16. Starting Side Hustles, Building Activewear Fashion brand Whakamana, Early Employee at Fave, Property Investing in early 20s and Why You Don't Need a Degree with Bethia Wee

Not everyone can easily and/or necessarily need to make drastic career changes immediately to get more fulfilment. You can start a side hustle or passion project  while keeping your day job.
 
This episode is about side hustles and hustling. Bethia Wee is the Sales Development Lead for small and medium businesses at Aspire. It is self-described as the all-in-one finance operating system for businesses in Southeast Asia. Aspire was founded in 2018 and so far it has raised nearly $200M from venture capital firms including the famous Y-Combinator.

Before Aspire, our guest was at Fave Group, where she spent collectively 5.5 years at. Her roles included leading business development and partner operations.

If that doesn’t sound like a lot on her plate, Bethia has also been busy starting her own fashion brand Whakamana, which blends work-appropriate attire with activewear elements and materials.

Bethia is also the co-founder of ‘Ello, a mobile pop-up bar service for events. She has also been a freelance personal trainer. She is a wine drinker, a passionate fan of dancing and fitness and is at the grand age of just 26.

This podcast episode was recorded in Sep 2022.

Use special promo code ONMYOWNTERMS on Whakamana (click on the link) to receive 15% off till end of Feb 2023, 10% thereafter. Limited time offer.

Timestamps:
(11:24) Joining a startup
(19:24) How to gain confidence
(28:37) Starting work appropriate activewear fashion brand Whakamana
(33:02) Investing in property in early 20s
(38:51) How to think about money
(41:38) Failures and lessons
(45:02) Should you get a degree?
(50:14) How to start a side hustle

Disclosure: When you purchase through links on the podcast, I may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting this podcast.

Chapters

• 11:24 Joining a startup
• 19:24 How to gain confidence
• 28:37 Starting work appropriate activewear fashion brand Whakamana
• 33:02 Investing in property in early 20s
• 38:51 How to think about money
• 41:38 Failures and Lessons
• 45:02 Should you get a degree?
• 50:14 How to start a side hustle

Transcript

John Lim: 0:33

our guest today. It's currently sales development lead for small and medium businesses at Aspire. Aspire is self described as the all in one finance operating system for businesses in Southeast Asia. Aspire was followed in 2018. and so far he has raised nearly 200 million from venture capital firms, including the famous Y Combinator. Before Aspire, our guest was at Fave group where she spent collectively around five and a half years at her roles included leading business development and partner operations. And if that doesn't sound like a lot on her plate, our guest has also been busy starting her own fashion brand, FA Man, which blends work, appropriate attire with activewear elements and materials. She's also the co-founder of alo, a mobile pop-up bar, service for events. She's also been a freelance personal trainer, and she probably has one other thousand side hustles that she's not told me yet. Our guest is a wine drinker, uh, a passionate fan of dancing and fitness and is at a grand age of 26. Um, if you're joining us on a podcast where you can't see her, she also spots ping and blue hair, so she's easily recognizable. Welcome and thank you for joining us, BIA. Hey. Hi. So, uh, as how spot on is my introduction of you?

Bethia Wee: 1:56

Uh, yeah, it's okay. good.

John Lim: 1:59

Anything more you wanna add at this

Bethia Wee: 2:00

point in time? Uh, no, I think that's fine.

John Lim: 2:04

before we start talking about, uh, what you do, uh, you have any interesting or funny story about selves that you wanna share with the audience?

Bethia Wee: 2:12

Yep, sure. So I think I'm gonna share a story about how I uncovered my love for sales. So I uncovered that when I was about nine to 10 year old, and it came about from an obsession with collecting CDs. You know, I, I was like a fan girl, right? For, uh, celebrities like Fey and Hype Bon Jovi. And I just wanted to collect like all the albums, but it was kind of unaffordable for someone like myself at night with 10, with a bucket money of like$2 a day. So, what I did was that I decided to, buy like celebrity cards, like those bucket decks, um, from comics collection at$2 for like 50 over cards. Mm-hmm. And I found a group of friends in school whom were also fan girls. So I sold them each card at$2 each. So from each deck of cards I bought at$2, I sold it for about like a profit of almost like$90. Yeah. 90 of a dollars. So I think that was when I uncovered that, hey, I could actually like, earn money from like buying random stuff and finding a group of interest at people. and, you know, fulfilling my obsession of collecting CDs

John Lim: 3:25

And, and this interest or this discovery of, uh, your passion for sales has kind of like been demonstrated, uh, and it is evident in your choice of career path, right? Yep. and, um, tell me more about currently what you do and aspire.

Bethia Wee: 3:40

So what I do at Aspire is that I look after the sales development team for focusing on small, medium businesses. What that means is that, uh, my team looks after the prospecting, efforts of the company. So we look out for good fit clients who would, benefit from the, from our solution.

John Lim: 4:00

Got it. and what does Aspire do? I mean, I described it, but maybe you, and tell us more about Aspire, now that you're inside Aspire.

Bethia Wee: 4:08

Sure. aspires are all in one finance operating team system whereby we combine the core finance features for business owners to have easy access to, uh, where they can also manage and have visibility of their finance tasks, better.

John Lim: 4:24

And why is what is expired doing important? What kind of problems is expired solving right now?

Bethia Wee: 4:30

So we help these business achieve, uh, finance excellence in a quicker and more efficient manner because running a business, and there are many things in which a business needs to pay for. And imagine needing to reconcile things manually, that's where time consuming. So with Aspire, we eliminate all of that. We allow them to have, uh, quick insights to their fine company financials in a click off a button. Got it.

John Lim: 5:01

And you give us an overview of what you, what, what you're doing for your role. Um, maybe you can tell us the, or can tell the audience what, what constitutes, um, your day-to-day task, uh, at your work.

