If you asked me a few years ago whether I would write about my entrepreneurial journey, I probably would have laughed.
Not because I don’t have a story BUT I just never thought my story was particularly interesting.
I was always too busy living it.
There was always something that needed my attention. A business decision, a new product, a customer, team members, a problem, a target and …once one problem was solved, there was usually another one waiting in line.
That’s probably the reality for many entrepreneurs.
You don’t spend much time looking backwards because you’re constantly thinking about what’s next.
So when I was invited to be part of “She Rises · The Power of Writing · Lighting the Future”, a collective movement bringing together 300 women from 10 countries to document their real-life journeys in a special commemorative book – taking on the challenge of the ASEAN Book of Records. I found myself doing something I don’t normally do which is to take some time out to just pause for a moment and start to reflect on my personal journey.
The record itself was definitely exciting, of course. But that’s not really what touched me. What touched me was the idea of 300 women sharing 300 different stories because I don’t think we talk enough about the stories behind the success.
Because behind every successful woman is a story nobody sees.
When people look at an entrepreneur from the outside, they often see the visible things. Usually, you would see from the physical perspective of the company, the brand, the products, its achievements, awards, and milestones…BUT what most people don’t see are the nights when we are being questioned whether we were making the right decisions.
They don’t see the difficult conversations, mistakes committed one after another, or when the company faces unforeseen circumstances such as moments when cash flow was tight, when plans didn’t work, when people disappointed you, or when you had to make decisions without knowing whether they would succeed.
They don’t see the version of you that had to become stronger simply because there was no other choice.
And I think these are some things that we don’t talk about enough.
Success is rarely the story people see. The real story is everything that happened before it.
Building Trend™Global taught me this.
When I started building Trend™Global, I had ambitions. I knew where I wanted to go but I don’t think I fully understood how much the journey itself would change me. An ambition alone doesn’t build a company. There were countless moments when I had to learn, adapt, make mistakes, make decisions, and keep moving. Some lessons came from success.
Earlier in my journey, when something went wrong, my first instinct was often to ask:
“Why did this happen?”
Today, I am more likely to ask:
“What is this trying to teach me?”
That’s a very different question and I think that change in perspective has made a big difference in how I lead. Some of my biggest lessons didn’t come from the moments when everything went well. They came from the moments when things didn’t.
Over time, I realised something important:
Every difficult chapter was actually building another layer of me as a leader.
The challenges I once wanted to avoid became the experiences I later became grateful for. The mistakes I once felt embarrassed about became lessons I could teach my team. But when I look back now, I can see that each of these setback moments added something to me.
and eventually became part of the foundation.
That is why I have become increasingly convinced that experience is one of the greatest forms of capital an entrepreneur can possess.
But there is one problem. If we don’t share it, that capital stops with us.
Your experience could be someone else’s shortcut.
There’s something that I may have realised recently….
Imagine a young woman starting her first business today. She may be facing a problem that I faced years ago. Maybe she is afraid to take the first step, struggling to build a team, doesn’t know how to deal with rejection, questioning herself whether she is capable enough looking at successful entrepreneurs online and wondering why everyone else seems to have it figured out.
I know that feeling and sometimes, what that person needs is not another motivational quote.
She needs to hear:
“I’ve been there too.”
That sentence can be incredibly powerful.
Because suddenly, she realises that she is not failing. She is learning.
This is why I believe women need to tell more stories.
Not because we need more attention but it is because we need more shared experience.
Women supporting women is not simply just about celebrating achievements.It is about sharing the lessons behind those achievements.
Telling someone how you started, about the mistake you made, what you would do differently. Interestingly, tell her about the moment that you almost gave up and what had helped you continue your journey. As we do this, we don’t just inspire people but in actual fact, we’re actually
Shorten their learning curve.
And that, to me, is real impact.
You don’t need to wait until you’ve “made it” before you share your story.
