Two years ago, twin sisters Nat and Steph Chin left university and opened a tiny coffee outlet in Wellington.
That little act of rebellion has become the drinks and clothing brand Evil Twins.
Nat and Steph Chin Photo: Jack Woon
Before launching Evil Twins - now a coffee shop and retail store on Willis Street - the sisters didn't know anything about coffee, Steph says, but did know about Wellington's lack of good matcha tea.
"We're like 'let's just make really good drinks in Wellington and see where that goes."
Their first site was a coffee window connected to a studio leased by the twins' brother-in-law and business mentor Victor Huang.
"He always gave us that advice which was to try and do something different or new 'because that's when you realise what you like and what you don't like. We kind of were like you know what, why not try this insane idea?''
Setting up in a "pretty isolated" location, the sisters had to get creative to make Evil Twins an enticing destination, Steph says.
"No one was going to go all the way out to see us [for no reason] so we just had to make sure our brand and marketing were spot-on."
Victor's idea of serving iced drinks in (safe and easily deliverable) glass mason jars and strong Instagram appeal were what really put Evil Twins on the map, the sisters say.
Nat studied fine arts, Steph studied design, their sister Vanessa works in customer service and their brother-in-law Victor is an animator so the family pool their creative skills on the business.
After always wanting to be an artist, Nat says she's refound a passion for creativity that got lost at university.
"It felt like I was making art just for the grades… Now for the first time ever I feel like I can actually create for myself and the people around us."
Photo: Evil Twins / Instagram
Right now, she and Steph are focused on developing the Evil Twins clothing line and their mother is still slowly coming to accept their decision to leave university.
"Growing up, the idea of going to uni or having a really successful corporate job was the idea of success," Steph says, but the twins now define success as following their own passions.
"There is the fixed mindset in a lot of Chinese culture… usually parents think success in children is [them] taking the traditional path. That's going to university and going to a successful corporate job."
Appearing on the Wellington episode of TVNZ's Kiwi-Chinese food show Sik Fan Lah!, Steph says she and Nat met some "great like-minded people that have similar stories".
"It made us feel so much surer of ourselves 'cause we got to meet inspiring people that had the same upbringing. They felt pressure to continue that traditional path but instead, they decided to do what they loved. That hit hard for us."
