Getting to know his wife through a magazine, convincing a fussy eater child to eat her meal, and creating a schedule to manage working from home. I talk to Gaurav Jain about raising his family in Singapore, while making work-from-home work with two kids.   Gaurav Jain is the Director of Engineering at Autodesk. Throughout his career, he has also started several side projects such as an online social platform for creative professionals and edutech mobile apps and games. He met his wife while...

Aligning priorities on family, fitness and work, migrating from England to Singapore and breaking parenting stereotypes, especially around dads. I talk to Sammy Elazab on having a well-balanced work, personal, and family life.   In this episode, we speak to Sammy, Senior Sales Manager and Head of Online Sales Organisation - Southeast Asia at LinkedIn. Sammy and his wife moved to Singapore a decade ago with the intent of staying for 2 years, but fell in love with the sunny island and stayed...

Raising children in a digital age, having more patience as a dad and prioritizing family over work. I talk to Lennard Lim on loving and raising two kids, and how family goes beyond bloodlines..    Lennard is a Product Manager of Trust and Safety at TikTok. He has more than a decade of product management experience at Yahoo, Singtel, BBC and most recently, GovTech, and a strong believer in making use of analytics for strategy and design. Lennard is a father of two, a son aged 11 and a daughter...

In this special collaboration series with Workato, we talk to parents to find out how they create work-life integration and balance their career ambitions with family aspirations.   In this episode, I speak with Amanda Lau, Campus Recruiting Program Manager at Workato. She has more than a deacade of HR experience, helping people and organisations succeed through coaching, relationship building and HR program design. On top of that, she is also a mother to two children, aged four and...

In this special collaboration series with Workato, we talk to parents to find out how they create work- life integration and balance their career ambitions with family aspirations.   In this episode, I speak with Steven, Senior Manager of Business Technology Operations at Workato. Steven is father to three children, ages four, nine, and 13.    Steven shares the importance of coordinating with his wife to come up with routines to manage their work and home duties. He also discussed how Workato...

Nurturing an open and inclusive work environment, encouraging employees to use their parental leave, and respecting everyone's hours. In this special collaboration with Workato, I talk to Choon Yen about how she is able to balance her time with work and family through the policies and initiatives that Workato has for working parents like herself.    Choon Yen is the Head of People Operations and Systems in the Asia Pacific and Japan at Workato. She is a mother to a two-year-old and her...

The creation of a safe space, encouraging environment, and getting rid of the stigma.  From Work to Home is a special collaboration series with Stripe, the financial infrastructure platform for businesses. I speak with Rahal Kansara on how she creates work-life integration and balances her career ambitions with family aspirations. Rahal is from Stripe's APAC recruiting team who focuses on core business recruiting, particularly in risk and financial recruitment.  She aims to provide a safe...

Getting uncomfortable and challenged in a new environment, seeking help in times of need, and setting boundaries between work and family.  From Work to Home is a special collaboration series with Stripe, the financial infrastructure platform for businesses. I speak with Meenakshi Dhingra on how Stripe creates work-life integration and balances their career ambitions with family aspirations. Meenakshi is Stripe’s Global Community Support and Operations Lead for APAC. She is also a mother to 2...

The preparation it takes to take on a new job and a new life in a different country, facing and overcoming the challenges of raising a family upon just moving, and setting time for yourself.    From Work to Home is a special collaboration series with Stripe, the financial infrastructure platform for businesses. I talk to Vivian about her career with Stripe, her experience of moving to Singapore from the States, and how she has learned to be able to balance her work with her duties as a...

Developing a supportive culture, coping with work from home adjustments, and embracing flexibility with Lisa Harris   From Work to Home is a special collaboration series with Stripe, the financial infrastructure platform for businesses. I speak with Lisa Harris about how Stripe’s policies and activities actively support working parents like her. Lisa is from Stripe’s People Partner team at APAC. She is a mother of 2 beautiful children, Mikayla, age 10, and Parker, age 8. Lisa shares how...

The journey of raising a child with special needs, overcoming the anxieties of being a first-time dad in a difficult situation, and learning how to show more support for one’s spouse. In this special episode, I speak with Jonathan Seow about the challenges and lessons he learned as a father of two.   Jonathan is the Chief Financial Officer at Moleac and a board member at Down Syndrome Association of Singapore. Jonathan has an illustrious career starting as CIMB before rising the ranks in the...

Establishing family support and parenthood communities, being upfront on the topic of parenthood, and learning the love languages of your wife and kids.    From Work to Home is a special collaboration series with Stripe, the financial infrastructure platform for businesses. I speak with Chek Lim on how Stripe creates work-life integration and balances their career ambitions with family aspirations. Chek is from Stripe’s Customer Success & Payments Optimisation APAC team. He is father to 3...

Coping with pandemic changes, breaking parenting stereotypes, and taking a break with Sandeep Nair   From Work to Home is a collaboration series with Stripe, the financial infrastructure platform for businesses. I speak with Sandeep Nair about how important flexibility and crisis management skills are to parenting. Sandeep is from Stripe’s Customer Success and Payment optimization team at APAC. He is a father to three beautiful children, aged 5 and twins aged 2.    Sandeep shares how...

