Overcoming stage fright

Overcoming stage fright

Edvantage | Mon Aug 8 2011

Don't let the fear of public speaking deny you that opportunity to be visible!

You are on cloud nine. Your boss comes up to you saying, "Congratulations! Your project was a tremendous success. Everyone has been talking about it. Now the CEO wants to hear from the horse's mouth how you did it. We have fixed a date for you to present in two days' time. The rest of the Company Directors will be sitting in too." You freeze!

Research has shown that public speaking is the number one fear in many people's life. Interestingly, death comes second. To quote what comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said, "If that's the case, people would rather be in the coffin than giving the eulogy!" But why is that so? Among the reasons commonly cited are:

• Fear of not getting the audience's attention when speaking
• Stage fright
• Shy
• No or lack of confidence
• Anxiety of not doing it (public speaking) well
• Not enough preparation
• Insufficient topic mastery
• Fear of being criticised
• Speechlessness and not knowing what to say
• Poor command of the language

Are you going to let a fear of public speaking deny you that opportunity to be visible and lose the chance of climbing up the corporate ladder? Acting and emceeing are some of the activities which are part of public speaking. And when one has to perform or emcee in front of a group of 1,000, will there be stage fright? Absolutely! It is human nature to feel stage fright, especially when one has to speak in front of a crowd. Nevertheless, fear or stage fright can be managed and the experience of public speaking made pleasant if not enjoyable. Undergoing actor and drama training is one good way to acquire the skills in managing stage frights. In drama training, you are put into uninhibited moments - which will automatically make you feel less fearful. The training may be tough sometimes but it does pay off with all the necessary techniques you can use. Giving a presentation is like putting up a performance. Here are 5 tips to overcome stage frights, especially for those who will be speaking for the first time:

1) Warm Up - It is always good to "start the engine" and warm up. By warming up, our body will get to acclimatize and will be ready for any activities. When one is fearful, the body starts to contract and feel "cold". So a warm-up is definitely a good antidote. Just do a simple head rotation, stretch your arms, wriggle your fingers and toes, and warm up on the breathing as well. Theatre games are very useful activities to keep the body warmed-up before a presentation. 2) Speak positively about the presentation to yourself - Believe in yourself. Talk about the good things. Visualise the success you will get at the end of the presentation. About an hour before a show, actors would spend time alone in a corner of the dressing room - visualising the process of the show and equally important, the standing ovation they "see" at the end of the show. This positive energy helps you to get mentally prepared. 3) "Overprepare" - Do "overprepare" for your presentation. Do not just stick to the content that you have already prepared. Think of possible questions the audience may ask, or have extra stories or jokes up your sleeves in case you go under-run. Do ample rehearsals on the speech and practise using the correct body language.

Learn improvisational skills as well. These are particularly useful skills for presenters. You may or not use them in a presentation, but should things go wrong on stage, you can "activate" improvisations and make things look smooth as if nothing had happened. 4) Get to know some members of the audience beforehand - Have you ever entered a room full of people but you know no one? In those very first few moments, we feel awkward. It is after we get to know some of the people that we will start to feel at ease and open up. It is good to know some members of the audience before the actual presentation. This makes you feel more at ease - more importantly, they could be your allies and supporters during the presentation! 5) Memorise the Introduction and Conclusion - Sometimes it is a challenge to memorise scripts. So, do not memorise. How do actors or emcees appear confident speaking on stage? They use keywords to help them deliver their lines - as long as the messages stay the same.

In fact, humans have longer lasting impressions on the first and last moments with whoever they met with or see. Why not use that to an advantage? Give the audience an impactful opening and memorable closing - that could make your presentation a lasting one in their minds. Get familiar with the techniques mentioned above. As a result, you will feel more confident in public speaking. Give it a go. It will just be a matter of time before you get use to it, and before you know it, you are enjoying public speaking. Article by Hazriq Idrus, an actor, host/emcee, drama enrichment and corporate trainer with Firefly Horizon. Hazriq will be speaking at the SIM Members' Day on 20 August, 2.30pm-4pm on the topic "Ignite the Stage!" Registration at only $5 at www.sim.edu.sg/membersday

Please, teach me the art of packing light

Please, teach me the art of packing light

my paper | Mon, Oct 17 2011

Tips on how to pack light.

