Noodles and Numbers to Authentic LinkedIn Influencer with Eric Sim - Episode 49

In this inspiring episode of The Legal Genie Podcast, host Lara Quie sits down with Eric Sim, a LinkedIn sensation with over 2 million followers, accomplished banker, lecturer, and author of Small Actions: Leading Your Career to Big Success. From humble beginnings helping at his father's prawn noodle stand in Singapore to becoming a managing director at a global investment bank, Eric’s journey is nothing short of remarkable.

Eric shares how his early experiences in a bustling hawker center taught him invaluable life skills like observation, efficiency, and customer focus, which later translated into success in the competitive world of banking. He opens up about navigating self-doubt, pursuing lifelong learning, and ultimately building a unique portfolio career spanning teaching, writing, and public speaking.

A master storyteller, Eric reveals how he overcame personal challenges, including struggles with English, to become one of LinkedIn’s most authentic voices. He shares actionable insights on the “three Cs” of content creation—content, community, and consistency—and explains how lawyers and professionals can use LinkedIn to build a personal brand, share stories, and connect authentically.

Whether you're a legal professional looking to enhance your online presence or anyone seeking motivation to pursue your dreams, this episode is packed with wisdom, humor, and practical advice.

Tune in to discover how small actions can lead to big success and why authenticity and perseverance are key to building trust and influence in any profession.

Transcript

Noodles and Numbers to Authentic LinkedIn Influencer with Eric Sim - Episode 49

Lara Quie: Hello and welcome to The Legal Genie Podcast with me, your host, Lara Quie. And I'm delighted to have with me today, Eric Sim. Eric writes about career skills for over 2 million followers on LinkedIn. He progressed from washing bowls at his father's prawn noodle stand to managing director at a bulge bracket investment bank.

 After banking, Eric has developed a portfolio career of teaching, coaching, speaking, and writing. He is the author of the book, "Small Actions, Leading Your Career to Big Success", which has also been translated into Chinese. So welcome to the show, Eric. 

Eric Sim: Thanks for having me, Lara. It's so good to be here. 

Lara Quie: It's fantastic to see you and I love all of your LinkedIn accessories that you've got in the back there. They definitely treasure you as one of their most prolific producers of fantastic content. But let's go right back to the beginning because here we are sitting in Singapore. So I'd love to know a little bit about your family background and all about where you grew up. 

Eric Sim: Sure. So I grew up helping my father at his prawn noodle store. The people that I interact with are with other hawkers, hawker's assistant, provision shop's owner, loan shark's runner. And I remember one of the assistants at another hawker store sold me a bicycle when I was age 14 because I didn't know how to cycle then.

He said, "Hey, why don't you buy this bicycle and you can learn how to cycle?" So I said, "how much is it?" $15 Singapore dollars, which is, very cheap, right? So I bought it from him. I learned how to cycle. I really thank him because finally at the age of 14, I have my own bicycle and I learned how to do it.

Later I learned he stole the bicycle and then sell it to me. So for $15, he make a hundred percent profit. So these are the kind of environment that I, deal with for, for the listener out there. If a few decades ago you lost a BMX bicycle in a Wampo area in Singapore, let me know, I'll compensate you for that.

Lara Quie: Yes, unwittingly in charge of stolen goods.

I know that people who work in hawker centres, they're so quick with calculating the money and dealing with lots of different people all at the same time. You must have learned some very valuable skills that you've taken on into your career. 

Eric Sim: Definitely. I try to write down the orders because, sometimes people come and sometimes there are too many people, you cannot remember.

My father refused to let me do that. So I have no choice but to remember the person's facial feature or, something physical about this person. What clothes is he wearing? How's his hair? Wearing spectacle? And what's his order? So that when the food is ready, I know who to deliver to. I need to know who comes first.

Customers are very particular. If they come in first, they need to be served first. Otherwise, they may complain. So that, I cannot screw it up. And finally, my eyes and ears must open in all directions. It means one eye on the person who is asking for attention, trying to order. Another eye is there's a dirty table I need to go and clean.

And finally, there's one guy who finished food and is leaving without paying. I need to run after him because what's the number one objective in having a stall? Yeah, people will say serve the customer, customer is always right. No, collect your money. You can serve the best food, but if you don't collect money, then you know, you don't make money.

