What drives me? Why do I do what I do?
I’m passionate about entrepreneurship & social justice and I’ve always wanted to harness it for something meaningful.
I had a friend who ended his life 4 years ago. He was autistic and faced constant bullying at work and on social media. Being one of his few friends, I felt I wasn’t a good friend at all. I dedicate my efforts in honour of him.
It triggered a realization that life isn’t just about myself and happiness. I felt that it was about living for a purpose larger than myself. Thus far, running Glow in the Dark Singapore has been a journey of faith for me, and through the failures and successes, I give thanks to God.
In university, I joined a CCA where you could pitch business ideas to solve social problems. We got approached by an organization that cares for the blind. The challenge was to find employment opportunities for them, as they were often discriminated.
My team envisioned an idea – to train them to do public speaking and conduct workshops. They could be empowered and paid fairly, while audiences benefit from their sharing. Workshops can be centered around developing empathy and resilience, and to raise positive awareness for people with disabilities (PWDs). We named it ‘Glow in the Dark’, to signify that there is hope and light, even in the “darkness”.
There were roadblocks. The organization didn’t think it’ll work. But I did. So we pitched the idea to MSF instead, who initially agreed to give us a 10k grant to start it. Yet at the last minute, they pulled out as they felt it was too risky.
Still, I had strong reasons to continue, so we entered another competition. This time, to our surprise, we won it and was given $25k to kickstart the social enterprise.
Why did I continue despite the rejection? If you do something different, there will always be doubters, sometimes even those close to you. Yet, if you’re clear of your purpose and mission, you will naturally care less about what others think. I believed in the vision, and I knew I would regret for life if I didn’t at least give it a shot
The first workshop was terrible. I didn’t have experience planning it, and our trainers were very raw. I was discouraged from the feedback. There were times where I really questioned myself, ‘Can this really work?’, ‘Should I let this go?’. But each time the doubt came, I recalled my mission and my friend whom I dedicate my efforts to.
After much failure and correction, I am proud of where we’ve come, and most of all, I’m proud of my trainers. It was not easy at first, some trainers have painful memories and stage fright, which causes them to doubt themselves. Yet, with individual coaching and treating them as family, we overcome the struggles together. Now, the feedback from audience is much better. Of course, there’s room for improvement, but I am grateful of how far they’ve grown, they have tremendous courage and desire, and I'm inspired by them too. We have since been featured on Straits Times and reached out to over 6000+ participants.
Despite the small success, we cannot get complacent. For trainers to continually get a decent salary, we must improve. To be sustainable, we cannot rely on sympathy votes, we need to be as good as or better than other professional training companies.
I don’t have it all figured out, but that’s ok, no one can have all the answers. With God’s grace, and the support from my family of trainers, I believe we have the courage to figure it out, and continue to Glow in the Dark.