Yearly Archives: 2009

Starting a business and building an empire on your own is never easy, but it is not impossible. There are an increasing number of people today who starts out as a young entrepreneur, looking for all kinds of business opportunities to make it into a career. However, not all can be successful in their first tries.

Elim Chew, the founder of a trendsetter for hip street wear fashion retail store in Singapore 77^th Street, share with you her experiences of starting out as a young entrepreneur through my audio interview with her. Being an expert in retail business, Elim is also a social entrepreneur who founded The Young Entrepreneur Mastery (TYEM), a non-profit academy that supports and nurtures youth entrepreneurship.

Elim was a hairstylist before she started her retail business. She has started her Street Wear fashion empire 21 years ago, and today, 77^th Street has achieved an excellent standing in the local retail market, where it owns 16 outlets in Singapore and a shopping mall called 77^th Street Plaza in Beijing文化广场, China. In addition to that Street Wear is now recognized everywhere around the world. “When we first started people thought we were cult, and we used to be very odd, but today they look at us differently because we are now recognized by the world, recognized by the people, and also recognized by the fashion, high-end fashion as well” she says.

This remarkable success does not drop from sky, but it is through long period of her perseverance, hard work and building the brand that she attained all these achievements. 77^th Street first started as a very small store in Far East Plaza selling iron-on t-shirts and also corporate print t-shirts. Having the spirit of perseverance, flexibility and being opportunistic allowed Elim to grow her business. At that time Elim would agree on any of their business from printing their t-shirts, polo t-shirts, glass, balloons, to providing stirrers and helium tanks. Her advice for young entrepreneurs who want to venture into business is simple. Being opportunistic is the first step. Next is to be flexible. You have to accept all kinds of business that you think you can handle and allow the scope of your business to widen. This can effectively boost the revenue of your business and sustain it, especially at the initial stage of development. You need to do as much as possible by being flexible, so as to gain more experience in overcoming different kinds of challenges, “because entrepreneurship is about experience,” Elim says.

A lot of young entrepreneurs who failed at their businesses because they are jumping into business without experience, and also without a finance budget plan out as well. Elim set up 77^th Street with her hair salon financing the expenses. Financial control is important to help sustain the expenses of the business. A lot of young entrepreneurs “just go into it with high rental, and then roll profit, thinking that if I sell cheaper than next door I can make it, but actually it’s not true. That’s how the market dies,” she says, because this affects the whole chain where the low prices that they’re offering are insufficient to cover their costs of rental and staffs. However, not all failed businesses are your fault. Sometimes, circumstantial changes affect you, and your business fails. In this case, you’ll have to use experiences to solve the problems, and if you do not have enough yourself, you can approach mentors who have more experience for you. Keeping yourself spiritually high would help you as well. Even when things are not doing well, but if your spirit is high, you will be positive in facing the challenges thrown at you.

What kept Elim going and being inspired always is through her work in helping others to achieve success. She has also set up PaTH (Pop and Talent Hub) at Vivocity to help those under-privileged or less-advantaged people in starting their entrepreneurship as well. These people would create crafts or art or anything personally, and sell it through PaTH. Elim says, “I just want people to remember that they can use their hands to make money, and that’s basically a space for creativity. So you got a new business, you got to try something, then you try.” This is how entrepreneurship starts and being active in it would keep your momentum going.

There are a lot of females in the business arena, but there are many factors that stop them from being successful. One of the reasons is because they sacrifice their time for their children or family. They stop themselves from advancing because they want to spend more time with their family; and this is good sacrifice. However, females can be a great entrepreneur as they can multi-task – in being many roles – and they are also very detailed. But of course, it takes a good team of female and male to work together and make the business to excel.

In relation to Female 50 Most Gorgeous People, I asked Elim about her definition of gorgeous, and to her gorgeous is someone who is attractive and good looking, and also with a lot of depth, because beauty also comes from the heart. “When you’re a beautiful person, you love people, and you love what you do, it actually shows on face” she says. Before we ended the audio interview, Elim also said that networking is important in your walk of entrepreneurship or even in life. Females should network with other females during events, and this is where you’ll gain support and advices from people. Stay connected.