Bethia Wee: 5:12

Uh, on a day-to-day basis. basis, would be a lot of like, research on the kind of segments that would benefit from the use of Aspire. I also, um, get involved in like, Some calls, focus groups to understand the, uh, segment and industry better so that we can have, uh, real like case studies or actually kind of like, confirming the guest use cases. Cause definitely, you know, when we have a product, we think that it sells for A, B and C, but it may not be the same across every industry. So having that deeper understanding, um, with these, business owners will confirm our insights. And from there I strategize different kind of outreach and approach from my team to adopt. So my day-to-day also involves a lot of, um, coaching and, uh, daily support to my direct, uh, reportees.

John Lim: 6:09

Got it. so it sounds like a lot of scoping, making sure that there's a right product use case for your segmented customers, or even finding out more about the product and making sure and doing more research on which target segment of the customers would feed your product better. Right? Yep. now tell us, uh, I'm, I'm curious about your time at Faith. So, uh, I'm a big fan of Faith. Uh, in fact, faith came later in the picture, right? I think I was a huge fan in 2016, uh, on kfi. I thought that was quite, uh, revolution, in least how fitness classes, uh, being, uh, done, uh, in all distributed in Singapore. and I think you started your time with Faith, uh, at kfi. Of course, KFI was then acquired by Faith. tell us more about your journey then, at least your first role at Faith, at kfi.

Bethia Wee: 7:01

So, I, KFI was my first full time. Um, job, I was, um, blessed to be offered a role even before I graduated from Yala Technique. Um, and that was when I was helping them with, um, you know, with partnerships and, um, marketing initiatives to help them acquire more customers. Um, but, but then my role soon became like any startup, right? We started kind of like get our hands dirty across like different, um, projects and, uh, responsibilities. Um, I also, I was also involved in the sales process very quickly, and I began helping them acquire, uh, merchants under the

John Lim: 7:47

platform. By merchants you mean? Uh, like gym operators? Uh, yes. Gym operator, gas

Bethia Wee: 7:52

studios. Yes, correct. Uh, at a point in time, k also, um, moving towards more, like more of a lifestyle app. So we are also reaching out to like beauty and food, um, merchants.

John Lim: 8:03

Nice. for those who are not old enough to know what cafe it is in Singapore, so basically it was a hundred dollars or$99 saying dollars, uh, subscription. basically it's a class pass model. you could, at the time when it launched, I think, MK to acquire market share, you had a very generous package for$99 or a hundred dollars per month, you're able to get unlimited classes that's available on the app. Um, and I thought that that really changed the game, uh, for me. And of course as the business mature, uh, there were certain, Restrictions after that. Like you can't go for the same studio or class, uh, three times or external times in a month. Uh, but I thought that was a good way that solves problem for the gym owners, um, to make sure that they get their, uh, facilities being filled up. At the same time, it gives people who are new to fitness a chance to try the different studios. I thought it was a very brilliant business model. But of course back then, uh, KFA was not the only player. There was also passport Asia, right? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Got it. I think, I mean, to the audience I've described vk, it's also, uh, a fan of fitness. So I guess joining KFI was kind of natural, right? It was something that you're passionate about,

Bethia Wee: 9:17

correct.

ScreenFlow: 9:17

That's

John Lim: 9:18

right. tell us a bit about you. Uh, at the time when it was a first full-time job at K Fit and it was a startup, how was it, like, how hectic was it? Like, um, what were your memories of working in a startup? Uh, and I think that time was quite early stage for K Fit, so, so give us, give the audience a glimpse of your day-to-day work.

Bethia Wee: 9:41

It was just a team of four of us in Singapore, and I think every day is, is just a hustle, like getting things done and, um, getting our calendars really filled and with that being my first job, I was extremely, like, in love with my job. Like I just really wanted to do very well and I feel happy, uh, like I find great joy in what I do every day. Um, so like the job became quickly, uh, part of my almost everyday life. Yeah, so like even during the weekends I would, um, think about like opportunities which we could potentially, um, you know, capture. And, um, I would also happily like, you know, follow up with certain things I need to do, uh, for work. Yeah. This isn't healthy in a long run, like, especially like now, but, um, it was a good memory. Like, it, it is definitely not something I regret. I enjoyed what I did back then.

John Lim: 10:51

I a hundred percent relate to that. Yeah. Um, it's a small team. You as a young startup, uh, you get a cover more ground than, than what your JD initially says. So I understand that because you're passionate about it. And za a certain startup at the early stage would also attract a certain kind of personality of people to the role, to the team. So za there was a. I'm guessing chemistry within the team. Uh, I think that help as well. and I wanna ask, like it was the first job, like it was a startup, it was quite unknown. No one knew whether, if it was survive, right? It's most startups are. what did your family and friends say about you joining a early stage startup?

Bethia Wee: 11:29

There was some concerns about, you know, this unconventional part of, um, you know, working for a company with, without that kind of stability as per working with a bank or like some government job. So, uh, there were concerns, but to me it was just noise. It was more of like, it was advice, but it was also noise because those were distractions to what I can potentially achieve and what I can potentially learn. So I just went ahead with what I felt was best for me.

John Lim: 12:04

How do you get to know about

Bethia Wee: 12:05

the job at K Fit? so I, back then I was very involved in the fitness industry. I competed in body building, et cetera, and, uh, was often approached for fitness related geeks. So, um, K FIT approached me for, as a ambassador to promote the app. So I was given a free subscription and I was given to, uh, promo court to kind of like promote. Um, and months later, the marketing manager at K Fit reached out to me, uh, um, and asked me if I, if I would be keen to explore a full-time role. Nice. That was very nice when I was still in school. Nice.

