The worst that can happen

Published: Thursday, 25 April 2013

When I was growing up, my mum earned about $20,000 a year to support herself, my brother and I.  By living very frugally and only spending money on things that were investments into our future (such as extra-curricula activities) she was able to bring my brother and I up to get our educations and go to university.

When I was considering being an entrepreneur, this really consoled me because I knew firsthand that if I completely failed at all my entrepreneurial endeavours, my relationship failed and I was left to look after two young kids, I would be able to do it.

Knowing what the worst that can happen looks like makes it less stressful to take a leap of faith and reach for the stars.

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • I'm average

    I used to think I was brilliant.  That I was different.  That I was special.  But then I realised a lot of people feel that way about themselves.  And...

  • NBN STEMpreneur

    The NBN Stempreneur Initiative is a virtual learning program for kids in eight regional schools. It shows young people the breadth of opportunities...

  • I've done what I've done

    When I became Young Australian of the Year a year ago, I wanted to give as many speeches as I physically could, I wanted to contribute to the...

  • How successful are you?

    “I go to Imperial College”, “I’m applying to MIT”, “I play bowls for my county”, or “I’m a pro-series gamer” means nothing to the person who doesn’t know...

  • World Entrepreneurship Forum

    After Utah, I flew to Lyon, France to speak at the World Entrepreneurship Forum.  It was fantastic to meet with successful entrepreneurs from all...

  • Officeworks

    Officeworks got in touch to film this short content editorial piece. They filmed a Robogals workshop in Melbourne, our Jevaroo robot in action and an...

  • Chinese History Museum

    The Chinese History Museum invited me to be part of their exhibition on notable Chinese Australians. In February, over Chinese New Year, my mum came to...

  • Wall of Change

    I have a wall in my room where the artwork is sheets of paper blu-tacked next to each other, forming a rectangle.  I call it my "Wall of Change" My...

  • Australian of the Year Awards 60th anniversary

    My last, large, in-person networking event I went to in Australia since before the pandemic was the 60th anniversary celebrations for the Australian of the...

  • create magazine cover

    I spent the summer working out of the Engineers Australia Victoria office with 20 university students.  As a result they put me on the front cover of...