Keywords

• southeast asia
• singapore
• general
• packing
• travel
• tips

WHEN it comes to packing a bag for other people, I can honestly say that I rule.
One friend of mine, who travels to London every six months or so to see her boyfriend who lives there, always calls me for help in the packing process.

"You need to come over," my friend - who's admittedly a bit messy - will say, breathing hard into the receiver. "I've overpacked! You need to edit my clothes down!"
And edit I will.
I will pull outfits together for her, mercilessly make her toss out that extra black T-shirt, and axe that party dress she really won't use twice.
I even make her fold her underwear - which she, if left to her own devices, crams into a corner of the suitcase - into neat piles.
By the end of each session, her suitcase will usually contain half of what she originally intended to take with her, and she will thank me with a generous portion of her mother's home- made bee hoon.
Alas, when it comes to packing, I have a hard time being tough with myself.
If I am given a 20kg weight allowance, I will use every gram of it on the flight out alone.
I never know how it happens. Is it that extra handbag I always take with me, thinking that I'll carry it to a fancy dinner, or that large-ish bottle of shampoo I thought I'd die without?
Problem is, I just don't know when to stop adding to the "must-take" pile.
Yet, in my wildest dreams, I travel with nothing more than a backpack - just like a clever friend of mine who will not travel with anything more than that (she hates waiting at baggage claim).
But let's be serious: I'm just not that kind of gal.
Still, I really don't want to turn into Rachel Zoe, who tweeted a photo of the 13 bags she took with her to Paris Fashion Week last month.
The art of packing light is turning into a matter of practicality as some airlines clamp down on baggage allowances.
Most will also no longer turn a blind eye to the extra kilos you thought you might get away with.
Plus, in an age of budget travel, who doesn't like to travel with 10kg instead of 20kg, helping to save that extra buck?

Boy, 8, is now an Internet tycoon

STORY


Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011
AsiaOne



Boy, 8 is now an Internet tycoon

Some people are simply meant to be entrepreneurs. Harli Jordean is certainly one of them - at the tender age of eight.

Believed to be the world's youngest CEO, the tiny tycoon started his own marbles company, Marble King, at primary school, and it soon became an Internet phenomenon.

It all started when older boys nicked his stock of marbles that he trades with his friends at the playground, reported The Sun.

His 51-year-old mum, Tina, tried to help him replace them, but realised that no one on the Internet could help.

The tot then begged her to let him start his own Internet company, and with that, his marble empire was born.

So while most of his pals are playing, he is instead liaising with suppliers, buying stocks and handling orders for Marble King, his thriving, two-year-old business.

The London-based kid told the paper: ""My dream is to have a chain of stores like Hamleys - it will be one of the biggest toy stores in the world but selling all sorts of marbles.

"My friends love that I have my own business. At first some of them didn't believe me - but they do now. They are some of my best customers.

"I love marbles and I love having my own marbles company."

A simple tub of marbles at Marble King goes for 7.99 pounds (S$16.40), while a limited edition Duke of York solitaire tables can set you back 599 pounds.
In an interview with The Sun, his mum, Tina said: "Harli has been obsessed with marbles ever since he was six.

"His obsession became so big we started calling him the Marble King - so when he wanted to set up a website it was the natural name for it.

"I never thought it would become so popular - we are struggling to cope with the number of orders at times.

"I helped him set up the site, but he's now trading with the world instead of just the playground all on his own, he has a hand in everything.

"As a boss he is very amenable and has his own ideas of how to do things."

With thousands of pounds a year as turnover and with orders from as far as the US, Harli has employed his mum and two older brothers to help him cope with the demand.