And this customer, who ran away sometimes is without intention and the person may be too embarrassed to come back. So by me reminding him that he hasn't paid, he paid and the next time he will still come back. We need also to think of the customers in the longer run. So these are the things that I, I need to do.

Be quick, be observant. And later on in life, I tend to remember people, but people don't remember me. I can walk down the street, whether in Hong Kong or in Singapore, at the corner of my eye, I can see that was my classmate from 30 years ago. I haven't spoken to him, but I can recognize it's that person.

So that's, that's the training that I have when I was young. 

Lara Quie: Very important lessons. And as you say, fantastic for your future career, but there you were, a young boy working in a noodle stall. What were your aspirations at that particular time? Did you think, my future looks like I'm going to be here running this stall, learning how to cook noodles like my father?

Or did you have anybody in your life who said to you, you know what, Eric, actually you could aspire to greater things? 

Eric Sim: No, nobody told me that I, I didn't even believe in myself. I failed my mathematics, failed my English. My teachers say that I need to mix freely because I lack social skill. When I look at myself, I didn't even dare to, to get out of that hawker store environment.

My parents told me that I could take over the store, if I continue not doing well in my school. Fortunately, I decided that of all the subjects that I'm weak at, just focus on mathematics. And I left English until much later. In fact, I improved my English only when I started writing on LinkedIn.

Before that, I didn't really need to use English because I studied engineering and I was, I'm more comfortable with numbers than with words. Then after that, my other quantitative subject began to do better. And I thought, hmm, maybe I can do design. I have a bit of interest in design, and I took up interior design courses.

I took up graphic design when I was very early in my banking career. So that dream didn't die. And 10 years after getting my engineering degree, I applied to National University of Singapore for my second bachelor, but now in architecture. So now I'm already mid- career, the interviewer, because they know that I'm like special students.

So they interviewed me. They said, "are you sure you want to do this? You'll be studying with students who are 10 years younger than you." I said, "yeah, sure." And they give me an offer, but I was too much of a coward to pursue my interests. Next day, I wore my suit and I went back to banking. So I still kept the offer letter.

And now what I do is I visit, buildings, appreciate the architecture. I even make a model out of Bank of China building in Hong Kong, because that was the building that I was looking at from my Hong Kong office in IFC. 

Lara Quie: Wow. That sounds like you might have a regret about not actually pursuing those dreams to become an artist?

Yeah. 

Eric Sim: There is a bit of regret for not pursuing. And then sometimes you think, what would life be if I had pursued it? But you, you never know, right? Maybe I don't complete because there's always something to fall back on. Six months in, if I feel, it wasn't right, then maybe I still go back to banking, but then I would have lost my momentum in banking.

I would have quit a good job and trying to go back would be much more difficult. Or I completed, but I couldn't find a job. And, starting salary for architecture is going to be low again. So will that affect my family? Affect myself? And also, I come from a banking environment, 10 years in banking.

The people around me, they are all buying cars and, big houses at that stage, right? When you're mid career. If I went to architecture and compare myself with my banking colleagues, I may have a miserable time. So it, we do not know how life will be and it is difficult to always choose the right decision.

And sometimes you never know, but that such is life and we move on. We make the decision and make the best out of the decision that we make. 

Lara Quie: Sounds quite interesting though that you went to the trouble of applying for this and had the interview. 

Eric Sim: And I need to sit for a design test because it's not just application.

So you get selected and you need, I need to go and draw. I need to write some essay and why I like architecture and I pass. So I was quite proud of myself that I got accepted. 

Lara Quie: You talk about the fact that there was a sort of golden handcuffs because you had already entered the career of banking.

And of course you were mentioning, mid career banker, 10 years in, earning good money, suddenly thinking, wow, if I actually go off and do this second degree, completely different directions have to start all the way back at the bottom. And especially, yes, architecture, I don't think it is terribly well paid in the beginning.

Eric Sim: Yeah. 

Lara Quie: but you went really quite far and then last minute chickened out. What really was going on there? 

Eric Sim: In my life is I try not to think too far. So I like architecture. How can I be an architect? The first thing is I need to apply for a course. If I don't get in, then that's the end of the conversation.

