Let’s be real, sharing the personal stuff can feel daunting, but we wanted to bring our #ActsploreThis fam along as we dive into the highs, lows and in betweens of life in our 30s! In this episode, we reflect on this new chapter: shifts in our career, evolving family & friendship dynamics, and how our relationships have evolved since our 20s. It’s raw, real and relatable as we unpack themes of grief, growth and the messy yet meaningful journey of figuring it all out....

It's been a hot min, fam and we're back with a belated episode: Ask Us Anything & Life Updates with Sarah-Ann and Janice. Huge thanks to our listeners for submitting a range of deep & thought-provoking questions to us, from the best and most underrated piece of career advice we've received, to our audacious goals, how we nurture our inner selves and the 'What Ifs' if life hasn't brought us to where we are today... Spoiler alert: stick around for some major life updates! It's been a...

Freda Liu is one of the most recognisable voices in Malaysia. She has lived and breathed business in the past decade with Malaysia’s only business radio station BFM 89.9, and  is currently the producer and presenter of The Shift Asia, a podcast platform that focuses on ESG, SDG, sustainability, and embracing fresh & innovative strategies in business practices Besides being the author to 7 books, she is a powerhouse communicator and has been skillfully merging her experience as a...

Peter Yong (aka Mr Money TV) grew up believing that money was the root of all evil.  So how did Peter eventually go on to become a wildly successful personal finance YouTuber with a 7-figure media empire?! In this unfiltered conversation, we dive into the twists & turns in Peter’s journey (spoiler alert: he had multiple pivots in his career before building Mr Money TV..one of which involved a lucrative stint selling insurance!)  Peter shares about the challenging beginnings of building Mr...

It’s hard to believe we’re almost halfway through 2024! When time flies by so quickly, we want to take a moment to hit the pause button and reflect on the whirlwind that was the first half of the year.  Tune in as we share our reflections on a recent Actsplore This milestone! We also share personal experiences with caregiving, struggling with ambiguity, the new habits that have made a difference in our daily lives ..and more!  We hope that this conversation will prompt you to pause and...

Dr Ong Kian Ming (better known as OK Man) is the former Deputy Minister of MITI and two term Member of Parliament in Malaysia from 2013 to 2022, representing the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and serving the largest parliamentary constituency in the country. He currently serves as the Program Director of Malaysia’s very first Philosophy Politics & Economics (PPE) program at Taylor’s University.  In this wide-ranging discussion, we uncover the life & leadership lessons that Dr Ong...

What is one thing you would do in your life if you had more confidence? In our journey of self discovery, we often find ourselves grappling with the nagging question: “Am I good enough?” Feelings of doubt, imposter syndrome and lack of self worth often holds us back from moving forward to achieving our fullest potential and reaching our goals. Kelli is a women’s leadership coach and speaker who helps women advance to the rooms where decisions are made.  She is the author of the critically...

“You don’t have ordinary lives, you have unexplored lives.’ Wise and impactful words from Matthew Dicks, a world-renowned storyteller, teacher and bestselling author.  Whether it’s to improve your presentation skills for a business pitch, holding the attention of a lecture hall, or just being a more interesting person, being able to tell great stories is a superpower that we can fortunately get better at!  In this conversation, Matthew shares stories, techniques and insights for effective...

How will AI disrupt the landscape of work and create job refugees? What does the future of Education look like in this technology-driven evolution? With a career spanning decades in academia and innovation, we unpack these questions (and more!) with Professor Sanjay Sarma, the Chief Executive Officer, President and Dean of the Asia School of Business.  Sanjay served as the Vice President for Open Learning at MIT, where he oversaw OpenCourseWare and led the creation of MITx, MicroMasters, the...

From fashion dreams to tech leadership as the President and Managing Director of SAP Southeast Asia, Verena Siow is truly a force of nature who knows how to design success on her own terms!  She has amassed a wealth of experience in sales, business development and startup ventures within the technology sector, spanning across the continents of Asia, the Middle East and Americas. In her current role, Verena drives SAP's sustainable growth across the diverse markets of Indonesia, Malaysia,...

Raw, real and remarkable. These are the three words we’d use to describe this episode with Michael Crossland.  Michael has been a fighter since birth, defying the odds of surviving not only a rare form of life-threatening cancer, but being the sole survivor of a horrific cancer drug trial.   His battle continues to this very day, having spent nearly ¼ of his life in hospital. Michael is a true fighter, and despite only being told what he could not do, he continually shows the world...

In this episode, we recap everything that went down last weekend during KL Podfest 2024. If you haven’t heard, KL Podfest is Malaysia’s very first podcast festival, aimed to create a platform for creators to showcase their unique perspectives, stories and talents.  Spoiler alert: we had the opportunity to be a part of it! 🙏 We had such a great time there, we wanted to take y’all along the ride with us🫶🏻 From moderating a panel discussion on Running a Podcast Network, having a surreal...

