Being a Woman Entrepreneur in Japan

Entrepreneurship can come with many challenges, especially as women who continue to face adversities in the world of business. Though this is a global challenge, women in Japan are especially hindered by the gender gap present in the workplace. Despite being a country known for its progressive innovations and technological advancements, Japan placed 120th in World Economic Forum’s ‘The Global Gender Gap Report 2021’, 10 ranks down from 2019, speculated as the result of COVID-19. Despite the setbacks, female entrepreneurship has begun growing at a rapid rate in the past few years, especially in Japan.

The largest issue that seems to be present in pursuing female entrepreneurship in Japan is the lack of mentorship and networking opportunities that women are able to participate in. Aside from the business world globally being catered towards men, women in Japan are entrusted with the responsibility of childcare, domestic chores, and nursing their elderly parents. The result of these three factors creates a challenging environment for women in Japan to pursue entrepreneurship. During an interview with Japan Times, Mizuki Nakajima, CEO of coly Inc. explained how “Female entrepreneurs face hurdles as there are few female seniors whom they can consult about starting and operating businesses”. In order to combat this issue, many successful female CEOs have started up organizations and communities in order to provide mentorship and guidance to upcoming female entrepreneurs.

Women in Law Japan (WILJ), an example of one of these organizations, is a platform for women in legal professions to network in Japan. The importance of networking and building connections is shared with the president of WILJ, Catherine O’Connell, whom we’ve had the opportunity to interview in the past. Aside from starting Japan’s first lawyer-led legal podcast program, she also started her own boutique law firm in Tokyo, winning an Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2020. When asked for advice to share with kay me readers, O’Connell shared her three tips all centered around the most crucial aspect -networking. These three tips covered the value of every connection, the importance of maintaining connections without burning bridges, and stepping out of your comfort zone especially in the introductory stage.

Click here read about Catherine’s professional background as well as tips and tricks on networking:

Meet Catherine O’Connell, the “Lawpreneur” empowering women in law – Part 1

So where do you start with becoming an entrepreneur and networking in Japan? The first step is to dress for success and attend networking opportunities and events! As Catherine shares in the second part of the interview, dressing for work, especially in Japan, is a “mark of respect not only to ourselves but to the person we are meeting with or the event we are attending”. She even shared with us how in true, respectful fashion she makes sure to dress professionally from head to toe even during online video meetings even if the person on the other end cannot see the full outfit. 

Investing in a classic jacket and a matching skirt or trousers can create a number of looks that can be used for multiple networking events, whether in person or online. When networking in Japan, we recommend soft, timeless colors such as navy, beige, and gray. The kay me Double Jersey Beige Tailored Jacket pairs perfectly with its matching Wrap Skirt to create an effortless suit set. Dare to be a bit bold by wearing a patterned top inside the suit, or aim for a chic look with a solid colored blouse accented with colored accessories for a vibrant pop. As per Catherine’s advice on dressing for online meetings, no need to worry about comfort or wrinkles when seated in your kay me suit as all of our items are stretchy, wrinkle-resistant, and easy care!

To read more tips from Catherine on how to dress, and for an exciting glimpse into her personal life:

Meet Catherine O’Connell, the “Lawpreneur” empowering women in law – Part 2

Meet Catherine O’Connell, the “Lawpreneur” empowering women in law – Part 2

We met with busy trailblazer Catherine O’Connell, an entrepreneur, lawyer and leader to one of Tokyo’s leading networking group for supporting and empowering women, Women In Law Japan. In Part 1, we dove into her success becoming a “Lawpreneur” and learn what it takes to step up as a leader in the female community in Tokyo. Today, we get more personal and hear about the people and books which inspire Catherine and her points to dressing for business.

A role model in New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern

I got to meet her in person in Tokyo in September 2019 and also got to sit with her and talk all manner of things during a business luncheon meeting. How down to earth, smart and funny she is. I’ve loved seeing her be a role model for global leaders, for women, and for men.

I especially loved it when she said “One of the criticisms I’ve faced over the years is that I’m not aggressive enough or not assertive enough, or maybe somehow, because I’m empathetic, it means I’m weak. I totally rebel against that. I refuse to believe that you cannot be both compassionate and strong.”

This is the essence of true leadership. She said that following the terror attack in Christchurch in March 2019 and it has resonated with me ever since. If only I can be half the leader she is, I will double my current leadership energy in the community.

Finding inspiration in memoirs and women who challenge the status quo

I have just finished three amazing books. One is a New York Times Bestseller “Lead from the Outside” by Stacy Abrams and the other is a memoir by Karen Hill Anton called “The View from Breast Pocket Mountain”. I also just finished reading another incredibly amazing book called “More than Enough” by Elaine Welteroth, from which an inspiration for driving my “Lawyer on Air” Podcast comes.

