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Yvon Bock

Baby Bottles AND Business with Yvon Bock, CEO of Hegen

AND is the Future podcast - Season 5, Episode 1
 

Being a devoted mother AND successful business woman

How is one mother and entrepreneur empowering 100 million mothers around the world? Meet Yvon Bock, the founder and CEO of Hegen, a company that sells baby bottles and breastfeeding products. She has a fascinating story about how she went from a career in sales to becoming a stay at home mom to founding one of the fastest growing companies focused in Singapore. She took the lessons she learned from having her own children and applied them to create a thriving business.

Ilham and Yvon talk about persistence and how Yvon’s design for the next revolutionary bottle went through more than 200 iterations. Each setback that Yvon faced meant returning to the drawing board, but her relentless determination ultimately led to the perfect solution. They also talked about how important it is to have a strong purpose and the right mindset to achieve your dreams. As Yvon says, we can be devoted mothers AND successful businesswomen. It’s the power of AND! 

1:52 - Inspiration for her entrepreneurial spirit
4:00 - From a career in sales to stay-at-home mom to successful entrepreneur
8:21 - Purpose: Empowering 100 million mothers around the world
13:06 - Failure and persistence
18:06 - Her book Extraordinary and the power of storytelling

21:00 - A sustainable AND profitable business
15:12 - Fearlessness, courage and never giving up
27:29 - The power of AND: Being a mother AND a successful business woman
31:35 - Family time

Podcast available on   Apple podcasts     Spotify   Amazon Music  

Meet Yvon Bock

Yvon Bock is a leading entrepreneur, an author, and the founder and CEO of Hegen. After several years as a stay-at-home mom, Yvon saw that mothers need better products - bottles, breastpumps, etc - to be able to balance motherhood and their careers. With this inspiration she founded Hegen, where she came up with the Express-Store-Feed system to make the breastfeeding process more seamless. The name “Hegen” comes from the German idiom “hegen und pflegen” which means to care for and to nurture. This is the vision that she hopes to bring forward as Hegen continues to embark on its mission to empower 100 million mothers worldwide. 

She is a bestselling of Extraordinary: From Stay-at-Home Mum to World-Class Entrepreneur

At Syensqo we are proud to partner with Hegen to provide our circular, non-fossil feedstock polymer for their sustainable bottles. 

Transcript

Hello and welcome to our new season featuring Syensqo’s customers and partners on the AND is the future podcast! 

Ilham Kadri: I'm excited to be here with Yvon Bock, a leading entrepreneur and author, and the founder and CEO of Hegen. Yvon has a fascinating story about how she went from a career in sales to a stay at home mom to found in Hegen. This is a fabulous company which produces sustainable top quality bottles, breastfeeding pumps, and storage containers.
And today it's one of the fastest growing companies in Singapore. And at Syensqo we are so proud to partner with Hegen to provide our circular, non-fossil feedstock polymer for their sustainable bottles. Yvon 's goal is to empower a hundred million mothers around the world, and she's well on her way to reaching it. She's amazing, and I met her personally in her country, and I can't wait to hear more. Yvon, thank you so much for being here.

Yvon Bock: Hi Ilham. Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be doing this together.

Inspiration for her entrepreneurial spirit

Ilham Kadri: Absolutely I couldn't wait since my visit to do this with you. And I'd like Yvon to start off by asking you, like I ask all my guests, what is the spark or the inspiration for your entrepreneurial spirit?