Lydia Fenet knows how to own her power in a room.  Lydia is one of the world's most accomplished and sought-after auctioneers and has raised over a billion dollars for nonprofits globally alongside celebrities such as Elton John, Bruce Springsteen and Hugh Jackman.  Over her two-decade long career, Lydia served as the Global Managing Director of Strategic Partnerships for Christie’s and reshaped the fundraising landscape as the world’s leading charity auctioneer.  She has been named one of...

Welcome to Season 5 of Actsplore This Podcast! The first episode of the new year 2024 is always a cathartic, nostalgic and illuminating one for us.  It’s where we reflect on the year 2023 and set our intentions for the year ahead. Whether 2023 has been a year of wins, painful struggles or everything in between, we invite you to be intentional and join us to reflect on some of these prompts yourself: What are you grateful for in 2023?What do you wish to Let Go from 2023 and Invite In for...

What does it mean to be a Friend and weather through different seasons of life together?  Get cozy with us in our Season 5 finale episode as we wind down for the year and reflect on the topic of Friendship ✨ We spill the beans on our own friendship journey and discuss the role of Friendships in our lives - the highs, the lows and the downright unpredictable.  In this unfiltered chat, we get real about friendship breakups, the reality of doing business with friends, and put all our cards on...

How did a young boy from a low income household who failed English at school and who grew up thinking he’d take over his father’s prawn noodles store go on to become Managing Director at UBS Investment bank and write an award-nominated business book? Spoiler alert: it was all in the small actions taken! A key opinion leader on LinkedIn with over 2 million followers, Eric Sim, served as a managing director at UBS Investment Bank and also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Finance at Hong Kong...

Have you recently thought about what your upper limiting beliefs are, and how they are holding you back from realizing your fullest potential?  In this episode, we discuss with Joyce Chen, coach and facilitator at the Conscious Leadership Group about: 💫 How we can overcome our upper limiting beliefs 💫 The ways that holding and believing our upper limits can hold us back from our Zone of Genius.  💫 Practical and actionable steps to address our upper limiting beliefs through the framework of...

Known for rescuing companies on the verge of collapsing, Dato’ Sri Idris Jala is a world-renowned transformation guru in driving performance for both Governments and the private sector through his Big-Fast-Results Methodology. In this exclusive chat, Dato’ Sri Idris Jala shares a more personal and intimate behind-the-scenes view of his leadership perspective, vulnerability through the stories of memorable failures encountered during his career, why it’s crucial for everyone to play their own...

If you’re anything like us and other listeners of Actsplore This Podcast, you’re most likely on your own journey of discovering your WHY in life. Call it your purpose, north star, ikigai or your ‘reason for being’, it is undoubtedly a never ending journey of discovery! Wong Ling Yah is the epitome of someone who digs into her WHY. Not only that, she took her interest and curiosity for podcasting and learning about other people’s WHY to the next level!  In 2020, she started the So This Is My...

Sarah Feingold does not shy away from creating her own opportunities.  Born an artist, Sarah Feingold decided the best way to protect creative folks like herself was to go to law school. She then cannonballed into the position of Etsy's first attorney and 17th employee. For over nine years she helped Etsy scale from an inconspicuous startup to a publicly traded company. After that, she drove Vroom forward as its first General Counsel.  Tune in to to hear how Sarah masterfully pitched her way...

The topic of fertility (specifically egg freezing) is one that is not often openly spoken about. But for most women, we know that this is something that we’ll start thinking about especially as we inch towards our 30s.  To unpack this topic, we invited Crystal Cha, a good friend of ours (and also a returning guest on the pod, check out her first episode here) to share with us her personal experience and walk us through every step of the process.  In this episode, Crystal sheds light on: why...

We’re officially in the second half of 2023! Whether it’s been a year of unexpected surprises, milestones or unforeseen challenges, we wanted to take the time to reflect on our journeys and embrace the growth that has unfolded thus far.    Tune in to this intimate reflection as we share personal updates about a solo Seoul searching adventure, the value of mentorship, navigating grief, hitting refresh in the second half of 2023 and so much more!  We also took the chance to unpack another...

This episode with Simon Alexander Ong on How to Manage, Transform & Protect Your Energy is the epitome of everything, everywhere all at once! In this episode, we discuss: Simon’s personal metamorphosis and how he redefined success and fulfillment in his own termsWhy we should think about energy management and not just time managementHow tweaking our sleep habits can transform our dayIdentifying the most productive phases of our days and our energy drainers / blockers Simon is a personal...

“Personal disruption is a process of deliberate self-innovation". In this episode, we discuss how we can apply disruptive thinking— responsible for the success of many products and companies, to our own career.  Whitney Johnson is the CEO of Disruption Advisors,and has been recognised as one of the 10 leading business thinkers in the world as named by Thinkers50. She’s a world-class keynote speaker, and an executive coach and advisor to CEOs. Whitney is also a frequent contributor to the...