She said: “there is so much wisdom locked up in the stories women never tell”. I’m doing what I can to tell those stories and amplify women’s voices in Japan.

Know your rhythm to make your schedule

A day in the life of Catherine O’Connell:

7:30 AM: I’m an early riser so I’m typically at my desk doing creative work for my business and always 20-30 minutes reading for pleasure or a chapter of a business-success book.

8:30 AM: I am on calls and in mastermind groups working on self-development. Usually around mid-morning, if it is a day that I am recording a podcast episode with one of my guests, I would jump online and do the recording, and work on the show notes and social media content with my podcast producer after that.

10:00 AM: By this time, I’ll be on my second coffee of the day (only 2 coffees/day) and I will be right into client calls or client work.

12:00PM: At this time, I turn off lights in my office and take a break including a walk outside. I prep all my lunches on a Sunday so lunches working @home are a breeze. There is nothing like preparation to set you up well for the week.

From 13:00PM: I tend to devote the afternoon to networking, introductions, pitch type calls with clients and potential clients and people I may build long term relationships with. Usually in the evening I have online meetings with organizations I’m involved in such as FEW Japan (a network of women empowering women in Tokyo) and some of the Chambers of Commerce. Before COVID-19 I was consistently out in the evenings networking, but I now (secretly!) relish being at home in the evenings and connecting with people online for fun or building relationships for business.

From January 2021, I adopted a “healthfirst, immunity-first” approach and intermittent fasting is part of my lifestyle now, so I will finish eating by 7:00 PM in the evening through around 1:00 PM next day. To me fasting is not a diet but a lifestyle and it provides me with great liberation, and freedom around having only two meals and the rest of the day for exercise, working, self-time and enjoyment.

Dressing as a sign of respect

I always aim to look stylish and put together for the day from the first call to the last.

How we dress is a mark of respect not only to ourselves but to the person we are meeting with or the event we are attending.

Nowadays, the shift to on-line has allowed people to be more casual in dress style. That is not wrong but it is not the style for me. I like to wear outfits that inspire confidence and professionalism with whomever I am engaging with.

Tip 1: Make it “Stylish”

When I say “stylish”, it isn’t something over the top or the latest fashion trend, but more of a preference for classic designs. I tend to go for separates and love dresses to emit my feminine personality. I usually choose one or two bold colors (blue, red, yellow, orange, pink, green, silver, gold or rose gold) to set off a traditional black and navy core garment.

Tip 2: Accessories make the perfect conversation starter

On my travels overseas I have always looked for interesting jewelry to incorporate in my outfits. I make a point of dressing with one special eye-catching item that is a talking piece like a brooch, or a ring I have made (yes, I make accessories) or a statement necklace. You can style-up any outfit with accessories and keeping an eye out for interesting and novel pieces is a curious activity I adopt.

Tip 3: Don’t let your game down for online meetings.

When I need to work online, from top to ankle I am dressed as I would if I were in an office setting. From left and right of my iMac screen, I have excellent soft yellow lighting prepared and I always have my lips colored and ready for action.

Impressions wearing kay me

kay me clothing is so versatile and really fits my image.

I moved away from suits as a lawyer some years ago, and prefer the dress and jacket look now. I also really love prints and so kay me is easy to fit into the image of professionalism x femininity that I want to portray to my clients and business stakeholders.

A lot of thought has gone into the design and the selection of the stretchy materials of kay me dresses so that they flatter women’s different sizes, and heights and are truly easy to co-ordinate.
I loved the playfulness of the Tiny Dot pattern, and this can easily take me from daywear any season, through to evening if I slip on a jacket. It was such a breathtaking moment to put on the Tiny Dot dress and I squealed with delight when the zip went right up! It cinched me nicely at the waist and glided over my lower body and it felt really nice to wear. I loved the pockets in this design especially. 

I am a big fan wearing color as well, and my eyes were drawn into the Japanese design of the Takeyabu Green Wrap dress that I wore in Part 1. I loved that this was a wrap dress and how easy it was to wear. It would be simple to take in an overnight bag or in-flight and arrive fresh and ready for business meetings. There is no way anyone would not see you and remember you in this Japanese print. It’s a signature piece of clothing and I felt elevated wearing this design. 

What I noticed wearing the pumps was how they gave the illusion of longer looking legs, which was a new discovery for me. I had such a great time trying on the perfectly made dresses and look forward to seeing further designs in the various ranges they have.

