More than 10 years ago, the bubbly, effervescent and very creative Shen-Tel Lee, 41, was often seen at fashion parties and social events as she built two accessories brands, Bowerhaus (with sister Elizabeth Lee-Yong) and Sereni & Shentel (with fellow Kuchingite Sereni Linggi).
Both brands flourished and they are as colourful as their co-founder.
Bowerhaus is known for its elegant yet quirky accessories, ranging from bracelets to scarf rings. Sereni & Shentel, meanwhile, is famous for its gorgeous headbands that are cool enough to separate you from the crowd, but not loud enough to be fashionably outrageous.
With both brands growing steadily, Lee, who is also mother to Benjamin, 10, and Kingston, 8, has found it in her heart to venture into something else – community service.
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things, and one of it is how invested Lee has become in giving back.
Read more: For the Malaysian fashion industry, giving back to society is more than a trend
“What started very small grew through word of mouth and consistent acts of kindness from hundreds of donors and volunteers,” she says.
For two years, she worked on building a network that could inspire donors and empower local non-governmental organisations (NGO) to help families who were battling food insecurity.
“We still help hundreds of people monthly with food aid for various reasons, including rising cost of living, single parenting, disabilities, flash floods and fire,” she says.
What are you up to these days?
I still design daily for the brands I co-founded in Kuching. It is incredible to think that we started Sereni & Shentel in 2009 and Bowerhaus in 2010. It only feels like yesterday that we were making everything ourselves and hustling hard to be seen and heard beyond the Cat City.
We just opened The Playground Borneo in Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC) that houses both Sereni & Shentel and Bowerhaus as well other East Malaysia brands like Roa Skye, Heal and Poppies x Penan Women Project.
I want the Playground Borneo to be just that – a space to showcase the creativity and uniqueness of East Malaysia brands.
I think the new store really has something for everyone. Our latest project is the Mooncake Gift Set made together by Bowerhaus and Roa Skye.
As an accessory designer, which one do you adore and why?
All kinds of accessories get my heart racing, to be honest, because I really have a soft spot for everything from hats, earrings and headbands to shoes, necklaces and bags. I love them all!
For me, accessories add a personality to an outfit. They have the ability to spark conversations, stop traffic and even cause an outage.
Right now I am obsessed with hats, pony tail bows and oversized necklaces.
What are some favourites among your hijabi customers?
We have velvet polka-dot flock scarfs from Sereni & Shentel in an array of colours as well as timeless classic pearl scarf rings from Bowerhaus.
During Covid-19 days our best-selling item was the mask extender made for tudung wearers.
Our female Muslim customers also love our brooches. Also, one thing that they love is to pair a headband with their tudung and Sereni & Shentel headbands fit that look perfectly.
What do you do daily beyond designing for Bowerhaus and Sereni & Shentel?
I am also a full time volunteer at KFA, Bring It On and Kuching Community Service Support Centre (CSSC). These roles keep me grounded to the complexities and issues that plague many residents.
The KFA was formed to provide vulnerable families across Sarawak with food essentials by connecting donors directly with local supermarkets and NGOs to help pack and deliver them.
We didn’t have any administrative costs; all donations were spent directly on the aid. Volunteers gave their time to collect and deliver the aid at their own expense.
And how did Kuching CSSC come together?
The idea of a space where NGOs could operate came when we thought about what infrastructure was needed in our community.
We opened up communications with the Ministry of Welfare about our findings and both agreed that a community social support centre would be something that would help the community.
At the same time, my parents had put me in charge of renovating their four shop lots, to be turned into a retail and dining space. But I felt strongly that a community centre should be here, so I called and convinced them to donate the space for five years.
Looking back, it seems incredible that this three-year endeavour has finally come together.
It is far from done but the centre has brought together many local NGOs and welfare departments so they can help the community seamlessly.
What motivates you to help?
I will never forget how I felt after sending food aid to several families in Kuching. I saw families who had the biggest hearts and faith that things would get better, despite living in harsh conditions.
It left a huge impact and made me look into my world of privilege and ask myself: “How do I leverage what I know to make a difference?”
So many questions went through my mind and I felt a deep passion to want to do more, to commit and give my time.
After trial and error and by joining more missions and meeting more volunteers, I realised that raising awareness and inspiring individuals and companies to give back was the best way I could serve. Once I knew how, I ran with it and never looked back.
Read more: Bright and bold designs on local runways speak of Malaysia's diversity
What takes your time more these days, designing or social service?
Right now it is my volunteering work with KFA and Kuching CSSC, because there is still so much that we are building towards.
At the moment we are working on creating more community education programmes to help upskill individuals as well as “Learning is Fun”, a school tuition programme for children from the lowest B40 category who need additional learning support.
How has motherhood changed you?
Parenting is hard; there is no sugar-coating that. I have learnt that I can’t do it alone, that I need to ask for help when the going gets tough.
What I know is that motherhood changed me from being very indecisive to being razor sharp at listening and acting on my intuition. It has made me a far better boss and mentor than any training could.
What’s the most important lesson any mother should know?
To never lose yourself to parenting and motherhood. My mum taught me that it is so important to keep your passions and dreams alive.
She once said: “Eventually the kids will grow up and they don’t need you anymore, so you better not lose yourself to them. Always remember to put yourself first.” And you know what, she was right!
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