Email Interview #30: Merry Riana | John Yeos Blogging for Profits Work At Home ...

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Email Interview #30: Merry Riana

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This guy made US$750 in 4 days! Check out how he did it!

Today, I am pleased to have the honor of posting the email interview I did with a millionaire in
Singapore. She made her first million when she was 26!!!
Coincidentally, she is the wife of my very good friend, Alva which I met in a Neuro Linguistic
Programming practitioner course 8 years ago.
While reading her replies and after exchanging a few emails with her, I learnt many positive
attributes from this inspiring lady. One of them is she is really humble and she is really quick in
agreeing and replying my email.
I hope you can too, as you are reading this post, be inspired by this young entrepreneur and follow
your own dream.
* Start of Interview *
1. Please share with my readers who you are and what nature of business you are running.

http://www.johnyeo.name/positive-mindset/email-interview-30-merry-riana/

11/3/2010

Email Interview #30: Merry Riana | John Yeos Blogging for Profits Work At Home ...

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Merry Riana, Founder and Chairlady of Merry Riana Organization, made her first million when
she was 26 years old. After graduating from Nanyang Technological University with a $40,000
study loan debt, zero capital and no network, she dived into a career in sales. Relying on pure
determination, hard work and a positive attitude, Merry astounded her chosen sales industry by
breaking many achievement records and setting new ones. In four short years after University she
earned her first million dollars.
Now she is focused on inspiring and helping other young people achieve financial freedom and
success at a young age. Through her training and consultancy services, she has touched thousands
of lives and won the communitys recognition for her work and contribution. Merrys alma mater
awarded her the Nanyang Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 2006 and she won the Spirit of
Enterprise Award in 2008. Her success story has also been a regular feature in many publications
including The Straits Times, The Sunday Times, The New Paper and others.
In 2006, Merry launched her first book A Gift From A Friend, which became a bestseller in
major bookstores in Singapore. Using her own story as an example, Merry shares how one can
start out with less than nothing to achieve success early in life.
2. What motivates you to create your business?
While I was in University I started to think about my life more seriously. I saw how my parents
needed to work hard even though they were already in their 50s, just so they could provide for
their childrens education and save up for their retirement. That prompted me to want to achieve
success early in my life.
I wanted to give them a better life. I wanted my parents to enjoy great food, travel to exotic
countries and live life fully. Seeing as I was already 21 at that time and my parents were in their
50s, I thought that if I only achieved success in my 40s or 50s, my parents would be too old by
then. I might not have much quality time to spend with them. And they might be restricted by their
health and their old age to enjoy all the things that I wanted to provide for them. While I might
have the time, on a personal level, to achieve success later in life; but the question is, can they?
So it was important for me to achieve success while I am still young. It wasnt so much about me,
but for my parents. Therefore, I made a resolution to achieve success before I reached the age of
30. That gave me a specific deadline of about 10 years to achieve my goal.
3. Were there any challenge you face along the way? Please share one which almost stop you
from pursuing your dream.
Immediately after graduating from school, I was $40,000 in debt and cut off from any income
from the student loan. I had to start earning some income fast; for my living expenses as well as to
repay the student loan debt. I had decided to become an entrepreneur and do a business in sales
rather than to take the traditional safe path of an employee. But I faced a lot of resistance for my
decision, from my parents, teachers and friends.
My friends thought I was crazy when I told them about my thoughts of becoming an entrepreneur
immediately after graduation. Some of those who were not close to me even thought that I was
forced to become an entrepreneur because I couldnt secure a proper job. While those closer to me
knew that I chose this path because of my goals, they were also skeptical and tried to discourage
me. My teachers, tutors and lecturers also thought that it was a bad idea to go into business based
on sales upon graduation. Of course going into sales would give me less stability in terms of my
monthly income. There was also no guarantee that I would be successful.
All of them advised me to pursue a more stable career in the engineering field instead. These
opinions didnt really bother me or deter me in my determination to do sales. After all, it is my
life, and I am free to live it the way I want.

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Email Interview #30: Merry Riana | John Yeos Blogging for Profits Work At Home ...

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However, I still decided to get my parents consent for my choice of career. As I had expected,
they were extremely uncomfortable with the idea of me wanting to do my own business in sales
right after graduation and with a $40,000 debt to repay. They wanted me to get a stable job with a
fixed income instead. After much persuasion, I eventually came to a compromise with them.
I promised them that I would only try out this business for three months. If at the end of three
months there were no signs of growth or success whatsoever, then I would stop. I assured them
that when that happens I would get a normal nine-to-five job with a stable pay just like what they
wanted. They finally agreed and with that, I started my first business in sales.
4. How did you cope then? What motivates you to push on?
The initial resistance that I faced spurred me to want to prove myself even more. Of course it was
not always smooth sailing. I faced a lot of rejections and disappointments. Being human, I had
moments when I felt down and disheartened. But through it all, I never seriously considered
giving up. What made me go on was my desire to provide a better life for my parents and the
goals that I wanted to achieve. Im also very fortunate to have had the support and encouragement
of my husband, Alva, who has been my business partner since the beginning of my journey.
5. If there is this one tip you can share with anyone who wants to start a business, what is it?
When an opportunity appears, ask yourself these two questions: 1) What is the worst case
scenario? 2) If the worst happens, can I handle it? If the answer to the second question is a Yes,
then grab that opportunity. Then, with the opportunity in hand, you should move on to the next
step of finding a mentor who has already done what you want to do and learn from them. Offer
something of value to them first to convince them to mentor you.
If you have a proposal or project that can add value to them then they may be open to mentoring
you. Later, you can even move on to the next project where there is greater involvement from both
parties. And you can move on from project to project until you eventually become business
partners.
6. How do you juggle your time between running your business and spending it with your
family.
I usually wake up at 8 a.m. and then I will spend some time with my little girl before going to the
office. When I reach the office, it is usually around 10 a.m. and Ill conduct meetings with my
different groups of staff. Once that is done, I will then attend to external appointments, meaning
people who have made prior arrangements to meet me in my office.
I leave the office at around 4 p.m. and will usually go to deliver my talks in companies that have
engaged me as their speaker or trainer. I get home after dinner and spend time with my loved ones.
Thereafter, I start work again at night, either writing on my blog or answering e-mails from people
who have read my book or visited my websites.
7. Any other final thing you would love to share in this interview.
I have one golden rule in business: Integrity. Whatever the cost, regardless of any implications or
consequences, I believe I must uphold this rule without question. Without integrity, I believe there
will be no firm foundation for my accomplishments. I can build my business to be as big and
strong as I possibly can, but the moment I compromise on my integrity, the whole thing may just
crumble down overnight.
* End of Interview *

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11/3/2010