That's, I don't need to think. So in fact, I let the school decide. If they didn't accept me then, 20 years later I tried, but the school didn't accept me, so no regrets. Little did I know I got in, then now it's my turn to decide. So I need to take the responsibility. But this is how I always pursue life.

Instead of thinking of the big picture, six years, I take a small step. And the process of applying, the process of going through the test and the interview, also then make me realize, is this what I really want? Yeah. So I, wanted to, to go through that process very advanced in, rather than not going through it and just reject it from the beginning.

But who knows? Maybe after the interview, I like it so much that I was willing to give up six years of banking pay. 

Lara Quie: What about the time that you applied to be cabin crew? 

Eric Sim: Oh, that was immediately after my engineering degree. I didn't have money, but I wanted to travel. I saw so many of my classmates, they went to Europe to travel.

I said, how can I travel and not use my own money? Then I said, why don't I apply for a cabin crew job? Right, I read on the newspaper there is a application. I went, then I passed, I went to Changi Training Centre. I passed again, and towards the end, the interviewer asked, in the group interview, he said, "do you think food is more important or service more important?"

So I raised my hand, I say, "food is more important". The interviewer said, "thank you very much. You may leave now". So I went to apply for DBS Bank and I got a job. So number one, I'm really not cut out to serve. in this airline, you know, it's a premium airline. Because I was trained in the hawker centre, I'm those kind of person who will put my fingers into the cup and serve the water to the customers.

So definitely you don't want that in business class or even economy. And I've never eaten at a restaurant until that point in time. I had always been eating in the hawker centre. So I knew nothing about service. So it's number one, it's good that I didn't get it, otherwise I'll be fired anyway, because I've got no service sense.

Number two, sometimes it's a form of redirection. It's to tell you that you're not suitable, maybe you're cut out for something better, something more. Then I tried banking and I did for over 20 years. 

Lara Quie: Yeah, that's quite funny. I think many Singaporeans would definitely reply that food is more important.

Eric Sim: Yeah, because it didn't come across my mind that the interviewer wants to hear service is more important, or better still, food and service. equally important. That's like the perfect answer. I wasn't thinking, I, I like all this type of training. I've got no social skills. I just reply what I thought.

And so sometimes being truthful to yourself can lead you to the right path. 

Lara Quie: Yeah. So tell me a bit about your career in banking and how you managed to make a success of that based on your personality and also the things that you had learned growing up. 

Eric Sim: Yeah. My father at his stall has only one tap for washing, which is near the cooking station.

So for washing bowls, we have three pails of water. The first pail has got detergent in it. The second and the third pails are clean water. So I will then soak this bow l into the first pail of water which has detergent for a couple of minutes.

Use a sponge, clean inside one time, outside one time, put it into the second pail, then rinse in the third pail. So it should be clean enough. After about 30 40 bowls, the water starts getting murky, right, especially the second bowl. But we have been using that. So one day at around age 17, my father allowed to let me cook the noodle for myself.

So I took one bowl from the clean stack. I went to the cooking station, turn around, wash it under running water. My father told me sternly but softly, don't wash again. If the bowl is clean enough for the customers, it's clean enough for you.

From then on, I never wash again. I trusted our system and I make sure I wash very cleanly using the 3 pail system. And that mindset and value I brought it along into banking. So whenever I sold a product or service to my banking customers, I make sure I'll be buying that product if I were in the same situation as the customers.

So sometimes I don't sell the product as quickly. If it's not suitable for the customers, I say, I tell you all the risks. Maybe this is not the right time to buy. I may have lost a few deals, but it helped me over the long run. I've got customers who will follow me from bank to bank. Five, ten years later, they will say, "Hey Eric, we got this M& A acquisition, we'd like to buy a US container leasing company. Can you help us?" 

I say, yeah, why not? These are customers that I stay in touch, no transaction for three to four years, and suddenly they call. Because they know, with me, they get the best advice. They may or may not know the entire transaction, but when I say it's good, chances are it is, or at least to my best knowledge.

So that helped me. The other thing that helped me is because I was so inferior, I was suffering from inferiority complex. I lack knowledge, lack social skills, I was skinny, I've got asthma, my mother refused to let me play any ball games. Until today, I don't know any ball games. I cannot play tennis, cannot play football, I don't even play golf.