Catherine wears our Navy Tiny Dot Marilyn Dress, Black Kanazawa Side-slit Cardigan and Red Two-way Business Bag 2.0

Navy Tiny Dot Marilyn Dress

Red Two-way Business Bag 2.0

Black Kanazawa Side-slit Cardigan

Meet Catherine O’Connell, the “Lawpreneur” empowering women in law – Part 1

At kay me, we are always inspired by the amazing achievements and examples set by ambitious individuals who stand up to the challenge. In this series, we chat to International female entrepreneurs who are paving their own paths and leading the way for others in Japan, and hear their stories, advice and perspectives starting up their success.

Recently, we caught up with “Lawpreneur” from New Zealand, Catherine O’Connell, the first international woman to start up her own law firm in Tokyo, who is now empowering women in Japan to reach their potential. She shares her career story and networking advice with us.

Tell us about a little about your background

Born and raised in New Zealand, after leaving school and delving into an intense course of study of the Japanese language, I dived into a first career as a tour guide with JTB.

I then pivoted into law and became a lawyer working with Japanese businesspeople and ex-pat corporates. An opportunity arose to come to work in Japan for 1 year and, well, I’ve now been living and working in Japan for 18 years! 

After building experience as in-house legal counsel in big Japanese corporates and working in Tokyo and London for an international law firm, I became a “Lawpreneur” – a entrepreneurial lawyer – and launched my own boutique law firm in Tokyo. In 2020 I won an Entrepreneur of the Year Award which I am most proud of.

When I am off work, I love watching rugby, wine tasting, making jewelry as a pastime as well as taking walks which I call #soulstrolls.

Making the career jump: the road to establishing her law firm in Japan

Boldness is not a muscle you are born with; boldness is a muscle you can build and learn over time. After amassing experience in all four corners of the legal world (working in-house at headquarters; APAC head of legal in a US subsidiary; International law firm solicitor and several secondments) I had enough boldness to take a leap. I knew it was time to utilizing all this business law experience to give clients are truly practical business-based lawyer experience. I wanted more balance and flexibility in my professional life, and I wanted to disrupt the legal services industry and provide a fresh approach to legal services with a flexible lawyer option.

On International Women’s Day in March 2021, Japan’s first lawyer-led legal podcast program “Lawyer on Air” was launched. We talk to female lawyers working in Japan, all things law and entrepreneurship. I decided to launch this podcast so that I can shine a brilliant light on the extremely wonderful women lawyers who surround me, inspire me and support me as they excel in their work in Japan. I’m passionate about giving them a platform to share their stories and successes as a woman lawyer working in the Land of the Rising Sun.

If anyone knows someone who would be a wonderful guest on my show please let me know!

https://www.catherineoconnelllaw.com/podcast

The key to success is “Networking”

Networking was and still is absolutely central to my success. Without the extensive and deep network I have, I don’t think I would have had the courage to attempt to launch a law practice in Japan. It is our networks that sustain us – for information and advice, for directing potential clients to us and for keeping their ears open for us to share our voice through various speaking opportunities. For me networking means “building relationships” and because I had built relationships over many years I had the confidence to open my own business and be supported by these people I had built relationships with.

Catherine’s Three Tips for Networking

Tip 1: Every connection you make is a valuable one.

I had built a network of people over the last 20 plus years and so I would recommend anyone setting up in business that they have some finances and have an established network of people to call upon for the spectrum of support you need to run a successful business. I think the biggest challenge when I started was the initial setup, and the time it took to do the paperwork with the Ministry of Justice, and with the banks in Japan. The paperwork bottleneck is still a big problem for setting up business in Japan. Other than that, I really didn’t have many challenges, as I had savings to financially sustain me and many people, male and female reached out to help me and refer clients to me in my early days.

Tip 2: Build bridges that last. Don’t burn them.

Networking is a long-game play and not about what you can grab.  I also think it’s very important when you leave a workplace to go to new pastures, that you do not burn any bridges. It’s bound to be the case that in future roles, your path will cross over the network of people from your past. Keeping professional relationships is critical for strengthening your networks even more and a sour relationship will weaken your network.

Networking is a two-way street and I always have at the forefront of my mind what I can do for that person to help them, and usually they help me further down the track.

Tip 3: Asking for introductions is key

If you are a little bit shy, I would suggest you ask one person in every meeting you are in, to help introduce you to someone in their network. In order to do that, you need to be able to introduce yourself well and say what it is you do to help others. That way a person can easily introduce you to the right people who you can build relationships with.

Being the leader of a diverse network for female legal practitioners, “Women in Law Japan”

I love working with this group of fantastic lady lawyers and I am really proud of what insights and knowledge sharing we produce for the big network of lawyers and people working in the law in Japan. Our members are all full-time lawyers working in house or in private practice and they are super busy in their daily work. However somehow they all manage to come together in unison to create and curate all of the events and activities that we deliver to our 300-strong membership. I have to give big credit to the previous President, Rika Beppu, who set up things very nicely and efficiently so that I could walk into the role from January 2021 with ease.