The businessman, who loves being the boss, thinks delegation is the key to success, and told The Daily Mail: "I like being the boss, but I like to get others to do some of the work so that if something goes wrong it is not all my fault."

But lest people think he's just a figurehead, his mum says he's quite hands-on.

She told The Daily Mail: "Harli has a hand in everything. He picks out stock at the suppliers and when orders come in he handles it all, packing, sending - everything.

"All I do is the accounts and try and reel in his overenthusiastic ideas.

"He's very dedicated even getting me to drive him to deliver a package when we realised it wouldn't get there on time in the post."

His next goal: his own Marble King-produced marbles.

Tina relates: "At the minute he is pestering me about creating his own Marble King marbles - so that could well be the next step for him."

How to beat the market and become a super investor - Koon Yew Yin

How to beat the market and become a super investor
- Koon Yew Yin         

Risks in doing business:
It is important to stress that all businesses involve risk; hence the selection of shares is also a risky business. This is not the same order of risk as may be involved in going to the casino or betting on the four digits which in 90-99 % or even more of the cases, results in the patron losing his money, if not his pants.

Picking winning stocks means that we pick the companies that can meet the constant challenges of competition, supply and demand, change of fashion and style design, obsolete stocks write off, etc. There are also unforeseen factors such as variation in interest rates, import and export restriction, foreign exchange variation, change in Government regulations, etc. Inclement weather such as flooding affects production as we have seen in Bangkok so that even the most well run of companies such as Toyata and Honda cannot escape it.

Best form of investment
In my view, stocks are the best form of investment. They are tax free, have no management problem, and you can reduce or liquidate all your holdings at any time. There is a classical saying in the market - “You can buy the winning horse after the race”. This means that you can still buy a good share after the company has announced its profit. This does not mean that stocks are entirely risk-free

Fundamentals of Stock Selection
The basic fundamentals for share selection are P/E ratio, NTA, Revenue, cash flow etc. How important are these factors?

The most important criterion is profit growth prospect. Never buy any share if the company cannot make increasing profits. You must buy shares that Fund managers are interested. They are the movers and shakers. Do not buy too much of illiquid shares because it is cheap. It is cheap for some reasons which may keep it at basement prices.

The main reasons why share prices go up include the following:
a. Exceptionally good profit growth prospect
b. Fund managers must be interested, liquidity, publicity etc.
c. Dividends are an important catalyst for moving share prices up
d. Unexpected good news of profit, bonus issues etc. will push up share prices.

When to Sell
When to sell? Do not worry about the daily share price fluctuation if you have a target price. Quite often the share you hold can move up rapidly and continues to go up. You must remember that no share can go up indefinitely for whatever reason. Sell when you are not willing to buy at the price or the reason to buy is no longer valid. Remember you must sell so that you can have funds to buy back during correction. If the fundamentals have not changed, the share price will go up again.

What to Buy
After having seen so many unexpected surprises in the stock market, I consider the safest shares to invest are undervalued oil palm shares. The reasons are:-
a. The production cost for CPO is about Rm 1,300 per ton and the average selling price has been more than double the production cost in the last 10 years or more. The average CPO price for 2011 is more than Rm 3,000 per ton. Which business can offer such big profit margins?

b. The demand and profit are sustainable due to population increase. Moreover, both China and India who are our buyers have been improving their economy. The financial problem in Eurozone and US has little or no effect on our palm oil market.

c. A palm tree will start fruiting after 3 years. It will continue to bear more fruits until it is about 16 years old after that age it will begin to bear less fruits. Only after about 22 years a palm tree needs replanting.

d. The land always appreciates in value.

e. There is good profit growth prospect and sustainable profit

I am obliged to tell you that plantation shares form the major part of my investment portfolio. If you decide to buy, I am not responsible for your profit or your loss.

How to become a super investor?
I started serious investing in public listed shares when I retired from executive work at 50 years old. I was not an accountant nor have I a MBA degree. I was just a civil engineer and I hardly knew how to read a balance sheet at that time.

