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STARTING FROM THE BOTTOM
Once Lim formally joined the business, she soon realised that her father didn’t have a specific role for her. “I started with a ‘chapalang’ role and just learned on the job. There was no structure or proper training,” said Lim.
She decided to take ownership of her role. Putting her marketing skills to use, she created a customer survey for distribution at Scanteak’s showrooms. “Once I got back the results, I dissected the survey and came up with suggestions on how we can improve the business,” Lim recalled. “My dad said, very good, now you go and do sales!”
For almost nine months, Lim worked the sales floor. “I worked Tuesdays to Sundays, and then Monday I reported back to HQ. It was pretty intense so I asked my dad for a day off. He said, sure, if you become our top salesperson,” she laughed. “Eventually I got my ticket out of sales. It was a difficult period but I learned a lot. As a second-generation leader, I think that experience gave me some credibility because I was really on the ground.”
As the bosses’ daughter, Lim also recalled feeling out of place. She had trouble fitting in with her fellow colleagues as they were understandably cautious around her. “I was a somebody, yet I was a nobody. My parents, on the other hand, told me ‘don’t be proud’. You’re not part of management, you are one of them,” she said.
Lim took things in her stride. “In the midst of feeling out of place, I decided to find joy in what I do. I believe that a fool is one that does the same thing over again expecting a different result,” said Lim. Through her experience working on the sales floor, she knew the brand needed a facelift. “People were pronouncing Scanteak as Scantek,” she chuckled. She decided to create a new TV commercial for the company, which ended up winning multiple awards.
“I love to play but since I was stuck working, I decided to spend all my sacrificial hours doing the best I can, whether it was in sales or in marketing. That kept me going,” Lim reflected. “People remember who’s the best, they don’t remember who’s second best. So everything I did, I wanted it to be the best.”
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