So This Is My Why

Rodney Wong is the CEO of Munchy's, one of the largest Malaysia-based snack food manufacturer with presence in over 60 countries globally. Which makes him the Willy Wonka of Malaysia! And he's had quite the varied career. From tobacco to Coca-Cola, Petronas and now the world of snacks and sweets, Rodney is testimony to the fact that we all need to take charge of our own career and personal development to get to where we want. The question is... how? While everyone's path is different, Rodney's shared his personal journey, highlighting the people who were significant in his journey, why paying forward is so important him, what it's like working with founders on their 'baby' and his vision for the future. Want to hear what one of Malaysia's top entrepreneurs has to say about building success career? Stick around and you'll find out! Highlights 2:41 Rooted in family 3:18 Being an archaeologist 6:21 Structured way of working 7:23 Connecting the dots 8:45 Take charge of your own development 11:41 What success looks like 13:43 I have a hard rule 15:05 Paying it forward 16:28 Major learnings 18:35 Gen Z 23:31 Being in Shanghai 25:11 KOLs 27:07 Do you want to expand the market or improve the bottom line? 29:03 The challenge of working with founders 31:58 We're going to sell... 34:50 Progression & growth 36:38 Personal growth 42:35 Soka Gakkai 44:38 How can people help you? 48:53 Do you feel like you've found your why? 48:54 What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? 50:47 What do you think are the most important qualities of a successful person? 🙊 Want to support STIMY for as little as $0.10/day? https://www.sothisismywhy.com/support-stimy/ 🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/dx_ePevgoRU&list=UULFSZlcS5ooyCjj_MkrmH_WhQ 🎙️Show notes/transcript for this episode: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/149 💌 Subscribe to the weekly STIMY newsletter: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/ebf231f605

We're back with Part 2 with Dato' Sri Idris Jala - the former CEO of Malaysia Airlines, Managing Director of Shell Sri Lanka and Senator & Minister in the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office, and current Chairman of PEMANDU. In Part 1 of this So This Is My Why feature, we delved into his tribal origins, how becoming top of his class was a matter of life and death, and his journey to becoming the Managing Director in Shell Sri Lanka - still his toughest gig to date. Listen here: https://youtu.be/KekuCGZJYlk In Part 2, we go even deeper, exploring things like: 🔸 If Dato' Sri Idris would act the same way if he had a chance to redo everything? 🔸 How Shell moved Idris out of Sri Lanka because he was taking huge risks and they thought, “We should take you out before you kill yourself!” 🔸 What he learned from Michael Black 🔸 How he put Eddy Leong as the first CEO of Firefly because “he’s a bit crazy but he has the tenacity to push it” 🔸 Why he gave up the job he really wanted - to be the Chairman of Shell - to become the CEO of Malaysia Airlines 🔸 The advice he has for his sons Want to learn more? You’ll just have to tune in. Highlights: 0:00 Introduction 1:30 If you had a chance, would you redo anything? 6:01 Shell was a fantastic school of management 6:43 Why Michael Black left such an impact on him 10:52 If you really want to do the real impossible stuff, you must put everything on the line 12:06 The line between the impossible goal v being foolhardy 14:54 The best way to tell you what you don't want to hear? 15:39 Why did you reject your dream job?! 16:46 Huge leap of faith - MNC to GLC 18:46 Launching a budget airline, Firefly 23:36 Common values of incredible people 24:43 Making it sustainable 29:07 Common issues 35:27 Lessons from PEMANDU operating in other countries 37:23 Check into Hotel California 39:14 Having a soulmate 44:16 SOW Club - Scared of Wife Club 48:58 Advice to sons 53:46 Legacy you want to leave behind? 54:03 What do you think are the most important qualities of a successful person? 🙊 Want to support STIMY for as little as $0.10/day? https://www.sothisismywhy.com/support-stimy/ 🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/lhIUOf7jSKs 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/148 💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/profile

