Looking back at my own life, many things have changed in the last ten years.

To many people, I may be performing exceptionally well as academically, I was able to obtain Scholarships in both my Polytechnic days and in my current University.

I was even privileged enough to be selected as the valedictorian of my graduating cohort in Polytechnic. 

However, what most people do not know is that since the age of 14, majority of my time has been spent either on working part-time or studying.

I have worked over twenty part-time jobs throughout my life, and the very reason for this is that my family has been struggling financially ever since my mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 Kidney Failure in 2009. 

All available resources in my family were channelled towards my mother’s hefty dialysis treatment, and just as things took a turn for the better in 2017 after she received an unexpected kidney transplant, my dad was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2018.

At this point in time, we had little to no savings to cushion the heavy chemotherapy cost and the approval for funding from the cancer foundation did not come in time. Alas, he passed on in 2019. 

I was furious at my family’s financial advisor who only approached my family once and never did a review ever again.

I was unhappy that I had to start working at the age of 14, when the rest of my peers around me spent their leisure time hanging out or playing games.

I almost resigned myself to fate that I was just plain unlucky. However, as time passed, I decided to redirect my focus and energy and take things into my own hands.

Instead of lamenting about my journey thus far, I wanted to be a beacon of light for others financially, as I knew how awful it felt to be in a position where everything seemed lost.

Being introduced to the financial services industry has been nothing short of life-changing for me, and it has empowered me with the ability to make a positive difference in someone else’s life.

Having been an advisor for a year now, I have learnt so much and my decision to move to Odyssey is borne out of a burning desire to be on the best platform I can be, to provide those that I can for a standard of advisory and service they deserve.

It will never be an easy journey, but I know that if I can do it right for even just one family, it gives me a warm sense of comfort that I can prevent someone else from going through the current I struggled against.

Now, I am in a happier and better place, and I look forward to being a lighthouse for anyone struggling through a time of need.