For content creator Deborah Kwek, being a Shopee Affiliate is where authenticity meets community

Authenticity is the name of the game for content creator Deborah Kwek (@debxrahkwek). The mother-of-one didn’t set out to build a business – she merely wanted to share about great products for her postpartum situation.

And now, she has the privilege of monetising it.

As an avid shopper for her baby and household, she was already a regular consumer on Shopee, and enjoys finding new things to share with others. What started as posting on Instagram about her daily struggles with pregnancy and finding suitable products for her postpartum body led to Shopee and other brands reaching out to work with her.

“I like finding new things to share with others, and discovering new things that people may not know of,” she shares.

This has grown into a meaningful source of income through the Shopee Affiliate Programme. By sharing her own trusted finds, she not only makes life easier for fellow mothers, but also gains from their experiences in return.

With Shopee’s wide reach and familiarity, the entire process has remained simple, seamless and rewarding.In fact, she was in slight disbelief when she first learnt about the affiliate programme.

“What do you mean sharing links can help me make a living? But anything that allows women to support themselves by leveraging their strengths is definitely empowering to me,” she says.

How Shopee supports online entrepreneurs

One of the first products she recommended that went viral was an eczema cream that her confinement nanny recommended for her baby’s rash. The simple act of sharing turned into a long-standing partnership with Iyla Collective, the distributor of the cream, and the launch of a special larger product size just for the Singapore market.

She recalls how the founder reached out to her and shared that her business was struggling when Deborah’s recommendation helped turn things around.

“That blew my mind. How can a product that was so good even struggle?” she says.

It made her realise that she was able to help small businesses, and she now works with several brands to introduce their products to her community. Over time, she’s built a supportive community, grounded in authenticity and shared experiences of motherhood.

“Being able to post what I want to say without any marketing and ad speak, allows conversions to flow organically,” she says.

Today, Deborah is a Shopee All-Star Affiliate, a title reserved for top revenue-generating affiliates. She never set out to achieve sales milestones, but her authentic sharing has organically placed her among Shopee’s top 30 creators.

As a Shopee Affiliate, she can be a shortcut for her community who use her shopping habits as R&D, so that her followers can find solutions more easily. Shopee’s free membership programmes, like Mum’s Club, also make discovery simpler, surfacing new parenting and household products for her to try and share.

For Deborah, her purpose comes from giving mothers a safe space to share and feel supported, while helping small businesses reach people who truly value their products.

Her community is so close that when she posts on Instagram to source for answers, she gets an influx of responses.

“The community helps the community. Even in the comments section, people reply there. It makes me very happy to provide the platform powered by them,” she says.

With Shopee’s user-friendly tools, women entrepreneurs are not only growing their businesses, but also uplifting other women along the way.

Join Deborah as she shares more about her journey as a content creator with Shopee at Finding your Niche Online (18 September, 5-7pm), a fireside chat on kickstarting and growing an online business, brand or side hustle. Sign up here!

PHOTOGRAPHY: Lawrence Teo
ART DIRECTION: Adeline Eng & Ray Ticsay
STYLING: Donson Chan
HAIR: Peter Lee
MAKEUP: Lasalle Lee
COORDINATION: Chelsia Tan

Outfit: Alpaca sweater and printed cotton skirt, Moschino