IT'S lunchtime and Himalaya Herbal Healthcare's newest store in Suria KLCC is abuzz with activity. A sizeable group of tourists from Oman have come in to do some last-minute shopping before flying home, joining several ladies who are browsing through the range of natural products. 

Seeing that her staff have their hands full, Sue Ong steps in to help. The CEO of the company that retails the Indian-made, Ayurvedic-formulated health and body products is certainly the perfect advertisement for the brand. She's dressed in a white kurta top and Indian drainpipe trousers, and as she flits among the customers, she is the picture of health and calm - ethereal-looking almost. 

Sue Ong believes it was karma that led her to Himalaya and its business philosophy - a healthy lifestyle which everyone can afford.

She speaks softly and precisely, and is engaging as well as convincing when it comes to her favourite subject. 

"Try this chilli and spearmint ointment,'' she tells one Omani who complained of a pulled muscle as she hands him a box of Muscle and Joint Rub. Then she turns to his friend who is looking for a pick-me-up. 

"Ashvaganda is a stress reliever and will help you sleep better and give you more energy,'' she says. "Or Guduchi, which can help with your immunity?.'' 

She spouts the Sanskrit names her products bear so effortlessly that anyone would think she's being doing this forever. But up to a year ago, Ong was more familiar with the latest Western manufactured beauty products than difficult-to-pronounce ancient remedies. 

The company's founder kept his Ayurvedic formulas on recipe cards, which offer invaluable information to the research team today.

She retired last August after 22 years as head of the Clinique brand of skincare and cosmetics that comes under the vast umbrella of the US Estee Lauder Group. 

So what made her swap hats and transfer her passion from an American prestige brand to a back-to-basics range from India? 

"Call it karma ? I feel that this is something I was destined to do,'' offers Ong, 50, the daughter of a tin merchant from Taiping who admits to always dreaming big dreams for herself. "Before I was painting faces, but now I am painting the insides,'' she says, referring to the natural goodness of Himalaya's extensive line of pharmaceuticals and consumer health products derived from herbs. 

Her foray into this venture began with a fateful phone call from a good friend from India back in 2004: "My friend, Moideenkutty, has an estate which supplies herbs to Himalaya. He heard that they were looking for a new distributor in Malaysia, so he called me."  

Himalaya has, in fact, been available in Malaysia since the early 1990s, but the two previous distributors were both doctors and sold it on prescription and not as a consumer brand. The company was growing very fast and was looking to have the products made available directly to the end-user, thus the need for a new distributor. 

"Kutty said that they wanted to make a decision quickly, so my husband and I jumped on a plane to India,'' Ong recalls. 

The rest, as they say, is history: Ong, her businessman husband, Joseph Foong, and a pharmacist friend met with Himalaya's CEO Ravi Prasad in Bangalore and were briefed on the products and given a tour of the research and manufacturing facilities. 

"I was a bit apprehensive initially because I'd hadn't even heard of the brand but we were very impressed with the research and development that went into the products." 

That was her first trip to the subcontinent and despite being unfamiliar with Ayurvedic medicine, she and her team still managed to make a good impression on the Indians. 

The newest outlet in Suria KLCC showcases the brand's bright and breezy 'one-stop family shop' concept.

"I am not a businesswoman but my husband was keen on the brand. Besides, I still had my old job. So we decided that he would start the company and I would help him with my marketing know-how. That was the plan at first,'' she recalls. 

As it turned out, Ong found herself increasing fascinated by the Ayurvedic approach to health which led her to delve into Himalaya's many supplements. Before long, she was so passionate about the brand and its potential that she decided to retire from Clinique and join her husband full-time. More than that, she took over the reins from him. 

Looking back, she marvels at how they were able to secure the brand. After all, several big Malaysian corporations had approached Prasad without success. 

Ong believes she managed to win him over with her forthrightness and determination. 

"I told him that I have nothing to offer except my marketing experience and a lot of pride because I am Chinese! I said if I took it on, I'd make sure it worked.'' 

K. Moideenkutty, who has since come on board as Ong's business partner says: "I have known her for a number of years and had a gut feeling that she would be perfect for the job. That feeling was shared by the team in India who met her (so) she didn't really have to do any convincing.'' 

Ong certainly seems to have kept her end of the bargain with regard to making the brand a success: Himalaya opened its first store in MidValley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur in mid-2004 and that same year, she managed to get a selection of its pure herbal remedies, skincare and body-care products onto shelves at selected Guardian pharmacy outlets. 

Himalaya's CEO Ravi Prasad was approached by several Malaysian corporations for distributorship, but was won over by Ong's determination.

Last year, she opened a new store in 1 Utama shopping centre in Petaling Jaya and another in Tebrau City in Johor Baru early this year. The KLCC outlet opened for business in April. 

"I worked very hard to make sure that it got off the ground. My friends said to me 'We thought you had retired, so why are you working so hard?' I replied that it isn't really work when you have a passion for something,'' Ong enthuses. 

Though business is now booming, she did initially face an uphill battle in getting due recognition for Himalaya. Many friends and industry insiders pooh-poohed the marketability of an Indian-made product.  

"When I came back with initial samples and showed my friends, many said I was crazy and that it wouldn't work ? that the products were too cheap-looking,'' she says. 

Fortunately, Himalaya was in the midst of revamping their logo and packaging. "The old one was in fact 'very Indian'. I told them that it wouldn't work here if they didn't change it." 

As a result, what you see in the stores today is the new, more stylised logo and packaging which is sleek, simple and very saleable. "It's got more universal appeal now,'' is how Ong puts it. 

One of her closest friends (who prefers to remain anonymous as she is also in retailing) remembers that time very well: "She wanted me to follow her to India, but I couldn't make the trip. When she came back with a few of the products, I thought 'Oh no, what is she getting herself into', but she was convinced it would work with a little tweaking. That's Sue: once she makes up her mind, there's no stopping her. She has a certain flair that not many people possess and that has helped her make a success of it.'' 

Apart from the thrill of running her own thriving business, Ong is determined to promote Himalaya because she truly believes in it. Her local business partner, Marcel Gan, puts it most succinctly: "To Sue, it's simple: good things are meant to be shared. She is renowned for her love of sharing good food with people around her and now she's doing the same with Himalaya.'' 

Ong's own take on this is simple: "I've seen so many sick people - friends and relatives. My own sister died of cancer. When she was very sick, I used to buy her a lot of health food, some of which cost a lot of money ? but at that point you don't care (how much),'' she says. "No business is a charity, but it shouldn't take advantage and charge an arm and a leg for health products.'' 

And this is exactly why Himalaya's business philosophy is so close to her heart: "Himalaya advocates living a healthy lifestyle and it is so affordable that everyone can buy. We don't take advantage of people when they need help.'' 

For all that it stands for, Himalaya has also helped her get to a station in life where she's completely at peace.  

"Sure, I feel a whole lot better, my friends say my skin glows, I've come to love Indian food and even bought a couple of saris, but that's not all there is to it,'' quips the mum of four boys aged between 23 and 16. 

Her healthy glow and lean physique certainly tell of a life well lived - Ong was a Perak state swimmer, runner and badminton player and has kept active through the years with regular sessions of golf, yoga and qi gong - but it's the changed mindset that has come with her association with the brand and its ancient wisdom that she cherishes most. 

"You can never take health for granted - everyone says that but you have to believe it. And happiness and moderation are the keys to a good life. I am happy now, and if I could live my life over again, this is the stage that I would like (to relive).'' 

Sure looks like Himalaya's taken her to the top of the world!