I started by reading to understand the basic fundamental principles of share selection as practiced by Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch and other great investment gurus. These are the key traits to being a super investor that I picked up.

Trait 1: Be a contrarian investor, that is, the ability to buy stocks while others are panicking and sell stocks while others are euphoric. In 1983 when China declared that they wanted to take back Hong Kong, the people were selling as if there was no tomorrow because the Communists were coming. The Hang Seng Index plunged to about 700. Currently it is around 18,500.

In such a situation at that time, would you buy Hong Kong shares? I did.

Trait 2: Obsession in playing the game and wanting to win. Winning investors don’t just enjoy investing; they live it. They wake up in the morning and the first thing they think about, while they are still half asleep, is a stock they have been researching. They are thinking about selling, or what the greatest risk to their portfolio is and how they are going to neutralize that risk.

They are obsessed in enhancing the value of their holdings. I am that way.

Trait 3: The willingness to learn from past mistakes. Most people would much rather just move on and ignore the dumb things they’ve done in the past. I believe the term for this is repression.” But if you ignore mistakes without fully analyzing them, you will undoubtedly make a similar mistake later in your career.

Trait 4: An inherent sense of risk based on common sense. Most people believe analysts’ reports which are often ‘a buy’ recommendation. It is very seldom they recommend ‘a sell’ because they would lose the business from the company he has recommended ‘a sell’. You must always take any analyst report with a pinch of salt.

I believe the greatest risk control is common sense which is not so common sometimes.

Trait 5: Confidence: Great investors must have confidence in their own convictions and stick with them, even when facing criticism. Buffett never got into the dot-com mania though he was being criticized publicly for ignoring technology stocks. He stuck to his guns when everyone else was abandoning the value investing ship. He was proven right when the dot com bubble bust.

Trait 6: Clear thinking. When considering a share, you must try to understand the nature of the company’s business and its inherent difficulties so that you can evaluate your risk exposure. There are a lot of people who have genius IQs who cannot think clearly, though they can figure out bond or option pricing in their heads.

Trait 7: And finally the most important, and rarest, trait of all is the ability to live through volatility without changing your investment thought process. This is almost impossible for most people to do. When the market makes a severe correction, most people dare not buy more shares to average down or to put any money into stocks at all when the market is plunging. They would begin to doubt their own judgement.

Wishing you a season of happy and profitable investing!

Koon Yew Yoon is a prominent civil society leader and one of the founders of IJM Corp. He also reads Malaysia Chronicle.

Photo industry mourns Kodak

Photo industry mourns Kodak

NEW YORK: Photographers, professionals and amateurs alike, are mourning the end of an era after Eastman Kodak, which produced the cameras and film many started hobbies and careers with, filed for bankruptcy.

While Kodak could still recover after court-supervised restructuring and selling off assets, the company that did more to popularize photography in the 20th century than any other is unlikely to claw back the ground taken over by digital cameras and memory sticks.

From the simplicity of its Brownie cameras to the brilliant colors of its Kodachrome film, Kodak was a constant presence in the lives of three generations of amateur and professional photographers around the world.

That will be sorely missed, said Henry Posner, corporate communications director at B&H Photo, New York's Mecca for camera shoppers.

"Everybody in the photography industry is impacted," he said. "You can't be a professional photographer or an avid amateur and not feel the ripple of it."

"When I started photography... Kodak was what you put in your camera. From an emotional point of view, this is a serious situation... I hope Kodak comes out healthy and strong, and keeps making available every product our customer can buy."

Kodak founder George Eastman began experimenting with film rolled around a spool in the 1880s, and launched Eastman Kodak in 1892 in Rochester, New York.
To sell the film, the company developed a simple low-priced camera, the Kodak Brownie, that introduced millions to photography.

"You push the button and we do the rest," Kodak's advertisements told consumers, and millions took up the challenge.

Eventually, the company's cameras, film, slide projectors and home videos came to preserve the memories of generations of Americans and others around the world.