John Lim: 12:46

I think, to the audience out here who, who are probably still schooling or early stage of a career, I think there's an example of like, you doing what you love, uh, in your own free time. Uh, and then somehow the opportunity came to you because you were busy doing what you love. Right. And it's right in line with your interest anyway. and tell me more about your, when you move up the ranks, I know you joined K Fit I think for a year, a year plus, and then you did something else and then you came back to Faith. So tell me about after that when you came back to Faith, how has things

Bethia Wee: 13:18

change? When I came back to Faith, um, that was when faith acquired Groupon as well, so there were like big, there were like some organizational changes and also the importance to launch, uh, new products. So I came at that point in time whereby it was pretty exciting. I was in the early team of like acquiring customers onto the faith pay platform, adopting faith pay solution and. Uh, not, not long later, I was, uh, tasked to meet a team of interns to help like speed up the acquisition.

John Lim: 13:55

No, I am a big friend of the faith payment. You know, I see this seriously because I am not a big, uh, I haven't been very generous in my compliments, but when I see I, I keep credit with you. Adding Think Faith has been very successful in my opinion. I think it's almost everywhere now. I think it started off coming wrong. The strategy was, uh, wellness, direction first, and then it became f and b. Tell me more about what you did at, at, at fifth. Uh, how was the business direction like?

Bethia Wee: 14:22

So, um, in fifth we had different teams that worked on various categories. So we wanted to be a all in, like all in one lifestyle at whereby consumers who will think of faith when they need to, um, fulfill their. their hunger, they, or if they want to go for a workout or if they want to, um, go for any beauty service, right. They can always go into the Faith Act to source for the best deals and to, um, just have it as a like, discovery platform for Yeah. Their lifestyle needs.

John Lim: 14:53

And I mean, I was reading through your LinkedIn profile and I think you move up the ranks through to different teams, right? Reading Faith. So tell us a bit more about like you moving to different teams. Like what, what was some things that were similar but yet different when you moved to different teams?

Bethia Wee: 15:09

So when I first shared to my manager that I see myself being able to, uh, do great things, right? If I'm able to like manage a, uh, a team, um, and to work out a strategy for acquisition. So being early in my career, they kind of gave me an opportunity right to. Create this new team of, uh, this team whereby I get to work with a, a team of up to eight interns, um, to, to increase the, the acquisition, yeah. To increase the speed of acquisition. And that was pretty successful. Uh, the ROI on that was pretty amazing. And that was when, I proposed that we should look into other sectors and that was, uh, and I proposed the retail category. So therefore I, I was promoted to look after the retail, like local retail segment and that was when I was, able to hire full-timers in my team.

John Lim: 16:10

How was it like convincing your bosses, uh, your ideas would work?

Bethia Wee: 16:15

I share with them my vision of what we could potentially achieve. And of course with that, right, I also ask them if this is the strategy of like where we want to go and, and in a moment is this need being fulfilled? If this, you know, currently I see this gap and if they agree with me that this is a gap, which we can, um, for Phil, I want to be the one who's able to make that happen. Yeah. So I share them my plan and um, and yeah, I think it went ahead from there. Was

John Lim: 16:45

this uh, a proactive approach that you took that you went to your boss and say they proposed certain ideas or was it a task that you had to do?

Bethia Wee: 16:56

It was more of a proactive means. So I shared what I feel I will be able to bring value to. and then that opportunity came.

John Lim: 17:08

Got it. I think this is, uh, yeah, quite inspiring. Right. And back then, how old were you then?

Bethia Wee: 17:13

Or I think 2021. Okay. Yeah.

John Lim: 17:17

You started working at 19, right? And then you, you, you quit rejoined Fay at 20 years old or 21? Yeah. Okay. how was it, like, how did it feel? Was it intimidating? You were young in your career and then you were young generally, right? I think a lot of peers probably started working between the mid twenties. Uh, yeah. And, and what were you thinking, like, do you think was a risk or you were just so convinced by idea that you gotta tell it somehow?

Bethia Wee: 17:46

Age to me has always been just a number. So I think I was generally quite like confident. Not just confident because I feel confident, but I know that I can provide value and I know what I can deliver. So having that clarity of, knowing what I can do helps me with the. you know, the, in the thoughts or the fear that, I'll I'll be looked down upon

18:18

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John Lim: 18:39

what made you so confident? Mm. What do you know? What do you do? How do you feel to be so sure? and to be so confident? And I ask this not to question you or to suspect, you, but it's, it's for the audience out there to, to gain this confidence that, that, that you, you're describing to me. Right? I think a lot of people be their introverts or be it, or various factors. They think they're minority in the workplace. They're young, they're very junior. Um, and, and, and from what you're saying, from what I'm hearing is that your confidence is from within. It is just a number. I really love that line. Um, but how can someone replicate this, right? And, and, and walk us through that process, right? What makes you so sure.

Bethia Wee: 19:24

Well, even before I joined t or like joined the workforce officially, I've always been, you know, liasing with like companies, et cetera, for like different geeks. And I often need to like market myself, right? And sell myself my solutions in services. And I feel that I far pretty well, I'm able to get my intentions across and, people come back for more. So that was when I, you know, it's not just a port whereby I feel that I'm good, but that kind of validates, what I can do. Yeah. And then from my time at K Fit, I was also a top performer. Um, you know, and that further proofs that, hey, I can do what I need to do. Yeah. And yeah, so pop experience.

John Lim: 20:14

Yeah. Well I'm hearing that. Yeah, I think riner is a great word. So what I'm hearing is that, you started, um, sort of been, been out there in the workplace even I think you said nine or 10 years old, right? selling CDs. Right. Um, so, and, and I think in school, I assume in poly you have also like been out there in businesses or, or marketing your services, um, and your products to businesses. So, and you've gotten the feedback, you've gotten results. Uh, I think that helped you. Right. And I think, uh, one thing I want to like highlight is that I think confidence can be twofold, right? One is from within and then you project the confidence. The other one is that you can do it first and then you get confident later. And I think for your case it could make mixture of both. But what I'm hearing is that you just described to us the second scenario where you've been out there and you've got results and that help you for confidence and therefore they help you to approach other tasks. other bosses and other organizations, um, with your ideas. Yep, yep. Okay. That's very cool. Um, and what has been some of the most memorable things that you've done at Faith?