When Dato Sri Idris Jala became the Managing Director of Shell Sri Lanka, he wasn’t expecting to hold the country on ransom. The Sri Lanka unit had already experienced 27 years of continuous losses when he took over. And on Day 1, what Idris had to handle was: bombs strapped to his depot, the kidnapping of his transport manager, a major labour strike and… Threatening letters sent by a professional sniper who knew where he lived, where he worked, when he left each place and the exact route he took each other. Tough doesn’t even begin to cover it. But Idris turned it around. And in the latest STIMY episode, he shares how, why he took on such a tough gig and what continues to drive him. There were so many gems in his 2-hour interview that it’s only right to have split it into two parts. This is Part 1. Which opens up with his childhood in the Borneo Highlands - where his dad would throw him into the pigsty when he misbehaved. And also insisted that they sleep on the floor of the stinky fish market - because they were travelling with neighbouring tribes who couldn’t afford a tribe and “they shouldn’t act different from others”. Education, for him back then, was a matter of life and death. His North Star then was to be the top of his class. So he asked his dad, a teacher, for advice. He was told, “Very simple, son. Find out who’s currently No. 1, be his or her best friend, and do exactly what he does but put it to the power of 10.” And so Idris just did. 😂 Others highlights: 🔸 Surviving ghostly encounters & treacherous rapids in the Borneo Highlands 🔸 His spiritual awakening as part of the Bario Revival 🔸 The concept of “ketuit” (which is kelabit for ‘kiasu’ or being very competitive) 🔸 Why his cocky job application letters were successful - he began his letters with the words, “Dear Sir, I’m the man you’re looking for”! 🔸 Why ‘the graveyard is full of indispensable people’ 🔸 The impossible game It’s not an episode you’ll want to miss. 😉 Highlights: 3:15 Storytelling culture 4:33 Thrown into the pigsty! 7:06 Ketuit 7:40 What does winning mean? 8:26 My true north then & the trick to achieving it 10:05 Becoming a lawyer 15:48 Walking through the cemetery 17:19 The Bario spiritual revival 21:50 Not quite from God? The Gestapo inquiry 25:03 Post-Revival 29:08 Not able to go to New Zealand 31:55 The ‘magic’ in his cocky letters 34:01 Wanting a free flight home 42:28 Sense of curiosity 47:02 Becoming Managing Director of Shell Sri Lanka & the game of the impossible 51:49 He makes every big decision with his wife 54:03 Never make the position become you 55:22 Fear & holding the country at ransom? 🙊 Support STIMY for as little as $0.10/day! - https://www.sothisismywhy.com/support-stimy/ 🎙️Show notes/transcript: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/148 💌 Subscribe to weekly STIMY newsletter: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/ebf231f605

When Arthur Kiong, CEO of Far East Hospitality, failed his A Levels, he thought his life was pretty much over. His dad even told him, "I’m sorry, you had your shot but you missed it" and in Arthur's own words, "I was lost and I was discouraged and I was in a great deal of pain and despair." Arthur ended up selling slimming products on the streets because it was the only job he could find before applying to Mediocorp to become a stage technician. Things took a turn when he was asked to take a voice test and he ended up with a celebrity radio DJ because he could pronounce "Thursday the Thirteenth”! Overnight, Arthur found himself rubbing shoulders with the who's who and celebrities of the world and you would’ve thought that this was where Arthur’s career was on a rapid trajectory upwards save that he gave it all up to work to become a greeter at Prego. People were astonished. Why would he take on such a 'demeaning' job?! But Arthur was adamant. And Prego signalled the first step that Arthur took into the world of hospitality, where you'll find that he's had more than his share of incredible luck, ingenuity and adventures. Including: * Being 'saved' by a war and lauded as a genius * Landing his dream job (at Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong) because his dog, Silky, fell sick! * Launching a successful marketing campaign straight after 9/11 (despite being in the thick of a fight between the head office & owner!) To find out more, you’ll just have to listen to this STIMY Ep 147 with Arthur Kiong. 😏 Highlights: 2:49 Adrian Tan 3:52 You have to be on the right escalator 6:18 Being in despair 6:53 Selling Japanese slimming starch 7:04 Becoming a celebrity radio DJ because he could pronounce ‘Thursday the Thirteenth’ 9:01 Giving it all up 10:36 No future? 12:17 Becoming a waiter at Prego 12:55 Oh Lord, what have I done?! 15:00 Sales wasn’t easy! 15:26 First big breakthrough in hospitality 16:33 Interesting initiatives 19:39 Being saved by a war 22:35 I found nothing! 23:58 That scares me… I like being in control! 25:21 The difference between knowing and knowing 26:35 Landing the dream job at The Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong because of my sick dog! 28:09 It was a spooky experience 30:42 Returning to Singapore 31:18 The significant career break that allowed him to get into the Ritz 33:42 Superman in New York 36:21 When the cucumber turns green, it means the time is ripe 37:43 If things go south, will the corporate body defend me? 39:37 I wanted to architect my resume 41:10 Why Singapore? 42:11 Building a Singaporean Hotel Brand 45:18 Living by Christian Values 49:05 Challenges of a CEO (that most don’t see) 50:23 Do you believe in God? 51:32 The Second Act in your career? 53:00 Biggest career advice 54:23 Do you feel like you’ve found your why? 55:18 What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? 55:37 What are the most important qualities of a successful person? Special thanks to Limpeh Studios for making this in-person interview possible! 🙊 Want to support STIMY for as little as $0.10/day? https://www.sothisismywhy.com/support-stimy/ 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/147 🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/lJkY_8igcxQ 📚 Download 5 Stones & a Sling: https://www.fareasthospitality.com/-/media/StayFarEast/Five-Stones-and-a-Sling 💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 * Official Biography Arthur Kiong is the Chief Executive Officer of Far East Hospitality, which is part of Far East Orchard Limited, a listed company under Far East Organization. Since Arthur joined the organisation in July 2012, he has been instrumental in growing the company’s hospitality management business through joint-ventures and acquisitions. Over the last nine years, Far East Hospitality's portfolio grew from 18 properties in Singapore to 105 hotels and serviced residences in nine countries – Austria, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Singapore, with more in its development pipeline. In more than 35 years of his career in the hospitality industry, Arthur has worked at prominent international hospitality brands including Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton (Singapore and New York), Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (Hong Kong), Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Westin Hotels & Resort. Arthur also plays an active role in championing change in the hospitality industry, and currently serves as First Vice President of the Singapore Hotel Association. In 2020, he was appointed as the hospitality representative in the National Jobs Council – a task force set up to establish jobs and upskilling opportunities during the Covid-19 pandemic. In Nov 2022, Arthur received the Executive of the Year – Hospitality & Leisure award from the Singapore Business Review Management Excellence Awards for initiating transformative changes to FEH’s operations and steered the group’s expansion in recent years despite the pandemic. Arthur was a recipient of the Special Recognition Award from Singapore Tourism Board in 2016 for having played a key role in rallying support for driving productivity and manpower development initiatives in the hotel industry.