In 1932, the year a depressed Eastman killed himself, the company began selling the first filmstock for amateur movie makers. It also developed home 8 millimetre movie projectors, all of which gave way to the Super 8 movie technology of the 1960s.

And "Kodak Moment" - the company's advertising catchphrase for its film - became embedded deep in the US vernacular.

At its height in the 1980s, the company had 145,000 workers, and was seen as the Apple or Google of its day, a leading innovator able to attract the most creative scientists to become.

NASA lunar orbiters in the 1960s brought back some of the earliest images of the moon's surface on Kodak film, and the first astronauts to walk on the moon documented their historic expedition with a shoe box-sized Kodak camera.

Kodak also furnished the film for countless Hollywood movies, including 80 Oscar-winning "Best Pictures," and it won nine Academy Awards of its own for scientific and technical excellence, according to the company website.

But when digital cameras began to appear in the mid-1990s, the company - which had already years earlier developed its own digital technology - was unprepared and lost the market to more nimble Asian producers.

No one needed film anymore, and Kodak fell behind in the race to sell the cameras themselves.

It was an ominous sign last year when the company stopped producing its Kodachrome film, long the standard of qualify photographers.

For many, it was like losing a limb.

"Photographers developed a type of seeing depending on the kind of film they're using. So, if you're a color shooter and you've been working on Kodachrome for 30 years, you see on Kodachrome," said Karen Probasco, editorial account manager in New York for the renowned photo agency Magnum.

"So what happens when it goes away? It changes the way you process," she said.

2 in 3 S'pore workers don't save enough

 

		Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 AsiaOne (Singapore)
2 in 3 S'pore workers don't save enough
About two in three Singapore workers save less than 20 per cent of their monthly salary, with those in the events management, public relations and sales being the worst savers. A total of 2,278 people were surveyed online by JobsCentral from August to September last year. The survey found that the savings trend is consistent across two vastly different income levels - those who earned less than $1,000 a month and those who made above $10,000 a month. Majority of both groups of respondents - who comprise employed individuals from all levels of occupation and income groups - indicated that they save 10 to 20 per cent of their monthly income. The top three savers among the group are employees in research and development (56.7 per cent), consulting (50 per cent) and business development (47.7 per cent). JobsCentral Group's deputy CEO Huang Shao-Ning noted that it is "interesting" that the top three worst savers are those who "require strong social skills and high energy level to perform their tasks". Ms Huang added: "The more exuberant personalities of these three groups of workers, and the requirement of their jobs to leave positive impressions on new people they meet every day may also translate to higher expenditure on grooming, commuting and entertainment." The survey also showed that 44 per cent said they save most of their bonus. At least one in three indicated that they spend the bulk of their bonus on recreation, mostly on holidays, shopping, and giving most of it to their parents. Only nine per cent said they would put it into investments, and 0.5 per cent said they will donate to charity. Most of the respondents (76 per cent) indicated that salary-related information should be kept private and prefer not to share it with their peers in the company. Respondents with higher gross monthly salary are more tight-lipped about their salary compared to those who earn less. About three-quarters of those surveyed said they do not moonlight and those who do, earn extra income through dividends from stocks or bonds, freelance work and part-time jobs.

Apple Hong shares key to success in running a business

 

