Today's episode is a really special one because I was part of a fundraiser, a charity event in the Philippines. But it's virtual. It's organized by Laura's Enterprises with the support of the world's largest event organizer who brings in Tony Robbins, T Haf Ecker, Robert Kiyosaki Success Resources Private Limited of Singapore. So this event is called Do Nation. Let's do it for the nation. There is a virtual charity learning event and aim to fundraise for front liners and event liners. I'm really blessed to be a part of this. So I hope you enjoy this interview and let me know if you love this episode. 

(09:43-11:24) I had to support myself at a very young age since I was 14 years old, and I wasn't able to kind of really build up my self-esteem well. So in school, I wasn't able to buy new clothes, new shoes, and therefore, I was often bullied in school because of my look. Imagine me with really short hair, maybe as short as yours. Rich, you have hair. Okay. So almost very short. And I have very dark eye circles, really bushy eyebrows, very tomboyish because of the way I was being brought up to defend myself, to defend for myself, and not with a lot of money in my pocket. I wasn't able to present myself well, I didn't have a lot of confidence, so I was always the spot where people would bully me. The girls have cornered me at the basketball court. I remember one time, and then they pull over my PE shirt, exposing my bra, and then one of them will actually say, oh, you're wearing the same bra. And I felt totally humiliated. Humiliated. So throughout my years, I was consistently being bullied because of my background, and I lost my self-esteem. In fact, there was one other incident that shook me up that I didn't even want to think about joining a beauty pageant because totally, I lost myself completely. There were times that they took my bag. My bag has holes in them, and they threw it across the classroom floor. And all my books were strewn all across the floor. And at that moment in time, I wanted to commit suicide. I just wanted to die. 

(11:27-11:50) My self-esteem continued to go downhill. But you see, we are the average of the five people we hang with the most. And sometimes when we don't have coverage, we don't have bravery. We lost ourselves. It's the people around us who will support us and give us that support. And my friends believed in me. My friends saw the potential in me and say Genecia, you should just join a beauty pageant. Just go for it.

(12:03-12:07) And my friends, eventually they enrolled me to join Miss Singapore.

(12:11-12:24) And the best part was, I wasn't groomed. I didn't have a lot of money to buy a pair of heels. In fact, I could only afford one pair of black color heels. But in any beauty pageant, you need to have one black and one silver. And you have to have clothes for multiple events.

(12:35-12:44) So I went to knock on doors, and eventually, I found someone who was willing to give me a sponsorship to teach me how to do public speaking. 

(12:46-13:18) Her name was Rebecca. And she gave me all the DVDs, CDs, her notes, and everything possible. She gave it to me. And then she said, can you give me your wallet, your bank? And I was a little bit blurred and naive at the time. Okay. I just passed you my bag, and she took out my wallet, unzip my wallet and pour all the money I have in my wallet. And I'm like, Rebecca, why are you taking all my money? That's all that I have. $60 is all that I have for the month for my food and transport and everything else.

(13:36-13:56) And I told myself since you took all my money, I have no money. Right. 

So I better study hard and make sure I do well in my pageant. Right. So eventually I scored really well, and I won Miss Singapore International in 2006 because of Rebecca's teachings,

public speaking, learn how to groom myself. All because I took the first step to commit to my success.

 

(16:24-16:57) I think I never really understood the power of value exchange until much later in life. But definitely, when I looked back, I finally understood why she took that $60. There may be very little to some of you, the listeners, audience who's watching this right now, but for me, it was a lot back in those days. So we talked about the value, the proportion of the value that you have right now in your pocket when you give, whether it's 100 pesos or how much you're giving. It's not how much you give, but how much you have that you're actually giving.

(20:46-21:21) Don't think that you are alone because there's someone else out there. I totally get you. If you have depression and anxiety, it's time and possible for the journey. Just know that someone has gone before you and someone has overcome before you. So be an Overcomer. Learn to Ask for Help don't feel like you're being judged if you ask for help or if I ask for help means I'm weak, means I'm lousy, means I'm no good. But if I hadn't asked for help, I hadn't had friends who gave me that support. I will not be here today and be able to do more with my life. 

(21:23-21:36)So I want to encourage you to really step out of your comfort zone and really ask for help. Don't feel that someone else is judging you. Always know that there is a brighter, lighter hit at the end of the tunnel.

