Founder Stories

In the early 1990s, Ms Kat Lai joined the society after graduating from Polytechnic University. After working for several years, she grasped the right time and place, and with the courage to pursue ideals, she started her own entrepreneurial road. At that time, the executives of a department store admired the handicrafts made by Ms Lai in her spare time and expressed their interest in purchasing in bulk. Noticing her potential and discovering her aspiration in life, Ms Lai resolutely quit her stable job and started her aromatherapy business with the handicrafts she is passionate about.

In 1996, Ms Lai formally established the company DK Aromatherapy, which covers a wide range of businesses, including aromatherapy care, customized and personalised perfume design, and aromatherapy consulting services in beauty salons. She found a new direction of development, quit the handicraft business, devoted herself to the aromatherapy industry, and found a sense of accomplishment.

In 2020, Ms Lai established KAT LAI Wellness Limited, whose core purpose is to provide a new platform for the public and new optimisation solutions for health issues of public concern. The pursuit of mental health is becoming more and more popular worldwide, especially in Europe and the United States. Ms Lai turned her store in Sheung Wan into an experience centre to arouse the public’s attention to the health of body, mind and spirit.

In 2020, COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, threatening the health of more than one billion people in the world. Ms Lai once said that in addition to being an entrepreneur, she has another identity: “I am an inventor.” Ms Lai and Professor Karl Tsim of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology jointly created an anti-coronavirus essential oil containing a patented Chinese medicine formula and aroma patches for masks. This new invention was featured on the cover of Capital Magazine in February 2021. Ms Lai’s hard work, innovation and determination to give back to the society were once again encouraged and affirmed.

In late 2022, a sharing economy project in aromatherapy specially provided for the global hotel industry will be exhibited. Combining aromatherapy and IoT systems, it will bring unforgettable experiences to tourists on the one hand, and long-term sustainable benefits to hotels on the other hand. In addition to this, in order to practice Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) investments, this project will provide vocational training to low-income women as women empowerment.