Bethia Wee: 21:27

I think memorable things would be,

John Lim: 21:31

like, let me try, right? I think pay is quite a different kind of product versus faith pay, in my opinion. Right. I don't what you think. Yeah. Um, I mean, faith Pay Lit is more a buy now pay lit service from FA group. And, uh, how was that transition? Like, like, I mean, did was all, were all your positions, um, you created, you, you orchestrated the moves or, or what were some of the moves that, you know, the, so you're saying no, is it?

Bethia Wee: 22:00

Yeah, that was more of like, uh, We are within a company whereby they were, uh, changing the, like sales team divisions, uh, to more product focused teams. So I was assigned to the new product, which faith pay later. But, um, going back to, I think your question on like what's, um, memorable, right? I think that, um, during my time at FA there was a point whereby I moved from a sales full on sales leadership role to a, like, um, a dual role. So I was actually heading the operations team at one point as well. Um, and that happened because there wasn't a, like operations team in faith then to actually support our merchants onboarding needs. Um, the, the sales reps, which is the business development managers would need to acquire and later on onboard the merchants on them by themselves. And I saw that as a, I saw that as a very inefficient task because. Then salespeople will not be able to focus on what they need to do. They can't like hustle. There's always this like, like bottleneck. So that was when I proposed that they should hire people, you know, to sort out this operations, this operational needs. and because of that I was also tasked to like build up this team, train them, set up SOPs and the strategy. So I think that was a memorable, because I really got my, I really got my hands dirty into like understanding, um, and being more organized and, um, my training people up and setting up certain process of.

John Lim: 23:39

a hundred percent. Yeah, I, I, I agree and I concur. I can understand that. And I think most of the companies, uh, this role is probably called customer success role, right? we call them account management. So then there's the acquisition, the customer acquisition or salespeople, they acquire a merchants, in your case, merchant or customers. And then after that, you need to sort of onboard them. You need to like hold their hands, uh, at least for the first few months, first few weeks at least to make sure that they know your product well, they adopt it well, and how they can do more or with your product or your app. Uh, and, and I a hundred percent agree with you. Uh, I had a similar experience, uh, in my previous role. And, and I think those customer acquisition versus customer. can require very different skill sets. And if the sales team is being judged by the numbers, the sales numbers, then it's not efficient for them to also be handling the customers after they've been on or after they've been acquired. So there'll be a conflict of interest, right? So the, the salesperson will be very keen in getting more numbers, more customers on board. So I a hundred percent, um, yeah, agree with you and yeah, so that's memorable. okay. I was keen in your time in working in a tech company, right, like Faith and then, uh, in Aspire. Um, and I wanna move on to your site hustles, right? Which I think is the main thing what I got you to be on our podcast today. you did about couple of things, right? Uh, so very recently, or, or rather I'll start from the beginning. You, at least from what I see on your LinkedIn profile, you are a certified personal trainer. I think you were a freelance trainer for some time. also I can kind of see that, that flow into you launching your own fashion brand, called Tell us more about that.

Bethia Wee: 25:16

Yep. So I mean, I've always been a very active individual. I dance, I, um, go to the gym at one point in my life I body built, so, um, yeah, it was. It was no surprise that I decided to take on my, uh, certification to be able to train new people and to help people as well. I, yeah, and, and I did that on a, I did that on a freelance basis just to help people who, uh, reached out. But it wasn't kind of like, it wasn't my main job. It was most, mostly like just really doing my pockets of free time. And, um, I decided to work on because I, being a, like, you know, being someone who goes to work does client facing roles, I am expected to dress up at least look appropriate. But at the same time, I love working out. I love fitness. I love the spontaneous workouts I can get during the lunch times and in the morning as well. and I often find an issue bringing out another set of clothes to just work out a big bag. so I wanted to have clothes that were good for both, which means that I could work out in, at the same time I could meet clients in. That was my ideal and I just wanted to make that happen. So that's when I started on pa.

John Lim: 26:36

Yeah. Tell us more about the name, right? I before we recorded this conversation, I asked you about the name, uh, and please tell the audience, right, what does this name mean? Uh, I was, uh, telling, uh, you that you may not sound very family friendly with name, but tell us more about what does this mean, symbolize?

Bethia Wee: 26:53

Yeah. As I know it doesn't sound as, uh, family friendly, um, but it actually means empower in Maori. So the idea is to be able to empower woman to have the ability to do what they want, like to be, to look great regardless of the occasion. So that's what it means. How do you arrive at this neme? I was really thinking about what my brand represents, um, and what I want every piece. To do for women, and the word that came into the mind was, uh, empower.

John Lim: 27:31

Why Maori?

Bethia Wee: 27:33

It sounded cool.

John Lim: 27:36

Tell, tell me. I know I'm digressing a bit. Tell me about the different kind of feedback and comments about the name.

