Profile

Jolynn has over 25 years of operational experience in areas like banking and finance, publication and distribution, import and marketing of packaging products, as well as training and education.

She has designed and delivered programmes on minute writing, report writing, business and technical writing, phonetics and spoken English, presentation skills, and customer service skills.

Jolynn holds a Master of Arts in Human Resource Development (MAHRD) awarded by the George Washington University, a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBBA) majoring in Marketing awarded by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics awarded by the RELC.

Jolynn also holds a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) awarded by Cambridge University.

A Message from Jolynn

My name is Jolynn Chow and I am rich, famous and beautiful.

No, actually I just like to see that in print.

I used to think that to be rich and famous, you need a combination of at least three factors from this list - luck, good looks, charisma and intelligence.

And so for years I yearned to be prettier, more confident, funnier, more likeable, and smarter. Taller too. Oh boy, definitely taller.

Let me tell you a little of what I've done in the last 25 years or so. I worked in a bank for five years when I started out in my career. I moved from being a teller to a remittance clerk to a (gasp) computer programmer!

One bank manager left a deep impression on me. I watched him communicate with all kinds of bank customers – old ladies who adored him, foreign workers who entrusted their banking needs to him like an older relative, yuppies who showed him a lot of respect and some impatience when he explained something for longer then they thought necessary. He handled all of them with dignity and respect. He showed me what it meant to really communicate – listen, understand, then respond.

I then worked as a personal assistant to a Japanese general manager before leaving for Japan on a six-month teaching stint.

I loved Japan, and there I saw another aspect of communication - the use of language. We might have all the good intentions in the world, listen and empathise actively, but if we cannot convey our message accurately, total communication cannot happen.

I also saw how cultural differences affect the way people interact and communicate, and it was fascinating to see it at first hand on a daily basis.

When I returned to Singapore, I worked in a publishing firm for a year before joining an educational and training institute. Here I was a programme development officer and then a corporate training manager. I gained confidence in interacting with clients and understanding their training needs.

In 2002, I decided to put it all together to help make a difference. I started my own training company, focusing on business communication, customer service, and interpersonal relations. People generally have good intentions; they just need to have the correct skills to carry out those intentions. I set out to help equip working professionals with the skills in these areas.

And what a journey it has been! I'm constantly challenged to understand more about communication issues in the business world, about the people I work with, and about myself.

I still dream of becoming rich and famous, but now I'm happy with my own list: I am happy, confident, and smarter (I'm quite sure). I cannot report becoming prettier or taller, but hey, I also know now that these are optional.

I'll trade these for luck any day.

↑ Return to top

The trainer, Jolynn Chow, has shown her knowledge in current business practices, and her excellent command of the language made it an enjoyable course.

Resident Manager,
Keppel Land,
Technical Writing Programme