ITC CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY WITH LIZ OTHMAN

International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. In conjunction with that, Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) would like to honour the women we’ve had the pleasure of working with throughout our journey in advancing the Islamic Tourism space in Malaysia. We’ve worked with many great women in our time, and though we can’t feature them all here, know that we support them wholeheartedly towards their professional and personal goals. 

To further inspire us all on this journey of life, we’ve invited some of these women to share their success stories with us. Here, they reveal the highs of their lives and what motivates them to keep going through tough times. We hope that this spotlight on the women we’ve worked with – and whom we have utmost respect for – will inspire us all on our journey forward!

For this IWD blog series, we’re excited to speak with Ms. Liz Othman, CEO and Principal Consultant of TES Consultancy, and owner of Teratak Spa. We are so touched by her story of love for family, her drive for knowledge and how she overcame her technophobia to achieve even more during the pandemic. With her tenacity for life and drive to improve herself, ITC is certainly proud to have her on our side as we journey towards strengthening Islamic Tourism further!

Norliza Othman

CEO cum Principal Consultant

TES Consultancy Sdn Bhd

ITC: Can you introduce yourself to our readers? Tell us a little bit about yourself – personal, family and business-wise?

Liz Othman: My name is Norliza Othman but I’m fondly known as Liz. I’m 51 years old, married with 2 children and also a mother to 6 fluffy cats. I’ve been an entrepreneur for 26 years. The spa and wellness industry is part of my life. Besides managing my team in running my three spa outlets under the brand name of Teratak Spa, I also conduct training, coaching and mentoring, mainly for entrepreneurs and trainers. I am also actively involved in a few NGOs and currently I’m the President of Malaysia Association of Wellness Trainers.

ITC: What’s your most recent accomplishment in your personal life that you’ve been most proud of? Why was this achievement special to you?

Liz: To balance between business and family sometimes has been very challenging to me. However, the MCO has given me an opportunity to spend more time with my family. My dream to make my mom and my grandma to stay with me came true where I finally managed to persuade them to do so in April 2021. By staying with me, I can take care of their health and safety as well as make them happy. For the record, my mother is 71 years old while my grandmother is 91 years old.

ITC: What’s your most recent accomplishment, career/business-wise, that you’ve been most proud of? Why was this achievement special to you?

Liz: Digital Technology is something that I’ve always been afraid to explore as my little voice always whispers that I am too old for that. Again, the pandemic changed everything. In 2020 alone, I had attended more than 50 online courses, seminars, conferences and workshop.

I learned how to conduct online classes, explored different teaching methods, techniques and mediums and discovered various systems that could digitalize my spa business operation. 

I have embraced the digital technology, and I’m no longer a camera-shy person – recording and creating my YouTube Channel and even doing Facebook live. 

Because I always appear online, I’ve been invited as a speaker at local and international events. My biggest achievement was when I was invited as a speaker by World Spa & Wellness Asia Online 2021 based in London. The whole world was watching and listening to my presentation. Although I was very nervous initially, the positive responses from the audience made me very excited and contented.

I even created new training modules on spa digitalization and teach entrepreneurs and trainers.

ITC: What are the values you hold on to that has helped you to be where you are today – values that have helped to see you through the good and bad times?

Liz: Continuously enhancing my knowledge and skills have helped me to be who am I today. Learning something new every day helps me to improve and be a better person. Investing in myself with knowledge and skills for professional and personal growth is something that I truly believe in. You can say that my motto is “Renew Yourself Everyday.”

ITC: What’s your project/ ambition/ goals that you wish to achieve next (personal and career/business-wise)?

Liz: My personal goal is to have more quality time with my family. Professionally, I hope that I can enable my business to run on autopilot and be a professional international speaker.

ITC: Could you share with us your experience of working with ITC and what do you value about this relationship?

Liz: ITC and Malaysia Association of Wellness Trainers are working together to strengthen the spa industry with new ideas and innovations. ITC continuously supports and helps to elevate the spa and Wellness industry to the next level. ITC also has given me the opportunity to be a speaker at several of their online events last year.