Tropicana Magazine Mar-Apr 2018 #117: Edge Of Excitement

JEFFREY YANG AND JOEY WOO
It takes insight to see beauty in places
where it isn’t apparent, it takes
acumen to turn it into a successful
business. Partners in life and in
business, I met Jeffrey Yang and
Joey Woo, Founders of Art of Tree. at their
showroom hidden away in an industrial estate
in Shah Alam.
We took a seat at a table in the corner. Large slabs of wood
lined the walls, the floor was a maze of wood furniture. There were
benches, chairs, and coffee and dining tables, all stunning pieces,
their surfaces rippling circles of gold, brown and black. Each is a
work of art, many impressive in size. In and of themselves they are
conversation pieces, but what makes these items truly remarkable
is their source.
“It is not very often that we are presented with an opportunity
to run a business that makes a positive impact on the environment.
A lot of people when they talk about timber furniture, they
immediately think of deforestation,” Art of Tree Creative Director
Jeffrey explained. Art of Tree supports zero deforestation. Its
raw material is not procured from precious million-year-old
rainforests, but instead from salvaged wood.
Grown in cities, the salvaged wood his business uses were once
urban trees that were uprooted in a storm, struck by lightning, or
felled to make way for development.
For progressive-minded, environmentally-conscious
consumers concerned about the ethics and the sourcing of wood
used in their furniture and household items, this is a timely
revelation.
You don’t have to be a champion of the environment to want
to own one of the remarkable pieces of furniture by Art of Tree.
Solid, and practical, they are pieces around which families will
share stories. “I look at Art of Tree from a business aspect first,
it has to be sustainable. For consumers, [being green] is not their
top priority. Ultimately, it is the aesthetic. We have to put a lot of
effort to making sure that our products stand out and are better
than the rest,” Jeffrey said pragmatically.
“It is not very often
that we are presented
with an opportunity
to run a business
that makes a positive
impact on the
environment.”
This combination of practical, poetic beauty and leadingedge
thinking befit times when resources are scarce and global
warming and environmental degradation is an international
concern. It has brought Jeffrey some well-deserved recognition
from Entrepreneur Insight magazine’s 100 Most Influential
Young Entrepreneurs 2017, and seen Art of Tree bag SME
Magazine’s SME100 Award 2017. The company also recently
placed Top 35 SMEs in the AmBank BizRACE 2018.
THE BEGINNINGS
Like a trail through the forest, the path that led Jeffrey and
Joey, Art of Tree’s General Manager, to this point was not always
clear or straight.
Jeffrey, who is originally from Johor, has a background in
electronic engineering from the University of Manchester
Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST). It was his passion
for exotic tropical fish, which he bred and exported to foreign
markets, that led him first to driftwood for aquariums and
eventually to salvaged or aged wooden furniture, which formed
the start of his personal collection.
Jeffrey’s understanding of wood, its inherent unique traits,
different strengths and durabilities came from years of deep
research. It took two years of trial and error for him to master
the art of transforming these discarded pieces into objects of
beauty. Even YouTube was an important learning source for
increasing skills, tips and tricks for his hands-on approach to the
business.
21 MARCH/APRIL 2018 | TM