A Chef In Singapore

By Eric Horwitz, CEO of LIFT Enrichment

After a rousing 7 days in Nepal, my trip through Asia continued on to Singapore, a city I have always been curious about.

A Modern Marvel

After the shacks and poverty that could be seen all over Nepal (except for the capital), Singapore was squeaky clean and high-tech. I learned that the Sheiks who built Dubai made frequent visits to Singapore for inspiration. They wanted to keep the good things: huge skyscrapers, cleanliness, modern infrastructure, pro-business environment and ditch the more eccentric parts: overly strict rules (it used to be illegal to chew gum) and regulations (they banned Uber… so they have their own version of the app).

The skyline is dominated by the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, a mammoth building with 3 huge towers and what looks like a cruise ship on top. Guests are treated to a beautiful infinity pool overlooking the city.

The first thing I noticed about the city was the INTENSE humidity. You walk outside and immediately feel like you’re in a sauna. I think it was 80-90% humidity! Plus it was hot outside in late April. For me, this would have been a deal breaker as a place I could live in because I had to shower almost 2-3 times a day. It’s just oppressively humid, and I sweat a lot.

I was in Singapore for the Global Leadership Conference, an annual Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) 3-day event that attracts 1,400 members from EO chapters all over the world. It has a lot of workshops and inspiring speakers, but it’s mostly focused on training the incoming board members for each chapter that start in July. Since I’m new to the Dubai chapter (I joined it in March 2024), I wasn’t able to join the board, but it’s something I will do next year.

Volunteering for EO has taught me a lot about leadership because I get to see how other leaders lead. I also have made great friends and have had once-in-a-lifetime deep-dive conversations that I will remember forever.

The South African Yacht Party

On the first night, there was a list of events and I chose one at random called: “Luxury Yacht Party hosted by EO Cape Town.”

I didn’t know anyone else in my Los Angeles or Dubai chapters that were attending, but sometimes you just gotta GO where your gut says to.

Just because “no one else wants to go” is not a reason to NOT go to an event. Especially when it’s an 80-foot yacht at night touring Singapore’s epic skyline from the sea. The yacht party had two boats and on the first one, I made friends with some girls from EO Canada. Later, I chatted with a young guy from EO Berlin about what life is like after selling a company.

For me, it was the PERFECT kind of night with great 1-on-1 deep chats with insights, laughter, and experience shares…then carefree dancing on a boat with new friends. And all of it in a foreign country miles away from home.

Life Lesson: If you want to DO something in life, just sign up first and invite your friends later. Be bold and make the first move. Don’t “not” do something because your friends won’t be there. The memory will be worth it and you (most likely) will meet amazing new people.

The Education Roundtable

During the day there were many workshops, including a group roundtable for those in Education.

There were about 16 of us who came together to share stories, present challenges, and help each other out.

One guy, from Russia, has a robotics program taught to hundreds of thousands of students.

A woman from Nepal helps 18-year-olds learn vocational skills and get jobs.

A guy from Poland builds apps for all types of companies and doubled his company overnight with one client.

One woman shared how permitting is so difficult in her country that “bribery” is literally an expense item on her balance sheet so she can help her students succeed.

Can you imagine in the US walking into a politician’s home with a stack of cash to get your school the necessary permit to function!?

Soon we separated into small groups of 6. I told my group about what we’ve done with LIFT Enrichment and how we currently teach 12,000 students a week at hundreds of school sites in California We have a team of 200 staff: 170 Chef Teacher instructors in the US and a 30-person internal remote team

I’ve got a president, sales director, and operations director and they all have their own staff.

The room literally stopped.

“Can we just ask you questions?” One woman asked.

“Sure,” I said.

For the next 30 minutes, I shared everything I’ve learned in the Education space over the past 14 years.

Things like:

– How to go to an education conference and get big clients.

– How to price each workshop so it works best with the school.

– How to organize a large team.

– How to delegate key leadership positions

– How to keep really good net margins and have an awesome remote team.

It was a BLAST!

I had no “trade secrets” to keep to myself. This type of information I would have DREAMED of knowing 5 years ago.

And with the EO community, I’m an open book and am here to help.

I told them about how government grants work and how to get access to them.

I shared how we pivoted from a parent-paid B2C model with private schools to an easier and higher-margin B2B model working with school districts. They loved it!

I could tell they’re going to take what I told them home and hopefully grow their businesses. One even said, “I want a business like yours.” That was surprising to hear…as I never thought of my company that way. It just evolved that way over time after lots of mistakes.

3 steps forward and 2 steps back.

On the last day of the trip, my buddy Ken and I explored the Singapore Flyer (aka giant Ferris wheel) that dominates the skyline at 164m (540 feet).

Ken and I can talk for hours about business, dating, life in Los Angeles, the perks and struggles of entrepreneurship, real estate, investing, EO (Entrepreneurs’ Organization), and much more.

We met in Japan at an EO Los Angeles trip in October and hit it off. We both brought plus ones and after walking through Tokyo for hours, both girls were surprised by how we could talk nonstop about all aspects of running a business.

After enjoying some nice views of the city up high, we met up with another EO friend, Eden to explore Chinatown. She and I had met at EO Accelerators back in November of 2018 and eventually graduated. She hit $1 million in revenue a year before me, and part of that drove me to hit 7 figures and graduate.

One of my favorite quotes is “Show Me Your Friends and I’ll Show You Your Future”

Your peers can inspire you. Or bring you down.

Are your friends fit and healthy? You’ll probably become like them.

Are they successful and financially ambitious? That’ll rub off on you.

The three of us ended up at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. There are two massive exhibits that are encased by glass. Imagine being “outside” in a stunning garden and being in air-conditioning at the same time.