PUBLISHED ONSeptember 11, 2020 11:30 AMByRainer Cheung
Why I Do What I Do is an original AsiaOne series where we showcase people with uncommon professions and what it takes to get there.
Ang Jiaxin was just 15 when she paid for her family's trip to Thailand, using the money she had earned from her self-made business.
She's a slime maker, a slime influencer, a slime entrepreneur — or as people like her are known as in the community — a slimer (read as: slime-uh).
On average, she churns out 200 to 300 tubs of slime a week, with each tub retailing between $4 to $8. She rakes in a profit of about $3,000 each month — not bad for a teenager. At one point early in her business, her earnings reached a high of $7,000.
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Being one of the first slimers in Singapore, she's become quite a household name among local slime enthusiasts, which means her slimes are always flying off the shelves.
But her success hasn't come without some sacrifice.
Jiaxin is still after all a teenager, turning 17 this year.
Between her studies at Temasek Polytechnic, co-curricular activities and her business, she has little time to do anything else.
Jiaxin revealed that her grades for Principles of Accounting back when she was a student at Whitley Secondary School had been a constant F9, until a teacher reminded her of her priorities.
The advice spurred her to take a six-month break from her business in order to focus on her 'O' levels last year.
Beyond grades, she also shared: "I'd love to spend more time to chill and relax with my friends, because I neglected them a lot back in secondary school."
Though skeptical at first, her parents have grown supportive of her work and would ferry her around town to replenish her stock at her consignment shops, or sometimes deliver them on her behalf just so she can take a weekend off.
"Which is great, instead of having to pull a luggage full of slime through public transport," laughed Jiaxin. "I got stopped at the security once, and even after I explained it to the security guard, I still had to follow her back to the counter to prove to the other staff on duty that it was just tubs of slime."
When asked if she had any tips for young budding entrepreneurs, she pondered for a while before answering.
"Absorb from people. Make sure you listen to advice people give you — be they family or friends — because these people are the ones that want you to be better.
"Also enjoy what you do, don't just look at the profit. That's what kept me going for the past five years."
Watch our video to find out more about Jiaxin, what inspires her and some of her funny experiences as a slimer.
rainercheung@asiaone.com