https://www.scmp.com/rss/510260/feed A series of interviews with inspiring individuals who reflect on how they carved their own paths to success and overcame challenges along the way. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The devastating 2007 and 2008 financial crisis sparked the collapse of the United States housing market, sent international markets tumbling and led to the demise of big American investment banks and mortgage lenders, such as Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual Bank. Michael Culhane’s world came tumbling down, too. He and his Sydney-based financial services company, Pepper Money, which he had founded in 2000, were left facing an unimaginable loss. “That was painful,” Culhane, 53, now CEO of... https://www.scmp.com/native/business/topics/stories-success-and-innovation/article/3144886/michael-culhane?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/native/business/topics/stories-success-and-innovation/article/3144886/michael-culhane?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Aug 2021 07:00:21 +0000 The year was 2004, and Annabelle Bond was more than 7,000 metres above ground, scaling Mount Everest, the Earth’s highest peak. She had just departed the South Col camp near the summit and was crossing over a glacier while battling the elements, from icy air to deafening winds – it was akin to a scene straight out of an action movie. One of her gloves had blown off. To call that moment her darkest hour would be an understatement. “I heard two voices in my head,” Bond recalls. “One was telling me... https://www.scmp.com/native/lifestyle/topics/stories-success-and-innovation/article/3142553/annabelle-bond?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/native/lifestyle/topics/stories-success-and-innovation/article/3142553/annabelle-bond?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Jul 2021 07:00:20 +0000 As a frequent guest on business news shows, Stanley Szeto, executive chairman of apparel supply chain manager Lever Style, always seems to have the right answer. He looks at ease in front of the camera and smiles confidently before the interviewer has finished asking a question, as if he already has the response down pat. His confidence is not without justification. Since taking over the family business in 2000 at only 25 years old, Szeto has transformed it from a struggling shirt maker into an... https://www.scmp.com/native/lifestyle/topics/stories-success-and-innovation/article/3140906/how-lever-style-chairman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/native/lifestyle/topics/stories-success-and-innovation/article/3140906/how-lever-style-chairman?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Jul 2021 07:00:08 +0000