Angela Yeung: Climbing Mountains, Changing Lives
Abandoned by her mother at the age of three, Angela Yeung grew up knowing what it meant to struggle, but never stopped believing in what she could achieve. From a childhood spent hiding beneath her father’s office desk to building a successful jewellery business and standing on the summit of Mount Everest, hers is an extraordinary story of courage and determination. But Angela’s greatest ambition isn’t to conquer mountains. It’s to change lives. Through her Impilo Collection Foundation, she is restoring dignity and hope to women affected by gender-based violence. She shares the deeply moving story of finding her mother after decades apart, the strength she has drawn from adversity, and her belief that we all have a diamond within us, waiting to shine.
Listen to the conversation
Behind the Conversation
by Babette Gallard
After talking to Angela, I couldn’t help thinking my admiration wasn’t so much for having climbed Everest, extraordinary though that is, but for the little girl who grew up hiding beneath her father’s desk after her mother left. I found it deeply moving that, decades later, she finally tracked her mother down in Japan, not to confront her, but simply to reconnect. There is something remarkable about Angela’s ability to turn difficult experiences into a determination to make things better, not just for herself but for others. I loved the story of how a young woman in a shelter asked her for a bra, rather than food or money, and how that simple request grew into a campaign to restore dignity to thousands of women affected by violence. And I particularly loved Angela’s image of the diamond within each of us, waiting to be polished. Perhaps what I admired most was that, despite everything she has achieved, she understands that none of us gets very far alone. Even diamonds, she reminded us, need other diamonds to polish them.