I started this company to provide training and coaching to anyone wanting to improve their performance at work and achieve greater personal effectiveness. If that's you, brilliant! Why? So that you can do better and get the results you want, or need to, at work or in your business, and become even more successful. Why? So that you can get closer to having all the things you might want, for yourself or your family. It's not all material that we gun for, and if you want it, I'll journey with you. I get asked by people if I'm really just all altruistic about this. No, of course not! I'm not a phoney! I've got bills to pay and things I want to work towards for myself and my family too. I want to make a few dollars from my business. And, I want to help you do better as well.The good news is you can learn these skills and apply them immediately in the real world. These are taught in the courses ACE Initiative offers: Presentation Skills | Assertive Communications Skills | Managing Difficult People | Creative Problem Solving and Decision Making | Leadership | Management | Social Selling. We also offer customised courses and workshops to meet clients' specific goals.#presentation #assertivecommunications #managingdifficultpeople #creativeproblemsolving #leadership #management #socialselling #customised #skillsI believe it starts with having the ability to Appreciate people, and one way to do that is to invest in developing them. I believe that when we enable people with skills to Co-create our business environment with us, we transform them into champions and advocates, because people support a world they help create. And I believe that when people feel appreciated and are equipped with the skills to co-create, they become willing to Engage authentically. And, that's the reason why ACE Initiative exists: to help people do better, become better, and be more successful in all the things that they want and need to be.#Appreciate #Cocreate #Engage #ACE #Initiative

I respect people who work hard so that they can take care of their families, put food on the table of those they feel responsible for, shelter the people they love, pay the bills, and who would give all they can afford to make sure their children have an education. Many workers sacrifice their own enjoyment in order to let others have theirs.Who are truly admirable are those who have set their minds on how they can provide for their loved ones, and for themselves, better. And the way they are able to do that is through continuous adult education, so that they can upgrade their skills, get the promotions, or eventually qualify for more job opportunities in other industries which may pay them better.As an ACTA certified trainer, I am qualified to deliver training and assessments under the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) framework across different industries. In so doing, I am able to help workers develop key competencies that companies look for in potential employees. Thus, they are able to find more opportunities, do better for themselves, and provide more for those they love and care about. When I am able to help others do better, it's such gratification for me, and that's when I smile most.#SkillsFutureSg #Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment #ACTA #SingaporeWorkforceSkillsQualifications

Mr. Dale Carnegie said, "Forget yourself by becoming interested in others. Do every day a good deed that will put a smile of joy on someone's face." The very first time I read this quote, I absolutely fell in love with the idea, the principle behind the idea, and the challenges - practical, attitudinal and emotional - that would be involved in wanting to live my life and conduct my business according to it. So, I decided I'd become a Dale Carnegie Trainer.When situations aren't going the way I’d like and I have stress in my life, as most people will experience from time to time, I love another quote from Mr. Dale Carnegie that says, "Let's not allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. Remember, "Life is too short to be little"." I find this so encouraging and uplifting. It’s a reminder that we can each do something to improve our situation. It speaks to a spirit of generosity, to take the broader perspective, to have a certain “big-ness” in ourselves. It’s an exhortation to each of us to be bold in our ability to live our lives proactively, positively, with style and class. I have benefited so much from the Dale Carnegie Course in terms of finding more success in my work, my business, improving my family life and social relationships, as well as enjoying my personal areas of interests more. I can't help but want to spread the good to others, so that anyone can also benefit by learning and applying Mr. Dale Carnegie's golden principles.I loved learning, and now living, this so much. And I love teaching it to others - The Dale Carnegie Course in Effective Speaking and Human Relations: build greater self-confidence, strengthen people skills, enhance communication skills, develop leadership skills, improve attitude and reduce stress.#HowtoWinFriendsandInfluencePeople #HowtoStopWorryingandStartLiving #TheQuickandEasyWaytoEffectiveSpeaking

This was the family business I left to fulfill my purpose in adult education as a corporate trainer. While at SoFresh, I learnt the process from purchasing to supplying food in huge quantities to cruise ships. I learnt Singapore’s manpower rules, how to manage people, how to hire staff, and how to let staff go. I learnt about client servicing, and about handling difficult people. I learnt that almost all problems have solutions, and how being able to creatively solve problems makes anyone who can do that so valuable to any company.Ultimately, I learnt that I had to be true to myself and what I am passionate about: helping others do better. So I decided, finally, to take the plunge to become a full time corporate trainer.

My family and I lived near Mount Eden in Auckland. The game-changer for us was hiring excellent professional help, because we got back more than we paid for. Our immigration consultant was empathetic, guided us with clear actions, and was overall top-notch. He made our 3-year PR journey as stress free as it possibly could be, which allowed us to continue working (saving!) and preparing ourselves in an undisrupted way. With his help, we could live our normal lives in Singapore while being processed by Immigration New Zealand. His expertise, delivered in his good natured way, his advocating for us, changed our life and made the experience of this adventure a positive, happy one.I’m inspired to have the same attitude when I train my corporate classes now: have empathy, be good natured, value each participant for who they are, what their starting point is, and for me to find ways to give each participant my best in a way that is meaningful and helpful to them. I want to be that best trainer for all my participants, as our immigration consultant was his best for my family and I.Moving to New Zealand, I learnt firsthand planning and executing the huge logistics involved, financial considerations, while always focused on taking care of my family. I learnt about appreciating cultural differences, activating the opportunities from diversity, what it takes to integrate into a new society (country, corporate or groups), and how to buy a house in a foreign country (and now, how to look for and manage tenants in a way that keeps them happy and cooperative). I learnt that trash management is really about controlling consumption. I learnt that nature can never be too beautiful, and that weather changes are both emotional and physical phenomena.I taught English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) at a community house in East Auckland, and I learnt to make money and pay taxes in New Zealand. I learnt that we're capable of achieving things that at first are hard to imagine.