So what can I do? So every year I try to learn something. That's why, I learned interior design. I tried to be an architect. I learned C++ programming and I tried to improve my public speaking. and then 2015, I decided it's time to write on LinkedIn. So every year when I try to pursue a skill could be related to my banking job, for example, getting the CFA, Chartered Financial Analyst Certification.

Could be totally unrelated, like, doing video shooting, photography, video editing, yeah. All of that. makes me much more interesting to speak to. So I can speak to a wide range of clients. I can speak to somebody with a PhD, because I applied for a PhD before, just that I was rejected. I can speak to professor because I was one, I was an adjunct associate professor.

I can speak to entrepreneur although I didn't set up a big company, but I know what it is like, running the small little store and I can eat street food. I can eat at Michelin star restaurant. I can stay in in a very small little apartment or I can stay in a luxurious hotel.

So you can talk to me about real estate. You can talk to me about culture. Yeah, and because of that, I built relationship with customers quite quickly. And I think because of this too, I managed to climb, although very slowly, but still managed to climb to become MD. 

Lara Quie: Yeah, so that sounds like your integrity and honesty are very much the key to the ability to attract those long term customers, especially everything is based on trust.

Everything is based on understanding what the product is and you saying let me tell you all the details about these various products. However, in your situation, this might not be the right thing for you. And so that builds incredible trust. And then it sounds like you, very much maintained those relationships over time, even perhaps you didn't have something to sell them, but you had built a relationship and you just wanted to keep in touch with those people.

Eric Sim: Yes. I sincerely want to stay in touch with them. So I don't think, okay, if there's no deal for the next two years, I'm not going to talk to these customers. I don't do that. because you never know when the deals will come or they may refer. A lot of times I got referred by clients who never give me deals, but they have friends or they have another department or sister company who will then refer deals to me.

Who will then give me the deal. So that's where I get my deals as well. And one more thing I did to have an international career is to venture out of Singapore. Though Singapore is so tiny, if you just service Singapore customers, then it's unlikely you can progress. stuck, in the middle.

two years after working in banking, I took all my savings. I went to the UK to do my master's in finance. Number one, I need to learn about finance because I had an engineering degree and I had an engineering degree. So I knew very little about finance except on the job. So I wanted a stronger foundation.

Going to the UK, then I can get out of my colonial mindset, right? Because in Singapore, we I think we tend to have this colonial mindset, which is confirmed when I went to the UK on the way to my university, Lancaster University. from airport to the university. On the road, I was seeing white men who are construction workers.

I've never seen that in my life. To me in Singapore, white men means they are head of the department, they are having huge income. Then of course, in the UK, the people could be doing the full range of jobs, right? Whether is it service staff in the restaurant or a construction worker.

So that's how narrow minded, that's how frog in the well I was back then. Was very fortunate I went. I was then able to work with international colleagues.

So then in 2005, I saw China was liberalizing, so that's about 10 years slightly after my application to do architecture. So I, I didn't. accept the offer. So I asked my boss to send me to Shanghai from Singapore so that I was with Citibank. Then I said, "boss, China is opening up its banking sector.

Can you send me there so I can improve my Mandarin?" I want to learn the Chinese culture and I want to do bigger transaction. Because Singapore has like one airline, China has 100 airlines, China has coal mining industry, has even fertilizer industry. You've never heard of fertilizer industry in Singapore, right?

So that opens up my mind further. So I studied in the West, worked in China. Two years later, I said, "I need to go to Hong Kong, which is another financial hub. I want to do regional trades so that I can cover the whole of Asia". And of course, focusing on Greater China. Because of that, I was then able to service state owned enterprises, able to service the biggest client and also do a cross border transaction.

Lara Quie: So what I'm hearing is that you are someone who really believes in self improvement, learning lots of different skills. if we go back to what you said about your clients and building those relationships, you had taught yourself many different things so that you can become a very good conversationalist, engage with them, find things in common, talk about real estate. 

I know that obviously Hong Kong Chinese love to talk about real estate and all these many things. And then you had said to yourself Singapore, it's such a tiny place. I must go abroad. You chose to do a master's in finance. You went to the UK, you saw all of these English people busy doing construction work.

