Embracing the growth in my life journey

It’s been awhile since I’ve found the inspiration to write an article on LinkedIn - Today I would like to share about my life story which brings me to who I am today :)

I grew up in a family of 4, my dad is the breadwinner, mum is a homemaker and I have a brother who is 3 years younger than me. I remember we lead quite a comfortable life - we don’t have to worry about bread and butter every day. My dad is mostly working hard for the family, he is often seen working most of the time but we do get to spend time as a family together by going to family chalets etc.

I lost my mother at the tender age of 8 years old and I have very vague memory of my mother in my childhood. Because my father have to continue to work and earn for a living to support me and my brother, the three of us moved in to stay at my grandparents - this means new living and schooling arrangements have to be made and we have to learn independence at a young age.

I don’t have fancy grades during my primary school days and in fact I don’t remember studying much for PSLE and barely made it to Normal Academic stream in a neighborhood school. It didn’t affect me much but something happened to me later, perhaps puberty which made me more mature, I begin to want to do well in school and have successfully become second or third in class consecutively during my secondary school days which propelled me to want to do better and better. This gave me a lot more confidence and perhaps that’s when I started to embrace growth mindset - everything is possible if you set your mind to it.

My O level grades then allowed me to enter Junior College and it’s a huge achievement for me back then to enter JC from Normal Academic stream. But that also means I will be competing with the express stream students who are mostly one year younger than me. My JC days were short and sweet, I managed to get decent grades but the greatest regret was scoring S (sub pass) for my General Paper. I remember crying badly for it because it means the chances of me getting into Finance or Accounting faculty in university were slim. My greatest blessing was knowing my husband during my JC days !

True enough, I didn’t manage to get into my desired course because of my GP grade but was shortlisted for an interview for NUS Bachelor Of Science and I manage to secure a place and decided to major in Chemistry ! I must say university science is very different from secondary science! I managed to graduate with second class lower honors, with a few decimal points short to second upper. Honestly felt I could have done better and it’s a waste that I missed it by that tiny bit.

While I was exploring what to do for a career, I decided to apply for HR roles in the ministry and concurrently also got attracted to the financial services industry. That’s when I met my current boss who brought me into this wonderful career. Fast forward to today, this marks my 12 years in the industry and today I served a total of 768 clients in my care! I consider this as my calling as I can never imagine what else would I be doing if not as a Financial Consultant today!

Being a Financial Consultant is easier said than done. I remember walking the streets when I was new, working more than 12 hours a day for at least the first two years, and focus on building up my clientele base. This is really pure hard work and I must say learning to deal with rejections makes me grew stronger as a person!

Today, I earned the accreditation of a Master Financial Consultant and I am very thankful for those who trusted and journeyed with me for the last 12 years. Relationships is something I treasure a lot and I am very thankful to have known each and every one in their special ways. My growth journey as a Financial Consultant would not be as fulfilling without each and every one trust and support and I am forever thankful for my clients who constantly look out for me and referring their family and friends to me :) The greatest achievement of being a Financial Consultant is not just the money and awards but the trust and relationship that is built over time and I really treasure it a lot!

Over the years, I have also attained Million Dollar Round Table, Premier Bronze and Silver qualification and this is only made because of my client’s trust and support :) I have also attended various external courses such as Wills & Trust, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Enneagram , and most recently attended a Mortgage Specialist course by Sync Mortgage to provide value-added services to my clients. Being a Chartered Financial Consultant, I hope to provide a one stop service to my clients hence I also took up General Insurance papers during the early days to provide solutions on general insurance such as travel , motor and pet insurance etc.

Today, as a mother of 2 wonderful son, I can’t emphasize further the importance of proper financial planning. It’s so important to relook at one’s financial portfolio to ensure it’s up to date. It should give a peace of mind to the family should anything unforeseen happen and the planning should give the stakeholders the kind of financial freedom they desire. This is something I am passionate about to craft heart solutions for my clients to make sure they are protected and also well prepared for their freedom fund in their golden years.

Sometimes I get questioned on why am I working so hard and how do I manage as a working mum - it’s indeed super challenging and I am still learning! Sleep deprivation is real but I love my career and find a purpose in what I do so I don’t consider work as a chore but a place that I am good at what I am, enabling me to plan for my clients :) l love the flexibility in this career and I get to plan my time well around spending time with family and working and I’m really appreciative of the work life integration that I get to enjoy. We all have multiple roles to fulfil. For me, a Financial Consultant, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a daughter – in – law. I always believe the Genius of the AND and having a routine and discipline helps me to achieve the work-life-integration that I desire. Seeking growth in all areas of life also forces me to better myself and uncover my blind spots.

Counting down to less than 30 days to the addition of a new member to the family, I am scared but yet excited to see what lies ahead! I would love to connect with you if you’re a working mother or professional! I’m also excited to share with you my expertise in proper financial planning for families and individuals! Let’s connect ??

Signing off,

The working?mum?Alena