In such a leadership role you have to be really well organized, prepare agendas, instigate and oversee the event planning, and build comradery so that the team work as one unit. I also take the time to guide so that others can take charge of different aspects of the organization such as social media channels, the website, specialist committees. I’ve learned a lot as the leader of this Not for Profit board.

I would like to provide full support to all female lawyers. The more people there are, the wider the network and the stronger and more empowered the community becomes.

Find our more about “Women In Law Japan” here:

https://womeninlawjapan.org/

Catherine wearing our Takeyabu Green Wrap Dress

In the next part, we take a closer look into the day of Catherine’s busy schedule, hear her inspirations and find out more on her style philosophy. Read Part Two.

For more beautiful kimono-inspired dresses made in Japan, see our selection below:

Takeyabu Green Wrap Dress

Silk Jupiter Asymmetry Dress

Silk Edo Murasaki Waist-gathered Dress

Silk Cosmo Waist-gathered Dress

Silk Tokiwa Midori Asymmetry Dress

Hyakka Gather Dress

Silk Kyoto Uguisu Cache-coeur Dress

Silk Labyrinth Asymmetric Dress

Takeyabu Green Asymmetry Dress

Meet Connie Sui Fung, working mother and entrepreneur from Malaysia helping women look and feel their best – Part 1

At kay me, we are always inspired by the amazing achievements and examples set by ambitious individuals who stand up to the challenge. In this series, we chat to International female entrepreneurs who are paving their own paths and leading the way for others in Japan, and hear their stories, advice and perspectives starting up their success. Recently, we caught up with Connie, a mother of three, image consultant and entrepreneur who moved with her family to Japan, eventually starting her own businesses in her 40’s. With little experience in business to start with, she worked her way to establish Color Me Tokyo, her own image consultant agency and now new ventures.

Tell us a little about your background

After I graduated from university in America, I worked for an American payment company as a Data Analyst in Singapore. There I met my husband, got married and had my first child We decided to move to Japan in year 2010, and a year after, my youngest child was born about a month before the Tohoku earthquake. I then started my own business after I turned 40 years old.

How did you start up Color Me Tokyo? What were the biggest challenges you faced starting up?

It was curiosity about how Japanese ladies look fresh and beautiful which turned into a business idea. I went to learn about the beauty culture and etiquette here and how to improve one’s appearance like how many Japanese people in society do. I saw the change myself. From there, I decided to make it my career.

I started the Image consulting salon right after I finished the course as a freelancer. I enjoyed doing the salon business setup, networking, and everything!  Being a newbie in Image consulting and the biggest challenge is customer acquisition.

Any style advice for our readers?

Love yourself.  Once you love yourself, you will care to know more about your style. Sorry back to the style. I would say, style is about balance. Know your face and body proportion. Knowing that, you will know what kind of color, clothing, jewelry, hairstyle, and makeup style is right for you. For example, I have rounded face shape.  I will not put on the round hoop earrings; I will choose something dangle or long to elongate my face.

My facial parts/features are not big, but I know clothing with large prints is not ideal for me.  And then I have my own uniform for work, girlfriend outing and family time.

“Talk to friends or any one you know about your ideas. You may never know; they may be your big investors. “

Could you share with us your experience with networking in Japan? How has that led you to where you are today?

I got distracted from my goals at times, so then I would attend networking sessions once a week, which helped me realign my focus, my goals and purpose. Being surrounded by like-minded ambitious people was a great reminder for me and I even met my current mentor there, who I turn to for advice even today.

What advice would you give to anyone who wants to start up their own business?

Talk to friends or any one you know about your ideas. You may never know; they may be your big investors.  Do not sit back and let life happen to you. Just get out of your comfort zone and try it. One other thing is you must enjoy the process. If you do not, then that may be not ideal for you, but never give up on the big picture.

Do you have a role model you look up to?

My mother and my sisters of course. My mother is very energetic. She taught me the mother’s role is just like the pillar of the house and making a good balance between business and family matters is key. As for my sisters, I respect my eldest sister business management style. She manages family businesses very efficiently. Then my younger sister is the true entrepreneur. She started her business from scratch. Now she has successfully made her clients look more luxurious with her jewelry.

In Japan, I admire many female entrepreneurs who are shaping the world around us and making a difference. I read your founder, Junko’s story and I admire her innovation.

Connie wears our Fresh Lime Daily Dress, Champagne Pink 29 Pocket Wallet Bag and Coral Pink Vegan Suede Puni Puni Pumps at our Ginza store.

See Part 2 coming up for more on what goes behind the day of Connie Sui Fung.