靠男人不如靠自己 – the words that unknowingly formed the bedrock of my compelling drive to succeed in life.

My mum never meant it as abhorring men but rather she advocated my personal growth as a confident and independent woman.

It’s a stretch from her time when financial independence meant looking for a rich husband. Today I seek financial dependency on my own efforts. 

This burning flame within me wasn’t always there before though. I had always seen myself as a plain-jane girl.

Silver spoon in my mouth? Try wooden.

But my parents never gave me anything less that what they could provide. The ‘dream’ became finding a normal 9-5 job that could pay the bills. My priorities were simple, a healthy family with a comfortable life. 

But life doesn’t quite serve us the most bountiful platter all the time right?

I had just returned back to Singapore from an experiential 6 months work visa in New Zealand, a satisfying conclusion to my educational graduation but was slapped with dreadful news.

An uncle close to heart, had just passed on from stage 4 cancer. It happened so quickly that we barely had time to make sense of the whole situation. 

What ensued after was crippling to the whole family. We had just lost a loved one but there was a large debt to pay off for the unpaid medical bills and funeral services.

The amounts totaled up were terrifying and yet very real. We were gravely unprepared. 

No one should ever have to go through that, and I definitely did not want that happening to my immediate family. 

By chance or perhaps by fate, I found myself at Odyssey’s doors. It got me thinking – financial literacy and risk management was something way too important to ignore.

I had to do something about it, be it to raise awareness or to increase exposure. I knew this was something that I wanted to do. 

I want to be that someone who could help, who could work their way around getting real solutions, who could make a difference in another’s life. Even just a bit.

I am Lu Ping, and I’m here to guide you through life’s adventure.