Dato Icemichelle Chen – the owner and founder of Supreme Q.X. Spa has bagged numerous business awards including Inspiring Asean Business Titanites 2015, Golden Phoenix Award 2013 and Successful Entrepreneur Award 2010.

In the midst of running her business and developing her own line of beauty products, this woman even took part in a beauty pageant and clinched the Mrs Singapore Universal Beauty Award in 2013.

Last year, she was conferred the title of Dato for all her philanthropic efforts in Malaysia. Talk about doing-it-all!

I recently had a chance to sit down with Dato Icemichelle and got her to spill her secrets on balancing motherhood with entrepreneurship and keeping fit and healthy despite her busy schedule.

Hello Dato Icemichelle. Could you please tell us what’s your story? How did you get into the beauty business?
I started in the industry, simply wanting to solve my own skin problems, which I was not able to solve in the past despite visiting various salons. I became a beautician, hoping to understand the human skin better, allowing me to have a much more radiant and smooth skin. Later, I found myself falling in love in the type of work I do. Seeing my customers satisfied and confident again after successful treatments inspired me to start my own business.

How long have you been running your business?
I am in the business for about 17 years.

How long did it take you to start becoming profitable and/or successful?
About 4-5 years.

How many children do you have? How old are they?

1 daughter. She’s 19 this year.

What do you enjoy most about what you do?
When I see satisfied customers become more confident. It is a sense of achievement.

What is the easiest part of building your business?
Nothing came easy.

What is the hardest part of building your business?
I think it would be the psychological aspect. Trying to overcome my own worries, shouldering all the responsibilities and risks when I’m doing something new to bring my business to greater heights.

What were your biggest mistakes, or biggest waste of time/money in your mompreneurship journey?
I never felt that there some the biggest mistakes or sorts, rather, only lessons to learn from and pick myself up again.

What is the accomplishment you are most proud of?
Bringing up my daughter, who is now 19 and waiting to enter university. She is thoughtful, and is helping me out with my business now.

What motivates you to accomplish so many things in life?
Sense of achievement. I like challenging myself. If you were to do it all over again, what would you do differently? I will still do it all the same.

What’s next?
I hope to open another outlet, but with a lifestyle concept. It will be more than just a beauty salon, but an outlet for women to relax and enjoy themselves.

I understand that you are our Mrs Singapore Universe Beauty in 2013. What’s your #1 beauty tip for The Chill Mom readers?
Unknowingly, many women are using the wrong products for their own skin, given the wrong understanding of their own skin problem. It is important for women to look for experts to do a deep analysis of their skin type and the cause of the skin problems before purchasing any products. Our daily usage of products can severely affect our skin condition. The wrong products not only do not give you any results, it can even worsen your skin condition. Thus, I strongly encourage everyone, even men, to look for a skin expert to understand your skin type, someone you can trust and learn from, to start taking care of yourselves.

How do you make time to stay fit and healthy despite your busy schedule?
Time management and empowering my capable team to work effectively. It is really about discipline.

Your favorite part of a typical day?
When I’m finally home, resting and putting on a facial mask. I really love having a good complexion, so to me, putting on a facial mask is not a chore at all – I also love the cooling feeling of it on my face.

What is your advice for a mom wanting to start a business?
Do something that you love and have a passion for. If you don’t have a passion for it, when it gets difficult, it is harder for you to preserve and go through with it. When you do something with your heart, you naturally do much better.

What an inspiration! I learnt so much about Dato Icemichelle’s unique East-meets-West beauty philosophy in our short 20 minutes chat. She believes that beauty is wellness from within and just by looking at my face, she was able to tell I’m a late sleeper, has low blood pressure and gave me a few pointers on how I can look after myself better.

Face treatments at a steal just for you!

Dato Icemichelle has kindly offered special promotional prices for the Ice’s Secret Pure Radiance Treatment Series at her Supreme Q.X. Spa for you, my dear readers. Choose from any of these treatments and enjoy the trial prices when you quote ‘The Chill Mom’.

Premium Face Treatment & Relax Head Massage (90 mins) UP: $398 Trial: $78
• Excellent in lightening hyperpigmentation and acne marks. Instantly brightens dull complexion, evens out unbalanced skin tones. Helps to reduce excessive melanin production. A great treatment for anti-­ageing. Professional head massage helps to ease stress and promote relaxation to the rest of the body.
Michelle’s note: I tried this treatment. It’s awesome – my face brightened up and my skin felt thoroughly hydrated. It gave me the confidence to stand beside Dato Icemichelle, without having any makeup on. See photos above!

Ice’s Secret Premium Eye’s Treatment (East meets West Eye Therapy) U.P.: $198 Trial: $48
• Helps to improve blood circulation, reduce fine lines, wrinkles, eye bags and dark circles effectively so that eye area instantly brightens up and exudes radiance and youth.

Ice’s Secret Premium Neck Treatment + Shoulder Whitening Treatment U.P.: $198 Trial: $48
• Pampering treatment for a beautiful neck and shoulder line. Reduces fine lines, wrinkles and even out unbalanced skin tones on the neck. Helps to firm the skin, remove double chin and improve blood circulation.

Ice’s Secret Signature Radiance Neck Treatment U.P.: $138 Trial: $38
• A soothing and relaxing treatment to restore youthful skin by reducing fine lines, even out unbalanced skin tone on the neck. Helps to remove double chin and improve blood circulation.

On top of that, you will also receive a complimentary Ice’s Secret Signature Eye’s Dark Circle Treatment (U.P.: $138) with any of the above stated trial treatments.

Supreme Q.X. Spa offers customised treatments for face and body accordingly to customer’s needs, lifestyle and requirements, combining TCM with modern technologies.  Their concept is very different from beauty salons that I’ve been to. If you’re looking for a beauty centre that looks after you from top to toe, do check out Supreme Q.X. Spa.

PS: If you (and your business) like to be featured in this MomBoss In The Spotlight series, email me at mich@thechillmom.com with the subject “Feature Me in MomBoss Spotlight” and I’ll send you the questionnaire to fill up. It’s really that easy!