But then you came back to Singapore. And then you saw Greater China. You recognized an opportunity and you said, right, I need to go there and you made it happen. So you, yourself, you didn't wait around to be asked. You said to your boss, right, China's opening up. I want to improve my Mandarin.

I need to get over there, speak to these people. And then you went there and then you went to Hong Kong, which is again, a different environment and definitely all the rage at the time when it comes to financial institutions, the money, it was really the heyday of Hong Kong, wasn't it? 

Eric Sim: Definitely.

That was before the financial crisis, in 2007, 2008. So yeah, the biggest deal that I have seen, I believe in creating opportunities. This was because of my upbringing. Opportunities never come to me. Nobody say, hey, you work in a hawker centre. Why don't you pursue this? Can I come and teach you this?

Can I bring you to this place? Nobody did that for me. Every single opportunity, I need to create it myself. That's why I applied to Princeton to do my PhD. Nobody said that I couldn't, so I tried. Of course I, I, I, I was rejected.

Lara Quie: Why do you think you were rejected for that?

Eric Sim: I'm just not good enough. You're talking about Princeton, PhD, the entire world's best scholars are applying, they have like five seats. I'm for PhD in operation research and financial engineering. Who am I? I knew nothing. So yeah, I didn't get in which I knew. Yeah. I was just rolling the dice.

That's what I like to do in life as well. Roll the dice. You, if you don't try, you never know. 

Lara Quie: Yes. So you believe in the phrase, if you don't ask, you don't get. 

Eric Sim: Yeah, you don't ask, you don't get, you don't try, you will not know whether you are good enough or not. Yeah, that's for me is life. And also I, when I apply for all this very unlikely success, right?

The probability of success. So low, I have very low expectation. And when you have low expectation, then you can continue in life and continue trying and one time something really become successful, then you hit a jackpot. 

Lara Quie: You've definitely hit the jackpot with LinkedIn. So I know that we better talk about LinkedIn.

So tell us about your journey. You mentioned that you got into it in 2015. You wanted to start writing. What happened? 

Eric Sim: Yeah. So 2015, I was with UBS then. Then I know one of my weaknesses is English, but I never really need to write. I was an engineer and then when it comes to banking, my team is the one writing the pitch book.

I mainly try to get the client to give us the deal, right? I don't do the actual work.

When I wanted to write, there was a concern, if I started writing, people will see through me, right? Oh, okay, UBS MD, English is so bad, the idea is so simple. That's the concern that I have, but where else can I do? Because I tried to write on Facebook. My friend were not interested in me sharing my career skills.

Yeah. Because they know me from 30 years. I was that loser in school. How come suddenly I'm now teaching career skills. That didn't go too well with them. So I tried on LinkedIn and I took me a few days to, to write. I first published it. I think I have maybe like 10 likes, 100 views. I was overjoyed because in school my essay got only two views.

One is my teacher, the other one is me. And neither of us liked my article. So now I got 10 likes and 100 views. Who are these 100 people who read my articles and even engage? And these are strangers. They don't even know me. One of them is from London whom I still visit every time I visit London.

So that gave me some encouragement to continue writing, and I've been writing every week since that day, 2015 Chinese New Year, and I already passed nine years. That means I've written more than nine years of weekly articles. There hasn't been a single week that I didn't write at least one article. Short or long article, yeah, whether I'm on flight, whether I'm sick or something happened in the family, you cannot expect nine years of smooth sailing life, right?

There must be something happened, around me, but I continue. So I didn't let whatever that's happening around me affect my schedule.

Lara Quie: So that's the very definition of overnight success, obviously. Yeah, 

Eric Sim: nine years of 

Lara Quie: hard work, 

Eric Sim: yeah, to achieve overnight success. 

Lara Quie: So it's the consistency of it, isn't it? And playing the long game, but also doing it for yourself. So initially the whole concept was to improve your writing and then you were pleasantly surprised that your content is out there and some people started to know and appreciate it and follow you to see more and start to interact.

Yeah, 

Eric Sim: so I was telling myself. Since my English is weak, why don't I use short sentences, simple words, and use pictures to tell the story so I can write less? That works on social media because nobody wants to read long passages using difficult words. And I have got readers who whose first language is not English.

