When you reach that critical point in life, making a decision can be a tough call. Should you retire, if you have the option? What to do when you retire?
Take a swing at a new way of life and start something fresh? Or review the experience you’ve amassed over a long career and redirect it towards a new calling?
For advertising maven Thomas Aw, the decision wasn’t a difficult one to make. He gathered three decades of experience in the industry and channelled it into a new endeavour. But he switched things up. Instead of handling accounts at advertising agency Okidoki, he decided to be front and centre of his new venture, iCollect.
For Thomas it was a matter of continuing his passion and understanding he was not ready to quit yet.
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New beginnings from old
While many may turn to pastimes to while away the hours, Thomas is intent on taking iCollect beyond a semi-retirement project.
He’s still creating content, but he’s doing it for himself. Thomas seeks out people who are avid collectors of things — from dolls to moulds to vinyl — gets their stories and uploads them onto the iCollect YouTube channel.
Thomas admits that running iCollect comes with its fair share of challenges and rewards. The challenge of running a self-funded project like this is that it can get very costly.
The project is purely funded by Thomas and his friends, Aden Fong, 55, who handles videography and editing, and Khoo Boo Tiong, 61, who looks after research and writing.
The rewards the trio enjoy are the full autonomy they get through this venture and the growing number of positive comments they see from each episode.
Understanding the space
Through this journey, Thomas grew to understand the digital content space better. In a space dominated by youth, the iCollect team had to adapt.
Their collective experience provided an excellent foundation to find fresh ways to connect with a new platform and audiences.
Never a dull moment in a constantly evolving environment where new platforms rise up suddenly and old ones could become redundant swiftly.
How to kickstart a semi-retirement project
For those embarking on a new direction in their post-career retirement activities, Thomas has some practical advice.
Figuring out where your passions lie is an important factor in deciding what shape your project will take.
From Thomas’ own experience, it shows that a semi-retirement project doesn’t always have to be something new to you.
“If you have the experience to supplement it, moving in that direction might present a refreshing challenge to your usual routine and may even contribute to your active ageing lifestyle."
With most passion projects the best thing to do is to invest within your means.
For silvers looking to embark on a passion project of content creation, Thomas’ advice is simple.
“If there is something you can teach and you can share, and you know you can sustain it go ahead. People love to learn, and these are the things people follow."