Yvon Bock: Well, I think the spark started when I was a little girl. It started all the way since my childhood. Growing up, I often have the sense of resourcefulness. Probably because I was an only child for the first 14 years of my life. And, I didn't have any barbie dolls or toys. So I will pick up scraps from the floor to, or the cabin, the curtain boxes, to make them into my door house. And I will use, you know, the, the yellow pages. I, those days we have the yellow pages. I'll cut them out into like, and make them into my, my little dolls. And I'll play with them. And that's part of my childhood and how I will improvise about toys. 
And also some of this, old, I would call it like the carbon copy payment voucher pads. I'll pretend to be a salesperson, taking down orders and, you know, tearing up the pages, collecting and, being my cashier, collecting the checks. All this imagination of being an entrepreneur. Also another very important part, sparkling, like how I wanted to do things very enterprisingly is my dad, who is the chairman of Fitson.
And he will often bring me out on nature walks. He'll point out like very little things and asking me why, you know, show me all the very fascinating nature, asking questions, making me ask questions and fuel all my curiosity. So my curiosity started from all these different facets of life, constantly asking, why, why should we do this? How can we make it easier? How can we be more resourceful? Even things like challenging him. Why must bottles be round? 

From a career in sales to stay-at-home mom to successful entrepreneur

Ilham Kadri: Yeah. And, and it's amazing, Yvon , because I met your father and behind extraordinary woman there is an extraordinary father, by the way, talking about extraordinary. You were also fascinating book called Extraordinary about your journey of motherhood and entrepreneurship. And I love the part where you talk about being a stay at home mom. And that, you would tell people that you were the CEO, the Chief Entertainment Officer, which made me laugh so much. And so it's clear you've always been, in a way, a leader and a CEO or an entrepreneur at heart, even when you were at home with your first baby. Where did that begin for you? Was it something that started, you know, this entrepreneurship beyond the curiosity when you were a kid, when you were a mom, and explain to our audience, your journey towards founding Hegen, can you explain how you went from your career sales to stay at home to a successful entrepreneur?

Yvon Bock: Well, it's a 20 years journey, and thank you for introducing my book, Extraordinary. So I documented, I was just making sure that I don't forget any of these chapters and, and milestones in my whole career. That's what inspired me to document it down in this book. So this whole entrepreneurial journey for me, it's quite an interesting, interesting path.
It was not really planned and honestly it was really like one thing after another. First started from the birth of my child. After being mom for the first time, I wanted to witness all his first little milestones firsthand, and I realized it is very difficult until I make that difficult, even more difficult decision to leave my banking career and then dedicate my a hundred percent time to him my first born and spend quality time with him.
Although I really enjoy every single moment of it, but I still feel there is this growing need to rediscover myself. You know, like as a mom, I felt that something was still lacking and faith you know, led me wanting to another and I decided to take a leap of faith to pursue something new.
So, in my book, actually, if you read it, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. And so it was. Really thanks to my dad's encouragement to just go pursue this particular skill. And, and I'm very honored and humbled to have the opportunity to apply it at my dad's factory. And so that is where I started to discover a very unexpected passion for entrepreneurship.
I was looking at him as a role model and which, this whole, whole experience joining the family business was a learning experience that quickly developed into an eyeopener to new possibilities of what entrepreneurship is all about. So there were a lot of twists and turns. It was a rollercoaster ride, but this was a very fulfilling journey that eventually paved the way and made me start Hegen. A brand that was born out of my desire to support and empower mothers, mothers like myself, working moms like you, Ilham. And with my personal experience as a breastfeeding mother of four children that are breastfed for a total of 10 years.

Ilham Kadri: Yeah, amazing story. And I'm sure our audience, and you know, we have obviously, our Explorers employees at Syensqo, but we have now so many listeners, and followers for our podcast. Many, I'm sure, many mothers, many moms, they will relate a lot to what you said about, you know, being a mom with the first child and trying to, you know, to do it all, you know, at home and you made a painful decision to leave your job.
But at the end of the day, this was not the end of it, but the starting, you know, journey and say 20 years of following your, your passion, in your dad’s factory and you had a role model and your dad is just impressive and you know, give, give him my regards. 

Purpose: Empowering 100 million mothers around the world
So one thing that is so admirable about your business as well, and I could feel it when I visited, you know, your headquarters, when I talk to you and to your people around you is your strong purpose.And I know you care very deeply about it. And this is something that every successful business needs a purpose bigger than the business. You've said this many times that your purpose is to empower women. In fact, 100 million mothers around the world. So for you, it's not about how many bottles you sell, it's about, it's how many mothers you can help, right? 

