"Your own Car. Your own Account. Your own Property.”

Those are the three things Sharon Singh, Azalea Blooms' founder believes every woman should secure for herself. Because "no matter where the world takes you, you will be able to rely on yourself." And, Sharon added "we, as women, need to understand the importance of that reliability."

We live in an unjust world. A world that makes it difficult to merely be a woman with a dream. Now if you are an ambitious woman, then that challenge is magnified. Well, I was an ambitious young lady living in a 3rd world country whom happened to be passionate about an industry that was dominated by men. I was determined, though. I was (and still am) passionate enough about flowers that I was willing to take on that challenge - and that, I did. 

It took time to gain the respect I deserve. Over 10 years to be precise. For 10 years, I experienced what any ambitious woman experiences: we were butchered, we were bullied, we were slayed on. We were 'less'. I tolerated it, but I didn't accept it. I did what any one woman would have done... I demanded the respect as I proved my worth. I built a name for myself first, and for my company second.

I proved that I was not only as capable as the men that competed against my business, I proved to be better than them. When the numbers came in, Azalea Blooms (previously Black Tulip) was able to stand strong, and with that, the industry started to accept me, Sharon Singh, as a woman, as an independent source of strength, as a business owner and as an industry leader. So just before I give you my bit of advice, I will leave you with my father's:

Initially, you have to work very hard to earn that name.

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Then, there will come a time where that name will earn for you.

...and that's exactly what happened.

So today, I share three message with any woman working hard to earn a name for herself: as cliche as they may sound, let them sink in:

1. Don't let him be an influence on your success... do it your way.

2. It's not wrong to use your femininity, just don't abuse it.

3. You have to be prepared to work twice as hard as anyone else.