As a teenager, I dabbled in various jobs – from boutique to retail to electronic stores. I worked mainly as a sales promoter which involved long hours of standing and serving customers. Following that, and when I was an undergraduate, I was a telemarketer for close to a year where I mainly called and scheduled appointments for consultants.

Although I enjoyed those jobs, I remember chancing upon an insurance company that had a newcomer scheme – it provided $1500 monthly allowances on top of pay. This was a huge pull factor as I was earning $1200-$1500 as a telemarketer, so I decided to try it out.

When I started, I mainly helped my clients to grow and protect their wealth. I had many fears going into a new sector – who would I sell to? Where would I find my clients? At a young age of 23, I did not have much of a network to sell to. This meant spending a lot of time, at least at the beginning, acquiring clients through roadshows and cold calls. Fortunately, I seemed to be able to provide some value to them and referrals started coming in.

There were also many challenges when I first joined.

I wasn’t a smooth talker with the ability to connect and communicate well with others. The way I overcame this was through constant practising – I firmly believe that “practice makes perfect”. Time management was another challenge for me. As an undergraduate, I had to juggle time between school and my new job for the first two years. Thankfully, I’m a persistent individual so that trait, combined with my desire to succeed and determination to learn really helped propel me forward.

Fast forward nine years, and I am now a manager, leading a team of consultants. My job involves grooming and training future generations of consultants in areas such as wealth management (something I’m very passionate about). I am also AEPP certified and do estate planning such as wills and LPA for my clients. My philosophy in my job is to find joy by making a difference in someone’s life – regardless of how big or small that is. As long as I am in this industry, I want to share my skills and knowledge with younger consultants so that we can impact more lives as a collective team.

Something I really appreciate in my current job is having time freedom and flexibility.

I remember working 6-6.5 days a week in my previous job where I had to meet and acquire customers through direct sales methods (roadshows, door-to-door). Now, I get to decide on my working days/ hours, when I would like to spend time with my family, or when I want to go for a holiday. At the same time, there are always trade offs.

For anyone who is now contemplating a job change, my piece of advice is to “build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs”.

This is a quote I truly resonate with and I believe that there’s power in choosing a career that brings you opportunity rather than stability.