“When people say it’s ok, I don’t need a family, I don’t need a partner, I say bullshit.” Woon Tai Ho is most known for being the founder of Channel News Asia & author of prolific books like the trilogy by George Yeo (Singapore’s former foreign minister). But has the success been worth it? What are some of his biggest regrets in life? In Part 1 (which you should listen to if you haven’t), we explored all of his big career achievements and the challenges that came with it, including being summoned by China to answer for their coverage of Falun Gong. But today, we cover something very different. Deeper. More personal. Starting with Tai Ho’s major pivot from broadcasting to author. Because nowadays, it’s common to make career pivots. It’s hard enough when it’s just jumping from one company to the next in the same industry, but Tai Ho has made that huge jump so… ❓ How did he do it? ❓ How does he think about the ‘Second Act’ of his career? ❓ How should people plan for their own Second, Third or even Fourth Act, especially when it comes to retirement? And is there such a thing as living for too long and just ‘waiting to die’? We also talk about some of his deepest regrets, his relationship with success and thoughts on relationships. His advice to people: Go marry, have kids, then go back to your career. We don’t have to be that woke. 😅 Do you agree? Time to hear from Tai Ho again in the latest episode from STIMY! Highlights: 3:14 Becoming a biographer by accident 5:29 What makes George Yeo (Singapore’s ex-foreign minister) so special? 6:56 Transparency & Lee Kuan Yew 7:53 Is living to age 102 a blessing or a curse? 9:35 “If I don’t have my second act, I don’t know what to do with my time” 12:36 Is all of Tai Ho’s success worth it? 15:40 Tai Ho’s biggest regret 19:31 His biggest advice for people 23:02 Why does Tai Ho collect bunnies? 25:57 Do you feel like you’ve found your why? 26:51 What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind 27:05 What do you think are the most important qualities of a successful person? 🙊 Want to support STIMY for $0.10/day? https://www.sothisismywhy.com/support-stimy/ 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/146 🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/U0_pVl_RsGM 💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 ✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

