 'Counting blessings, not calories'," she concludes with a gentle smile.
As she continues to roll out her plans for meeting a higher demand for her chocolates and creating new products, sweet success looks certain to be in the cards for this vivacious young entrepreneur.
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