Having a father who taught English as a teacher may have contributed towards Krista’s fascination for the language. Or perhaps the seed was sown when she read her first Enid Blyton book at nine. Whatever it was, she considers English her first language trumping her Cantonese.

While other girls were hankering for Barbie dolls, Krista’s proudest possession at 11 years old was a second-hand typewriter which she used happily to create her poems and stories.

“I once maniacally thumped out a poem on my typewriter about the massacre at Tianenmen Square because I was so indignant at the bloodshed,” Krista remembers. “I still have that poem and strangely, yes, I was that precocious!”

At 16, she knew what she wanted to be – a copywriter! Her teachers were puzzled because no one back then knew exactly what a copywriter did. She didn’t waiver. Armed with her STPM results, she entered Universiti Sains Malaysia to study Mass Communication. It wasn’t a surprise that she majored in Journalism and (no surprise here) minored in English. A few years later, Krista returned to her alma mater to study for her Master’s Degree (English Language Studies) – “just for the fun of it!”

So it’s rather apt that as co-founder of Redbox Studio, Krista directs and manages the content strategy for the company as well as for their loyal clients.

“I really enjoy writing, marketing and business psychology. Over the years, I’ve used what I know to give our clients’ websites that added edge,” Krista says. “I get quite mad when I see the junk that is called content on most websites. My aim is to get people to pay more attention to content because content is what really matters.”

Pioneers Women’s Group

She’s not one to sit back and accept the status quo. When she and her good friend could not find a women’s networking group in Penang which suited their needs, they proceeded to set one up! Krista co-founded WomenBizSENSE in 2006, a networking group for women entrepreneurs. Today, WomenBizSENSE is a recognized group of dynamic women entrepreneurs in Penang with a focus on connecting women entrepreneurs in Penang.

Her contribution towards the betterment of business women in Penang with WomenBizSENSE did not go unnoticed. Krista became one of the 18 Malaysian women who were honoured with the Great Women Of Our Time Awards in 2008 for their inspiring contribution to society, a prestigious annual gala awards event organized by The Malaysian Women’s Weekly magazine.

“I’ve always been involved with women and women’s issues, even as an undergraduate,” Krista acknowledges. “I’m a big feminist at heart!”

In 2009, she spearheaded Redbox Studio’s pro bono involvement in the design and development of the international website for The Pixel Project – a global campaign aimed to raise awareness about violence against women as well as raise US$1 million for the Women’s Aid Organisation Malaysia & the USA’s National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Speaks, Blogs & Coaches

Her expertise also extends to speaking, blogging and coaching.

Click on photo to enlarge.

In 2011, she was invited to share her insights as a woman entrepreneur in the Global Entrepreneur Week’s inaugural Northern Malaysia edition called “Sembang-sembang” in Penang. Prior to this, Krista had shared about blogging (she’s been blogging since 2002, back when blogging wasn’t as hip as it is now) at KDU College, Penang (2006 & 2007) and at the Internet-related MIRC Conference (2008).

She has coached clients focusing on content marketing – clients learnt not only how to create their own credible content but how to be resourceful and creative in re-using and marketing with their content.

Despite the work she does, her biggest passion still revolves around the written word. Her online contributions can be read at ThingsAsian.com and EzineArticles.com where she is a Platinum level expert author. In her free time, she used to write for print publications such as Reader’s Digest and The Western Australian newspaper based in Perth.

Besides writing, she has also been written up in the media. She was interviewed by eHomemakers.net (September 2004), The Malaysian Women’s Weekly magazine (July 2005 & August 2009) and Guang Ming Daily (March 2011).

Connect With Krista

When she’s not working on the business, Krista loves reading (Haruki Murakami, Terry Pratchett, Agatha Christie), experimenting in the kitchen and writing up her soup exploits (it’s in her Cantonese blood), pottering in her herb garden, baking bread and making the odd craft or two. At one time, she used to rear 14 hamsters but now owns a 5 year old tabby with a propensity for being grouchy called Margaret.

In 2007, she was one of the finalists at the DIGI Telecommunications’ Short Short Story competition where she had to use just 16 words to write a complete, understandable story. Her entry went: “Good morning. Birds chirping. Exercise on balcony. Forward. Backward. Stomp. Stomp. Shit. Girlfriend’s Roborovski hamster. Squashed.”

Discover more of her at her personal blog, Mayakirana.com, where she often muses over the crazy things sane people do. Or connect with her on Facebook or follow her tweets.