Formerly an accountant, I consider myself to have a good head in numbers. The job I had helped me earn a decent income for more than a decade.

But there came a point when I was unwilling to settle for just being “good”. Finally, I plunged at an opportunity to make a career switch, putting an end to my accounting life to take on the role of a financial planner as the next professional leap.

That move marked a major shift of having to learn new financial skills and using wealth planning tools to advise a very challenging target audience, each with his or her own sets of financial priorities and agenda to tackle. My hard work and resilience paid off, as I eventually built a strong base of customers and earned multiple awards—becoming a top leader in private wealth creation and corporate risk management.

With the ongoing rampant growth in technology and innovation, and customers now having greater accessibility to financial planning information and greater online choices, I see an essential need to maintain top form as a financial services consultant. Through my continuous skills upgrading and greater adoption of social media outreach, I am confident to thrive, and would encourage anyone to also take this great leap into the financial services industry.