Click on the picture to listen to the audio interview"

11.11.08 @9.11am was the happiest moment in my life.

Simply because after 9 months of waiting and close to 24 hours of delivery process (yup!!.. mine was super long hour, and extremely tiring too..), that’s the very first time I saw my baby girl and held her in my arm. And the feeling was really indescribable.

We named her ALVERNIA MARY LIU. I know what you are thinking… if some of you, after reading her name thought that she was born in Mt.Alvernia Hospital, you are wrong !! She was a Mt. Elizabeth Hospital’s baby. We named her ALVERNIA is because it’s a combination of both my husband name: ALVA and my name: RIANA =) also, ALVERNIA means “dearly loved”

And time really flies very fast, without us knowing it, she already 1 year old today…  

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, ALVERNIA !  

Mommy and daddy really love you very much.

Here some pictures that I managed to capture since the day she was born till today.  

I’ve just finished with the celebration of Vern’s birthday. My mom flew all the way from Jakarta just to be able to spend time with her during her birthday. Cool ! We took a lot of picture during her birthday celebration today.

And Thanks to Canon, taking her pictures has never been this easy. Simply because of the super innovative Kid’s function that Canon has that allows me to take picture of active objects without missing any single shots. Will definitely upload the photos in my next update.

So stay tuned !

I first met my ex-boyfriend, who is currently my husband, 10 years ago. We were from the same university (NTU). How we met is another long and interesting story, and I believe it was really by fate that we both know each other. We then engaged in 2002, just after we graduated, and married in 2004.

To me, marriage life is so interesting. And I really believe that to make relationship works, love itself is not enough. There are many things that are also as important, and one of it is to have effective communication.

We need to learn how to express our exact feelings to the other person. That includes making our needs known to our better half. I know it’s definitely not easy. I myself find it very weird initially, because I guess as Asians, we are not used to articulate our needs to our partners. Sometimes we are afraid that asking for what we want might cause conflict or even worse, maybe we’re afraid that our partner will think that we are being stupid or unrealistic. But still, in my experience of being married for 5 years, communicating our needs is something that is essential. Many times we feel so good when our needs are met, and on the contrary, we also know how bad it feels when they’re not met. Well, guess what? Our partner can’t read our mind; he or she can’t guess what our needs are. That’s why we need to communicate this to them.

When it comes to relationship, we all have different needs. In general, there are five categories, i.e. emotional needs, physical needs, social needs, security needs and spiritual needs.

Here are some examples from each category:  

EMOTIONAL NEEDS  

1. The need to feel, and be told, that we are loved

2. The need to feel respected as an individual

3. The need to feel appreciated for who and what you are and do

4. The need to feel special, above everyone else in our partner’s life

5. The need to feel passion between each other    

PHYSICAL NEEDS  

1. The need to be hugged or held

2. The need to be kissed, even if casually =)

3. The need for tenderness

4. The need to be touched and caressed

5. The need for a satisfying and rewarding sexual life =) hahaha…  

SOCIAL NEEDS  

1. The need for appropriate tenderness and support when in public

2. The need to hear sweet things in social environment

3. The need to be remembered with calls when apart

4. The need to share joy and laughter

5. The need to feel that we are the most important person in our partner’s life and awareness when in a crowded, busy social environment  

SECURITY NEEDS  

1. The need to know that our partner is loyal and committed

2. The need to know that our partner is there for us in times of 3rd party conflicts and problems

3. The need to know that our partner will always be with us through good times and bad times

4. The need to know that our relationship will not be put at risk because of any disagreements and confrontations    

SPIRITUAL NEEDS  

1. The need to feel that our partner respects our spiritual needs

2. The need to feel that our personal spiritual values are supported without judgment

3. The need to share a spiritual life, even if that spiritual life is experienced differently by us and our partner  

Again, those are just some examples. Hopefully by reading it, it can stimulate your thinking.

