Phan Ngọc Hiếu, born in 1989 in Hue City, graduated from the University of Economics in Danang and has 8 years of experience in the banking industry. In 2020, she made a bold decision to leave her job and embark on an entrepreneurial journey, founding Maypaperflower – a unique paper flower brand inspired by a 300-year-old traditional craft village.
Phan Ngọc Hiếu, Founder of Maypaperflower
Thanh Tien, a village in Phu Mau, Hue City, is renowned for its 300-year-old tradition of handcrafted paper flowers. During a trip to Thanh Tien, former bank employee Phan Ngọc Hiếu was captivated by the vibrant red and yellow flowers meticulously crafted by local artisans.
The art of making paper flowers is a intricate process. The transformation of stiff paper into delicate blooms involves numerous intricate and meticulous steps. Hiếu describes how artisans must carefully select and split thin treetips to form the flower stems, while the stamen is crafted by “hollowing out” the core of cassava plants.
“What makes Thanh Tien’s paper flowers unique is their environmental friendliness and the long-standing tradition they embody,” Hiếu recounts her initial fascination with the village’s craft.
Hiếu also shares how the paper flower-making tradition in Thanh Tien is intimately tied to the local custom of worshipping the Kitchen God. Every year, in the tenth lunar month, the village’s paper flower “season” commences. Due to the unpredictable nature of this livelihood, many families in Thanh Tien relied on it as a supplementary income to farming.
“After that visit, I started experimenting with paper flower-making, drawing inspiration from Thanh Tien but adding my own creative twist to it. At first, it was merely a hobby, and I was surprised when my friends started asking to buy my creations. That’s when I realized I could turn my passion into a business,” shared Phan Ngọc Hiếu.
Soon after, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, prompting Hiếu to return to her hometown of Hue with her daughter. This unexpected turn of events presented her with an opportunity to delve deeper into the art of paper flower-making.
“I decided to leave my banking job and focus entirely on paper flowers. It wasn’t an easy decision, as my parents disagreed with me leaving a stable career path. Thankfully, my husband and sister supported my choice. I dedicated myself to studying the craft of Thanh Tien’s paper flowers, aiming to create products that blended modern aesthetics with traditional techniques,” recalled Ngọc Hiếu.
Maypaperflower became the commercial name for her artistic paper flower line, inspired by the village of Thanh Tien. “May is the English word for the month of May, and it’s also my daughter’s name. When I started this business and created the brand, I decided to name it after my daughter.”
Maypaperflower’s creations showcase attention to detail in every petal, stem, and stamen, captivating customers with their blend of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary art. This fusion not only bridges the past and the present but also infuses ancient values with modern colors, romance, and artistic flair.
Hiếu recounts: “It may sound unbelievable, but I started this business with just a pair of scissors at home. With each sale, I reinvested the profits into buying more materials and creating new products. Maypaperflower’s designs are inspired by Thanh Tien but with a modern twist.”
In 2020, Phan Ngọc Hiếu and her sister, Phan Ngọc Hương, entered their Maypaperflower brand into a provincial innovation and startup competition in Thua Thien-Hue and won the top prize. The following year, in 2021, they established INNODIR Trading and Services Co., Ltd., specializing in the production and trade of traditional paper flowers.
After establishing the company, Ngọc Hiếu returned to Thanh Tien village to seek advice from local artisans, aiming to perfect her products and collaborate on certain production steps, as well as strategize their approach to larger markets.
Simultaneously, Ngọc Hiếu began hiring and training employees, providing them with social insurance and long-term employment contracts. She also invested in machinery to support production and ensure they could meet the demands of larger orders.
“I took my products to shops and fairs to introduce them to potential customers. Fortunately, Maypaperflower was well-received from the start. Several major shopping malls in Ho Chi Minh City, as well as hotels, offices, and businesses, placed orders for paper flowers as gifts or decorative items. This positive response fueled my determination to continue innovating and expanding my market reach. Surprisingly, our first international order came from a customer who discovered us at one of these fairs,” Hiếu reminisced.
The destination of their first international order was the United Kingdom. As Hiếu rejoiced at the prospect of her paper flowers blooming overseas, she soon realized that exporting brought a new set of challenges and requirements.
“To meet international standards, we had to ensure that our materials and production processes met stringent quality and sustainability criteria. Therefore, Maypaperflower sources paper from sustainably managed forests (FSC-certified) and prioritizes eco-friendly, low-waste production.”
However, Maypaperflower’s first export batch encountered a hurdle when it was flagged as “Red” during customs clearance.
Specifically, for import and export goods, the Customs Authority implements a color-coded system for management and clearance: Green, Yellow, and Red. Green indicates exemption from detailed document and physical inspection; Yellow requires detailed document inspection but exempts physical inspection; while Red mandates both detailed document and physical inspection.
“I was terrified because it was our first export experience, and we were unfamiliar with the process. The customs officials explained that due to the novelty of paper flower exports, they had to conduct a thorough inspection. Thankfully, after a day, our shipment was cleared for export,” Ngọc Hiếu recounted.
As of now, Maypaperflower has successfully exported its first orders to five countries: the USA, South Korea, the UK, Australia, and Italy. Hiếu considers these initial steps into the international market as significant milestones, showcasing the talent and value of Vietnamese, and Hue-based, entrepreneurs.
“Maypaperflower officially started in 2021 with just a 4-square-meter room and two members. After a long incubation period, May has grown into a 350-square-meter workshop with a team of nearly 20 dedicated members,” proudly shared the founder of Maypaperflower.
In late September, Maypaperflower’s founder, Phan Ngọc Hiếu, organized a series of events titled “The Paper Flower Maker: From Traditional Craft Village to Modern Times.”
At the opening seminar of the event series, artisan Tran Phu, with over 50 years of experience in paper flower-making in Thanh Tien, shared: “Paper flower-making is a year-long arduous process, braving sun and rain, only to sell during the half-month of the Kitchen God festival. The value of Thanh Tien’s paper flowers has increased, not only in traditional worship and spiritual practices but also in the hands of young artisans who have elevated the craft into exquisite art pieces for upscale spaces and international markets.”
Artisan Tran Phu (standing on the far left)
Today, Maypaperflower boasts 107 unique product codes, catering to a diverse range of customer tastes across ages and regions. Their collection includes roses, chrysanthemums, peonies, daffodils, sunflowers, lilies, African daisies, American chrysanthemums, safflowers, lavender, carnations, white and pink lotuses, and more. The brand has received positive feedback from both domestic and international customers.
“There’s still a lot I want to improve in our business model, as we’ve only been operating for three years. The key to Maypaperflower’s success lies in our respect for traditional values and our commitment to meticulousness in every aspect of our operations,” affirmed Phan Ngọc Hiếu.