Yvon Bock: Absolutely. Absolutely. So our mission has always been focused very, very sharp and clear. We want to make an impact. So a hundred million mothers. That's our goal. We wanna serve and support all these mothers around the world. And that's why we have been expanding globally and we are proud to be in 26 international markets as of today and counting.
So, and also a little backstory, you know, this a hundred million mothers goal was actually kind of refined along the way because Leon, you, you met Leon as well. He's the COO of Hegen. He made me reframe my goal. When we first started my dream, my crazy ambitious dream was actually to build a self-funded unicorn value at US dollars, $1 billion. That was like, like a huge north star. And Leon challenged me to think bigger and he say, why do you wanna think in dollars? Because sometimes by measuring it in that quantity it is very painful because we are just chasing the numbers, right? So how about let's make it to think in the night in the lives we impact in the people we actually can make a difference in.
So this one degree switch in perspective gave Hegen a deeper purpose. And we also feel that our internal team members, they, they feel much more driven to pursue this together, to help mothers everywhere feel seen, supported, empowered, and at the same time, it actually gave me stronger empowerment, fulfillment, and motivation.

Ilham Kadri: Yeah, and I could again, feel it, see it, and the name of your company fits right in with your purpose, doesn't it?

Yvon Bock: Yes. It's a very, very good point. So you know, Ilham Hegen actually comes from a very old German idiom, hegen and flagen, and it means to cherish and to nurture, which is a reflection of our mission to support and empower mothers throughout. Every stage of their motherhood journey. And, at Hegen, so the reason I picked this word is because we really want to provide a best in class breastfeeding solution.
So it started with this ambition of coming out with awesome products, thoughtful, meaningful award-winning products. But then during this painful period we call the pandemic, a couple of years ago, we discovered something: just simply products is not gonna be enough for supporting moms throughout the world. So to bring you back to that, that period of time, you know, hospitals were the last place where people want to be, right? And all the resources were redirected to support patients with COVID-19. A lot of expectant parents, especially first time parents, they started to panic. They felt very anxious and lost. They were lacking of antenatal classes. They felt like their pregnancy were very interrupted. So they start reaching out to Hegen, including myself, you know, on social media, asking where can they get information or service to support them on their journey. So as an international certified lactation consultant, myself. I started to help one-on-one on a pro bono basis to support them, and eventually I thought, hey, why don't I make it even bigger to conduct Virtual workshops, seminars, webinars? And that's how Hegen Lactation Center was officially born together as part of this Hegen Experiential Center and hegen and pflegen. Hegen represents the products and recently we officially renamed the lactation center to Flegen to complete the whole circle of the idiom, hegen un flagen to cherish and to care for.

Failure and persistence

Ilham Kadri: Yeah, it's amazing. Hegen and pflegen, I love it. And I heard you say once that you failed more than a hundred times or 200 times when you started. Of course failure, we know it as business people. It's an inevitable part of entrepreneurship because not everything you try is going to work. Can you tell us what you learned from those failures and how did those failures ultimately put you on the path to discovering the perfect design for your bottle?

Yvon Bock: Failures are definitely part of the entrepreneurial journey. And I've tried more than 200 field prototypes and I'm very thankful the factory didn't disown me. Sometimes I, we still laughed about it, you know, like, thank you guys for not just abandoning me and, and thinking I'm in like a disillusion or has hallucination. So that was one part of the story. Another part was the very original first concept, in fact was also leaked at the prototype stage, and we had to actually go back to ground zero and start again. So I experienced multiple failures or all the stories and mistakes, and I have two key takeaways from this experience for myself, and I hope it can inspire others as well.
First thing. Everything happens for a reason. So when those things happen, of course I felt very defeated. However, instead of focusing on what I can't control or I can't, you know, go back in time, what I thought about was how could we then push our boundaries and rethink, reimagine how to make this product even more simple, even more innovative. And then when we fill time and time again on these prototypes is how can we actually really eventually come out to break through and achieve something that is even more revolutionary that will set the benchmark for the industry higher. That is my first lesson. Everything happens for a reason. What can I take away from it?
And number two, there were many, many moments of self-doubt, but I tell myself, never give up. It takes a lot to not give up, you know? And, it is a journey. And when people started to question, in fact, there were a lot of worried team members. Like, is this even possible to, for example, to come up with a square round bottle.
Bottles are conventionally round with screw trade. Are you pushing something that is impossible? So with a very strong support system and team around me, from my husband to my father, to some of this key leadership team, they continue to persist and, and support me to pursue my vision. So innovation, I wanna say innovation is never easy and we are often thrown with doubt, self-doubt, resistance.
But the true progress I feel actually begins when we can stand up boldly, unapologetically to say, why not? And this helps us to push through. 