(28:21-28:41) So to really do a cafe business, you need to don't become like a chef, you try to start a restaurant. You hold a camera, you think you're a photographer, you hold an iPhone, you think you're a blogger, you have a website, you think you are a blogger or something like that along the line. So don't think that you know how to be a barista. You can make a cafe. 

(28:50-29:14) I would say in this Covid-19 season, don't really start a retail business anymore. I will recommend you to reinvent the idea into a kiosk and then do takeaways, something that is duplicatable, something that is easy. Similar concept to bubble tea. Do something that is easy for people to take away with. I think that would be a better choice.

(30:21-30:36)If you were to do a cafe, get a franchise, that is the easiest way to get started, even though it could be a little more pricey. But that investment that you put upfront guarantees you that you have a system and process that's proven and you can make money immediately.  

(30:49-30:57) Why? Because the brand is really known in the market and it's easy for people to trust you and know that your coffee is good. 

(31:07-31:13) Other than that, the brand actually has a trust factor involved. So definitely that will work in itself.

(31:24-31:44) I think one thing that I found success in the cafe business and I've learned is by having a team, we could put our skillset and strengths together and we are not functioning alone. And because we're not alone, we could easily put the processes together and eventually create something that's worthy of selling.

(40:38-41:11) Maximizing my time really means really sticking to my schedule as if I am doing the business as I would do before and after Covid. I think that in itself is a state of mindset where you can't tell yourself, oh, because it's Covid, therefore, I am not going to function the way I am. I'm going to sleep in a little bit more. I'm going to lazy around a little bit more. I mean, you could do exactly just that. But what is your vision? What is your big why? I think that is the question I want to keep reminding myself. 

(42:31-43:15) When I maximize my time, I want to always keep my vision in mind, keep that idea of why am I doing what I'm doing? Maximizing time also involves using management tools. I would highly recommend you to check Asana. Asana is a project management tool that is super useful. I have a team of 21 in the Philippines and they are all in Davao and I manage them all on my tools via Skype and Asana. And maximizing my time also means delegating 80% of my to-do list to them. So I only do 20% of my to-do list functioning in my zone of genius.

 

Why Delegation is Very Important in Maximizing Time? 

(48:45-49:35) All you need is just to have $50 for a task that you completely hate to do. Like for example, bookkeeping like, for example, posting on your social media, getting things scheduled and posting things out, things like that can be easily outsourced and delegated for just $50 a week or $50 a month. It doesn't have to be, oh, I have to hire a full-time employee. It can be just a task or two, three tasks bundled together. As long as the person gets things done for you, you can go bit by bit. The two of the biggest mindset blocks for all the entrepreneurs I see, female entrepreneurs alike, is that they have this mindset of I can do better than the virtual assistant, I can do better than my employees.

(49:39-49:44)But the thing is you're forgetting that you could maximize and function in your zone of genius.

(50:04-50:10) And number two, the other block that a lot of entrepreneurs have is that they need to spend a lot of money to do delegating.

(54:07-55:17) I will invest in myself, go for a program that will change and transform either my skill set and then also my mindset. I think the skill set is something that I've learned that nobody can take away from me. I started when I was 14 years old, had to support myself through school as yoga, aerobics, and line dancing instructor because I started when I was 14 teaching classes, being able to move a class of 100, to move a group in a Stadium of 1000, that gave me the skill set, to be able to give instructions whether it's in a small group or big group at a very young age. And that was why I was given the opportunity to work with politicians, CEOs and celebrities. Because of that, I had the advantage over other people when I was doing my business when I was an image consultant and doing my business, and I looked at the whole course on its own. So if I were to only have $1,000, I would do the same. Invest in myself, look at the skill set that is the future that people want. 

(55:26-56:33) One of the greatest swimmers of all time in Singapore, his name is Joseph Schooling. He won an Olympic gold, our very first Singapore Olympic gold just a few years ago. For Joseph Schooling to win an Olympic goal, he had to hire a coach to coach him how to swim in the pool. But did the coach need to jump in the pool to swim? For Joseph Schooling on the day of the Olympics, the answer is no. Joseph Schooling will wake up five to 06:00 a.m. Every single day and swim and worked his ass off to eventually winning the Olympic goals. So even if you invest in yourself to find a skill set that eventually will pay your bills, you must take action to jump into the pool and swim to achieve your Olympic goal. Like Joseph Schooling, the coach and mentor of the course can only guide you through, give you the system, the process that you can take you there because it's proven, but it takes you all your energy, 100% to swim through, to end, to finish line.