Growing up, Woon Tai Ho - Channel NewsAsia founder & Bestselling Author of books like the George Yeo trilogy, Soul of Ink, Riot Green- didn’t know he was poor. Until he invited his friends over and was asked questions like: ❓ Where’s your phone? ❓ Where’s your sofa? None of which he had. Which made him realise that actually, he was pretty poor. 😅 But he was never ashamed of it. When his sister invited him to stay at the house she was working at as a domestic helper, that changed his world. “I couldn’t believe it, the way they stayed… these people had a dimension of luxury that I didn’t know about. So I told myself, I need to work very hard.” And work very hard he did. We know Channel News Asia as one of the preeminent TV news channels in Asia, but that wasn’t always the case. As Tai Ho shares, the earliest days of CNA was very much a ‘wait and see’ game. It was hardly easy too. “Television is a very, very hungry animal. A news channel is a very, very hungry animal. Every hour, every minute, every second needs content. Otherwise it's black.” ❓So how did Tai Ho build CNA from the ground up? ❓Position CNA amidst other giants like CNN & the BBC? ❓ Gain support from the likes of former Singapore foreign minister, George Yeo? ❓Handle challenges like when he was summoned to China for their coverage of Falun Gong? You’ll have to listen to Part 1 of this STIMY episode to find out. 😉 Part 2 will come out next Sunday! Highlights: - 3:00 Would you consider yourself successful? - 6:34 Family - 8:27 Becoming a chef? - 11:00 Singapore is a pretty good place! - 13:29 “I never thought about being the best” - 14:20 “When I was a kid, I didn’t know I was poor” - 15:50 Mediacorp - 16:53 Founding Channel News Asia - 20:48 The reality of founding a news channel (that most people don’t know) - 23:09 How do you define “quality content”? - 24:28 Establishing the boundaries for quality - 26:01 Looking at competitors to figure out CNA’s value proposition - 28:33 No government support?! - 31:14 Pushing the Singapore government’s perspective? - 34:32 Getting into trouble with the Chinese government - 37:56 Knowing which stories and perspective to put forward - 40:51 Time to move on? 🙊 Like STIMY? Buy us a ☕️?: https://beacons.ai/sothisismywhy 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/146 💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062

“Are you a masochist?” “Do you love books that much?” If you want to be a bookseller, than those are the questions you need to ask yourself - according to Kenny Chan, the former Senior Director at Kinokuniya Book Stores (Asia Pacific) - he spent ~20 years of his career there prior to his retirement! But prior to bookseller, Kenny was a foreign diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore, where he was posted to London as their Trade and Culture Attache. He then switched to bookselling, first at Popular Holdings Limited, then MPH Bookstores Sdn Bhd, and back again at Popular when they launched their IPO! And finally interviewed for a position at Kinokuniya. The President & Chairman of Kinokuniya flew from Japan to Singapore to conduct the interview and asked Kenny just one question: “Do you love books?” As it turns out, Kenny gave me the exact answer he was looking for! And even after retirement, Kenny remains deep in the bookselling world. If you haven’t already guessed it, Kenny is the latest guest on STIMY! And we dive deep into all things books & the art of evangelising. ❓Why does Kenny not judge people by their educational level? ❓Why did he initially become a foreign diplomat? ❓What was it like opening bookstores throughout Asia Pacific, Dubai and New York? ❓What was it like working at his dream company? ❓What is the secret to buying books & why is bookselling a spiritual experience? ❓How can aspiring authors can get Kenny’s attention? Are you intrigued yet? The YouTube version is out now too. 😎 Highlights: 1:01 The Punisher 1:50 Don’t judge people by their level of education 2:59 Do your best in everything that you touch 3:58 My education was a roller-coaster 5:31 Didn't want to be a bookseller! 7:56 Getting into foreign affairs 9:51 Hunted down a book for Lee Kuan Yew & the power of connections 11:35 Lee Kuan Yew was a hard task master 14:54 Life isn't fair 18:32 How to get rid of inventory/books for bookstores 20:21 Leaving Popular for MPH 21:00 Introducing comics & Sanrio (Hello Popular) to Singapore 22:12 How Kenny knew it was time to bring Hello Kitty in 24:07 Memorable stories 26:43 What was it like working in his dream company? 27:46 Becoming store manager of the MPH Stamford Bookstore 28:22 You need to be a dictator 32:22 A great success 36:23 The IPO 37:11 The secret behind buying books & working at Popular 41:29 Moving to Kinokuniya 43:03 Meeting 43:30 The 1 question asked by the President & Chairman of Kinokuniya from Japan 44:44 Working with someone who doesn’t understand English 46:09 The spiritual aspect of book selling 47:01 Opening a store in Dubai 48:16 Love of books 49:13 The Kinovirus & training to become a great bookseller 50:45 The Speech 52:05 Biggest achievements while at Kinokuniya 54:44 Kinokuniya isn’t a bookstore. It’s a lifestyle choice 56:15 The importance of building a brand 58:51 The Twin Lemons Act 59:50 Getting Kenny’s attention 1:00:25 Ask a bookseller, what questions should you ask yourself? 🙊 Like STIMY? Buy us a ☕️?: https://beacons.ai/sothisismywhy 🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/1uCeI8LOI5Y 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/145 💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 ✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