So they find my articles easy to read, easy to understand. So I get a lot of people from China, from other parts of the world as well. 

I

Lara Quie: think that aspect of it is very, very interesting because it is a global platform and as you say, actually writing very simple terms mean that it is accessible to so many more people and you know, many listeners to the Legal Genie podcast are lawyers.

And one of the things that we always say to lawyers is try and use plain, simple language, actually, because there's no point showing off with all your incredible vocabulary if no one actually understands you. So this is a very key point and in fact, a lot of people who are social media creators, they do say, imagine a seventh grader, 11, 12 year old child and, and pitch it at their level because that's so much more inclusive, but it also is more difficult, isn't it? It's not so easy to be concise, simple, and to the point. 

Eric Sim: I think for lawyers, maybe difficult for me is the only way because I just don't have that wide range of vocabulary, yeah. 

Lara Quie: But that just shows that this platform can work in that way. That many people are intimidated saying, Oh, but I haven't got a PhD.

Oh, I'm not a lecturer at a university. Who am I to teach others? The whole point is, is that actually, every single person has something to give. All of us can teach another person something. We don't need to be an expert, but we do need to put a personal spin on something and to be able to tell other people in simple language about what we're trying to convey.

Eric Sim: what you say is spot on. Personal spin. Yeah, you don't have to teach people the difficult things. It's just your personal perspective, your personal story. So that, that should work. 

Lara Quie: So tell us a bit though about your journey in terms of those early beginnings, maybe a hundred views. At what point did it start to snowball?

Eric Sim: I, I was focused on my personal story. with universal application. If you read my post, usually something that happened to me, something was difficult, got rejected, how I overcome it. And what is the lesson for the reader? So that is the format. So my content is personal story with application.

Although LinkedIn is like online, I also make it a point to build community, which is the second C, right? Content and now community. Just now I said that my first article, I've got my first follower from the UK and I make it a point to meet up with him every time I go. So I met him like six, seven times.

That was how many times I went to the UK. I have networking events. These days I do less networking events. I do more of my book tour as well as I get engaged by conferences and companies to do public speaking at their events. So somehow, somehow I built my community there and also at the university.

Community is key because these are the people who can engage with your post. They have seen you in person, right? And are you the same person as the online persona you're trying to create? Some people are different. So when they are different, it's much more difficult because it's difficult to create a different character.

So if you are the same, then it feels more authentic. And third is consistency. Not just writing every week. My topic since day one has been on career skills. life skills, and it is until today, right? Consistency in terms of the story, but what I do is to vary the format. The standard is text and a photo, sometimes one photo, sometimes 10 photos, sometimes a video, if it warrants a video.

Some content is best to be shown through a video. For example, I gave a speech. then a clip of what I say. Yeah. Sometimes it can be a video of my trip. Say in Taiwan, I went to do a live streaming to launch my book there. So what is live streaming like? A book launch in a format, I went with one of the live streaming e commerce company.

So I went to their office, went to their studio, they have a host who sells my book every 15 minutes. So I was there, she just interviewed me and asking their viewers to buy my book. So in order to show that, I shoot a video showing where the company is, the hosts and the cameras around us. So that is video format.

Sometimes I do PDF format. For example, if I want to teach people how to do a Zoom interview. You need to set up your microphone, your camera, your lightings. So that is best to show in a PDF format with pictures. And you can do LinkedIn live, you can do LinkedIn audio. So by varying all these format while keeping the topic consistent, people still feel fresh.

Sometimes they hear you, sometimes they see you, sometimes they read you. Yeah, and sometimes I interview other people, so it's not always about me. I interview leaders, I interview tailor, hawkers, just people around us, the daily people. And in fact just now I walked past a street, a small street. I saw a team of people with one person climbing up this very long ladder to the tree.

The tree is more than 10 meters tall. So I went to talk to them. What are you doing? They say they try to remove the nest of the crow because crow are becoming a nuisance. They, they create a lot of noise and sometimes they, they attack people. So MParks in Singapore, National Parks in Singapore has engaged this company to remove the nest.

So I asked them how do you remove the nest? What do you do with the birds? Are there any birds, are there any type of birds that you find? So then they were teaching me how to do it. And they say that if you spot a nest, the way to remove the nest is not to pull it down, but to push it up. Because the crow are so smart, that the nest can withstand weight.