To end my post today, I would really encourage you all to grab a piece of paper, or since you already in front of the computer, go and open a Microsoft Word file and start to make your list of needs. And try to find a good time with your partner to just discuss and talk about it.

Trust me, it will work wonders. Well… at least it works for me. =)

I am very blessed with everything that I have today.

These things are definitely not easy to have been achieved, and I should give thanks to God knowing that He plays a big role in each and every one of them. There were many nights when I couldn’t seem to fall asleep as there was so much on my mind.

Sometimes I was just worried about my business, worried about my work, or even worried about my personal life. There were also times when I couldn’t find any solutions or even when I was just so anxious about few things.

But how did I manage to go thru that? The answer is because I learned how to  Let Go and Let God.

(photo: Courtesy of my talented cousin, Joshua)

“Let go and let God”, a phrase we hear often in our circle of Christian community, but what does it mean?

Well, probably I’ll try to explain it by using a simple story. 

One Sunday evening a man was out walking, but he had become so engrossed in his own thoughts that, without realizing, had wandered far off and was now completely lost. It was getting late and cold and would soon be dark. He began to feel afraid and his steps became quicker and unsteady.

Suddenly, something underneath him gave way and he fell. He tumbled down and down and just as he was about to fall over a cliff, he managed to grab onto a branch. But, he was now just hanging there; no way to climb back up and nothing but darkness below him.

Help! Somebody!! Please…Help me!" he cried out. …But no one came; it was a desolate place. He was terrified. His hands were freezing cold and he was losing his grip on the branch. There was no one to help!! In sheer desperation this man, who was an atheist, call out to God, "Please…please…if you're there…God…please help me, save me and I will believe in you always!!" Suddenly, and to his amazement, a voice echoed all around him, "Trust Me….Let Go…. I've Got You… Trust In Me." The man looked around him and below him and thought for a moment, then he mumbled to himself, "Let go? Trust? You must think I'm mad?? No way!"

This story doesn't always end like this but I think that many people find themselves in this man's situation. Sometimes we were caught in a desperate situation where all our deepest instincts are telling us just to let go, to surrender ourselves to God and trust Him. But we are so full of doubt and fear that we just cling on instead and solely depend on our own strength.

The alternate ending to this story is that the desperate man decides to let go. He falls into the void below, but moments later he finds himself on solid ground. It had been so dark that he could never have known that the ground was no more than about 5m below. He was safe and unharmed. What's more, it turns out that the ground he has landed on is a pathway; the pathway he had been searching for all along – the route home!

This whole story is a lovely metaphor for having the courage to trust and to surrender everything to God. Be it in my business or personal life, this understanding really helps me a lot.

As a human I can only do the best for my part. The outcome is something that I have no control of. But now I have no worries because I know and I believe that God will take care of it.

When I was a teenager, my teacher always taught me: “Do your best and God will do the rest”.

That is very true, but I’ve also learned that the only way He can do the rest is when we start to let go and let God do His work.

Sometimes, if we don’t let go, it may even intervene with what He wants to do. So, my job now become very simple. In every single thing that I do every single day I just need to always do my best, let go and let God do the rest =)

Remember about 2 weeks ago, I shared with you all about my audio interview with Adam Khoo ? http://www.female50gp.com/2009/blog/merry/audio-interview/

Well, appearantly WordPress has limitation on the size of the file that you can upload. But no worries, because right now, problem is solved!

I have uploaded in youtube, and provide you all with the link. Also, I've written the summary of the audio interview for your reading pleasure. I'm very sure that you'll learn a lot from Adam's sharing. So here it is…

Many people yearn to become successful in their lives, achieve financial freedom, and to realize their dreams. These people, however, either doubted their abilities to do so or blame it on the situation that they’re in. I was very fortunate to be able to interview Adam Khoo. Through this short audio interview you will rediscover and release the innate abilities that you possess to be successful, and the right way to run your businesses. For ladies, you’ll learn the real meaning of gorgeous, how to exhibit this beauty from the inside out, and at the same time, believing that success does not only belong to men, but women can do it too.

