It was never my dream to become a Financial Services Consultant.

Growing up, I had ambitious dreams of being a motivational speaker, an actor or even the next Michael Jackson (Yes, I danced to Thriller in my living room, no cap).

But as time went by and Singapore’s education system caught up, those dreams started to fade further and further away and what was taught to us was that going through the education system, going to a good university and having a decent 9-5 job thereafter was the ideal life for a Singaporean.

It wasn’t my ideal life.

I wanted to do more, something that can impact real lives, something that can help my family be financially free, and something that would challenge me day in and day out. My family was never poor to begin with, however as a single mother, my mom always had to carry the weight of both me and my brother’s development and livelihood on her shoulders, and as the years trudge by, I’ve only begun to realize how tired she actually is. As old age and sickness come creeping on to her, I become ever more determined to give back the huge sacrifices and time that she has spent on simply just trying to make our lives a better one than the one she lived in.

And during my NS days, the opportunity presented itself when my current manager Nigel approached me to share with me about financial planning. Like everyone else, I was sceptical at first as I believed prior that the industry was full of “snakes” and scammers.

However, after going through the winter internship ASCEND and talking to the many others in ODYSSEY, I realized that there was a proper way to conduct Financial Planning, a way in which integrity was the highest value and that serving with heart and passion would shine through ultimately, something that was ingrained in me throughout my time dancing in my current dance crew.

Also, the current stigma of Financial Services Consultant and the challenges posed for me is yet another motivating factor for me, to change the mindsets of how people view advisors and that we can be professionals at the highest level as well.

Lastly, I realized that being a Financial Services Consultant was something that gave me the platform to interact with many different people on a daily basis from all walks of life, something that I love, and which is totally opposite of the “ideal” 9-5 work life. Hell yeah!

With that, my goal is to become an advisor that many can relate to, one that cares and gives a 100% at everything, and one that is “steady la”!

I’m Xiu Qi and I’m here to guide you through life’s adventure! Let’s do this.