Thriving on business
Sonia Ayesha is helping out in her family business – and showing her mettle.
Armed with a double degree in finance and management, Sonia Ayesha Rashidi oversees training programmes for youths in Oxford University. She has her own hair salon. Also, she and her partner were winners in reality TV show The Entrepreneur. As for the future, she plans to go to graduate school and venture into other businesses.
BEAUTIFUL Sonia Ayesha always gets asked about her heritage so it is probably a good ice-breaker when she socialises.
“People always think I’m of mixed parentage, and with Indian blood, because of my name,” said Sonia, a young businesswoman of Malay descent.
“When I was younger, people would ask my mum about my name. She would tell them that I was born close to the year that Rajiv Gandhi, who was Sonia Gandhi’s husband, had died. That was how she discovered the name Sonia,” she explained via e-mail.
Then some people wanted to know why she chose a career in business.
Actually, Sonia did not set out to be a businesswoman even though her parents are business people. She only thought of exploring business as a career during her four years as a student in the United States. Nevertheless, she feels lucky that her parents are her strong role models.
Her parents, Datuk Rashidi Saidin and Datin Faridah Iriani Tahir, founded BDEC Resources Malaysia, a management consultancy company. Upon coming on board, Sonia expanded the business by opening a registered office in London.
What made her decide to work in her parents’ company was when they ventured into training programmes for youth.
“That caught my interest,” said Sonia, director of the international programmes in BDEC.
“I’m in charge of marketing, sales and execution of the programmes. I oversee our training programmes in Oxford University (in England), which includes mastering leadership for youth, and female entrepreneurship.
“My father has always encouraged us (the children) to land ourselves jobs in the corporate world. My mother, on the hand, had the charisma of a businesswoman but never really had her own business until BDEC was set up five years ago. She, too, wanted her children to work with distinguished organisations and climb the corporate ladder.
“My husband, who is also in the corporate sector, supports my interest in business. We have plans to venture into something together one day but we believe it’s best if only one of us takes the risk of running a business,” she said.
She likes doing business, for various reasons.
“It’s also satisfying to see the results of my own efforts. When doing business, results are often based on how hard you’re willing to work for it,” she said.
Student days
Sonia studied in SK Subang Jaya and Sri Cempaka school before going abroad.
In December 2014, she graduated from Syracuse University, New York, where she obtained a double degree in finance and management from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.
While at university, Sonia was actively involved in the youth entrepreneurship community. Her first exposure to this community was when she joined the Creative, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) learning community in 2011.
Back then, she was not yet passionate about entrepreneurship but participated in the CIE learning community to get free room and board by being a resident advisor at her hall of residence.
Nevertheless, that experience made her aware of her desire to be an entrepreneur.
During her final year in Syracuse University, she interned for two weeks with Double Dutch International, a distribution company for the Cannes Film Festival. She later interned at TalentCorp Malaysia for two months where she was placed under the diaspora outreach department and handled summer bootcamp programmes for college-bound students.
Said Sonia: “Both internships have been rewarding, especially at TalentCorp, which dealt with event management and youth programmes, which is similar to the business I’m in.”
The road ahead
Soon after graduating, she returned to Malaysia and spent five months doing some “soul-searching”. During this time, she was in Beijing for two months to attend a Mandarin course before joining CIMB Bank as a management trainee.
After eight months in CIMB, she discovered that she did not like banking, so she left to pursue a career in entrepreneurship. She set up her hair salon, SoBlow, in Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam, which is still operating.
Sonia was also a participant of Tube 2.0, a bumiputera youth entrepreneurship programme organised by SME Corporation Malaysia. Out of the 500 participants, she was shortlisted as the top 10 participants to be in TV3’s
The Entrepreneur, an eight-week TV programme.
“The shooting of the show was in December 2015 and the first episode was aired in March 2016. My partner, Ayla and I won third place in the programme,” she said.
“We’re not required to set up an actual business as the business setup was only required for the final stage. Hence, for most parts of the TV show, we had to present our business ideas and collaborate with existing start-up companies,” she said.
Sonia has a long list of goals for the future, such as going to graduate school and venturing into other businesses.
“I realised that it should not just be about myself but what I can do to help other people as well. I aspire to be the female version of Khairy Jamaluddin – to represent our youth community and to solve issues among the youth by shaping and inspiring them to be the leaders of tomorrow,” Sonia enthused.
She has not one but two mottos in life.
“The first one, which is my favourite, is based on Nike’s motto, Just Do It. I think it serves as an important reminder to all of us that we should never delay or hesitate to reach our goals. At times, when I feel unproductive and uninspired, I always tell myself to stop having negative dialogues with myself and to just do it,” she said.
Her second motto is: “Live life with no regrets”.
Regrets, she explained, are probably the biggest fear in anyone’s life. “We should make the most of life and seize every opportunity that comes along. Carpe diem!”
Sonia’s hobbies are playing the piano and ice-skating whenever she has the time. She also enjoys working out at the gym, going to the spa, cooking and travelling.
To handle stress and after all the hard work, she said that besides travelling, she also treats herself to a massage after a long day at work. Working out three days a week at the gym also allows her to cope well with stress.
Travelling is also good to recharge oneself.
She said: “Travelling makes a difference even if it’s just for a day or two. It does not only help you to recharge but to see the world from a different perspective. Travelling is also a source of inspiration. Sometimes, I also get cool ideas for my business!”