Powerful Lessons I Learned from Life...

It is an honour to sit down with SCIKEY in conjunction with International Women’s Day 2021 to celebrate life achievements in an exclusive interview featuring Working Women Wonders. Here’s sharing What Life Has Taught Me and What Success Feels Like!

SCIKEY Exclusive Interview: Working Women Wonders

1. What do you remember the most from your childhood? Is there any special memory you’d like to share?

Since I was in Primary School, all my holidays were spent at my father’s iron fitter factory. From the age of 9 till 14, I swept the factory floors, made coffee (using the coffee sock) for the workers as tea break, bought packet lunches for everyone, painted countless window grilles and followed the team on metal gate fitting trips to homes and factories. I have many recollections of these trips as they gave me access to an intriguing world of the lifestyles of others. Of all, the most vivid memory is of a condominium home I visited in Pandan Valley. I was in awe of how well people could live!

2. Growing up, what were those habits that made you the person that you are today?

Because of the exposure to my father’s factory and taking on responsibilities at a young age, I grew up taking charge of myself and the family. We were not well off and my parents often borrowed to sustain our family of 7. I gave up the chance to go to university to start work early to help out with home finances. Thankfully, I made good to finish my university and even aced the Master of Business Administration (MBA) by scoring distinction. Studying and work travelling while juggling a young family was especially disorientating and tough. Grit and resilience developed young are keys to my personal and career successes.

3. What would you like to share about your family, your bond with them, how do you stay together despite the busy lives we live?

My husband and I were busy executives who travelled quite a bit for work. When the children were young, we made sure that one parent is at home every night. Planning conflicting schedules were not easy and I was always rushing to fly back home as soon as the last meeting ended! When my children entered their mid years in primary school, I switched to a job that required zero travelling. That meant a large impact to my income as well as stalling my career momentarily. Looking back, I would not have done differently as the family must come first. Now that they are in their early teens, I am grateful of that decision to step back. Spending more family time together during the pandemic as I can work from home has been great too. Because we live near the beach, we spent a lot of time together running, biking and rollerblading around the nature reserve within our neighbourhood. Sports have always been the channel for my husband and I to reach out and connect with the children. Along the way, we (somehow) became a family of sporty people. We are keen golfers who play tennis and dabble into sailing as a family too!

4. Where do you draw your strengths from? Who or what are the biggest inspirations of your life?

Having a spiritual anchor is important for me. Religion calms and keeps me focused, in spite of a myriad of challenges. I am inspired daily through observing people’s awesomeness. They do not need to be the Elon Musks of the world – the kind encouragement by the cleaning lady overheard in the office or an off-the-cuff comment of empathy from a team member, these inspire me!

5. What is your formula of balancing your work and personal lives and being an ace in both?

These days, I dabble into Mindfulness exercises. Calming the mind and focusing on breathing helps loads. I believe everything is about the mindset. I keep the mindset that I will enjoy the process of work while balancing a household, even when there is probably nothing much to savour and a ton of challenges to embrace!

6. What disparity do you still see on the gender front at the workplace?

I am blessed to be in Singapore where the gender equality is generally fair. I worked for two of the best multinational (MNC) firms ever. At Agfa Graphics (European MNC) in the (once) male-dominated printing industry, I was the only female Managing Director in the global scene. At Danaher (Fortune 200), I worked my way up to head a large part of APAC. I was the sole female Vice President among five in the global arena. Frankly, I do not recall ever feeling inadequate or shortchanged. I believe it is still about the mindset. I know what my capabilities are and where I could value-add to the team. In fact, being feminine could have helped me garner the right attention to progress above the “crowd”. Thankfully, I do not need to exhibit more than my professional delivery – I am grateful to wonderful colleagues partnering me along the way.

More about My Underdog Career here: If I can so can you!

7. If you would be given the superpower for one day to do something for Women, what would be that?

I would love to give a complimentary full day Emotional Quotient (EQ) leadership coaching workshop to as many single mothers as possible!

8. What is the happiest moment of your life that you’d like to share?

I would say there are many! Aside from the miraculous births of my children against medical expectations, one of these happiest moments would have been when I summitted the Everest Base Camp at 5,364 feet above sea level on my own effort (guide and porter in tow of course) on the exact day I turned 50! It was a 20-year aspiration come true and I trained for a few years to prepare for it. I am thankful that I made it and returned in 1 wholesome piece despite the horrid weather that was so bad it was splashed across global newspapers. Another would have been the unexpected hole-in-one I scored at golf that was witnessed by my better half!

9. What was the biggest setback in your life and how did you overcome it?

I took a sabbatical of about 1.5 years several years back. I became very sick in the midst of it to a point that I was unable to leave the house for close to 8 months. The medical specialists could not pinpoint the exact medical term of my condition and I was mainly administered steroids. To cut the long story short, I decided on a holistic natural journey and used the sabbatical time to delve into natural medicine to recuperate. I am very glad to be fully recovered for a few years already.

10. Share any initiative/s you have taken to empower other women if any?

I intentionally hire single mothers to help them cope financially. Hiring the single parent requires mutual respect and a high level of understanding of their mixed schedules. I believe everyone needs a little pick-me-up along life’s journey. Being a Samaritan in small ways is empowering for the giver (and recipient). Pay it forward!

11. Define in your own words - #WorkingWomenWonders

#WorkingWomenWonders savour their experiences (both the good and Not-so Nice ones). There is much to learn from each encounter. Most importantly, the mindset must be to learn, be inspired and have a bit of wholesome fun along the way. Never Give Up!

I am a growth-driven Strategic Doer with extensive APAC experience, managing businesses to double-digit growth. Follow me, ?? #?erific  

Welcome to connect with me, Teri Teo

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