Bethia Wee: 27:43

Okay. To be very honest, I didn't know that the pronunciation was until like, like, like two months in. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Correct. Then I was speaking to a friend who's husband is, uh, understands the language and he was like, oh, you know that that means, uh, that that is Right. I was like, oh, okay. So I decided to stick with it because it does sound pretty quirky at the same time and uh, yeah, it was cute. So I decided to just

John Lim: 28:12

stick. Got it. And, um, how's that process like, I know it's scheduled to launch, um, by the end of this year, 2022. And then maybe you can tell us about how we know the why now and tell us bit more about how, how do you get started? Uh, what was the first thing that you did? how long has it been taking you so far? Um, yeah, tell us more about the, how

Bethia Wee: 28:37

overall it was, it wasn't an easy, seamless, smooth process because, um, I'm not design trained nor do I have any like, real experience in the fashion industry. So I had to like really speak to, um, friends in the circle to understand more about, um, sourcing, uh, production materials. And to ask, right? If my idea was viable. So it was, I spent a lot of time on like research and like r and d as well. Um, and so how dare I get started is that I just started to engage someone from fiber to help me draw out what I want, like a technical drawing. So I shared with them like similar images, like for example, this combined with this and like, I just wanna add this part to this design. And then they helped me like draw everything. when I saw what I wanted, I decided I would communicate that to like the different factories, uh, and started getting caught. So it was a kind of, yeah, that process

John Lim: 29:45

for the audience. Uh, fiber is actually a platform, uh, it's pronounced, I mean, it's spelled as, uh, five five F i v e double R. So basically it's a platform that started out, I think more than 10 years ago, uh, where it allows people to, um, outsource gigs, uh, for$5. That's, that's how the name came about us,$5. But first, now it's evolved a stage where a lot of gigs, if they're very complicated, it's more than$5 for sure. So that's also a very common sort of like outsourcing, um, kind of a, a place now I use it myself as well for, for logos. Uh, so yeah. I hear you. So you, um, you use fiber to outsource the design of the outfit, and then you, you brought it to the different factories. Um, what has been the most

Bethia Wee: 30:25

difficult so far? Difficult. What's difficult is that, um, these factories being based out of Singapore, um, it was hard to, communicate quick and to also, specify certain needs. Right. And so language was an issue. Yeah. Correct. Language was an issue. Um, because, my Chinese isn't great, so it was a little bit difficult. Um, I managed to get some help.

John Lim: 30:57

Got it. When was it meant to be launch and has there been any delays or, or changes in the schedule?

Bethia Wee: 31:04

Super long. So I was intending to launch around February this year. Mm-hmm. um, I, but now the, the launch date will be pushed to about December this year. What cost the billing's production lead time and, um, corrections in a fit cause with what I'm producing, what I'm producing is not like normal designs. So the activewear fit is very, uh, tricky. Yeah. So when I, when the samples came back, they were like, changes. I need to make this hap There was this back and forth, like a couple of times. That's a time. So, yeah.

John Lim: 31:45

Yeah. I, for the audience, I will be happy to put the link of on, on the show notes, uh, on or on the podcast platform that you are consuming on. Uh, and yeah, so now it's December. Um, do you expect any delays of, of any further delays?

Bethia Wee: 32:00

Um, no, because the clothes are already fully produced and it's on the way shipping on the way, unless they're any shipping delays. from now to then, it's more of like the creative and creating of certain content before I go, like, and

John Lim: 32:16

I, I know this is a, a passion project. Um, we spoke about this before in person. Um, how big, how far do you intend to pursue this, uh, fashion project?

Bethia Wee: 32:31

Well, I do intend to pursue, I do intend to pursue it, uh, long term. Um, but of course, you know, being like, you know, starting out, I know that our take things as it comes as well. So I hear the responses, see what I need to tweak, um, and from there I might change the short term direction and

John Lim: 32:53

I'm gonna jump to the next C hustle that I got to know that was not, that's not on your LinkedIn profile, but I got to know that I got a pleasure of knowing. you've also dabbled in property, right? and tell us a bit more about this property thing that you're doing.

Bethia Wee: 33:08

Hmm. so I think what you're referring to is more like on my, property investment efforts. Yeah. So I decided to, understand more about the industry about like four, about 5, 4, 5 years ago. Yeah. That was when I, I, cause I mean, you know, hearing from people, like just generally, right? People often say that, oh, people make money from property, selling property and investing, but I never knew how. So I just needed to find out how I attended courses and, read about it more online and found that when it comes to property investment time is money, really money. So it was, it came to mind that I have to start early. So I, figured figured out the know how's when I was about 22 to 23 there about, and invested in my first. Property, commercial, residential. It's, industrial. So it's industrial property and I've already sold it. I've just sold it like it, and it is, and it's scheduled to be completed next month.

John Lim: 34:23

Nice. So, uh, tell me more, man. I, I mean, I am, uh, I'm quite new in, in property. so industrial property, you, you bought it when you were in 22 years old, that's four years back. And then how does it work? You, you bought it at early stage and then you wait for it to, to, I don't know, to get, to build up, uh, to get built up and then to be sold. Is that how it works? Tell, tell us more.

Bethia Wee: 34:45

So, uh, generally yes, but, uh, I'm just gonna dive a bit into the details. Yeah. So it's not just about any property, but looking out for properties that kind of like fit the criteria. Like for example, it's, it is rentability, um, the kind of like businesses like occupying this entire, like building. The amenities nearby. So that all contributes to how, much potential this project gives. Yeah. And so, um, I did my research and I, um, yeah, it is sales process. You know, you speak to, to agents, different listings, and you negotiate right? A price. The whole idea is to be able to get, um, a good price, ideally a price below what people usually pay for. Not easy, but the there are opportunities. So that was, yeah.

John Lim: 35:37

So you sounded like, it sounded like you studied the market. You, you knew certain knowledge, um, or at least look out, you knew what to look out for when you're looking out for property, uh, for properties, and then, uh, factors like rentability, and then once you source out the ideal locations or, or, or the. Plot of, of properties. You speak to the agents to negotiate good price so that you can get the undervalued price. that's what I'm hearing. Yes. Is that right? Correct. Got, got it. a big, discussion about properties is that, uh, I mean generally in Singapore, in Asian context, yeah. It's Asians live property. Um, and it's, uh, real estate is a huge, uh, sector that drives investment. We, we get it. Um, but a big discussion about properties is that, um, how do you get the bulk cash when you're young, right? So you started at 22, so how do you go about getting the, the cash?