Ilham Kadri: And I love that spirit. I've seen you. It's the shape of the bottle is the color of the bottle. You told me an anecdote, which was amazing.

Yvon Bock: Yes, yes so even like the shape, right? The shape is a square round, and the little angle, like we try and error so many times so that the little baby's hand just needs to support it and prop, and it becomes so easy for a baby to prop up like a little baby bottle.

Ilham Kadri: Yeah.

Yvon Bock: A few weeks old. You know, it's that, and there's no screw track. You just have to twist to open, press to close. That’s all. Convenience, practical, and very well accepted by babies. So this is how this whole journey had been for me, and I'm still improving on it. Still continue to make sure we don't settle and making sure every position of the baby bottle is made to perfection.

Ilham Kadri: Yeah, and actually the bottles, and I have a few at home and thanks for the gifts. I mean, they can be for infants, for toddler, for adults, right? So you're also in the circularity thing. So I think what is amazing in your innovation is that you think this is a commodity. This is something which does exist, and you reinvent completely a space with, with the, with the, a circular actually view. And, you give it another life with, you know, kids which are growing up, but also with adults, right?

Yvon Bock: Yes. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.

Her book Extraordinary and the power of storytelling

Ilham Kadri: So one thing that really jumped out at me in your book is that telling your own story in a way about your business is in fact an integral part of your business strategy, because that is what connects you to the customers, right? The human story that they can relate to. They can see how your struggles led to the creation of a product. Finding the solution, finding the resources about you. You talked about your father, your husband, your teams, and they're helping you there. Can you tell our listeners why that storytelling has been key to your success and to your life?

Yvon Bock: Storytelling is the most important thing for both life and business. So when I first started Hegen, like, you shared right. It wasn't about creating a product. It's not just a commodity. It was born and designed and reimagined deeply through my personal struggle, my personal, you know, life threatening experience and it's a mom trying to breastfeed, feeling overwhelmed, unsupported at that point of time, 20 years ago and feeling unseen.
So sharing my story made Hegen real. It's the authenticity and it also helps other parents to see themselves in our journey. So there is this emotional resonance that helps our brand connect deeply across the world. And I believe that great brands sell products. Outstanding brands create moments, emotions, and experience, and that is only possible when people truly understand the why.
Why? For me, the why has been supporting mothers in a purposeful and authentic way, so it's very important to understand. Why I design it this way? Why is there this empathy of how even a baby carried a bottle, the dignity of a mom, you know, she needs to be well respected in the workplace, being a breastfeeding, working mother.
And, and more than that, I also now start to see storytelling as a form of leadership. It is a way to make others feel seen, and I strongly encourage women to own their stories because representation changes perception. So when one mom shares her truth, she's giving this silent permission to another, to do the same.
And one empowered mother, she can influence a home, a workplace, a community. Even a nation And so this is that mission, this is that belief. This is the movement. It's not about just women, but it's about humanity's future together.

A sustainable AND profitable business

Ilham Kadri: I love it, Yvon . Yeah, I mean, there is an African proverb, saying, you know, educate a girl you educate a village, right? And you educate the country and humanity. And that comes back to this. And I'd like to talk about sustainability too, because that's another key part of your business. And by the way, we are treated to be part of your sustainability journey by partnering with you to provide our circular, non-fossil stock polymer. But can you tell the audience about how sustainability is actually built into your bottles and into all of your products?

