Interview with PSLove Founder, Peck Ying

I’m Peck Ying, the founder of The PSLove Company. I’ve always been intrigued at how curiosity can spark interest and how this interest can turn into passion that eventually effects change in the world.

At PSLove, we hope to effect change in women’s lives by creating products that provide relief to pains that could hinder them at different phases in life. Our flagship product, MenstruHeat, is a single-use heat therapy patch made specifically to provide women the comfort they need when faced with menstrual cramps. Combining heat therapy with an instant heating mechanism that is commonly used in products in “winter countries”, we have conceptualized and formulated MenstruHeat to follow a temperature curve that is suitable and targeted to ease menstrual pains – allowing therapeutic heat to be released within minutes and lasting for up to 12 hours.

Co-founders, Caleb and Peck Ying, understood what women were going through and strove for a solution - MenstruHeat was created.
Co-founders, Caleb and Peck Ying, understood what women were going through and strove for a solution.

What inspired you to start PSLove?

I saw my path to “starting up” when I realised that I felt most alive being around entrepreneurs and solving problems. I finally jumped into starting PSLove because for many months, I caught myself having to make urgent trips to the stores to pick up my monthly sanitary supplies – yes, PSLove initially started off as a period subscription service where we sent sanitary products to women every month. However, there were multiple challenges and we could not find the right product-market fit.

We eventually pivoted to creating our flagship product, MenstruHeat, when we realised how prevalent and recurring menstrual cramps are amongst our community of women; and yet there isn’t an ideal product that could bring them relief in a natural way. Since then, I’ve dedicated 2 years of my life to figuring out how to help females like myself ease menstrual pain – or to simply bring them the comfort they need when they are most helpless. We envisioned a non-medicinal product that could provide both comfort and relief to ease menstrual pain. One that is convenient to use anytime and anywhere in the day. And that was how MenstruHeat was born.

PSLove has come a long way since its inception, with its products now on the shelves of Guardian, 7-Eleven and all tertiary institutions in Singapore. Was there a time when things were not going the way you wanted and you felt like this was no longer worth pursuing?

Getting a shelf spot in the mainstream retail chains didn’t come easy. When we first launched the product, we were faced with multiple rejections and scepticism from various retail chains. Growth was slow then, since we had limited sales channels and we had doubts if we could sustain the company. It was probably the lowest point in the company – but that didn’t make us lose sight of our vision. With positive feedback and the many “thank you’s” from customers, we knew that it was just a matter of having to prove our product’s worth to the chains and I’m glad we did.

Most women are still using traditional hot water bottles and ingesting medication to soothe period pains. MenstruHeat is secured discretely under clothing, while naturally and safely emanating heat, which provides the same pain relief and soothing properties.
Most women are still using traditional hot water bottles and ingesting medication to soothe period pains. MenstruHeat is secured discreetly under clothing, while naturally and safely emanating heat, which provides the same pain relief and soothing properties.

What helped you to push forward with your goals, despite the setbacks?

The only opinion that mattered then, and still holds a lot of weight now, were those from our customers. When you have strangers texting the “customer service line”, which was my personal phone number, and telling us how much the product helped them, you know it’s all worthwhile. I still use those texts now as a reminder as to why I’m doing what I’m doing.

PSLove’s product helps women alleviate menstrual cramps. How big of a challenge was it to talk about your product to potential business partners and investors?

Menstrual pain tends to be a common language between females – and they immediately get it. Some would even go to the extent of sharing about their personal experiences the moment we bring up the topic. On the flip side, it can get quite awkward talking to males (though some can quickly jump in since they have witnessed their female partners going through the pain). Many times, we have to go down to the specifics to explain what menstrual cramps are and share the statistics of its prevalence rate to ensure that we aren’t swept off by people saying that this problem is too “niche”.

PSLove was founded in 2014 by Peck Ying and Caleb. Both founders discovered their passion in creating value and impacting society during their time in the NUS Overseas College Program.
PSLove was founded in 2014 by Peck Ying and Caleb. Both founders discovered their passion in creating value and impacting society during their time in the NUS Overseas College Program.

What does it feel like to be a female founder, as compared to holding the usual day job?

I had a day job for 3 years before jumping out and starting on my own. Besides having more autonomy in making decisions and charting the direction of the company; many more folds of challenges to overcome, sometimes alone, worrying about team management, having limited resources to make things happen, being on work-mode almost 24/7 and having fewer friends who actually understand what you really do, it’s pretty alright.

Often, I feel like I’m on a bullet train of personal growth – forced by circumstances to be the expert in various areas. But that itself is extremely rewarding and I don’t think I can go back to slowing down.

My friends and family have come to accept that I’m on an alternate career path and are very supportive and encouraging – it really helps to have people on your side. Of course, they had moments when they felt I was insane to leave my job, but with any decision, you just have to convince and prove that the decision was worth it.

Instead of advice for our aspiring woman leaders and founders, we would like to change things up a little. What would you tell a woman to not do when starting her own business?

Not meaning to gender stereotype here, but women tend to be emotional  – be careful not to mix emotions into objective decisions. When decisions are binary and objective, it is a lot easier for yourself and your team.

PSLove will be sending samples to your doorstep, Girls in Tech Singapore readers! Find out more here

Girls in Tech is proud to present inspiring women in entrepreneurship, science and tech in Singapore. Tell us your story!

 

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