Bethia Wee: 36:32

So, uh, for me, thanks. I mean, I'm blessed to have started work early or to have started earning money early as well. So I do have savings, um, so I was able to pay for the down payment. Myself then, um, it was a 90% loan, so 10% wasn't as dead. But of course, um, cash flow is king and having cash on hand is really important. So I decided to reach out to, um, my parents and, um, a trust start friend to, to share with them in like a, a deal, right? That hey, um, if you put in this amount of cash with me, I would, um, give them like a di a yearly dividend for a period of time. Yeah. And, um, yeah, so I mean, these people believed in me and I, yeah, and, and that was how I was able to still have a bit more cash flow as I, you know, do life.

John Lim: 37:31

And this is just the of exactly why I'm so impressed by you, right? I mean, you're a hustler, right? Uh, out and out, right? You hustle when you were 10 years old, selling CDs to your friends, uh, making so much money back then. Uh, and. And, and then at your school, at your early jobs, uh, at fa you had to convince bosses. Uh, you had to hustle to convince them of your ideas, and you didn't go in them blind, right? You're confident in your abilities because you, you done work earlier in your life. Uh, and then when it comes to like your personal investments, you, you hustle, you reach out to your parents, to your trust up friend or friends, um, just to make sure that your cashflow is okay. So I think that's something that I really admire a lot in you. Um, that's something that I wish I could do more of, and I'm sure it's something that the audience can, uh, would set them thinking about. How did this hustle, nature start in you? Um, besides that selling CDs thing and, and, and I, I want to ask this question later on, but, but what's your philosophy of life, right? It's, are you always thinking about site hustles, ways to make money? Is that how you became so, um, creative in all your ventures, right? Like from setting up a mobile bar, uh, to, to joining an early stage startup and, and doing a phy, uh, physical, uh, personal trainer. So, yeah. how do you think about money? How do you think about investment? How do you think outside hustles?

Bethia Wee: 38:56

Mm. Money To me, money can just always be made and, and investments is a way to make money work for you and to have like predictable means of growing the cash. And that's the difference between investment and gambling because it's a predictability. And I think earlier you had asked me about like how did my hustle personality came about. I think it came about because as I was young, I was just generally a person who like must get what I want and must get what I won. And. that that contributed to a bit of that rebellious ness in me, kind of like, I just need to do what I need. I'm not gonna let anyone stop me, and I don't need your help if you're not gonna help me. Yeah. So, because I know that I cannot depend on people to get what I need at that point in time, I need to figure out how I can do it myself and, just be creative about it. think out the box. So I think that led to all the, you know, side hustles and random, like, spontaneous ideas to, to just get what I want.

John Lim: 40:18

what have been some things that you tried to get but you didn't get?

Bethia Wee: 40:22

generally, I mean, I You always get what you want, right? You always get what you want. Yeah, yeah. No, no, no. But I think, like, you know, I just needed, uh, more, like, for example, I was in secondary school, I needed more money and, um, you know, I, I, I'm not a fan of just asking my parents for more money. My, my parents know my, my pocket money remains the same, but I need more money. So, um, I found ways to earn money, like giving tuition, et cetera. Uh, and, and I know that my parents are not gonna give me more money just to fulfill my needs. Yeah. So I need go find money myself in, uh, legal and, uh, value adding manner, you know, not by doing anything like that. So I gave tuition. I did random, like stuff just to get money, and I used this money to go for karaoke sessions. So it was to fulfill a need. True,

John Lim: 41:10

true. so it sounds like you always get what, what you always wanted. If you look back your life right now, I, I know it's not a lot, right? It's 26 years old. I think you've got a huge, uh, part of the life in in front of you. What would you consider as failures so far? And I say consider because everyone defines success and failures, uh, differently. So in your opinion, in your definition, what have been, uh, a big failure or memorable failure so far in your life?

Bethia Wee: 41:38

To me, failures are not, doesn't sound as there as it sounds, so, um, but I think one thing I fell in was in being too trusting. Yeah. I felt in having clarity and being realistic about things. Yeah. So that was when I, uh, mistrusted someone and lost about hundred and 80,000 when I was around 21 to 22. Got it.

John Lim: 42:14

I, I, I kind of know the story. Uh, yeah, we, we met up in person and I kind of know the story. what was lesson learned?

Bethia Wee: 42:22

Well, the lesson

John Lim: 42:23

learned is very, we, we skeptical by everyone. Is that, is that lesson learned?

Bethia Wee: 42:27

No, no, not at all. Um, but, uh, just, uh, do my due diligence. Like don't be overly trusting about with everyone and anything. just need to be, do a lot more due diligence and, um, speak to. and about certain things. Is it really okay to speak to, to, you know, your parents now at one point, you know, you don't really share, I don't really share a lot of my parents, but when like, shit happens. Right. Actually your parents are usually really the, the real people who are there for you.

John Lim: 43:04

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. A hundred percent agree. Uh, how would someone, if you were to look back in your life at a, at a point in time, having gain the wisdom, how would you advise someone in that situation to do more due diligence?

Bethia Wee: 43:20

Really ask more and like, like have clarity. So it is because I did not have clarity and I just rely on trust. I failed to see the, the pitfalls. Yeah. Yeah. Cause I didn't know what the cash was being used for. I didn't know the truth of like many of the stories I took it. On a surface level, like, okay, I believe you, but that shouldn't be the case, especially when, um, like money's involved.

John Lim: 43:51

Is that why women are, um, they target the victims of love scams,

Bethia Wee: 43:59

I don't know. Maybe.