Yvon Bock: Yeah. At Hegen, sustainability isn't just a site initiative. It is not a, by the way, it, it's been part of the DNA from the very beginning. So as a woman, a mother, and a business leader, I believe we are wired to think long-term, not just for our business, but for our children, for our communities, for the planet, and I see business growth and human sustainability not as opposition, but as a shared responsibility. So every product at Hegen we design with this intention. So for example, our bottles, they are designed multifunctional. So this is a form of multiple use and, and how can we continue to have more use, longer usage time. So they grow with your child just now you mentioned right, it grows with your child and the family. It can be used from baby all the way to an adult, so we've just changed the top., you know, I just put on another lid, it transforms into a storage container. I change the top, it becomes a straw cup, it becomes a breast pump, it becomes a drinking bottle, and the bottle has different size. It becomes even lifestyle bottle for us to go sports and yoga, et cetera. 
And very importantly, we chose to use PPSU, great that we work together. A very premium material. So I am really very honored to be partnering with Syensqo on this. The material itself enables a very high durability and resistance. For example, our bottle can last far longer than the traditional plastics. And also we have, because of this high temperature resistance, we can even bake with them and make something that lasts and move away from the culture of disposables and single use parenting products.
And then, sustainability goes beyond that for us as well. Beyond product design, we also act on it through programs like our trade in initiatives. At baby fairs, we invite parents to trade in their used bottle, the old bottles, any brand, and for Hegen new ones at a special price. So this is our way of encouraging responsible disposal while giving parents, easier way towards supporting upgrading sustainably and also.
Beyond that, we have the Hegen Foundation, which is about the impact that we are creating towards mothers, towards women, and how we can continue to support students in terms of bursaries and scholarships. So all this sustainability is beyond just the product design, the materials, it's about the mindset and the impact. It's about building for people, planet, and purpose. So this is the future I wanna shape, not just for Hegen, but for the next generation of mothers, leaders, and dreamers.

Ilham Kadri: And this is just, this is just amazing. I think everybody can hear that passion. And I must say, I use the bottle for my morning yoga on the mat, right? I even have two covers, in the pink and the gray, which is really cool.

Yvon Bock: Yes. Awesome.

Fearlessness, courage and never giving up

Ilham Kadri: I really love it. I think it's unique and I think you are one of those, you know, leaders and business leaders who are not selling products. You are selling value proposition. You are selling a purpose and invoicing the products. And that I love. What really comes true in your story. Is your fearlessness, your courage and your ability to dream big. You discussed it, you said it at the beginning and actually make it happen. Even when you run into challenges and roadblocks or face naysayers and you inspire so many others to dream big. How do you say focus and never give up, Yvon? 

Yvon Bock: Well, the honest truth, it is hard, but it's absolutely possible. Yeah, life throws lemon at you every day and when you think you have solved one problem, another bigger one appears, and I started to train myself, to learn to see challenges as worthy opponents. So they sharpen me, they grow me. And so my mindset is my anchor. So I always begin with gratitude, even in this whole mess of things, right? Every time when I'm faced with the darkest or deepest challenges. It starts with everything happens for a reason. It happens for me, not to me. So how can I see and find the beauty behind this? I must be thankful for this to happen.
What is it here to teach me? And so this actually helps me to calm down and start to have some clarity and to move forward. Yeah. So staying focused is not about constant motivation. I feel that it is also about reaching out to the deepest side, into the deepest side of us, right? To see like what is our mission? So when, when we meet with challenges, who are we serving? What is the deepest purpose or impact that we wanna create, and then we go back to there. And every challenge is the stepping stone to something greater. It is hard, but with the right mindset, gratitude, and purpose, I believe it is possible and eventually very powerful.