		Wednesday, Jan 11, 2012 The New Paper (Singapore)
Apple Hong shares key to success in running a business
By Gerald Goh THE most important aspect of running a business is not how much money is invested. According to Apple Hong, being a good manager is the key to success. The Malaysian actress recently invested a five-figure sum in an outlet of Xiao Bar Wang (XBW) in her native country. The eatery, which features Taiwanese street snacks such as braised pork rice and crispy chicken, is her first venture with artistes Jeff Wang and Ong Ai Leng. Both Wang and Ong also chipped in a five-figure sum. The other four XBW outlets are in Singapore. Opened on Nov 1 last year, the new XBW is located in 1 Utama Shopping Centre in the north of Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur. Hong, who is at the outlet often, likened managing the staff at the XBW outlet in Malaysia to flying a kite. She explained that a good manager must know when to "pull" and when to "release". In other words, striking a good balance between being strict and being lenient is essential. Celebrity entrepreneurs Click on thumbnail to view People management She said: "Good, reliable Malaysian service staff are also hard to come by, so it's very important to retain such staff. "Time management is also essential, especially in the food and beverage business. "If you do not allocate your time wisely, money becomes somewhat of a moot point." The 34-year-old, who appeared in the Channel 8 dramas Be Happy and The In-Laws, is now working with MediaCorp on a freelance basis. This arrangement provides flexibility in her schedule. She's also in talks to appear in future shows, although nothing has been confirmed yet. Her income from entertainment varies wildly, which is part of the reason why she is devoting more time and effort to setting up and running businesses. XBW is her first business venture and she has plans for further expansion, subject to the availability of locations. She said: "The rental is quite costly, more than a five-digit sum (in Malaysian ringgit) each month. "It's quite worth it, though, because the outlet gets a lot of customers. We've been seeing some regular customers after about two months of business." She added: "I have plans to invest in other potential XBW outlets, possibly in Johor Baru or Penang. "The location is very important. Even if it costs a bomb, it'll be worth paying for, because your costs will easily be recouped by the good flow of customers." Hong said that although the new outlet has yet to turn a profit, the money spent is counted as part of the cost of building up XBW's presence in Malaysia. She said: "The money will come." Volatile income The actress supplements her income with a four-figure sum monthly for being a spokesman for ChartNexus, a technical analysis company. On average, she sets aside about 20 per cent of her income, which she describes as very "volatile", either saving it or investing it in insurance. Anything else is fair game for spending. She said: "I'm a die-hard shopper. "In the past, I would not think much of blowing a few thousand dollars on a shopping spree." Hong also went on a holiday through Europe in September last year, a jaunt that set her back by more than $10,000. She said: "I love to travel and it's one of the ways I like to pamper myself. It really depends on my savings, but if I can afford to travel, I will. "Now that I'm older, I've learnt from others how to be wiser with money. "I now try to save my money for my business because that's where it can be best put to use." Hong also revealed that she has been dating a businessman for the past two years. She said half-jokingly: "He's a totally different kind of business-person from me." She said they both love good food and he makes it a point to take her to nice restaurants when they are able to make time in their busy schedules to meet. "We don't have any firm plans for marriage or children yet. I try to let a lot of things in my life just fall into place naturally. "I don't try too hard to fight fate."