Gero DiMaria knows what it means to go truly viral. He's an Italian chef & owner of Kucina - Singapore's first authentic halal food restaurant. But he's also a bona fide Italian culinary superstar with over 500k followers on social media - 256k on Instagram & 252.6k on TikTok! He took the world by storm with his recent series of viral reels on choosing the best pasta/cheeses in grocery stores, and that had a real trickle down effect on his business. So we dig into all the juicy stuff, including: ❓ What does it mean to actually go ‘viral’? ❓ What kind of measurable impact has social media had on his business? ❓ What is his advice for leveraging social media for businesses? ❓ What have his toughest moments been? ❓ And who exactly is Gero?! The goal: To understand the role of social media today, what it really means to go viral & how one can leverage on that social media reach to build your own business. Highlights: 1:55 Italian childhood 4:11 What do Italians eat every day? 5:38 People in Asia aren’t taught to think?! 10:58 Entering the food industry 12:13 Work hard to earn your money 13:33 Your first job sets the bar 14:49 That English breakfast shift 16:52 Knowing that the F&B world was for him 17:33 How to cook the perfect pasta 20:04 Moving from London to Singapore 21:58 First job at Pasta Fresca 23:19 What’s an authentic halal Italian restaurant? 25:59 Chefs can only be chefs, they can’t run a business 29:43 Going into marketing & the lost $3000 31:22 The turning point 32:39 Content strategy 35:14 Going truly viral 36:18 Acting debut 37:58 Why accept collaborations? 40:00 Separating his personal brand from his Kucina restaurant 41:24 The content creation team 42:48 Advice for entrepreneurs 44:06 Do you feel like you’ve found your why? 45:25 What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? 46:15 What do you think are the most important qualities of a successful person? 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/144 💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 ✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

Would you die for your passion? Most wouldn’t but for Swee Chiow, Singapore’s first professional adventurer, it’s a question he must face every day. And it all began when he caught a glimpse of Mount Everest from a plane. He was working in IT (Singapore Airlines) then, but he decided from that one glimpse that he wanted to climb Mount Everest - a dream that took him a mere 10 years to achieve! The journey was hard. He knew nothing. So he read many books & even went on a 10-day mountaineering course at Mt Cook that he flunked because he wasn’t fit enough! In 1998, he joined Singapore’s first Mount Everest expedition. It was a disaster at first because: ❌ Their tent collapsed during a freak storm ❌ Their first attempt at the South Pole failed as they didn’t have enough rope - the Singapore media hounded them & issued headlines declaring that the expedition had failed But they didn’t give up. Their second attempt was a success! But an exhausting one. In the midst of the media glory, Swee Chiow knew he had to take advantage of it so he immediately launched Singapore's first Antarctic expedition. Since then, he has: Climbed Everest x3 and K2 8,000km cycle from SG → Beijing (China) = 2003 Swam 40 km across Malacca Straits Kayaked 3,000km across Philippines Broke his first Guinness World Records for the longest scuba submergence (220 hours) Rollerbladed 6,000km from Hanoi SG in 94 days (and broke the Guinness World Records in 2008) Highlights: 3:34 Why Why Why?! 4:12 Fear of heights 5:00 Computer science in Kansas 6:11 Saw Mount Everest from a plane 6:51 Not giving up after 10 years 7:24 The mountain is magical & spiritual?! 9:06 Lessons learned 10:27 Altitude sickness / AMS 12:04 Pulling Singapore’s first Everest expedition together 13:25 You can’t fail! 14:19 What should people know about Everest? 16:45 Quitting his day job 17:45 Antarctica 19:38 Commercialising his adventure business 20:32 Swee Chiow’s value proposition? 22:02 How he builds trust with his clients 24:11 Risks & death 25:11 Any trick to staying calm? 25:24 Drifting to Taiwan & near certain death 27:37 Never let your ego take over 29:28 Dealing with the media 30:55 Never doing K2 again 32:19 The ghosts at Tibet’s Xishapengma 36:12 Adventurers hogging the limelight 37:04 Collaborating with AirAsia X 40:16 How Swee Chiow decides on his adventures 41:43 Advice for those in their 30s 45:28 What’s next? 46:26 The second act of his career? 47:36 Leadership principles to be an effective guide for his team 49:15 What drives you to push yourself to the extreme each time? 50:23 Do you feel like you’ve found your why? 51:06 What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? 51:27 What are the most important qualities of a successful person? Special thanks to Limpeh Studios (Hepmil Media) for the studio! 🙊 Like STIMY? Buy us a ☕️?: https://beacons.ai/sothisismywhy 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/143 💌 STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 ✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