Because the baby bird will get heavy and sometimes rain falls, so it's the architecture, the engineering is such that it can withstand weight. When you pull it down, it takes you one hour, but by pushing it up, then the nest will then drop. So I said, Oh, so this is how I learn. And this is how I get my ideas for my LinkedIn post by talking to the people around us.

Lara Quie: Fascinating. 

Eric Sim: You can then be consistent because some people say how to be consistent writing every week. We don't have so many new ideas. Yeah, 

So three Cs, content, personal stories with universal application, community meet your followers, meet the people around you, can be your colleagues, friends. And number three is consistency in your topic, consistency in finding inspiration by talking to people around you. However, vary your format. 

Lara Quie: That sounds like really excellent advice. And especially when you mentioned the authenticity, because I think that sometimes people do adopt an online persona. But as you said that the community is so much part of it, you can't really have your online persona and your real self and for them not to match because actually you must try to blend the two.

So having great followers and fans who you've met in person and with whom you've built a relationship and you have those, daily conversations and you support each other and you have some banter and some jokes and, referring to meetups that you've done. And all of that, that's what makes it so much richer, doesn't it?

Because I, I'm always telling people to make sure they curate their feed, their network. And you're talking about the kind of content. You've got one umbrella theme of career, but you're talking about how you make it all applicable in terms of your personal experiences. And I think for you, Eric, what I really noticed, cause this word authentic, but you are so humble, like you really leverage your background and the fact that you have done everything yourself.

And I think that this is the thing that must endear people to you so much because you're somebody who just made it happen for yourself, and I think that makes other people feel like, wow, he talks about his failures, but he talks about how he gave it a try. This is what happened.

He's learned this lesson. He's going to share it with us. And he's not too proud to share, what happened. And I think that that is the ultimate thing that really engages people. They want to meet people like you who are not high and mighty and, you know, superstar diva types, that they want to meet you, the person.

Eric Sim: I want to help the 22 year old Eric Sim and Erica, who have no family connection, little knowledge because of the environment, their upbringing. People who are shy, people who may not have the courage to attend networking events, so at least they can come onto my LinkedIn, behind the computer, and read about my past. Maybe it's similar to what they have experienced now, and I show them how they can progress.

It may take a long time. It took me, 20 over years to reach where I am. Hopefully they have some patience. They have some guidance. And they take action. Yeah. So that's my purpose to help this group of people. Only if they can identify with me will they then take the action because only then they will believe taking this action can help them.

Yeah. 

Lara Quie: Yeah. This is it though. You're the role model and you're their inspiration. because they can see what taking action can do. But looking back at your career in finance, and now, you know, you've written a book, you're, you've got LinkedIn stardom, you're flying all over Asia, all over the world, people are inviting you to speak on stage they're selling your book in Taiwan, you've translated it into Chinese.

What do you think about what's happened since 2015? Could you ever have dreamed that this could be your future? 

Eric Sim: No. Number one, I want to thank myself for writing that first LinkedIn article. If I didn't write that first article, none of this would have happened, right? Then I wouldn't have a LinkedIn following.

Then I wouldn't have a book. I wouldn't know you. We wouldn't have be having this podcast. So lesson number one is try many things. Even the probability is low, still, still try. So that's what I believe in. And yeah, I'm very fortunate to have the support of LinkedIn, the company itself, the staff, the teams around the world.

I even visit LinkedIn London, I get invited to see their office, to have coffee. And most important is I get connected with big groups of people. Talented people, people who have potential, people who are keen to develop themselves. And a lot of them are sharing their ideas with me. I learned a lot of things from different people.

How to produce a show, how to shoot videos, how to edit. This I don't get by attending a class, but we do it together with some of my LinkedIn connections. So I'm very grateful for that. 

Lara Quie: Yeah. It sounds like you've had a fantastic journey. So what tips could you give for all these lawyers listening right now?

Many of them are lurking about on LinkedIn. they daren't write a post, they daren't show that they're there, they don't want their bosses thinking that they're lazing about and not working. So have you got some tips for them to get started? 