John Lim: 44:02

No, there was a tongue and cheek question. No, you didn't answer that. Uh, yeah. I'm just, just being cheeky here. Um, and one, when we had our conversation in person, the last time there was this point, there's this, uh, yeah, there's this point that I, I really like, um, your decision not to pursue a degree. Right. And I think the, let me view the context of this. I know there's a huge age gap between you and me, um, but I think we grew up with Asian traditional parents, at least Maya. uh, that the way to a better life, uh, in the world is to make sure that you have a good education and, and then, and that translate to having a degree. And of course, that that translation to what it means in the real world changes over time. Right. Back then it could be, uh, having a all levels that's good enough to have a good life, decent life, a good job at decent life. And then over time, uh, and this is why I call academic inflation, right? Um, and at least for me, my time, the degree was the sort of like the go-to path to pursuing a decent life. Um, and for you, you were quite clear that you did not want to pursue a degree. Why?

Bethia Wee: 45:09

Well, because I knew what I wanted to do. I knew, and because of the opportunity I had, I felt that this, experience was going to be, more valuable at a point in my life. And in this experience,

John Lim: 45:26

sorry, lemme cut you. Your experience meaning, your first job at Faith, is that what you're

Bethia Wee: 45:30

saying? Correct. Okay. What experience? I said, because even before I started work at KFit I was doing all my, like side hustles and gigs. Right. I knew that money could be generated already, even before I, I, I graduated from polytechnic So, I knew that, providing value is a lot more, to me important than just the paper itself. Yeah. Because I mean, I, I used to, I mean, I have friends who are academically, you know, very smart. I mean, that's great and of course hardworking, right. But I saw, I saw certain gaps in their interpersonal skills and ability to work with people, and so I just didn't quite. Agree with, you know, the need for a degree in order to have a decent job. Yeah, I just felt like there was another way as well, and I just wanted to explore that path.

John Lim: 46:35

How unconventional was that decision among the

Bethia Wee: 46:39

peers? Almost all my friends went for university beat, um, local or private or private youth because it was just like the way to go. Um, even my parents also felt that, that they were afraid that I would feel, left out or that I wouldn't know. People would look down on me if I didn't have a degree, but I just never cared about what people think because in the end it's what I deliver. What I. Do, um, and being a hiring manager like now as well, and for the past years, it's true. someone whom you would like to work with isn't all about, isn't about where they, they, uh, studied. What they studied, how well they did is about, um, you know, how, uh, humble, uh, they are, how much they're willing to learn, how much they're willing to put in, in, in, in terms of like their efforts and, and their exact work. It has nothing to do with like, which they degree, they, they, they have. So, yeah. And I, I was also quite certain that I didn't want, I wasn't going for like a government job. So I think that helped me with my decision. Cause I. I mean, it's, it's true. If you're going for a government job, then just go get a degree because, uh, the, the system, the Education System America system right, is there is to stay. So that's important, but I knew that was not the direction I was going for.

John Lim: 48:08

I think it's one thing to be confident of our abilities to be able to deliver value, in the workplace without a degree. And it's another thing to be perceived as so. Right. like you said, majority of your peers went on to do a degree because at least in our culture, in our society, we think that the degree is just, uh, the right path, uh, as a minimum prerequisite these days to get decent job, uh, be it government or non-government. and now that you are hiring people, you're employee of sorts, you are able to. provide the perspective, that you don't discriminate people just based on which school they went to, which degree, which degree they have. Um, but my point is I think there needs to be, um, an all-encompassing environment for that to happen because it's one thing to be confident, but then if no, all the other other job applicant or applications, uh, all the jobs you apply for, all the companies, you apply for, all the hires were trying to hire, you all think that need degree, then you never get an interviewed, you, you never get the job right. Yeah. Uh, I think it needs to be two ways. Uh, and I, yeah, I think I just wanna highlight that and I think for you to be so convinced in your direction to ignore the things that your well-meaning family and friends say to you at a point in time, at the age of what, um, 1920, uh, I think that's not usual. That's quite commendable. Um, and I'm not saying what's right or what's wrong, right? I think everyone has their own definition. What, what's right or what's wrong. I think it's just a different path. one of the biggest things that I wanna, biggest message I want to, provide in this podcast is to let people know that taking a different path doesn't mean that you're wrong. Thinking something that's less travel doesn't mean that you're wrong. Um, stop caring about what's right, what's wrong, what, what do people think? Uh, I think, I think knowing yourself, trying things like what you have done, that's how you get the feedback that you're able to deliver value regardless of going for a degree or not. Uh, I think that that is valuable. That is powerful in my opinion. And what's one advice you give to people considering starting a site hustle?

Bethia Wee: 50:14

I think before, if you wanna start a side hustle first, like fall in love with the idea, and you kind kind of like need to be a bit obsessed with it because, The, in the short run, the side hustle is probably not gonna give you much monetary benefits. And you need that, that long-term motivation is gonna be your love for the idea. So, and And with that love you'll naturally find means to make things work. So to me, I think that's the foundation at, what sparks the, the movement of a side hustle.

John Lim: 50:49

That's very nice, very, very ly uh, um, yeah, sounds like starting this podcast too for me. Yeah. Uh, no financial short gains, uh, financial gains for me. I shot them. Uh, that's for sure. you probably meet a lot of young people right at work. Um, and, and based on your interactions and observations with them or of them, um, what is your sensing? Um, and I, I say this, I think if the context that we just. we are coming out of this, um, ones and a century kind of, uh, pandemic that happened to us back in 2020. And I think if you are a French grad back then, you would have, uh, entered the workforce working from home, right. If you were lucky to get a job right. In those times, uh, in, in last two years. Uh, so what I'm saying is that younger people now are going through different times. No, I'm saying, I'm not saying that they're going through a more difficult time than what we have gone through before. I think every generation has its own issues and, and, and challenges. Um, but with your interactions right now, um, what's one advice or message for them in terms of their

Bethia Wee: 51:54

career? Uh, advice would be to just, um, get, be very resourceful because in the beginning, know everything seems new and, um, for you to get things done. Don't just wait for people to teach you. Um, find out how, ask people. And when you ask people, actually people are generally quite helpful and people like to help. When they, people provide value, they feel happy and, uh, you get you, you gain as well. So that would be my advice.