There is no perfect point where you suddenly become qualified to talk about your journey.This is something I want to emphasise.
Your story doesn’t have to be extraordinaire… like to be a billionaire of a multinational corporation or even win hundred of awards before telling your part of the story….Sometimes the most powerful story is just simply say:
“This is where I started.
This is what happened.
This is what I learned.
And this is where I am today.”
Because someone reading it may be standing exactly where you once stood. Your five-year-old lesson may be the answer someone desperately needs today. Your failure may prevent someone else from making the same mistake while your courage may give another woman permission to be courageous too
As a CEO, I now think differently about legacy.
Earlier in my entrepreneurial journey, I was very focused on building the company, the brand, the team, chasing after revenue in order to build the company future. Today, I still care deeply about all of those things. But I have added another question:
What am I leaving behind?
Because eventually, businesses change~ We are aware that markets, products and people changes very fast in today’s world. Even the company’s CEOs changes. One day someone else will be sitting in the chair I am sitting in today but the knowledge, experiences, values and stories remains. That is why I believe documenting our journeys is not simply an exercise in looking backwards.
It is a way of creating something that can move forward without us. That’s why I have started seeing storytelling differently.
Perhaps our stories are part of our legacy.
When I think about this collective book featuring 300 women from 10 countries, I don’t simply see 300 biographies of successful women.
I see 300 human beings who comes from different industries…backgrounds…Women who had persevere through the GOOD and BAD days, women who are not afraid to make mistakes and start all over again (if needed). These women had different definition of SUCCESS and that’s what makes their story so interesting and meaningful to me.
We are not trying to create perfect stories. We are creating real stories because behind every achievement is a person who had to go through something to get there.
And that’s the part I want to hear.
So, why am I writing my story?
I suppose the simple answer is this:
It is because maybe my journey isn’t only mine anymore. The moment we share a lesson, it has the potential to help someone else. The lessons we gain along the way can belong to the next person who needs them.
If sharing one chapter of my journey can help another entrepreneur make a better decision…that’s VALUABLE!!
If sharing one mistake can save someone months of frustration…this would be EVEN BETTER!!
If sharing one difficult moment can remind another woman that she is not alone…then I’m more GLAD to share my part of the story.
Maybe that is what leadership really means. Not always becoming the person who simply stands at the front telling everyone where to go but occasionally turning around and saying:
“I’ve walked this road before. Let me show you what I learned.”
That is the kind of leadership I want to practice. Most importantly, this is the kind of legacy which I intend to build.
To every woman reading this:
So, if you’re reading this and thinking, My story isn’t anything special…nobody wants to hear about your struggles and haven’t achieve the success you intended…
That’s OK…Maybe think about it again. You don’t need to have the ending before you can tell someone what you’ve learned so far.
Your experiences…, lessons…, failures…, and growth all has VALUE !! What you may not know is that YOUR VOICE MATTERS. This is because somewhere in the world, there may be another woman who needs to hear exactly what you have lived through. She may not need a perfect success story but may just need to know that someone else has been there.
So perhaps the question isn’t:
“Is my story important enough to tell?”
Perhaps the better question is:
“Who might become stronger because I chose to tell it?”
For me, that’s what She Rises is really about. Women supporting women. Not simply women celebrating women but women sharing what they have learned with the women coming after them.
And perhaps, one day, someone will look back at our stories and say:
“Because she shared her journey, I found the courage to begin mine.”
That, to me, is impact.
And maybe that’s the kind of legacy worth leaving behind.
Want to discover more stories from women who are rising?
If my reflection resonates with you, I invite you to explore the movement and the stories behind She Rises.
📖 Read more about the movement and the women involved:
She Rises — More Stories
📌 Follow the She Rises journey on Facebook:
She Rises Facebook
Maybe your story is waiting to be told too.
Because sometimes, the story we think is “just our story” may become the courage someone else needs to begin hers.
