[Power K-Women] "Strangeness and Fear Are Obstacles to Overcome, Business Goal Is Women's Health Rights"

From Disney Distribution Team Director to Startup CEO
After Contemplating Positive Impact... Challenges Organic Sanitary Pad Business
Overcoming Immigrant Hardships with Positive Mindset
Early Business Struggles Overcome Through Friendship with Co-founder
Expanding Beyond Sanitary Pads to Tampons, Pantyliners, and Acne Care Products
"Our Goal Is to Become a Company That Supports Women for Life"

Editor's NoteAsia Economy will select women who are active not only in Asia but around the world as 'Power K-Women' at the Women's Leaders Forum to be held this October. We have chosen individuals who have overcome and broken down barriers such as race, borders, and disabilities as 'Power K-Women.' This is to widely promote the value of those who have not been intimidated by discrimination or confined by boundaries but have fought back, and to convey new values of leadership to youth and women. Their stories will provide comfort to a weary world, become role models for someone, and give the community the strength to move forward again.
Date｜ October 19, 2022 (Wednesday) 9:00 AM ~ 5:20 PM
Venue｜ Crystal Ballroom, Lotte Hotel, Sogong-dong (2F)

‘Good Influencer’

Six years ago, the word suddenly came to Baek Yang-hee, who was working as a director in the distribution team at Disney Studios. At that time, Baek Yang-hee was responsible for setting Disney's film distribution strategy according to the media strategies of major U.S. companies such as Google, Amazon, and Apple. The work was certainly enjoyable. She was recognized and had the ambition to climb higher. Yet, the emptiness in one corner of her heart grew larger. "Having worked in the U.S. entertainment industry for nearly eight years, I thought it might be good to come back to Korea and handle K-POP or dramas. But above all, I was deeply pondering what kind of work could have a positive influence on people." Meeting two women marked a turning point in Baek Yang-hee's life: Agnes Ahn, a writer, and Won Bin-na, a designer who had worked at a California design company.

The first meeting with Agnes Ahn was during an interview to highlight the lives of successful Korean Americans. Although it was a work meeting, the two chatted as if they were old friends. The conversation turned to U.S. sanitary pads. They thought, "It might be good to target the U.S. organic sanitary pad market." The U.S. sanitary pad market was monopolized by a few large companies, and there was much dissatisfaction among female consumers due to the lack of proper ingredient disclosure. It was a promising business. Agnes Ahn proposed the business to Baek Yang-hee. Wanting to become a good influencer, Baek accepted the proposal and joined the startup that Agnes Ahn and Won Bin-na were preparing.

Startups often fail even when founded by family or friends, so starting a business with women met in society and in an unfamiliar industry was inevitably a risky venture. Despite the dangerous beginning, Baek Yang-hee's heart started to race and she became excited at the thought of creating a global brand for women. Baek said, "Although it was a small start, the idea of creating a global brand for women made my heart race and I got excited. Even though it was completely different from my previous career, I was inspired to take on the challenge and started the business with a writer and a designer."

Strangeness often comes with fear. Baek Yang-hee was different. It had been that way since she immigrated. When her father, a banker, was assigned to New York, middle school student Baek followed him to the U.S. She had been a popular student in Korea but suddenly became an immigrant who was not fluent in English and unpopular. Coupled with adolescence, it was honestly not easy to overcome. She overcame the hardships of being an immigrant with a unique positive mindset. Like Korean Americans born in the U.S., she studied English hard and approached friends without hesitation. Later, she returned to Korea, entered Seoul National University, and completed an MBA at Harvard University. Baek said, "As a child, I thought everything would go my way if I just went to Harvard, but to work in Hollywood, which was my goal, I had to compete with 900 students. Each time, I adapted to American society by thinking positively that I just needed to do twice as much as others and preparing steadily and fiercely."

Friendship with Co-founders Was the Driving Force to Overcome Crisis... "I Want to Build a Company Women Can Be Proud Of"

Women’s Forum Interview_Baek Yang-hee, CEO of Rael./Provided by Rael Korea

When founding ‘Rael,’ Baek Yang-hee became the CEO. Running a company was not possible with just positive thinking. In the early days of the business, funds ran short. Anxiety and nervousness surged. She had to show confidence and conviction in front of investors. Stress she had never experienced and thought she could not overcome came flooding in. The friendship with co-founders Agnes Ahn and Won Bin-na became the driving force to overcome the crisis. CEO Baek said, "When there was nowhere to share my hardships, we would come together saying ‘It will be okay’ and pull ourselves together. Having people you can trust and talk to like this is a very good thing."

Currently, Agnes Ahn serves as Rael's Chief Creative Officer (CCO), and Won Bin-na is the Chief Product Officer (CPO). ‘Rael’ is considered a successful U.S. startup case. Six months after selling organic sanitary pads through Amazon in 2017, it achieved sales of 2 billion KRW. They are challenging all product categories related to women's hygiene and skincare, including tampons, pantyliners, acne care products, cleansers, and toners. The number of subscription members has reached 100,000, and sales have increased eightfold during that time. Recently, they received a $35 million (approximately 48.7 billion KRW) Series B investment from venture capital firms including Shinsegae's venture capital company. CEO Baek still works about 100 hours a week these days. Whether watching the news or movies, she constantly thinks about how to connect them to the business.

CEO Baek says, "Rael's goal is not just to be a sanitary pad company but to be a company that accompanies women throughout their lives." The goal is to create a company "where women can be proud to work." Among the 40 employees at the U.S. headquarters, 36 are women. Each employee is empowered and allowed to do whatever they want. Baek said, "There are employees who grow beyond expectations through this process. I hope women take away good careers and valuable experiences while working at this company."

CEO Baek's ultimate goal is to guarantee women's health rights. Even now, many people in the U.S. cannot afford sanitary pads. California has passed a bill to provide sanitary pads for free like toilet paper in public schools. Rael also donates sanitary pads and other products to homeless women and single mothers as a company, but she believes society as a whole needs to pay attention to women's menstrual rights. Baek said, "There needs to be a movement so that anyone can easily access sanitary pads or tampons even if they don't have money. I heard that such movements are still rare in the Korean government. If we all pay attention to women's menstrual rights together, women will not lose their health and society will become happier."

▲Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Seoul National University ▲Harvard MBA ▲Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Consultant ▲Director of Distribution Team at Disney Studios ▲Founder and CEO of Rael