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FASHION show organiser, nightclub owner, restaurant and bar proprietor - these are jobs for tough guys.
But Ms Karen Seah - all petite 1.55m of her - is one single-minded woman who has taken on these male-dominated domains and succeeded.
The latest venture by Ms Seah, 37, sounds tame in comparison: an events and public relations company.
But true to her maverick nature, she is upping the ante by launching an online reality show as well, called Supermodel Me.
The elder daughter of corporate figure and former Overseas Union Bank president Peter Seah, she had a privileged upbringing, attending boarding school in Britain.
Back then, the teenager, already interested in photography, fashion and events management, used to organise events for her classmates. Once, while home for the holidays, she and some friends put on a successful fashion show to help raise money for charity.
In Singapore, she spent much of her time hanging out at nightspot Zouk.
After getting a degree in photojournalism and a master's in psychology from Boston University, Ms Seah moved Down Under to Melbourne, to do her PhD in psychology.
In her spare time though, she did not stray far from her first love of clubs and events management - organising one-off theme nights at various nightclubs.
Despite her relative inexperience, she had a knack for turning a profit on these events, and soon found herself agreeing to handle Friday nights - the busiest night of the week - for one Aussie club.
Just six months short of completing her PhD, a chance came her way to own a Melbourne nightclub in a fantastic location, and she took it.
On paper, it looked like a highly questionable move for a 26-year-old with little in the way of savings. But Ms Seah reasoned that opportunity only knocks once.
'I thought this was a chance of a lifetime. It taught me a lot. If I can survive that, I can survive anything.'
Naturally her parents were dead set against the move, but she told them that she was not a 'desk job person'.
She got a partner on board to share the total investment of A$1 million (S$1.1 million), remaining the larger shareholder.
Ms Seah got a loan from her father to fund her venture; which was granted only after she had written up a detailed business plan with projections that managed to convince him.
'He looked at it like a banker,' she said.
So she ran the Salt Nightclub in Melbourne and became the youngest-ever member - the only Asian and only female to boot - of the Australian city's Nightclub Owners' Association.
In the two years that she ran the club, sited in a former warehouse in the trendy inner city suburb of South Yarra, it became one of the most popular clubbing venues in Melbourne.
But amid the success, Ms Seah was shocked to see a patron being stabbed on the dance floor. It caused her to think twice about operating in the industry.
'It hits you hard - business gets affected, there are safety issues, there is also the media backlash about an 'Asian club' and the association with Vietnamese or Chinese gangs.'
'It was getting tough,' she admitted. 'My passion of running a nightclub was for people to enjoy the music or theme nights, not having to deal with this.'
Eventually, she thought that it was time to call it a day in Melbourne.
'I sold off the business at a profit,' she said. She repaid her father with the proceeds.
By then, Ms Seah had built up a name for herself in the industry in Melbourne, and the opportunity soon beckoned for her to do the same in Kuala Lumpur - by starting up another club, called Nouvo.
While KL may have been closer to home and family, it did not mean that it was a walk in the park - the culture and religion there were hugely different from what she was used to.
'Kuala Lumpur is not for a sheltered person to venture into to do business. It was difficult to operate there. You have to work with the police. There are also gangs. Navigating Malaysia was challenging. I didn't speak Malay or Cantonese, so it was a complete culture shock for me,' she recalled.
A big break came next when well-known nightclub owner Lincoln Cheng, the man behind Zouk in Singapore, wanted to set up an outfit in Malaysia.
'I felt I understood Zouk culture, the way they operated, and how they had created a brand, a sort of culture.'
She was roped in to start up the club. Proudly, Ms Seah said: 'I built that club from scratch, literally.' She had to deal with the contractors during the construction process, set up the administrative functions, recruit managers and staff, and talk to other investors.
'People may think it is glamorous, but running a nightclub involves understanding the construction and tender process, how to design the traffic flow, so that it is easy for patrons to move about and get to the bar. Sound, lighting as well as security are all part and parcel of running a successful nightclub.'
Just as important in the business is understanding accounts and cash.
'A nightclub is a cash business so you have to make sure that it is safe,' said Ms Seah.
And there are always problems - the staff fight, customers are unreasonable, there is bad press. 'My father taught me that a big part of running a business is people management,' said Ms Seah, who is single.
Her crowning achievement in Malaysia? Ms Seah is proud of how she put together Zouk Fest, a rave at Genting Highlands attended by about 16,000 people.
Then only 34, Ms Seah felt that she needed to take some time out. In the years that she lived in Malaysia, she was accompanied by bodyguards around KL, because of fears of being attacked or kidnapped. Nightclub owners, Ms Seah said, try to remain low-profile.
Finally, she returned to Singapore in 2006.
Together with partners, she set up Mimolette, a bar and restaurant located near the old Turf Club, tucked away into the greenery, partly because 'I had always wanted to go into the restaurant business and this was my first attempt'.
Her latest move came in February, with the launch of an events company Refinery Studio, and a media arm called Refinery Media.
Despite opening for business during the worst of the economic turmoil, Refinery Studio already had four fashion shows and events under its belt by April - not bad for a fledgling company.
And Ms Seah is keen to get ahead of the pack. To showcase her team's talents, the Web fanatic even came up with the idea of Singapore's first online reality show - Supermodel Me.
The show puts 10 attractive wanna-be models through various challenges to win prizes, among them cash of $10,000.
The project costs a low six-figure sum. Ms Seah has put in some of her own money while securing sponsorship from a variety of firms such as Topshop.
Innovative features dot the show - by clicking on the clothes that the models are wearing, viewers can find out where they can buy the outfits.
The shows are being aired on the Internet over 10 weeks, with a grand finale on Aug 22.
'I want to see Singapore promote more pan-Asian models in shows,' said Ms Seah. 'This show not only demonstrates what my team can do, but I am also doing my part for the local modelling scene.'
It may seem like a hodgepodge of different businesses, but she said: 'What I'm doing is all related. I feel that the lifestyle business can encompass music, clubbing, fashion and technology.'
While Ms Seah has not received any government funding so far, Exploit, the marketing and commercialisation arm of the Agency for Science, Technology And Research, and Refinery Media have signed an agreement to look into developing new technologies.
Her thoughts on setting up a business: 'Being an entrepreneur, you don't have a 'back door'. You have to do things on your own. You may be scared, but you have got to go on, because you have invested so much money and there's no turning back.'
