Saturday February 2, 2013
By ANGIE NG
angie@thestar.com.my
Determination and a lot of hard work took Sherman Foo from selling VCDs to heading his own company
Dropping out of college is certainly a big setback for a young teenager eager to earn his degree and to get inaugurated into the working world, but Sherman Foo did not let his failure of donning the graduation garb stop him from pursuing his dreams.
Although he had enrolled to study graphic design at a local institution after completing his SPM, Foo decided to stop his studies after just seven months due to lack of interest and financial woes after his father fell ill.
When he was 19, his father passed away and being the oldest child, Foo was tasked to take care of his mother and two younger brothers.
“Looking back, the abrupt termination of my studies was probably one of my biggest failures and regrets. I had to start from the bottom which was both physically and mentally draining. As a sales assistant, I had to stand a ‘day long’”.
“If I had continued with my studies, I could have been more successful as the degree would have given me a good head-start in my career,” the 34-year-old bachelor shares with Leaderonomics.
At a critical time during his formative years of 17 to 18 years, he was selling VCDs and illegal software CDs at Imbi Plaza in Kuala Lumpur.
Describing what he now calls his “low period”, Foo says, “It didn’t feel natural as the crowd was rowdy and the pay was miserable. I only had RM2 to spend a day and had to watch every cent including on what I ate. That’s when I made a vow to myself that I would work hard to be a huge success so that I would never need to stinge on food again.”
That experience actually came as a blessing in disguise to Foo as it marked the start of his journey of a “thousand steps” (literally). A few months into his job, the Malacca-born lad decided that if he was going to be miserable, “I might as well be miserable in a market like Singapore.” That was when he hopped onto a bus and made his way to work in his first “actual job” as a retail assistant with an American apparels branding outfit in Takashimaya.
TAKING THE PLUNGE
During his first month in Singapore, Foo says he had to sleep in a tiny store room which he rented from an elderly woman. Only after he received his first pay check was he able to afford a decent place to live.
He worked there for two years before he received an offer to join a big Italian luxury company.
The feisty teenager realised that without a degree he needed to push himself even harder to make up for his “shortcoming”.
What he lacked in education he made up with hard work and an eagerness to learn and read up about subjects that mattered towards self-improvement in books and magazines. Being in the apparels and fashion industry, Foo took pride and interest in all the brands he represented, established good rapport with his clients as well as provided feedback to his principals.
He triumphed against the odds and has charted quite an impressive record in his resume ever since.
From a retail assistant, he was promoted to manager. By the age of 27 in 2006, he was already the regional marketing director for Swiss watch Roger Dubuis.
In 2007, Foo decided to start his own business; a one man public relations, marketing and branding consultancy company, Metacommunique with just S$1,000.
In 2010, the company merged with Singapore-based Stridec Creatives to provide consultancy services that included across the board creative design services from advertising, digital and web solutions, videos and print to consultancy on marketing, branding management, IT and mobile application services.
Helmed by Foo as the group CEO, Stridec Creatives has since expanded to Kuala Lumpur, India and also has a representative office in Portland, the United States.
“If you never feel that it is a bane to work, you’re truly blessed and I believe I achieve that on most days."
“We are expanding our core creative, technology, and consulting businesses and will diversify into new businesses as we see fit. We are also venturing into building boutique hotels, retail of clothing and luxury handbags, food and beverages, air freight logistics, software and mobile apps as well as car grooming businesses,” Foo discloses.
He elaborates: “In the not too distant future we hope to be considered for mergers, buy-overs or even public listing, as the wish list for my group is to go more into major businesses like property development, luxury hotels, resorts, shopping malls and other commercial projects. I believe we have something unique to offer as well as an edge in how we run our businesses.”
ROLE MODEL
According to Foo, he has always wanted to be an entrepreneur ever since he was a teenager. “I’ve always read about innovation and the importance of leaving a mark in this world. To make one that I could call my own, I came to realise that politics, businesses, products and the accompanying fine print operated just like clockwork. These connecting cogs had been the key to creating businesses that were supported by other businesses. From supplying, production, retail and buying over competitors, profits could be ensured either way the market turned. Not only did I connect the dots together, but I discovered my niche as an entrepreneur because it was all so fascinating to me. Just like the board game Monopoly, when you own houses and hotels on each and every square peg, wherever your friends land they will have to pay you something.”
Foo says he is happy with what he is doing and loves going to work every single day. “If you never feel that it is a bane to work, you’re truly blessed and I believe I achieve that on most days,” he enthuses.
On the people who inspire him, Foo says he has high regards for Tan Sri Tony Fernandes for being “a true blue Malaysian who has made quite a mark around the globe from starting out in just a singular business (airlines) to venturing into mobile, hotels, insurance and F1 racing.”
“Sir Richard Branson and Donald Trump are also brilliant self-made billionaires who have made their mark and achieved success their way”, Foo adds.
In his zest to learn, Foo is also an avid reader of books written by Robert Kiyosaki and Warren Buffett.
Foo wants to share his secrets of success and is working on his first book, Money Costs Too Much which he hopes to get published this year.
He is also planning a sequel for the book, and to give talks and consultancy advice to “any audience who will have me to share and to enrich them”.
Going forward, Foo plans to retire by the time he turns 40 and on top of his to-do list is to travel around the world.
He advises those looking for opportunities to venture into new careers or businesses to: “Just do it. But only after you have done the necessary research and evaluation before taking the plunge.”
He cautions them “not to pay too much heed as to what other people around you say about your plans as not everyone will share your aspirations.”
“First and foremost, do all the due research and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how things pan out,” he says encouragingly.