The last time I was an MOE teacher was at the secondary level. This time it was at the junior college (pre-university) level. The years I spent here felt like an extended homecoming to me. In my first year, I won the “Electrifying Smile” award, voted and presented by the student body and council for being the most smiley teacher throughout that full academic year.I was promoted to the appointment of Subject Head for Physical Education, and had job-holders reporting to me for their performance appraisal. This was my opportunity to help make the experience better, and one thing I did was to start having friendly, casual conversations with my job-holders regularly, instead of communicating with them only during performance appraisal season. Having regular check-ins with each other helped us build rapport and trust, and ensured that whatever needed redirecting or improving was giving the chance to in a timely fashion, and so avoid nasty surprises during the appraisal interview. I learnt how to develop staff in a way that was truly helpful to them, and in turn they appreciated the relationship we had developed toward each other.It was at this time as a Project Work Tutor that I first started consciously honing my skills in coaching others to improve their presentation skills. I discovered how much I enjoyed helping others do better when those I had coached scored well and were successful in delivering their presentations to a panel of examiners. This was also when I began to realise that I had a strong, growing desire to help working adults get the same kinds of successes in relationship building, presentations and other areas of their work.

I obviously hadn’t learnt the “no one can do it all by themselves” lesson very well. This business was mainly a daily one-man show, pitching to and serving my regular clients. When I won bigger deals, I would hire help on contract. I learnt how to prepare tender documents to bid for huge projects. I wanted the experience of winning at least one tender. And I did, from the government of Singapore, through the Ministry of Health. Through that, I learnt how to project manage, manage various stakeholders and their respective expectations, and over nine months deliver a project worth close to $300,000. Though not planned, and mostly through word-of-mouth recommendations, I ended up with many clients from the healthcare sector. A notable one was the National Healthcare Group (NHG), which I remember fondly as professional with strict standards, at the same time warm, friendly and an immensely enjoyable client to work for.I learnt to manage stress and keep a positive attitude, so that I could function at my best. I learnt the importance of being able to manage cash-flow well. I learnt that the ability to build and sustain good relationships often translates to positive results, benefits and increased profitability. This inspired me to want to help others learn how to do it and benefit from it too. This was when I started pondering the idea of one day becoming a corporate trainer.After more than three and a half years running this business on my own, I felt burnt out and that it was time to return to what I loved doing. So, I rejoined the teaching profession.

These were the years I spent in the interior design (homes and offices) industry, which I knew nothing about and had little interest in. At the same time, we decided to venture into retailing high-end Italian furniture. We lost a lot of money. I learnt how to deal with, and recover, from that: I had to. I learnt that sometimes the best teacher one can have is Necessity. And that further taught me how to have empathy for others. From my own multiple failures, I discovered how much I enjoyed helping others succeed.I learnt that it is almost always better to be the landlord than the tenant. I learnt that a critical ingredient required for success is an interest, or better yet passion, in that subject matter; lack of which brings daily misery and failure in the end. Staying in this business for more than three and a half years showed me that I have the ability to be stubborn, even resilient, about anything once I decide on it. And I also learnt to evaluate and decide when it was time to cut losses and move on, or in my case, move back to what I love doing: helping others do better.

In many ways, this was the perfect job for me at the time. It allowed me to combine my life-long love for sport and my talent for using the English Language professionally. This job confirmed for me the love I have for teaching, coaching and training others to improve their performance and increase their knowledge.This job also brought me into a big organisation environment. I learnt how to read the cues and signs from people so that I could actively engage with them and manage professional relationships. I learnt to become more aware and appreciative of the nuances involved in relationships, interactions, and to manage expectations without offending others. I learnt firsthand of the "pain" of the performance appraisal, and that sparked my interest in ways to make this year-long process a better managed one that is a more positive and beneficial experience for all concerned.Ultimately, I learnt that no one person, however much they loved their job, can do it all themselves. I learnt that the hard way: I was burnt out. At the same time, I started wondering what it would be like to be an entrepreneur. So, I became one.

In the middle of being interviewed over lunch for this job, my pager (those were the times) buzzed: it was the resort manager whose call I’d been waiting six months for, finally offering me a Scuba Diving Instructor job in the Maldives. Then and there, I decided that Public Relations would be my profession, and Scuba Diving would remain a recreation. That was my first “work” lesson: being decisive, and then making the best of choices made.My first job after graduating from university, and the first – and only – time that any boss ever chided me for being a primadonna. That taught me that the only one who cares for what the new guy thinks is the new guy. And more importantly, that I’d be better off touting my opinions less, so I can listen more and learn to do my job better. I learnt to be coachable, and to appreciate it when others took the time and effort to coach me. Because I benefited so much from it, it made me want to be able to do the same for others, so that they too can bring their best abilities, ideas and expressions to the table. I learnt to manage project deadlines, to build relationships with clients and media contacts, to listen and communicate with them, and I learnt how to write for a living. Through my experience at Asher, I discovered that what I wanted most to do was to help other people, through training and education, be the best version of themselves. The next thing for me to do was to join the teaching profession.