From Sharing Her Personal Struggles As a Primary Caregiver to Starting Her Own Business
Lao Tzu, a Chinese philosopher once said, From caring comes courage." A simple yet powerful quote for Cathie Chew, 50.
In December 2016, Cathie gave up her career of 24 years as an insurance agent to become her husband's primary caregiver. Her husband suffered complications from consuming raw fish porridge back in November 2015.
Cathie's husband suffered multiple losses – his health, hearing, and eventually career. As a result, he was in a state of total distress. As a concerned wife, Cathie started to explore ways to distract him from focusing on his condition.
Cathie began writing her maiden book “From RAW Meal To REAL Deal" to share her personal story as a primary caregiver leading to her becoming an entrepreneur. She managed to persuade her husband to be involved in the process by editing the book. However, as a self-published author, aside from family, friends and relying on word of mouth, Cathie wanted her message to reach a wider audience. She decided to sign up for courses at NTUC LearningHub (NTUC LHUB) to learn about how to market her books more effectively. At the same time, she wanted to increase the awareness of her personal brand as a local author.
Cathie shares that attending the courses kept her motivated as they were aligned with her learning objectives. Being a learner also allowed her to remain intellectually and socially engaged. This helped her through her partner's ordeal. Among the many courses she took were Certified Usability Analyst (CUA), Agility Marketing, and Business Model Canvas (BMC). Each of these courses gave her insights into the versatility of varied platforms to reach different customer segments. She also learnt the 9-step process that helped her analyse and evaluate her business objectives. Through these courses, Cathie also gained insights into user mentality and behaviour traits. All these helped her explore more meaningful ways to engage her current and potential customers.
The mother of three shares that she enjoys learning. She says NTUC LHUB's courses are essential for burgeoning entrepreneurs who are setting up new businesses. Her advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to first enrol in a course at their comfort level before taking on more advanced courses.
Cathie's courage and resilience are a great inspiration to many of us. In this uncertain world, adversity is almost inevitable. Even if misfortunes strike, we can still find strength and courage to achieve our goals and seek fulfilment in different areas of our lives.
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Brewing a New Chapter Through Lifelong Learning
Sheena brings more than a decade of experience in the retail and education sector, where she managed multiple retail outlets specialising in educational toys and oversaw day-to-day operations. Over time, she began to notice a shift. Customers were increasingly seeking more unique and experience-driven products, while the retail landscape itself was becoming more competitive and fast-changing. At the same time, Sheena observed a growing interest in more mindful and natural lifestyle products, which sparked her curiosity about opportunities within the Food & Beverages (F&B) space. With her experience largely rooted in traditional brick-and-mortar retail, Sheena made a deliberate decision to pursue her lifelong interest in F&B entrepreneurship. Inspired by her passion for floral and herbal infusions and her desire to create a brand of her own, she enrolled in the Flavourful Ventures: A Journey Into F&B Entrepreneurship course at NTUC LearningHub to turn her vision into a reality. Returning to the classroom was initially a challenge for Sheena, as she had not studied for a long time and found some of the learning processes unfamiliar. However, with guidance from her trainers and support from her classmates, she gradually adapted and grew more confident throughout the course. Throughout the programme, Sheena gained practical exposure to key aspects of building and managing an F&B business, including identifying business opportunities, product development, branding and bringing products into the market. The hands-on learning experience also gave her greater insight into creativity, innovation and customer engagement within the F&B industry. Beyond equipping her with practical entrepreneurial skills, the programme also broadened her perspective on what it takes to build and sustain a business in today’s competitive landscape. Sheena eventually went on to start her own tea brand, Tea Therapy Singapore, offering a distinct range of caffeine-free, unsweetened and 100% natural floral tea blooms. Through the course, she was able to turn a long-standing personal interest into something more tangible, gaining the confidence and practical knowledge needed to pursue her passion in the F&B space. The course also gave her a supportive space to experiment, learn from mistakes and grow her confidence as a first-time digital business owner. Today, she manages the business end-to-end, from sourcing raw materials to product design, branding and online sales, applying the skills and knowledge gained from the programme to shape and grow her business. Through the journey of building her brand, Sheena also came to appreciate the importance of lifelong learning, adaptability and continuously upgrading herself to stay relevant in an evolving business landscape. Looking ahead, Sheena remains committed to lifelong learning as she continues to grow both professionally and as a business owner, and plans to further develop her skills through NTUC LearningHub courses, including public speaking. Reflecting on her journey, she shares, “Learning is a lifelong journey. When we continue upgrading ourselves and apply what we learn, we can turn our passion into new opportunities.”
Taking the Next Step: A Mid-Career Digital Journey
At 49, Farizan has built a steady career in the services industry where she has worked for the past four years as a Sales Admin Executive, overseeing sales coordination, purchasing, logistics and finance support. Working closely with multiple departments, she ensures smooth daily operations and keeps workflows running efficiently within her organisation. While working hard to establish herself as a dependable, meticulous and consistent teammate, she could never shake the persistent feeling that she could further streamline her work processes by expanding her skillsets. As businesses moved deeper into digital transformation, Farizan took a step back to reflect on how she could remain relevant in Singapore’s highly competitive and dynamic economy. Through her own research on social media, she began to see the potential of technology to enhance efficiency and productivity in her daily responsibilities. Determined not to let comfort and familiarity stagnate her professional development, she seized the opportunity and enrolled in the SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme (SCTP) Digital Marketing Specialist course at NTUC LearningHub after chancing upon it online. The structured and industry-relevant curriculum gave Farizan clearer insight into how digital strategies translate into real business impact. It also helped her better understand how campaigns are planned, executed and measured in today’s digital landscape. Farizan gained practical knowledge in digital marketing strategies, search engine optimisation (SEO), online copywriting, campaign analytics and online campaign management, areas she had always been curious about but had not had the opportunity to explore in her previous scope of work. The guidance from experienced trainers and the unique insights shared by coursemates from diverse industries further enriched her learning experience. By embracing the intensity of the knowledge-filled course, she was able to bring together the different concepts she had learned through the programme’s capstone project and apply them in a practical digital marketing scenario. Building on what she learned from the course, Farizan now approaches her role with a broader perspective. While she continues her core operational responsibilities, she has also taken on expanded responsibilities at work, supporting digital marketing initiatives, assisting in online campaign coordination and contributing insights to enhance customer engagement. These opportunities to apply her new skills have not only allowed her to add greater value to her team but has also strengthened her confidence in navigating change. This step forward marks just one of many in her journey of self-improvement and lifelong learning. Shortly after completing the programme, she began exploring other courses to further develop her data analytics capabilities, such as the Retail (SF): Data Science Fundamentals course. Recognising that others may still be on the fence about taking the first step, she shares, a mindset she now carries beyond the workplace and even onto the stage as a performer, “Do not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. Learning new skills may feel challenging at first, but it opens new opportunities and builds confidence.”