John Lim: 52:28

What does success look like to you now?

Bethia Wee: 52:32

Success means that I am fulfilled, I work life balance, and I am making people around me happy. What did

John Lim: 52:47

success look like to you five years

Bethia Wee: 52:49

ago? Five years ago it was about just, um, earning money, more money and more money.

John Lim: 53:02

why and how the change across the years.

Bethia Wee: 53:05

I think over the years, um, like there are certain things I, there are other things I prioritize in life. for example, my hobbies And kind of like, um, yeah, so I mean all these priorities kind of just change and I found that I need to find happiness in different aspects of my life as well and to care more about the people around me. Yeah. So with all that in place, I think, you know, um, find that money will just come, will come, but angle. Yeah. Correct. But it doesn't need to be like the main like focus. Cause sometimes when you think too much about that, you lose the human.

John Lim: 53:53

Usually with my other guests, I ask, how did success look like to you? Five years and 10 years ago, but I'll skip it 10 years ago with you. if you could have a, I think two versions of this same question. One question one, one version is, um, if you could have a billboard with any message you wanna broadcast, what would it be? Version two of the question is, if you have a big message for the audience, what would

Bethia Wee: 54:14

it be? Big message would be two, just not fear. Failure, um, and to ego isn't important. Just do it because, um, you don't know if you don't try. And in the end, embarrassment is all within your own mind. So if you, you know, it made me feel, whenever you feel embarrassed, most of the time people around you don't find it that humiliating. It's all in the mind. So just go for it. Yeah,

John Lim: 54:52

yeah, a hundred percent. my similar version of that is, um, people have come to me and asked me, oh, I did, uh, oh, John, you did your own business before, and now that you're employee, like, do you feel very embarrassed? Do you feel that this change in title from employee to employee would affect you and how, or affect how people look at you? So, yeah, I think with that, I, I agree what you said, right? That I think embarrassment is all in your mind. Uh, you never try. You never know. and I think the, the later, one of the later answers to that, that pointer is that, I think most people just care about themselves. They don't really care about you. They don't care whether yeah, how you lie, as long as they're still doing fine. Of course, your close friends care about you. But, but title, and this like job titles and what you do for a living. I think if people really care about you, all those job titles don't really matter. I think that that's my, my answer to my friend as well. Um, like social media for example, right? I mean, social media's a pet, topic for me in the sense that I think it's not super healthy or rather needs to be consumed in a moderate manner. everyone's worried about looking their best on social media, but, but I think the answer is people only care about how they look to others, right? They don't really care about how you look, right? Mm-hmm. So a hundred percent that if you don't try, you never know. And I think, uh, that, that, that team runs through in how I see your career path so far. And, and, uh, that explains your confidence at a young age. That explains in your position not, not choosing, um, that conventional path of doing a, a degree, uh, because you have done things before you, and through those experiences, you are sure that you're able to deliver value. Um, and that doesn't require you to go to a university, to to, to get that validation. So I would urge everyone to go out there and do more things instead of thinking about it, just trying, right? I think what was the sum of trying, right? If you fail, okay, you do something else, right? You try again. But if you don't try you, you get nothing. Right? When you try, you either, you know it doesn't work then okay, you learn something. If you know it works, okay, go on and do it. Right? So there's no loose scenario. There's no loose option when you, when you choose to try. Yeah. Um, Yeah, I was gonna ask about the movie, podcast, video and all that. What's one good, uh, movie, documentary or video you watch that you first recommended, or have you found ever recommending anything to people recently? No,

Bethia Wee: 57:18

I don't. And that's why

John Lim: 57:21

even like, uh, the answer to that question should be, you should re recommend everyone to check out FKA Man when it's Launch Right? And, and, and I wanna give you some air time to, um, to put a PLA for FKA Manna, right. And, and tell, tell us who will be the target audience, uh, who you aim to, who you think will be a good target audience to buy, uh, to, to try or to buy

Bethia Wee: 57:45

So is for women who live an active lifestyle, but at the same time care about, um, how they look from day to day and, the, I would say, Target audience would be usually for women in the fifties to thirties. Yeah. Who just wants to live life in a more comfortable and elegant way. Yes.

John Lim: 58:10

And we should expect this to be out on your website in

Bethia Wee: 58:13

December, right? Correct. Yes. Be launch in December, but meanwhile, um, you can just our website to, uh, sign up for our mailing list because there'll be a promo code launch promo code as well that'll be delivered to your mailbox in Israeli.

John Lim: 58:26

And you want to give, uh, since people are listening or watching, you want to give the link right now? Yeah,

Bethia Wee: 58:34

it's uh, www.com.com. And please spell it. W H A K A M A N e.com. Very good. Yeah.

John Lim: 58:46

Um, and is there anything else you wanna tell the audience besides your launch, your accepting launch for, uh, Fama?

Bethia Wee: 58:54

I think just, uh, I just share an idea on like what kind of designs to expect. It's, although I, uh, I shared activewear, um, you'll be pretty surprised that it looks nothing like the usual sports bra and type CC online. Uh, you can expect a dressers that, um, can be transformed from a uni heart to a work dress or even jumpsuits that can, uh, look like it's great for dates to a yoga session.

John Lim: 59:21

And I believe you would be the natural first choice of the influencer for your brand. Am I

Bethia Wee: 59:27

right? I mean, yes. I have to be the first advocate.

John Lim: 59:33

Mel, this has been really fun. thank you for your time, uh, I think for sharing your, your journey, uh, and your site hustles. I've been really impressed by what you've done so far, and, uh, I hope the audience, uh, of this podcast has also gained something from this conversation. So we look forward to the launch and thank you for the time once again, Peter. Thank you. See you. Bye-bye.

Bethia Wee: 59:52

See you. Bye.