DO "GOOD LOOKING" WOMEN GET MORE PAY ?
 
I once read an article stated that women who wear make-up in business generally get better jobs, get promoted more quickly and get paid more. In fact, in a survey, 64 per cent of directors said that women who wore make-up look more professional and 18 per cent of directors said that women who do not wear make-up “look like they can’t be bothered to make an effort”.  You might agree or disagree with that, but I guess whether we like it or not, we live in a very visual world and we get judged on appearances.
 
In my personal opinion, I believe that every woman is already beautiful, and every woman can be ….

First of all, I just want to say a HUGE THANK YOU for all of my family and friends who have faithfully voted and supported me starting from Day 1 (yesterday)  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU !! You've really made my day
 

 
Also, my friends told me that not only they voted for me, but they also asked their friends to vote for me as well, using their facebook, MSN, SMS, etc. So there might be some people whom I didn't know personally and yet still voted. Thank you again!
For those who haven't met me personally yet but want to know more about Who is Merry Riana?, I've just uploaded this short video for you to watch ….

I had an awesome session last Saturday at the SMART EXPO 2010, sharing my experiences on the the topic "Extraordinary Women in Business"
 

 
One of the questions that was asked during the panel discussion is this: "Being a successful entrepreneur probably equates to spending a lot of time at work. What do you do on juggling time with family and putting in the hours at work? "
 
Well, I would say as an entrepreneur, we will need to spend a lot of time to build our business in the beginning. But, once we’ve set a proper system and get good people to manage it, we will reap the rewards in terms of time-flexibility. When I started as an entrepreneur 8 years ago, ….

This afternoon I updated my facebook status to say: "Going to Balaclava later for the 91.3FM ‘Geek Chic’ party "
 
Not long after that I received messages from a few of my friends saying: " Are you sure?"
 
Hahaha… That's actually very true.. because for those people who know me, they definitely know that I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I don't go clubbing.  So, does it make me a 'geek'? Hmmm….. I don't think so.

 
Tonight event is part of the MyPaper Executive Look 2010 activity. And tonight, for the very first time they are going to introduce us to the public. I was quite nervous initially, because I'm not really used to go up to the stage within those kind ….

You've read about how I've made my birthday resolution, which eventually changed my life.
But some of you are probably wondering,..  After having a clear vision, What's next ?
 
There was another significant event that drove me to become an entrepreneur. During my third year in the University, I was doing my Industrial Attachment with an American-based semiconductor company. It was my first official nine-to-five job in the working world. Initially I was very excited about it. But after working there for a few weeks, I realised that I could never achieve my goal of achieving success and financial freedom if I were to work in a nine-to-five job.
 
 
The Missing 3Cs
One obvious alternative that came to my mind was to do ….

One of he reason that is stopping people from becoming successful is because they are afraid to be successful.
You might be thinking in your head right now: "How is it possible that people are afraid to be successful? What is it that they are afraid of?"
 
You will be surprised, but in many occasions during my seminars, a few of participants have shared the same concern. They worried that if they become rich, or famous, or too successful, than people might think that they will be boastful and arrogant, and that's why they prefer just to be mediocre rather than outstanding. In my personal opinion, actually money, fame and success are neither good or bad, they are neutral. It's the person who owns them ….

Today, it's finally my turn to be featured in the 2 full-page spread in MyPaper. Eventhough this is not the first time I've appeared in the media but I can tell you that the excitement is totally different.
 
Initially I planned to wake up earlier today so that I could be the first person who saw it myself. It turned out my Mom woke up earlier than me. I think she is even more excited than me. She even messaged her friends and relatives back in Jakarta to ask them to check it out. (That's the beauty of having a newspaper that is accessible online.)
http://executivelook.mypaper.sg/profile/profile14.shtml
 

When I reached my office, my staff actually already got a few copies to be put in our ….

Today post, I would like to begin with pictures

 
To me I think the BEST Clothes in the world is the one that fits our personality.

So as long as it potrays my personality and I am comfortable and confident in wearing it, that's the perfect fit for me.
And at the same time, there are also things that we must watch out. These are actually what a lot of people called as 'Image Destroyer'
 
 
IMAGE DESTROYER

*) In a survey of 300 men to find out what destroys their first impression of a lady, these are the top 10:
1. Messy Hair
2. Heavy Make Up
3. Platform shoes
4. Lisptick on the teeth
5. Strong perfume
6. Scuffy shoes
7. Wearing revealing clothes to work
8. Chipped nail polish
9. Run in the stockings
10. Visible ….

The first news that I read after I woke up today is the news about a passenger who jumped onto the track at Tanah Merah MRT Station and was hit by a train. It was so saddening to read such news.
 

 
It reminded me of an incident almost 8 years ago. One of my friends did the same thing. It was the year of our graduation, and for the past few weeks before that we noticed that he looked very 'disturbed', and true enough, few months after that he jumped onto the MRT track. Luckily for him, after he jumped, few passengers noticed and shouted, and at that time he suddenly 'awoke' and realised what he was doing, and jumped to another side of the track. ….

Everyday in our lives, we make choices. Some are easy ones, some are difficult ones.
 
Yesterday I did make choices also. In the same evening, there are 2 events that are equally important that I have to attend.
 
One of it is Prudential Annual Awards Night Event. It is a yearly private event where they recognize their top producers in the company. Every single year I never failed to attend. It is an important event that I wouldn't want to miss. And definitely it is important for me to be there to support the rest of my guys too.
 
At the same time, on the exact same night, there is another important event that I do also need to attend. It was the Business Etiquette Class ….