My mom passed away suddenly when I was 10 years old and the years after were very difficult for my family. Reading gave me the escape into a world that cannot be seen with our eyes but explored with our minds.

I grew up an introvert preferring to escape into my books than talking to anyone because my world then was harsh and hard. But in the pages of my books, I was free to roam and limitless. I loved how the heroes in my books learned to face their difficulties and in initially being lost in their quest they eventually found themselves. This is something that has always stuck with me. If these heroes in my books can, then so can we.

When did we put a limit to what we can and cannot do in this world?

It was that mentality that got me venturing into business and I successfully scaled my startup to 7 figures. But a few years ago, I lost it all. The company I had built for many years came crashing down. I had to let go of my 150 agents, over 20 staff, and I closed all branch locations one by one. My business failed. Eventually, I lost myself too. I could see trouble coming at me from every direction. I had to clear, move the office and the storage while being heavily 7 months pregnant. My car was towed away just one week before I was due to deliver my baby because I missed many months of installments, trying to pay everyone and everything else first.

With a zero balance in my bank account when I gave birth to my child, I had to sell my home furniture on Carousell just to cover the hospital bills. I was utterly depressed. I had failed so terribly that I was too embarrassed to tell even my own family and ask for help.

At that time I remember crying holding my newborn son, looking at his cherub face, desperately wanting a better life for him.

What I learned from that experience is - if we do not like what we see outside, we must first change what's inside internally. I knew it was a mindset shift I needed because while I was down and out, I could see other people, successful, happy, and thriving. I figured there must be a skill that they know that I didn't and habits that they're practicing that I am not.

So I got to work on figuring out the skills needed to rebuild everything from scratch. It was an uphill climb from my ruin, it was hard but I needed to do it, for my son, for the responsibilities I have, and right at that point, I promised to God that if I ever come out of that situation, I will pay it forward by being a hand that pulls another up.

God has been my biggest strength in life. Accepting and owning up to my failures helped me address my issues, the limiting beliefs that were deeply ingrained within me unraveled as in being lost, eventually overcoming the challenges I discovered myself - much like the heroes in my books many years ago. Removing myself from toxic environments, relationships, and situations while intentionally networking and placing myself in a positive supportive community helped me to heal and gave me the push to launch my new business successfully last year.

But, any new beginning is not going to be easy because growth does not come from our comfort zone. We have to be willing to subscribe to the inconvenience and the pain of learning and growth daily to grow. If we have always done what we have always done, we will always get what we have always gotten. But to achieve something we never had, we need to do something we have never done before and that means we need to step out of our comfort zones.

So it's really important to realign to our "WHY" every single day to give us that fuel and momentum to keep going. My big ‘why’ is to serve, remembering the promise I made those years ago because I know how it feels like to have everything taken away from you that you feel completely lost, hopeless, and giving up. It's not easy to climb back up from failure, defeat, being broke and broken, being bullied, and just pushed to the edge. So I made a pledge to share my experience of how to bounce back, that it is possible, that we are worthy and our dreams are valid.

Some people believe as working mothers our attention is divided when we bear children. Instead, I strongly believe we are strengthened. My drive, commitment to rise and thrive was all fueled by the need to give the best to my work and my family.

Previously, in working with corporate and private companies, I experienced many unfortunate events where gender equality was more of a lip service than actual practice. Respect is dished out more on cultural curtesy compared to the actual appreciation of merit of work, and many times my work was passed over and my ideas were credited to a man. I would not want my daughter to experience the same mistreatment thus conversations like these are important to build awareness.

I believe we can change this slowly in the upcoming years. We just need to have the right mindset, and anything is possible. Through it all, I could see that we women are stronger than we realize. We do not need to wait for help, acknowledgment, or validation for our worth. We can be our own rescue. We are the 911 we were waiting for.

If I had a superpower, I would like to make every woman understand that they can achieve anything they dream of. There is a shine in each one of us. I am inspired by women who have the courage to come up because they in turn light up the path for others to do so too.

Do not downgrade your dreams to match your reality, upgrade your faith to match your destiny.

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