Adam Khoo is the Executive Chairman and Chief Master Trainer of Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group Pte Ltd which has branches at various places of South-East Asia, as well as the director of 7 other private companies. While many are still busy experimenting their life directions at the phase of “twenty-something”, Adam is a successful entrepreneur who have already made their first million at the young age of 26. Adam is now a best-selling author as well, finished ten books and his eleventh one is in the making. His education company is also moving towards an international platform, selling his franchise to European country, Holland.

Among all his business and hectic schedules, you would wonder where he got his time to do all these things that he like, such as writing, giving speeches and spending time with his family. In his glamourized world, Adam’s proudest moment is not to helm all his businesses. Instead, he stresses that his proudest moment is when he managed to step down. He says, “The test of a good entrepreneur is someone who can make themselves obsolete because if you got to be there doing everything, then the business doesn’t work. You work. And the moment you die, the business dies.” Holding on to this principle, Adam has a partner who general runs all his self-sustain businesses for him, and thus freeing up time for himself. The essence of running a successful business is to move towards a self-sustain business, quit the self-employed show, and leverage.

People are Adam’s best resources. His advice to you is to leverage. Lower your ego as a boss, and learn to appreciate the work and aptitude of the talented people that you hired. Only then, you’ll have capable and loyal employees who willingly work for you. In addition, honesty is an important prerequisite when you bring in these talents under your wings, “because if they’re dishonest and they’re smart, they’re going to cheat you of your money” Adam says. After leveraging, finding these talented honest people who are loyal to you, empower them as well. Both Adam and I have testified through our businesses that when your people are successful, it will eventually lead to your own success.

In relation to 50 Gorgeous People by Female magazine. Adam describe that being gorgeous does not only limit to physical attractiveness, but also someone who radiant an inner beauty from the inside out, someone who is able to inspire other through their work, and family. All ladies are entitled to be gorgeous and successful. Instead of listening to other people’s success stories, believe in yourself that you’re able to have your own success story as well. “Love yourself, look into the mirror and no matter how you look, or where your past has been, you’re someone special, important. You’re put on this Earth for a reason, for a purpose, with unique talents and skills, and make the best use of it. That’s how you make the greatest contribution to the world,” Adam says.

Click on the picture to listen to the audio interview"

While I was in Bali, I saw many interesting things. I managed to capture some of it to share with all of you =) Here it is…

[

Bike Cyckle =)]

Poor duck =)

Also, another reason why I was so excited to go to Bali was because I knew that I was going to eat at Bubba Gump!   This restaurant is awesome! they specialised in shrimp. First time I ate there was in Maui, Hawaii 3 years back, and from then on I kept thinking about how nice was their shrimp and wanted to go back for more. Unfortunately, all their branches mostly are in US, and dun have any branch in Singapore. So you can imagine how happy I was when I found one in Bali =)  

 Oh no… !! talking about it really makes me hungry.. =p

If only they have another branch here in Singapore…

Some says, you must love what you do and success will definitely will follow.

I couldn’t agree more ! And I feel very blessed, because not only I love what I’m doing what I also really love the people that I work together with.

If you watch my interview in Razor TV http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main/lifestyle/38090.html,

I’m currently running several businesses. One in financial industry, another one in training and the last one is the non-profit. Merry Riana Organization (MRO) is a group of outstanding and committed young individuals with a mission to achieve financial freedom for ourselves and for our loved ones. The Organization is a lifelong dream came true for me.

In MRO, we share the same vision of achieving our dreams while we are still young so that we can share our successes with our parents and families. In MRO, we consistently take action together everyday to move us closer towards the accomplishment of our vision. The most important thing for us is to cross the finish line together.

In MRO, we enjoy what we do and we live everyday with passion knowing that we become our own boss, we control our own time, and we chart our own destiny. On top of that we are proud to say that we are getting richer and richer everyday by helping other people in ways that only we can help.

For our Organization, TEAM is an acronym that means Together Everyone Achieves Miracles. We experience that something magical happens when a group of people combine their single dream to form a Dream Team.

Here are some random pictures from our most recent activities.