Eric Sim: Yes. Number one, before I go on, I just want to share that I work with lawyers a lot in my banking careers. I engage lawyers, external lawyers to help me draft a loan agreement, security agreement even engage them to sue my borrower for defaulting. So I learned a lot from them. I even dealt with the Department of Justice. Dealing with them means I need to have a lawyer.

So I've got my lawyer from New York flying in. The moment he land, he's ready to prep me. So I'm really impressed with people like that. And sometimes when we do on transaction, I work daytime, so I give them my comments. We will turn the pages, send them by 6 p. m. Next morning, 8 a. m. The revised version is there in my inbox.

So really give it to them. They, they work so hard. Some I see they want to do LinkedIn, but there is a concern which I share because I was in investment banking, which is a very sensitive area and industry. Number one, I stay away from my core job. I never write about investment banking, not about competitors, not about deals.

I don't even tell people where I go. Because if I tell people that I'm going to Qingdao in China, they can suspect that the people who are in the industry can suspect that I'm there for an M& A transaction. Or maybe I'm there for a beauty parade. Beauty parade means the banks have to go there to pitch and then to get the mandate.

So I don't even do that. I focus just on career skills, career tips for my students because I was already teaching in several universities. So for lawyers, you can talk, if you're not comfortable talking about law on social media, talk about anything that interests you that you can talk over a few years.

So that's one. And when people see you on LinkedIn, even if you don't talk about law, they know you are a lawyer. They know the kind of service you provide. And they'll think of you when they need to engage a law firm, right? Unless you're an in house lawyer. That's number one. And number two is just posting once a month is enough.

Because you're not trying to be an influencer. You just want to build a bit of presence so that when you meet your client, they would have said, hey, the last time you post about you going to school to give back, to teach the new lawyers, oh, that's so great. Or you talk about the pro bono case, you featured one of the lawyers who did this case and helped save the domestic helper. That can be a starting point. You build trust, you build goodwill and it's easier from there to win your next deal or to win your next account. And number three is, yeah, build your community where you can go back to school. You can even teach non lawyers simple things about the law terms, the legal terms that they need to, to know. Yeah, help, help the layman that they may not give you the business directly. But once you build this goodwill, I think people will, will like you and know you as well. 

Lara Quie: That sounds good. I think you're absolutely right that you want to build that goodwill, that presence.

It, it isn't about posting every day, unless they want to be a serious influencer like you. 

Eric Sim: Because you need to be careful with your bosses, right? Because some bosses say, hey, you're too free, right? You're so free. Why don't you go and get a few more accounts? Why are you spending time on LinkedIn?

So you don't want your bosses to do that. And I have the same concern. So I check with my corporate communication colleague. Every few months I'll buy lunch and I'll check casually to say, Hey, What do you think of my LinkedIn articles? And I say, if you feel that I shouldn't write this, let me know.

Don't tell my boss without telling me, because I can change. And I don't need to do this. They say, no, Eric, continue writing, because when they see you, they see our bank. It's free publicity for us. And because I stay away from sensitive topic, they know that I will not say something wrong. 

Lara Quie: Yeah. That's super important.

And I think that once people can find a good topic that they enjoy and they can share a passion for it, and they can teach other people things, they will get a following and over time with the consistency, the content and the community, they will build a presence that will mean that it'll be a good thing for them and to build their network.

Everybody needs a good network and, LinkedIn is just such a fantastic place for that. So where should people contact you? Obviously you've got over 2 million followers, you cannot connect with any more people. But if somebody has heard this and, they want to invite you to speak or to meet with you for coffee or something, where should they reach out?

Eric Sim: Yeah, just message me on LinkedIn. That is the best way. I check my LinkedIn more than my email. My name is Eric Sim. You should be able to find me. And my title on the headline on my LinkedIn is Banker, Lecturer, Speaker, and Author. 

Lara Quie: Yes. So what about your book " Small Actions, Leading Your Career to Big Success", Is it available in Kinokuniya and all good bookstores?

Eric Sim: Kinokuniya in Singapore, Bookazine in Hong Kong yeah, Amazon, it has a Kindle version as well. and the Chinese version are also available in Chinese bookstores in China and in Taiwan. 

Lara Quie: That's just fantastic. Well done. You have done so many things with your life. So congratulations. And thank you so much for being on the show today, Eric.

Eric Sim: Thank you, Lara.