Meet Lucas Lu - Head of Zoom Asia. And also a fellow Sarawakian! Lucas has had an illustrious career going from GM of Systems Technology Group at IBM Malaysia where they closed large deals within the first 6 months, leading to Lucas winning ASEAN Rookie of the Year - his first big recognition. He ended up staying at IBM for 10 years and won 2 Global Golden Circle Awards before moving on to become: - General Manager, Astro - GM (Tech Sales Malaysia), Oracle - Senior Director (APAC Enterprise Commercial Sales & Industry), Microsoft, Prior to his current role heading the Asian arm of Zoom, covering ASEAN, South Korea, Hong Kong SAR & Taiwan). While at first glance, Lucas appears to have had a very varied career, he has also been very intentional about every career move he’s made. And has had no zero regrets with how it has turned out. So we dive deep into this episode into all things career development: ❓ How has Lucas chosen the roles that he has? ❓ What is his secret sauce to climbing the corporate ladder? ❓ How should one find mentors/career sponsors? ❓ How does he plan his career & life (he has a plan for everything, including for his family members!!)? Please do listen & leave a rating & review! Highlights: 1:50 My first 15 years 2:27 Shell City 4:22 No one leaves Shell, but I did… 5:26 Getting the call from IBM 6:05 Switching to tech 6:59 Lucas’ unfair advantage over other people 7:50 Lots of planning & reflections 11:55 What should you do when you first take on a regional role? 14:06 Career sponsors 14:41 Secret to landing career sponsors 15:22 The first time doors opened for Lucas? 16:15 Moving on after 10 years 17:14 Bringing a corporate mindset to the startup world? 19:09 Measuring returns for media projects 19:41 Moving to Oracle 21:01 Kilimanjaro 22:55 Element of luck 24:16 Dealing with failure 25:55 No regrets? 27:37 Moving to Microsoft 29:14 Takeaways from being fully immersed in a country 32:00 Did hiking change how he approaches sales and work? 32:25 Why Zoom? 33:43 Checklist for Lucas’ next career move (no compromise) 34:24 How to determine if someone is the right person to work for? 35:33 Most influential person in Lucas’ career 37:28 Managing the strawberry generation 39:15 What Lucas hopes to achieve at Zoom 43:58 The second act in Lucas’ career 46:45 What STIMY listeners can help Lucas with 🙊 Like STIMY? Buy us a ☕️?: https://beacons.ai/sothisismywhy 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/142 💌 STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 ✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

This episode is a compilation of 6 of the most powerful women featured on the So This Is My Why podcast, discussing the milestones that led them on their journey to success Ep 124: Jacqueline Novogratz Jacqueline is the founder & CEO of Acumen - a non-profit global venture capital fund that aims to use entrepreneurial approaches to address global poverty. As the OG of impact investing, she shares her experience in Rwanda and learning that the most important thing is to build something where you leave no footprint behind. And how there is no such thing as black & white. Everyone has an angel and demon within them that comes out at different times. 📍 Listen to Jacqueline's full episode: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/124 Ep 115: Lydia Fenet Lydia is the former Executive Director of Christie's New York and for 10 years, she thought it was a privilege to be working at Christie's. She never asked for more. Until she realised that you are just a number in the P&L, and you have to fight for what your worth. In one conversation, she managed to x3 her salary, obtain an international director designation and start a new department on strategic partnerships. 📍 Listen to Lydia's full episode: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/115 Ep 125: Tanya Zakowich Tanya has worked at NASA, Boeing and Hyperloop and shares her journey in making big career pivots which led to the creation of Pink Pencil Math with 2 million TikTok followers, 507k Instagram Followers & 99k YouTube followers. 📍 Listen to Tanya's full episode: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/125 Ep 79: Nicole Quinn Nicole is a General Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. She's known as the celebrity whisperer who's worked with the likes of Lady Gaga, Tom Brady, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba. 📍 Listen to Nicole's full episode: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/79 Ep 77: Lily Wu Lily is a two-time 7 figure business founder who shares how she got started on her entrepreneurial journey in Australia as a teenager 📍 Listen to Lily's full episode: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/77 Ep 56: Lauren Hom Lauren is a California-born designer, illustrator & hand lettering artist with a 250k strong following on Instagram. She is known for her use of bright colour palettes & playful letterings and has worked for clients such as Starbucks, YouTube, TIME Magazine, Google and AT&T. She has also been recognised by Communications Arts, the Art Directors Club, the One Club, the Type Directors Club and the Webby Awards She shares how she's built her enviable artistic career including with Daily Dishonesty. 📍 Listen to Lauren's full episode: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/56 * 🙊 Like STIMY? Buy me a ☕️?: https://beacons.ai/sothisismywhy 🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/ncLfbdQ7XQA 🌍 Website: https://www.sothisismywhy.com 💌 Sign up for the weekly STIMY newsletter: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/ebf231f605 ✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

