Woman lands dream job as SIA flight attendant after 9 tries -- only to give it up and become hawker
A woman gave up her hard-fought job as a Singapore Airlines flight attendant to become a hawker.
Cherry Tan, now runs Kiang Kiang Taiwan Teppanyaki at Block 325 Woodlands Street 32 with her 36-year-old husband Duncan Hsu.
The 29-year-old told Shin Min Daily News that being a flight attendant had always been her childhood dream. She started interviewing at the age of 19, but landed the job only after nine attempts.
"I was young when I first applied. I was very nervous during the interview and kept stuttering, so I was eliminated at the start," said Cherry.
After repeated failures, she went on to study hotel management at university. An internship at a hotel allowed her to engage with different people, hone her communication skills, accumulate experience as well as build her self-confidence.
At age 23, Cherry finally achieved her childhood dream.
However, she started wondering if being a flight attendant was a sustainable long-term career.
Cherry said: "My husband is from Taiwan and has been a chef for 15 years. He had always wanted to start his own business and I wanted to help him.
"I handed in my resignation letter in February last year and officially quit in May."
The couple make a good team, with Cherry handling sales and customer service while her husband is responsible for cooking.
Cherry admitted missing her old jet-setting life, in which she earned a good salary and got to travel around the world.
She added: "My parents didn't agree with me giving up my stable job at first, but were later understanding and respectful of it."
Nevertheless, Cherry has no regrets as running a business with her husband is something that she wants to do. The couple's stall is also doing well, selling more than 200 plates of teppanyaki per day.
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