The power of AND: Being a mother AND a successful business woman 

Ilham Kadri: I love it. I love it. It's music to my ears. And as you know, this podcast is about the power of AND and how we can hold  a way which appears to be opposing tension together as business leaders or global citizens. And I think your business is a perfect example of this because its mission is to give women products that will help them to be successful mothers and successful entrepreneurs or business leaders. And I know you, you are a role model for many. So how does it feel to know that you've helped so many mothers who are trying to keep this opposition tension in the balance? And I remember. a story you told me about a mother in Africa, probably. Right. Tell us a bit about this. 

Yvon Bock: in Cambodia.

Ilham Kadri: In Cambodia? Yeah.

Yvon Bock: That was, that was deeply moving. So this mom, she was feeding her baby with a Hegen bottle just on the roadside. Right. And it was just a chance that I bumped into her and she has this helmet on with another 3-year-old beside 2-year-old beside her. And this one that she's feeding is just a few months old on a sling.
And I was just fascinated to bump to her. I got a translator to ask her, you know, and she told me that she traveled 50 kilometers on a bike one way, like one way. And so it's like two ways and with her friend. So there's five of them, two mothers, three child on a bike to just come and buy her formula and purified water.
And each bottle of water was like five US dollars. And, she was using a Hegen bottle, which was, which was about 25 US dollars. And I say, wow thank you so much for supporting us, but how much do you earn on a month? And she say, my salary is 250 US dollars a month. How does she, you know, it just mind boggled me, you know, like, how, how does she support the family?
Then she say, you know, Hegen gives us hope. And, well, it's very emotional. She says, you know, as a mom, I want to save everything I have to give the best to my child so that they can become the better version of me to be even better for their future. So Hegen is the aspiration you gave me hope, gave my children hope.
And so if I can, I will do everything to give them. And you know, it's stories like this that is really humbling and moving. And every time when I see a mom who tells me, even a working mom, walk up to me and say, your product make me feel seen. You kept me going, Yvon, your palm is with me every day. And you know, it changed my life. It makes me feel like I can do it. And this, all, this little message reminds me of why I started Hegen and why am I still going on and doing more. 
And Ilham I wanna say something that, this podcast is very meaningful and what you're doing, this AND this podcast is fantastic. It, you know, it really, really, it's that, it's that message, that voice, that empowerment, you know, that we don't want, we don't need to choose. You don't have to be either or you can be both. If you're a mom, you're a great mom. You can be a working mom, you can be a fascinating Mom, you already are.

Ilham Kadri: Oh, thank you Yvon. But you know, this podcast would be nothing without people like you. And that's it. And the more we, you know, I'm in the interviewing side, right. It is just amazing to see role models like you and when I, you know, people can see that you can create a brand. It's not just the dollars, it's the hope to changing lives. Everything you talked about, your role model, everything I love in a life. So thank you Yvon . And, I know you, you are a hard worker. You've done a lot, you are successful. and I know you, your business and children are your top priority, but tell us what is your favorite thing to do with your children or outside the job when you are not busy growing your business?

Family time 

Yvon Bock: You know, with my family, the simplest and the most, I would say the richest thing that we do together is the quality time of being present together. We don't need anything. We can just sit there and chat and love and tease each other and just listen to one another. Uplift, having conversation over dinner. So we have this tradition of having dinner together every day. And six of us around the round table is a very, very traditional Chinese way of having dinner. And we will make sure we disconnect to connect. Everybody's device will have to leave it aside. We call it D two C in the kitchen. They have to charge their phones and devices away. And that's the time where we are very intentional. We'll listen and we just spend time, saying, you know, anything. Any simple thing in life, and that delights us. 

Ilham Kadri: And be present in the moment. So yeah, it's amazing. And thank you so much for joining me today, Yvon . You are truly extraordinary. It's not just a title on a book. It's a real, it's, it's, it's a real life story. Your business is extraordinary too.
I offered the book to many of my girlfriends. The journey. You have inspired me. I mean, I remember probably every day, every week my, my visit to you in Singapore.
You have inspired me to ask my team to tell our stories and follow our dream and believe that the sky is the limit. So thank you so much.

Yvon Bock: Thank you. Thank you, Ilham, for having me and the opportunity to share my story and my mission.

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