Sponsor: Descript - an AI-enabled software that makes it possible to edit weekly videos efficiently because it transcribes a 1.5 hour interview in 1 minute - and allows all editing to be done via the transcript! To find out more: https://www.descript.com/?lmref=sjT9JA * It’s not every day that you get to inherit a 100-year-old family business, but that’s exactly what Fong Wai Kheng has done. Fong is the fourth generation of his family to run Tong Heng - Singapore’s top confectionary shop most known for its trademark 💎 diamond-shaped egg tarts. Ask pretty much any Singaporean (I did), and it feels like 99% of them will have heard, eaten and love those egg tarts! So of course, I got curious. And asked Fong if he’d be up for a STIMY interview! After all, family businesses are tricky. There is: 🍿 The legacy you’ve inherited & must now maintain 🍿 The relationships you need to navigate (you can’t split family/work) 🍿 The challenge of keeping your brand relevant (a huge issue for Tong Heng at one point until they went through a massive rebranding exercise) 🍿 All the ups and downs of keeping a business alive. A business that first came about because of Fong’s great-grandfather who fled China in 1901 (end of Qing Dynasty) to work as a coolie in Singapore. His great-grandfather eventually earned enough to start his own pushcart coffee business but… the local “gangs” came around for protection money. The great-grandfather had none, but promised to have the money ready next time. Unfortunately, the gangsters won’t hear of it. And proceeded to beat him up. Or at least, they tried too. Because what they didn’t know was that Fong’s great-grandfather had been trained in martial arts by the soldiers in the Qing Court (+ he was also 1.87m tall!). So Fong’s great-grandfather beat up those gangsters instead. 🤣 News spread. The community gathered and gifted him with a pistol before appointing him as its protector!! Want to know what happened thereafter? 😏 You’ll just have to listen to this STIMY episode with Fong to find out. Highlights: 2:54 Childhood 5:00 Expectations in joining the family business? 6:32 Have you had enough fun? 10:26 100-year-old confectionary shop - the origins of Tong Heng 12:22 Tong Heng’s trademark egg tarts 14:22 Gangs & protection money 14:44 Martial arts 16:50 After the war 17:55 His two aunts 20:24 Pulling a surprise 25:06 A new shop 27:38 Cracking thousands of eggs?! 29:40 Massive rebranding exercise to appeal to the Gen Zs & Gen Alphas 33:23 Tension in the family? 34:41 Going viral 35:00 Branding decisions behind Tong Heng’s trademark yellow packaging 36:15 Tong Heng’s faithful customers - the grandmother & her grandson 37:30 The future & staying in their own lane 39:35 Advice for other family business owners? 🌟 Special thanks to Limpeh Studios for making this recording possible! If you want to do any studio recordings while in Singapore, be sure to check out: https://www.hepmil.com/limpehstudios 🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/kSXxRHrWWas 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/141 💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 ✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

Hey STIMIES! Welcome back to Part 2 of the So This Is My Why Podcast with Loh Lik Peng - CEO & Founder of Unlisted Collection. In Part 1, we covered Lik Peng’s journey from wanting to become a doctor (just like his parents) to becoming a commercial litigator and purchasing his first hotel property: Hotel 1929. The property that kickstarted his crazy career pivot. But the F&B industry is a tough place to be. You need a good dose of hard work, luck and… a talent for spotting F&B talent (which Lik Peng has!). In this episode, we dive into the intricacies of his international hospitality business, tackling questions like: Why does he give equity to his chefs? How does he identify and convince culinary talents like Rishi Naleendra to come on board? How does he work together with the chefs to ensure that they have everything they need to build a thriving business? How attaining a Michelin star flipped a switch within the chefs he works with What are his thoughts on brand building? When is it time to pull the plug? (His most painful failure was with One Leicester Square in London) His big passion with museums; and So much more If you haven’t heard Lik Peng’s origin story, listen to the previous STIMY Ep 140 Part 1 episode first. And if you have, then stick around for Part 2! Are you ready? Let’s go. Highlights: 2:52 Lik Peng’s hands off approach 4:20 Discovering Rishi Naleendra & being a good spotter of F&B talent 5:51 Did Lik Peng conduct any due diligence on his potential talents? 6:56 Building the infrastructure for an F&B business 8:20 “I didn’t understand what P&L was before. If I knew, I would’ve never said yes.” 9:06 Keep an eye on the numbers! 10:12 Winning a Michelin star flipped a star switch… 11:18 When are chefs ready to strike out on their own? 12:05 Brand building 13:30 Overcoming moments of blind panic 14:46 When do you let go? 15:33 Biggest failure 17:57 Passion for museums 21:30 Do you still identify as a lawyer? 21:43 Which pivot was the easiest and why? 24:01 Finding your second & third act in your career 25:14 What book are you reading now? 25:14 Art of finding the right talent 27:00 Any non-compete clause? 27:38 Three key things that you’d attribute your success to 30:14 One COVID casualty 31:23 Luck 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/140 🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/w22CAJupO48 💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 ✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

