After graduating from high school in the US, she took a year off to work in London before attending Harvard University, graduating with a degree in philosophy in 2004. “I had a lot of questions and [Harvard] seemed like a fun place to get answers— although I got none,” she says with a laugh. Poon moved back to Hong Kong where she did a brief stint with Esquel, running Pye’s business in Beijing. “At the time, Pye never made any money. [Once we did], my mother said: ‘Now you need to make a plan to open another 100 stores’. There was no way I was doing that, so I left. I was 22 at the time and it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I was young and I needed space to explore,” she says.

Poon’s early twenties saw her doing “a hodgepodge of different things” that interested her, leaning in to chance encounters along the way. In 2006, she co-founded Ambassadors of Design Hong Kong, a non-profit organisation that promoted design and creative culture in Hong Kong and abroad. In 2008, she joined the board of Teach for China, a non-profit programme that partners with outstanding graduates from mainland China and overseas and trains them to teach in underserved Chinese schools. That year also saw the launch of Poon’s pop-up boutique Dysemevas in Central, which showcased emerging designers from mainland China including Yang Du, Winnie Lui, Daydream Nation and Bandi Panda.

In 2009, Poon was up for a new challenge and decided to re-join the ranks at Esquel. She has since worked tirelessly to make a difference, continuing the family goal that was set long before she was born. In the 1900s, Poon’s maternal great-grandfather, Tsai Shengbai, was a noted industrialist and renowned for teaching workers in the silk trade to increase productivity through modern machinery and professional management. “The concept of purposeful business is core to my family’s belief. When my grandfather started Esquel, it was about bringing jobs to the country. My family [has always been about] building livelihoods,” she says.

In an age where it would be easy to write-off a scion such as Poon as a privileged “nepo baby”, her tenacity and vulnerability set her apart. “Trust me, I’m not flying around in a private jet. There are many ways I could have optimised my life. I appreciate what we do [at Esquel]. I feel grounded in reality because I work with all types of people from every part of the pay scale. It makes me more human and real. I don’t live in an ivory tower with other Ivy League graduates,” she says. “I know that would be easier and more fun, but is that what life is really about?”

The pandemic forced Poon to question the impact her work was making on the world. Pragmatic as ever, she says: “I don’t feel like Esquel is changing the world in the way that Elon Musk thinks he is.” However, she is proud that the company is making a positive contribution to its employees’ lives. “We’re not transformational, but our persistence is important, and our values of ethics, environment, exploration, excellence and education are what can possibly lead to a more equitable and happy future,” she says.

Poon derives much of her inspiration from her mother and shares the same mission-driven approach to achieving her goals. “She knows what she wants. It’s not about having more; she sees what she’s doing as actually making a difference in people’s lives,” Poon says with admiration. And, although her mother seems larger-than-life to those on the outside, to Poon, she’s just “Margie”.

The pair are very close. A Google search will turn up a plethora of photos of the duo: gracing the cover of magazines, starring in brand campaigns and speaking at conferences about the future of sustainability in fashion. “My mom and I are yin and yang,” says Poon. “I studied philosophy, she studied maths. I went to Harvard, she went to MIT and is an engineer and a technologist. I bring knowledge to the table that she would otherwise not have [and vice versa]. It works. It’s weird, because we come across very similar and that’s obviously down to a high level of mimicking from my side from a very young age, but we’re quite different in what we like and what we’re interested in.”

As a single mother, Yang leaned on the support of female friends to raise Poon while simultaneously growing the family business. As a result, Poon’s childhood wasn’t conventional—Poon’s father and Yang split when she was a child and Dickson’s second marriage, to Oscar-nominated actress Michelle Yeoh, also ended in divorce before Poon turned ten. Poon was taught from a young age to be fiercely independent and accountable for her actions, just as her mother was. “I supposedly gave Margie grief [when I was] growing up about not coming to bake sales at my school. She wasn’t there 24/7, but she really did put in the effort [to spend quality time with me],” she says. When Yang couldn’t be present, she relied on the support of strong women in her inner circle. It takes a village, they say, and Poon couldn’t agree more: “I treasure great friendships because I am a product of a village, and this village was made up of girls and gays. I had godmothers and fairy godfathers. As you get older, you realise that you just need people around you who can help, and they often aren’t straight men: they are women, because women help other women,” she says.

Strong women are the bedrock of Poon’s family and friends circle, and this is reinforced by the relationship between Yang and Yeoh. “Michelle is family. She’s been in my brain for as long as I can remember—and you’re going to love this: Margie and Michelle are great friends.  They bonded over me and probably their common ex. In fact, the three of us and Jean [Todt, Yeoh’s partner] all went on holiday together in 2019,” she says, holding up photos from the trip on her cell phone.

Covid-19 saw a shift in Poon’s work outside of the office too: last year, she became a board member of Mind HK, a charity working to remove the stigma around mental health in Hong Kong. The cause is personal to Poon, who is open about her own struggles with mental health.

“I don’t mind sharing this. In some ways I’m extra proud, because I’m still here,” she says. “There have been a lot of stressful moments and separations in my life. I probably went away [to boarding school] too young. I never quite knew where I stood. I was functional, but always angry and I knew something was wrong.”

Suffering from bouts of depression in her twenties, Poon sought help, and after years of trial and error, she found a therapist in New York who resonated with her. To Poon, the decision to start therapy was as clear as night and day: “If I want to lose weight, I see a dietician and a personal trainer. If I’m not feeling right in the head, I know I need to go to therapy,” she says. Though Asian cultures often still see mental health issues as a sign of weakness or source of shame, Poon is a staunch advocate of seeking help. “Therapy gives you the tools to recognise that certain feelings are allowed. You never know what will lead you to feel inadequate. The goal is just to feel better,” she says. “Therapy gives you simple practices to nudge you in the right direction.”

According to Mind HK, 20 per cent of people in Hong Kong have symptoms of clinical anxiety or depression. In November 2022, when Hong Kong was on the cusp of reopening borders, Poon saw an opportunity to use her voice and her new role at Mind HK for something bigger. “We’d been through something traumatic. If we wanted our city to flourish, we needed to get everybody healthy and motivated again,” she says. She launched the online campaign #OpenUpLevelUp to destigmatise the conversation around mental health and to publicise the city-wide resources available to people in times of need. Poon encouraged Hongkongers to share their vulnerability on social media by posting an empowering photo of themselves with a caption explaining why taking care of their mental health is of utmost importance. Tatler community members including Elaine Kwok, Federico Tan, Calvin Wang, Betty Ng and Victoria Tang-Owen are among those that participated.

“Lucy Lord [executive chairman of Mind HK] knows how to create transformational change. It’s an important time for Mind HK. Mental health is something we all deal with. I don’t think it’s worth suffering when you can get help,” Poon says.

For such a public figure, Poon’s honest account of difficulties she has faced is refreshing; it’s a candour she exhibits in both her personal and professional life, and that she inherited from Yang. “[What I admire about my mother is] her strength, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have weaknesses or insecurities,” she says. “Her best advice is: ‘Buy yourself cake and flowers and get [through] it. It’s not over until it’s over.’” The motto has helped shape Poon’s outlook on life and how she tackles adversity. “It’s a way to live. Do small things that give you immediate gratification and keep going.” She begins to laugh. “It’s like the new Miley Cyrus song Flowers,” she says. “Miley is quoting Margie on this one!”

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