The Path before Entrepreneurship – My experience as a Direct Sales Personnel and an Advocator for Breast Cancer Awareness

Never in my life have I ever thought I would become a direct sales person! But that is the first (and only) job that took me in after an interview, so I decided to give it a go. I was a fresh graduate of Psychology with no working experience whatsoever and the few government agencies that have selected me for an interview probably thought I was too “green” for them (not to mention that there was always a super LONG queue for these interviews; by the time my turn arrived, I was either too fed-up with the waiting or too flustered to respond soundly, having too much time to imagine the ‘grill’ I will be put through).

So, I started my first day with the Direct Sales company and within a few days, I began to regret my decision. You see, all the staff have to stand for hours on the street to try to get potential customers to stop and talk to us, much like insurance agents. There was no proper exhibition booth, and we were only given a pitch card with information of the products that we were going to sell and a light acrylic marketing board with a standee to be placed in as visible a location as we were allowed to display it (security guards have the right to order us to scram if the locations we picked were out of bounds to salesmen). Having no other job offers and a manager who was extremely encouraging despite all my complaints, I managed to pick up the skills necessary to do the job well after three weeks of intensive on-the-job training, dynamic motivational talks by the managers of the company and self-empowerment (I told myself if I can do this, there is nothing I can’t do in future). In particular, I was proud to have broken out of my comfort zone so that I can speak with complete strangers at ease.

After 18 months with the company, I felt ready to move on as I realized that as much as I have learned from my experience, I was no longer holding the same vision as what the company had for me. I knew that I want to be an entrepreneur one day, but definitely not in the line of direct sales, which I do not have much passion for. I also felt that I have much more to learn and was glad to seek out a new path.  

Eventually, I found a public relations job with a local non-profit organization that provides support services for breast cancer survivors (I have applied for a volunteering position in memory of my aunt who passed away due to this disease, but was offered a full-time job instead as there was a vacancy then). I became an ‘ambassador’ for my new company and went to various locations in Singapore to give talks to women who are interested to know more about breast cancer related information. During these talks, a breast cancer survivor will share her inspirational story on how she coped with the treatment, overcome the life-threatening disease and became stronger and more appreciative of life, as an individual. These stories were really impactful and got me to think about how strong a woman can be in the face of adversity and how precious life really is. While my first job taught me practical skills relevant to the breaking of comfort zones to achieve career goals, my second job taught me that life is too short and valuable to waste away.

I embarked on my journey as an entrepreneur in September 2011. As I am writing this blog, my online fashion website is in the midst of construction (Boy is this taking a longer time than expected!).  

 It is really exciting to see the concept of my website coming into fruition, although I hope the whole process can be faster! I am proud to say that my website, Lace and Buttons, is the very first in Singapore (and maybe in the world) to incorporate both body shape and Style Personality analyses for users. These analyses are based on Style Coaching principles and can help users to find apparels that suit them.

Apart from creating this website, there is a lot more to this dynamic business…will share more of my experience as a new entrepreneur in my next post.