What It Means To Be A Leader

King Quah, the group managing director of SaltyCustoms, is this year's Generation T honouree. His company, an expert at making quality customised t-shirts for companies through utilising tech merchandising to bring custom apparel into the modern era, started as pet projet but is on its way to accomplishing Quah's vision in becoming a USD 100 million company.

Serving a global clientele, exporting to over 36 countries to companies the likes of Facebook, Spotify, Airbnb and global gaming giant Blizzard, while attracting world class talent to work in Malaysia, is at the core of SaltyCustoms' growth.

"Malaysia is home to many unrefined talents, especially in the apparel manufacturing space. My aim is to revolutionise the apparel industry by introducing tech innovations in multifaceted approaches," says Quah.

To bring out the best of his team, he employs a multi-layered approach.

"We really have to understand our people by listening to them, observing them and understanding how they work and operate. Although this may take up a lot of time, I do try to spend a fixed amount of time with my teammates. For those that I can’t spend as much time with, I make sure that the organisation has learning and development programs on a regular basis so that the whole company grows in tandem with each other".

Coming from a financial background, Quah admits that when he first got into the business, his motivation was more monetary than anything else. These days, he now sees things in a different light.

"To be honest, it used to be money that drove my willpower but now we have a great cause and around me are people who believe in that cause. I wake up everyday energised and ready to take on the world because I know that all of us are driven by that same cause," says Quah.