Ever since she was young, Cheryl Sew Hoy at all times knew she desired to run her own business.
“When teachers asked what’s your ambition … and a variety of kids desired to be doctors or lawyers. My ambition was [to be] a businesswoman,” she told CNBC Make It.
That childhood dream is now a reality for the 39-year-old serial entrepreneur, whose ventures include Reclip.It, a consumer software startup that was acquired by Walmart Labs in 2013.
Now, she runs Tiny Health, a health tech startup that sells at-home gut health tests for mothers and babies from 0 to three years old. The CEO and founder said the test might help detect gut imbalances early on and forestall chronic conditions.
Just last week, the corporate raised $4.5 million in seed money and said its backers include U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Google’s X, and Dropbox.
Sew Hoy, a Malaysian now based in Austin, Texas, attributes her success to her mother who was also a businesswoman running her own marketing business in Malaysia.
“My mom owned her own business and he or she was the boss. Before work-from-home was popular, she was already working from home and I at all times had this role model,” she added.
Things have come “full circle” for Sew Hoy, who’s now a mom to 2 kids aged 2 and 4, as she begins imparting lessons she has learned to them.
What suggestions does she have in raising entrepreneurial kids? CNBC Make It finds out.
Engage in storytelling
It’s hard to show children what business they will create at a young age, but kids “remember stories” — and that is one of the best option to expose them to entrepreneurship, said Sew Hoy.
While she modelled after her mother by simply observing, Sew Hoy said she desired to be “more intentional” about chatting with her children about running a business.
For instance, she explains to her children about her job as a CEO, the “backstory” of why she began Tiny Health.
I teach them why I’m working hard. Yes, it’s to generate income nevertheless it’s not only to purchase food or to spend it.
Cheryl Sew Hoy
CEO and founder, Tiny Health
“Refer to them like adults, even if you happen to think they’re too young to know. The more you confer with them like adults, [you’ll realize] they really understand rather a lot and so they learn rather a lot from that.”
By explaining to her children what she does, Sew Hoy said she’s also teaching them the worth of cash.
“I teach them why I’m working hard. Yes, it’s to generate income nevertheless it’s not only to purchase food or to spend it. While being profitable, it’s essential construct something of value to people. What problems do you wish to solve on the earth?”
Create adversities
Entrepreneurship is all about problem-solving and that is something that children can learn through adversity, said Hoy.
“There is a difference between great entrepreneurs and good entrepreneurs. The nice entrepreneurs are those who will bounce back repeatedly since it’s really freaking hard running an organization on a regular basis,” said Sew Hoy.
If children have only “smooth journeys” where problems are at all times solved for them, they may never learn that value, she added.
“It requires a variety of patience. My daughter would whine and be like, ‘Mommy, I can not do it.’ I’ll encourage her to try again, and perhaps help her a bit bit,” she said.
“If she succeeds — especially if she succeeds on her own — she learns a lesson that ‘In the event you had given up before, you would not have achieved this.'”
Sew Hoy said she noticed “a spark” going off in her 4-year-old daughter after going through the identical scenario together with her a number of times.
“I do know she’s learning because the following time [she tries to do something], she’s telling me, ‘Mommy, I can do it. I’m strong.'”
“So if our life gets too easy, I might create adversity [for my kids].”
Clarification: This story has been updated to more clearly indicate the age of Cheryl Sew Hoy’s daughter Charlize.
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