Superwoman Profile: Chow Keat Yeng

Chow Keat Yeng, or Keat for short, is a two-timer. By day, she works hard at her marketing job. By night (and weekends), this energetic 30-year-old hangs up her power suit and slips into the role of Principal of Artistic Expressions, a speech-and-drama school, of which she is the owner Nanz Inc gets in on the act with this superwoman.

By: Audra Lim

Most people either run a business, or are employed in a full-time job. You do both. You either have great time management skills, or have 48 hours a day. Which is it?
I guess it’s the former as I would probably end up working more if the day was longer and that would be suicide! It’s all about time management and prioritizing.
List the things you need to do in order of priority before the start of each day and stick to the list. Focus wholeheartedly on completing each task, one by one. There is always a tendency to want to do everything all at once, in the shortest possible time.

Why did you set up Artistic Expressions?
In 2002, my alma mater, Holy Child Speech & Drama, closed its doors. My students were stranded and wanted to continue their Speech and Drama lessons. It was then that I decided to open my own school and take them under my wing.

What were some challenges you faced as you built up your business?
I was 23 when I started the school – some were skeptical about whether I had the business acumen, or if I was able to teach their children. I also wanted to stand on my own feet, so loans from family or the bank were out of the question. The lack of funds turned out to be a good thing because it challenged me to think of creative (and cheaper) alternatives to get the word out.

I believe that the school needs to have integrity, and I wanted the school to hire teachers who were experienced and equipped with the right certifications. However, many of these teachers then were engaged in prior teaching engagements. So I decided the school could also be a training academy for those who had the passion and were willing to be trained in this field.

How does Artistic Expressions stand out from other speech-and-drama schools?
Apart from trained and properly certified teachers and offering both LAMDA and Trinity-Guildhall examinations, the school prides itself in focusing more on speech and learning through creative play.

There is always a skill to be developed or honed in every child. That’s the beauty of speech-and-drama. For some, it could be diction, for others it could be overcoming the fear of public speaking. Sometimes, speech-and-drama can just provide an outlet for kids to express themselves in a safe and supportive environment – something that schools and homes may not necessarily provide.

We also conduct speech-and-drama for homeschoolers. Through dramatic play, students explore improvisation, movement, voice and role playing, while the age group mixing encourages social development and empathetic thinking.

The school believes that children and adults must acquire sound vocal techniques – therefore the lessons continually teach students how to tap into the power of their voice in a natural, simple and most importantly, enjoyable way, exploring their voice as a source of personal expression and creativity.

Breathing, resonance, techniques to improve one’s speech and diction are addressed in every lesson to make students aware of their power of communication.
Artistic Expressions is also launching a performing arm to train young potential talents. This is in line with the work I do in directing and writing children’s productions – three of which have been staged at The Esplanade.

What advice would you offer to aspiring women entrepreneurs?
Step 1: Make a decision to succeed now and stay focused.
The road to becoming an entrepreneur is less travelled because it takes constant effort to work on yourself and business. Most people will not do what it takes to succeed because they lack the belief in themselves or their desire is not strong enough. But stick out the course that you have started. This is one of the laws of the universe. The tortoise will always win the race.

Step 2: Choose an industry of interest.
Choose something that has always been very interesting to you. And perhaps more importantly, choose an industry that you are familiar with.
Many people choose careers for the money instead of joy. But the reality is that most successful people have done well because they do not perceive what they do as work but play.

Step 3: Treat it like a job.
Most advisors or entrepreneurial gurus usually advise people to treat their business as a business and not a hobby. The truth of the matter is that you will have to treat your income-producing activities the same as you do your job. In the world of entrepreneurialism, you will not have a boss telling you what to do. You will be liable for your own results. Make a list of income-producing activities each day that will move you towards your goals and make sure that you do them.

Step 4: Think out of the box.
There are always possibilities to extend the reach and positively impact more people with what your business can offer. Strategise first, then do. Know your market well (i.e. business strengths and weaknesses, competitors, size of target audience and type of target audience) and have a strategy in mind – you can then plan your marketing campaign more effectively.
If you challenge yourself to continually think out of the box, you can capitalize on the enormous untapped potential in business.

Step 5: One step at a time.
Problems arise when one becomes greedy for more expansion. What I’ve realized is that there is a time for everything and things will fall into its perfect place somehow. It is important to have a game plan and take one thing at a time. Never be in a hurry.