(00:59:27-01:00:31) I look at my life now where I am, if not for her, I would not be where I am today. Like, set up pawning her goal to send me for instructor certifications, which I hated her for. Like, why do I need to work at a young age? Why do I need to do this to want to share with you my depression, my committing suicide, going through different relationships in life. And my mom has always been there, even though sometimes as a daughter, we are rebellious, we are running, going through our own course in life. So for me, I think I'm just being human and looking at my mom, I want to honour her. Even up to now, I would say my mom is still the greatest person ever. And I will say whatever I'm doing now is role modelling after her because she's also a leader in the community. She guides other women. She teaches other women how to live a confident, fulfilling, healthy life. And I'm exactly doing the same. Just an online version.

 (01:03:10-01:03:24) I totally disagree with her most of the time. But over the years, I invested myself a lot in personal development, inner healing work. I do so much of that that I realized that choose to be happy, then choose to be right. 

(01:03:29-01:04:09) She has gone through her own journey and education and her life experiences. So when she says certain things about you, about your work, about your life, just let her say because she has gone through her journey to be what she is today, there is definitely a generation difference to where we are now. So just be open-hearted and love her and embrace who she is. And that is one thing, one of the biggest lessons that I've learnt, embracing my mother and our differences. And I no longer think that I need to be right. I always choose to be happy and I just listen to her and just smile and not my head, even though I disagree 

(01:05:57-01:06:08) I was trapped in the nine to five red race for about a year because I was already making more working part-time and as an instructor. And I decided that I think nine to five isn't for me.

(01:06:23-01:06:58) I feel that my life has been called for. So I went into image consultancy because my pageant winning Miss Singapore has really opened doors for me. And getting that specification as an image consultant did help me to pass ways to get to know more. I would say more influential people like your network goes to your net worth. So I think that really has helped me tremendously. But I was trading time for money. By work, I get paid, I work, I get paid, I don't work, I don't get paid. So that in itself I struggled and I was looking for a way out to go from offline to online, to bring my business online.

(01:06:59-01:07:39) And how can I really make my first million? And that was just what I was thinking. I have never made my million before. I gotta do it myself. How can I get there? I invested in a mentor eventually. And his name is James Wee. He's also my partner in the cafe retail chain. He's also now the partner and the man behind So Rich Woman. So, yes, even though I run Soul Rich Woman, I'm the founder, but he's the man behind looking at all the different strategies and how we are charting out the cash flow and all these things. So it's very important. 

(01:07:40-01:08:22) I went online knowing that I can empower and equip more women to shortcut their success, to own and love the effort, be fabulous, have freedom, financial independence, and above all, family. I don't want women to start going round and round in circles because I feel that there's just so much time wasted when you're just going round and round in circles. There is definitely a way to shortcut your success, to reach your goal in a shorter period of time if you have the right mentor and the right community. Because when a woman changes her life, her entire community benefits. And alone, you are strong. But together we are unstoppable.

(01:09:34-01:10:10) One of the biggest lessons I learned in life is never to give up. And if I were to win Miss Universe, I would actually use this motivational skill set that I have to actually get everyone who's been in touch with me one light at a time to tell them that the sky's the limit and there's no storm that you cannot conquer Never give up only as you're willing to step out of your comfort zone no dream that you cannot achieve in your life because alone we are strong together we are unstoppable.

 (01:16:46-01:16:51) Believe in yourself. Be confident. Stay true to your soul, to your heart.

(01:21:40-01:21:54) Remember, quit thinking, start doing and never give up on your dreams. Even Covid-19 has happened. Life definitely must go on. Find a mentor and stay connected.

(01:22:12-01:22:43) People are having issues, and they feel that they're alone. So don't feel that you're alone. I just want to just call out to you right now if you're feeling alone, just know that we have resources available for you. And as we do this as a nation together to support our front liners in the Philippines, we also would like you to lend your hand, hundred pesos to get started, to make a donation so that we can do more with our effort together because alone we are strong, together we are unstoppable.

1. It's not how much you give, but how much actually give.

2. Be an Overcomer.

3. Learn to ask for help.

4. Never give up.

5. Believe in yourself.

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Free Resource: "Soul Why: Soul Rich Woman Blueprint" and "How to Delegate 80% of your to-do list" ---> https://be.soulrichwoman.com

Secrets of Manifesting Money Quickly Online Course ---> https://shor.by/moneymindset