Angela Lee was a six-time MMA world champion. She retired in 2023, not long after losing her sister Victoria. When she stopped fighting, she started talking about mental health, about Victoria, about who she was underneath the fighter. Not everyone around her was ready for that. She felt like a black sheep, with just her husband and daughter supporting her. What pulled her through was learning to advocate for herself, something she says she could only do at first by treating it the way she'd stand up for the people she loves. She built her nonprofit, Fight Story, out of the same instinct, and slowly found new people, at the gym and around the work, who became a new family. This conversation is about who she is now, what she's still fighting for, and much more. Angela's links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelaleemma/ Fight Story: https://fightstory.org/ United We Rise Book: https://a.co/d/0g481yuk Podcast links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2h9gsrWKH9C1KY1OzR12kr?si=2a4d19970632465f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-we-get-there/id1775182252 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beforewegettherepodcast/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nicholasbraman Website: https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast 00:00 Welcoming Angela Lee Back To Singapore 05:15 Identity Crisis After Fighting 11:49 Why She Retired 13:43 Burnout And Mental Health 22:46 Losing Victoria And Starting Fight Story 27:41 Becoming The Black Sheep 33:08 Building A New Tribe 36:27 Writing United We Rise 42:31 Five-Year Vision 44:43 Closing
In this episode of Before We Get There, host Nicholas Braman interviews Amber Tan, who left her Singapore Airlines cabin crew career to set up a wholesale fish business at Jurong Fishery Port for her then-partner. Funding the venture with her own savings, she lost about $170K, discovered repeated lies and affairs, and ultimately ended the relationship after a friend warned what staying would model for her daughter. When her ex left debts and an incoming fish shipment under a company in her name, Amber took over, put in a final $10K, let a worker go, and learned the trade hands-on at 3:00 AM, breaking even by February. She discusses navigating a male-dominated port, code-switching between "SQ mode" and wet-market life, expanding via door-to-door delivery and a wet market partnership, and her hope to keep wet markets from dying. Amber's links: Business Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paogeseafood/ Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valeisky/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/discover/pao-ge-seafood Podcast links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2h9gsrWKH9C1KY1OzR12kr?si=2a4d19970632465f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-we-get-there/id1775182252 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beforewegettherepodcast/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nicholasbraman Website: https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast 00:00 Meet Amber Tan 03:17 Starting the Fish Company 05:18 Betrayal and Taking Over 09:16 Life at the Fishery Port 11:44 Last Straw and Daughter 16:25 Winning Over the Uncles 22:00 Motherhood Changes Everything 27:34 SQ Identity And Port Life 31:33 Tomboy To Cabin Crew 37:11 Saving Wet Market Culture 42:53 Where To Follow And Farewell
Jeremy Tan had a successful business and no reason to go into politics. He ran anyway, as an independent with no party behind him, and took the highest independent vote share since 1972. Then he lost. In this one he gets into what pushed him in, what the run cost him, and the read on Singapore he came away with. Wealth that keeps pooling at the top. Work that's about to change faster than most people are ready for. A government he thinks is stuck in its own silos. He's blunt about all of it, including the parts that didn't go his way. Jeremy's links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremytan.sg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-tan-sg/ Website: https://jeremytan.sg/ Podcast links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2h9gsrWKH9C1KY1OzR12kr?si=2a4d19970632465f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-we-get-there/id1775182252 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beforewegettherepodcast/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nicholasbraman Website: https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast 00:00 Introducing Jeremy Tan 01:52 Post Election Life Plans 04:26 Why Run Independent 06:39 Covid Handouts Wake Up 09:44 Campaign Attacks Wealth Gap 15:58 Online Anger Reddit Pulse 20:24 Singapore Identity Immigration 23:17 AI Push Productivity Risks 32:21 Future Work Be A Department 38:51 SkillsFuture Black Box 41:48 Five Year Hopes Outro
Host Nicholas Braman interviews Nini Marini, a multi-artist and art advocate who spent nearly 20 years in Malaysian broadcasting before leaving to pursue art full-time. Nini explains how she coined “multi-artist” to describe her multidimensional identity, how she balanced a dual track of media work and art, and how a phoenix painting unexpectedly merged her private art life with her corporate role. She recounts proposing a reduced workweek, ultimately taking a package to leave, and using COVID to reassess, study branding, and explore opportunities like a New York surface pattern exhibition. Nini shares that full-time art brought income-driven pressure and dissatisfaction with commissions, leading her toward structured work in art philanthropy focused on heritage, policy gaps for creatives, and elevating craftspeople who don’t see themselves as artists. Nini's links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ninimarini.art TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ninimarini_ Website: http://www.ninimarini.art/ Podcast links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2h9gsrWKH9C1KY1OzR12kr?si=2a4d19970632465f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-we-get-there/id1775182252 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beforewegettherepodcast/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nicholasbraman Website: https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast 00:00 Podcast Intro and Guest 04:38 Art Roots and Identity 08:13 Parents Practical Advice 16:06 Phoenix Painting Breakthrough 21:49 Leaving Corporate Behind 24:05 Money Pressure on Creativity 29:08 Why Full Time Art Felt Heavy 36:38 Craftspeople Worth and Recognition 43:20 Where to Find Nini
At 18, Alyssa Lie auditioned her way into musical theater with almost no training. A decade later she had the followers, the campaigns, the viral comedy, and she was burning out doing it. Then the comments started. Her accent was fake. Her positivity was fake. Maybe the whole bright, likeable person she'd built online was a performance. She went to Bali to work out whether any of it was real, and the trip made it worse before it made it better. This one's about what's left of you when you stop giving people the version they came for. Alyssa on choosing the risky path young, managing her entire career herself, and the difference between the self you perform and the self you protect. Alyssas' links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsalyssalie/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mxjulianaheng Website: https://www.alyssalie.com/ Podcast links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2h9gsrWKH9C1KY1OzR12kr?si=2a4d19970632465f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-we-get-there/id1775182252 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beforewegettherepodcast/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nicholasbraman Website: https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast 00:00 Introducing Alyssa Lie 03:49 Choosing Plan A 10:06 Bullied In Class 17:11 Graduation Reality Check 20:28 TikTok Algorithm Trap 25:52 Hate Comments And Doubt 27:15 Bali Wake Up Call 31:55 Rebuilding Authentic Content 35:50 Art Versus Income 39:50 Five-Year Vision 41:12 Wrap Up And Where To Find