How to make a fortune after 50

		Monday, Jan 09, 2012 Reuters
How to make a fortune after 50
By Lou Carlozo At an age when others might ready for pre-retirement, some folks pass age 50 determined to start a new life in the business world - and succeed beyond their rosiest business plan projections. Reuters spoke with four entrepreneurs who have created successful businesses after 50. And take note: Three of the four leaders featured here are women, having shattered the twin glass ceilings of gender and age. Though some of these folks did well in their former lives, others had to think creatively to start their businesses. Jill Boehler, for example, used seed money from her son's college fund, while Carol Gardner offered pieces of her business in exchange for essential start-up services. Read on for their interesting, real-life stories.   Carol Gardner, 66 HER STORY: While nursing a broken femur and a broken heart (she'd just divorced her husband of 27 years), Gardner got an English Bulldog named Zelda, who became the mascot of a humorous greeting card land gift line, Zelda Wisdom. A former advertising creative director, Gardner started the business at age 52 around 1997, and almost by accident: Cash-strapped, she entered a Christmas card contest held by a pet store to win free dog food for a year, and won. TODAY: Gardner started her company with 24 greeting cards in the middle of her living room. Within six months, she sold more than one million cards. Today she produces more than 200 licensed Zelda products, from calendars to children's books. Sales are conservatively estimated at US$50 million (S$64.4 million) annually. TOP TIPS: Listen to your customers. "The young ones said,'Why can't we buy greeting cards online?'" Gardner recalls. That led to a lucrative deal with http: Cardstore.com, which was bought out by card giant American Greetings. Gardner also advises building a close-knit circle of trust. She's worked with publicist Sandi Serling and photographer Shane Young since the start. "I couldn't offer them money, so I gave them a part of the company. We're the best of friends and we take care of each other." PRICELESS: The original Zelda died two years ago, but not before saving Garner's life. Gardner fell out of bed and broke her neck roughly four years ago. When she came to, "Zelda was butting me in the head. For the next two hours she stayed with me until I clawed my way to the phone and called 911."   Franny Martin, 65 HER STORY: A former marketing professional who worked with Domino's Pizza, Martin left the corporate world just shy of turning 56 to pursue her passion - baking cookies. TODAY: Martin's Cookies on Call, based in Douglas, Michigan, ships 40 cookie varieties all over the world and should surpass $700,000 in sales for 2011. She provides work for more than a dozen part-time and full-time employees. She started the company in 2002. TOP TIPS: Get a great business team and ask for sage advice. "Make sure that you have the best accountant, the best lawyer and the best web designer," Martin says. She also enlisted held from Michigan's Department of Agriculture. Inspector Larry Goldin suggested Martin rent an elementary school kitchen, which saved her "hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was already licensed and all I had to do was come in, bake my cookies and clean up afterward." ROLLING IN DOUGH: Martin's recipes can't be copied because they go back two generations to her maternal Italian grandmother, Maria Ginotti, who wrote everything by hand. But you can fool your guests by buying her newest product in development, "scoop and bake" - it's raw dough in ready-to-cook form. Jill Boehler, 59 HER STORY: A self-described "do gooder," Boehler spent her career as a speech pathologist until she got the inspiration to make "portable shawls" (wrinkle-free wraps that come with a tiny carrying bag) after she shivered through a meal at a restaurant because the air conditioning was too high. Soon she was making cold calls at fashion stores; she was 54 when she started in 2006. TODAY: The founder of Chilly Jilly sold more than US$500,000 (S$650,000) in products in 2010 and is constantly unrolling new products, from gloves to the Duelette bracelet and hair tie. Boehler works with 20 private contractors across the country. TOP TIPS: Toughen up. "You will have people who will come up to you and say mean things - all the reasons you should not do something - and I've had friends tell me, 'Why not go back to speech? You were really good at it.'" STARTING AFTER AGE 50: "It's the perfect time to do it. My kids were gone and I could start working at 3 o'clock and work until 1 in the morning. My husband was into it, and I don't have to wait for kids at the bus stop, change diapers, or take them to activities." FROM PATHOLOGIST TO TASK-OLOGIST: The day of her interview, Boehler was dashing around her warehouse to check inventory, and prepping for an all-nighter so she could appear on QVC at 4:30 a.m. "Sometimes my computer screen looks like 'The Brady Bunch' credits, because I Skype with so many people at the same time." Wally Blume, 73 HIS STORY: The one-time dairy marketer struck out on his own in 1996 to form Denali Flavors, a company that specializes in making ice cream ingredients and flavors for independent dairies. He was 57. TODAY: With Denali sales at between US$80 and US$100 million, Blume credits much of his success to Moose Tracks - the flavor he helped develop and popularise as his company took root. "You have a flavor that is almost as strong as vanilla, and the national brands will never be able to get it. As soon as we developed it, it just took off." TOP TIPS: Know your industry. "You have to figure out if there's a niche you can take advantage of," Blume says. "All our partners knew the industry and had been in it all our working lives." He also stresses training and hiring people you can trust to mind the store. "I have such good people working for me that I'm hardly involved with ice cream. They just run it and they do a better job than I can." ANOTHER FLAVOUR?: Eight years past retirement age, Blume is an avid philanthropist, giving to various organisations around the world, from orphanages in Latvia to helping homeless kids in Moscow. He has also started a brand new company, Brandi Renee Designs: "I'm jumping into women's fashions on the Internet. How's that for diversity?"