Want to know how a lawyer became a successful hotelier with 40 hotels & 9 Michelin-starred restaurants in Singapore, London, Ireland, Shanghai & Sydney?! Look no further than today’s STIMY guest: Loh Lik Peng, the founder of Unlisted Collection. Lik Peng grew up expecting to be a doctor, like his parents. But ended up practising as a commercial litigator for 3 years. During that time, the world was hit with the Asian Financial Crisis and a rundown property called Hotel 1929 came onto the Singapore property market. Hotel 1929 was located in Singapore’s red light district and Lik Peng saw potential in it, so he took a year off from law to develop the hotel with the full intention of going back to being a lawyer thereafter. But life didn’t turn out that way. He ended up opening his first restaurant at Hotel 1929, then another hotel and restaurant, and another and… In fact, he bought so many properties in the area that his friend once remarked that the street should be renamed “Peng Road”! 🤣 Lik Peng has now become one of Singapore’s most established hoteliers (he struggled with imposter syndrome for a long time when people called him a hotelier!) despite starting out by taking projects “by the seat of his pants”. And his Michelin-starred restaurants include: ⭐️: Burnt Ends, Marguerite, Nouri ⭐️⭐️: Cloudstreet, Da Terre ⭐️⭐️⭐️: Zen So do you want to know how he did it? Let’s go! P/S: This is Part 1 out of 2 of Lik Peng’s episode (Part 2 is coming out this Weds). Highlights: 2:32 Dad as the Chief Glutton 3:24 Boarding school were the best years of the life 4:42 Being a lousy doctor 5:32 Learning important lessons from the Asian Financial Crisis 7:14 Hotel 1929 8:24 The “Peng” Road?! 9:15 Worried about being in the red light district? 10:41 Family thought he was insane?! 11:30 Turning the corner 12:43 Being hit with SARS 13:55 What crisis management looks like in a hotel 14:52 Expanding to London 17:54 Romanticism overruled my logic… 20:57 The secret to getting things done 22:35 Managing risks 24:11 When Lik Peng thought he could call himself a “hotelier” 25:43 The magic behind what he does (while being pragmatic?!) 26:48 What properties interest him now 30:24 Any regrets investing in Old Clare, Sydney? 34:41 Navigating unsexy regulations & red tape 35:46 Surprising things about the Australian hospitality market? 36:45 Dr Stanley Quek 40:37 Family friend to business partner? Special thanks to Limpeh Studios (Hepmil Media) for the studio! 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/140 🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/w22CAJupO48 💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 ✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

It’s finally happening! The launch of STIMY’s special Singapore subseries. Where you’ll be hearing from a range of fascinating Singaporeans/Singapore-based tech leaders, entrepreneurs, and daredevil adventurers on how they’ve built their careers, their journey in finding their why and the legacy that they want to leave behind (if any!). We ran the whole gamut: the media broadcasting space, F&B (what it takes to build an empire of nine 1 - 3 Michelin Starred restaurants + inheriting a 100+ year confectionary brand), hospitality, tech and so much more. To whet your appetite, you’re getting snippets from some of the guests that you’ll be meeting over the next few weeks. Are you excited? I know I am! 😉 * Also a special shoutout to Karl Mak (STIMY Ep 55) & his team at Hepmil. They’re the ones who made this subseries possible and generously allowed me to record all my interviews over a span of 4 days while in Singapore. I definitely couldn’t do it without them - thank you Hepmil! P/S: Let me know if you’re interested in doing a studio recording in Singapore! There’s plenty of space to do so at Hepmil’s Limpeh studios. 😉 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/139 💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 ✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442