How I Made It: Love, Bonito’s Rachel Lim on leaving university to build a fashion empire

Here’s an excerpt from the conversation: 
Andrea Heng: 
Your father (went) through bankruptcy and this was during the Asian financial crisis. A lot of families were hit hard. Yours was not excluded from this, and your mom took on multiple jobs. You all moved into a one-room flat … how did going through that ordeal shaped you into the entrepreneur you are today?
Rachel Lim: 
I think back then with what I went through with my family – of going through bankruptcy together, staying in a one-room flat together – and not just one room flat, we’re literally just in one room. And I think it really taught me a lot about the value of money, hard work and to also be frugal. Andrea, you know, I remember times and days where we would, just as a family, sometimes just walk past coffee shops and see the ban mian stall and be like, “Oh, maybe we can have this once a month.” It’s not even something like … 
Andrea: 
Ban mian, the thing that we have every day?
Rachel: 
We take it for granted. Back then to us, we could only walk past and wish, “Okay, it will be a treat once a month for us,” … and that also really taught me in that sense that, “Okay, I need to learn to work hard for money if I want to.” And money is more also like a means to an end. 
So that was the mindset that I had growing up and going through that with my family. 
Andrea:
So your two kids are growing up in a comfortable environment, at least compared to when you were growing up, where their parents are doing relatively well. Now your oldest child Ollie is in school now. And before you know it, he’s (going to be in) primary school and he’s going to learn how to handle his own money. How have you introduced the concept of money to your son? What are those conversations like? 
Rachel: 
Ollie … is three, turning four at the end of the year … Keira, my daughter, she’s turning one soon. (My husband Leo and I) also talk about how we want to raise our kids, especially when it comes to different aspects, and financial literacy is one of them. Even now, when we plan for holidays and trips we openly share with my son Ollie … 
Okay, this is the budget that we have for the trip in terms of expenses that we’re going to set aside for this four-day trip. This is how Dada, Mama are going to spend on food and how we’re going to spend on some rides or (to see) some places.
And the remaining (money) we can decide how we want to spend it, whether to buy a gift … for Granddad.
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