• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, February 21, 2016

After you've toiled in the ad agency business for a number of years, it can begin to grate on your soul. One Singapore ad man, Kenneth Wee, reached his breaking point and left the ad world to open up a bike school.

Of his exit, he said: "I was having a bit of a burnout then. Advertising was no longer fun and I felt I did not have anything to show for it. I work three months on a campaign, and the next day, my dog is pooping on it. There is no longevity. I'm not leaving behind any legacy."

Are you sick of your work getting shit on? Are you willing to give up $300 an hour for a far more modest $40 an hour? Wee was sick enough and in 2009, left the ad work to open Singapore Bike School and, two years later, a bike mechanic school, Bike School Asia. 

Wee decided to go into this new endeavor when, as a part-time cycling coach, he successfully taught a 69-yer-old grandmother recovering from hip replacement surgery to ride in just two lessons. 

Of that experience and the motivation it gave him, Wee said: "She told me, 'You're doing a good thing. Otherwise, people like me won't get to do this and I won't be so happy.' "