Episode 1: From secure employment to scary self employment

This is part 1 of a 4 article series about my self employment and entrepreneurship journey in building better career services and advocating for the career development field. Thank you for taking an interest in my journey and as you go down memory lane with me, may you be blessed by it.

My plunge into self employment was not an impulsive decision. It was something I had tested, prototyped for 3 years as a passion project. Let me share the deets here about how it all began.

My experiences in public service handling unemployment policies and employment services helped me hear career needs from the ground. Along the way, I got trained to gain perspectives and knowledge on how to help more people in their careers. Sing Chee Wong educated me to see this new world of career development. I learnt solutions focused coaching from Simon Lee . I joined the Asia Pacific Career Development Association (APCDA) and learnt so much from the community there. The local career practitioners also helped me understand the landscape in Singapore more when a group of us Sing Chee Wong , Hector Lin and Wendy Lam formed an interest group called CDIG - Career Development Interest Group, comprising career practitioners in Singapore. The more I learnt from everywhere, the more I realised that more must be done for the field of career services in Singapore. A former boss Lee Sok Pheng told me “if you feel something should be done, start a business!”. The seed was planted. Where’s the rain?

The rain to sprout that seed came in 2017. I was loving what I did at a Career Centre, managing services to help the unemployed when I got news that I was due to be posted elsewhere. I loved what I did then so I had to make a choice. Stay on and be posted to do what I don’t see meaning in or leave to search for work that fits my purpose. I chose the latter.

In leaving, I knew I needed to start something on my own, but I was not yet ready. I needed to try out my ideas. I also needed income. Thankfully, I found a role that allowed me to earn an income and try out my ideas. With support from my former boss Francis Lee , I moonlighted like Batman. I was like Bruce Wayne by day as an employee and Batman by night, taking on the challenge of how to create better career services in Singapore. It really helped to have a super supportive team Jan Tan , Wei Shi , Andrea K. , Olivia Chin , Jessica Chai Pei Shan (谢佩珊) as well who knew of my Batman-ing and encouraged me.

I was not alone. A group of passionate people in the field of career development accompanied me on my prototypes for AVODAH. Jeremiah Wong 王俊傑 , Andrew Er James Tan and Lex Lim were with me in the early days. Today, they are still very much involved as partners or supporters.

I got opportunities from people who believed in me. When Joo Khim from NTU approached us to conduct a career workshop for them, it helped us move from prototyping into real world solutions. She helped us with our first project. Adrian Tan is another person who gave us opportunities. He gave me a project that gave me the confidence to take a step forward. Over the years, he has always advocated for what we do too. It’s fitting that this week I attended his book launch “No More Bosses” where he shared out of his self employment, entrepreneurial, fractional work experiences. Buy his book here, it is a best seller on Amazon.

I needed blessings from my family. My wife Clarissa has been a steadfast supporter of my aspirations. My family and in laws were all supportive of my plans. I will never forget what my father in law told me - “if you want to start something, do it sooner rather than later”. Their support unlocked my wings to fly and gave me a nest to roost when things got difficult along the way.

I had to reduce debt. I sold my house, to buy an older flat to cut down on debt. No more fancy purchases and holidays. It’s the grind to minimalism. A lifestyle 180 degree change. My aim was and still is to be like a cockroach, survive and outlast because I know this is for the long haul. I would not dare to take this leap if I had heavy financial committments or responsibilities.

I do get scared. I still do. Seeing savings erode, worry about income and disrupted lifestyle changes is not for the faint hearted. People often see my journey from the outside and say “oh you are living the dream life!”. Truth be told, there are many days when it feels more like a nightmare! Want to switch places? 

There have been many times I ask myself why did I get myself into self employment and entrepreneurship and it always boils back down to 1 thing - my Christian faith that keeps me going and that gives me purpose to know I am meant to be in this career development space to make things better for others. The word AVODAH is from the bible, a Hebrew term for Work, Service and Worship. Using this word as our business name reminds me of who I work for and what I need to do. The main business problem that drives AVODAH is to see how we can help people integrate purpose and meaning in their work so that they can be engaged, fulfilled and productive beyond just earning a salary. I believe that with this perspective of work, people, families, businesses and society will thrive.

Next episode is about the early grind. Stay tuned.