Retail

Entrepreneur of the Year 2024: Rain Zhang wraps the hospitality industry in Willowest’s furnishing products

Richmond-based Willowest has partnered with over 35,000 hotels across Canada

By Alyssa Hirose /

THE KICKOFF: When Rain Zhang was a child, she loved observing weddings in her small village in China. But it wasn’t the matrimony itself that excited her: it was watching carpenters build furniture for the newlyweds. “It was so fascinating to me,” she remembers. She told her parents that she wanted to be a carpenter, but they were less than thrilled. “They did not accept, or believe, that this is what I would do,” she says with a smile. Instead, she pursued college studies in international business, then went on to work for General Motors and engineering giant Fluor. “But my passion to design, and my passion to build—it was a shadow that followed me wherever I went,” she says.

ACTION PLAN: At 31, she made the move to Canada. Finding a job was difficult, and she saw an opportunity to embrace her lifelong love of design. “I thought, why don’t I start my own business—using my skills—in textiles and furniture?” she says. Zhang founded Willowest and focused on linens, reasoning that the tourism industry (hotels, specifically) would be dependable customers. “They need a lot of sheets!” she quips. She created a cotton/polyester blend that is less expensive and longer lasting than 100-percent cotton, and heat-set her materials so they wouldn’t lose their shape through hotels’ intense laundering processes. She visited over 30 hotel properties and spoke to room attendants about their work, which resulted in Willowest changing the sizing of the linens to make changing sheets more practical.

CLOSING STATEMENT: Willowest’s products (which now include both textiles and furniture) can be found in over 35,000 hotel rooms across Canada. Loden, Azur, Marriott and Sheraton are all clients. Artificial leather made from recycled bottles and upholstery made from recycled linens are part of the company’s commitment to sustainability. Zhang credits her innovation and adaptability, in part, to the empathy she’s gained as a mother and an immigrant. “Products aren’t for profit—products are meant to bring people convenience and function,” she says.

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