Finding the right balance between career and family, building relationships with your children and spouse, and teaching children the value of discipline, patience, and humility. I talk to Praveen about his experiences as a dad with two boys aged two and five. Praveen Velu is Strategic Partnerships Lead at Meta. Praveen started his career in financial broadcast journalism during the Global Financial Crisis with companies including CNBC and Yahoo. He then led network development at The Walt...

Moving with a young family and living in different parts of the world, being an optimist at work as well as in parenting, and the fungibility of skills as a parent and an angel investor. I talk to Jachin Cheng on his take on parenting and investing.   Jachin Cheng is a Senior Product Manager at Google Pay and Google AI. He was born and raised in the US before joining Google in 2007. His 15-year career with them has brought him across Israel, the UK, Switzerland, and finally Singapore. His...

Preparing for unexpected fatherhood was the beginning of Eric’s parenthood journey, as the career-oriented product manager shares how he had to pivot from a mindset focused on himself, to the life of an actively involved husband and father. Eric talks about how he balances his zeal for career growth with a passion for parenting and supporting his wife. He highlights the importance of setting boundaries to create time for his family, share the workload, and instill good behavior in his growing...

Encouraging kids, especially with twins, to think critically, using a routine to allocate time between work and family, and finding meaning. I talk to Mark about banned words in their house (“can’t”), achieving work-life balance, and spending quality time with family.   Mark Leadercramer is the Head of Enterprise Sales and Cryptocurrency for Stripe in Southeast Asia. Mark started his career in media and advertising before spending a decade building and leading Mintel, a market intelligence...

Creating a space that encourages deep work for you and your peers, energy management as an introvert, and embracing adversity as a parent. I talk to Samuel Hall as he shares the wisdom and enlightenment he has collated over the years as a high-performing parent.   Samuel Hall is the CEO of Rainmaking Asia Pacific Venture Studio. Samuel was born and raised in the UK and started his career as a lawyer before moving to Singapore and building his career across multiple startups and new ventures....

Taking a career risk switching from public to private sector with a young child, becoming a nurturing father and leader at work while building strong networks. I talk to Royce Wee on his views on work-life balance and the importance of being a loving father.    Royce Wee is Head of Global Public Policy at the Alibaba Group. Royce is a lawyer by training, and his foray into technology began as Deputy General Counsel at the Infocomm Media Development Authority. Since then, he has held...

Building a company as parent entrepreneurs, prioritization in decision making, and the role of technology in parenting. In this special episode of Parents in Tech, I speak with David and Linh Smooke on what it is like to be husband-and-wife entrepreneurs, maintain a routine to balance work and family, and manage their child’s exposure to technology.   David and Linh are the Co-Founders of HackerNoon, the leading hacker and developer publication on the internet that features more than 25,000...

Transitioning to the new reality of being a mother, learning how to parent from your parents, and balancing career and parenting ambitions with your husband. Gladys shares with us her experience as a first-time mother who also aspires to have a thriving career.   Gladys Kee works in Client Services at The Trade Desk, an advertising technology company. She is also my wife and the mother of our 15-month old daughter, Gabby.   In this season finale, we discuss the lessons we learnt in our first...

The physical and emotional effects of a miscarriage, advocating for paternity leave to become a norm, and having an empathetic and vulnerable leadership style. I talk to Sandra Ernst about being a working mum and responding to the challenges of pregnancy and motherhood.    Sandra Ernst has been working in C-level roles in fintech since 2016. Prior, she worked in finance roles across Central Europe and Malaysia. Now, she is a COO at Igloo, an insurtech company in Southeast Asia. Sandra opens...

The impact of childhood experiences on parenting styles and career decisions, the importance of being a role model for your children, and the place of women in the workforce. We talk with Lynette about her thoughts on bringing up children in a technology-saturated world.    Lynette Tan is Chief Executive and Board Member of Singapore Space & Technology Limited as well as co-founder and Executive Director of the Singapore Space & Technology Association. She has been featured by Fortune...

Changing jobs in the first year as a mother, cultivating values in children, and experimenting with a Japanese baby schooling method. Cynthia recounts her adventures since she became a mother less than a year ago.   Cynthia Siantar is Go-To-Market Leader at Bank Jago, Indonesia’s first fully digital bank. With more than 10 years of background in banking, start-ups, and fintech, Cynthia held key positions in ING Bank and Oriente, and in 2014 she co-founded Call Levels, a finance market...

Giving and receiving feedback, empathizing with the perspectives of others, and fighting the guilt of putting yourself first. Samantha relates the motherhood experiences that have made her grow as a person and as a professional - from calendar management and prioritization, to conflict management and task delegation.    Samantha Pearlson is General Manager of South-East Asia Client Services at The Trade Desk, an advertising technology platform. She has long-standing experience in advertising...