The Journey Podcast: Recent Episodes
Sccott Kuah, Arvind Kumar
This week we speak to someone who is changing the scene for knowledge sharing in Asia, Melvin Poh, the founder of Empirics Asia.
At a very young age, Melvin lost all his savings due to a failed venture in Hong Kong, he didn't only lose money but it also affected his confidence and left him embarrassed. An event like this would have crushed many people and their careers, but not Melvin.
He regrouped, reflected on the lessons and bounced back to establish an even more successful business that is helping millions from making the same mistakes he made.
In this episode, he shares with us on
- Why it's important to have an open mind
- How to know when to stop when things are not working out
- Being objective and facing reality without taking things personally
- How AI will change the world if used wisely
This is a truly inspiring episode for young entrepreneurs out there to open up your minds and not let any failures in life define you.
Our first international guest!
In this episode, we speak to Dany #Gotaworldtosee who started from humble beginnings in Europe to traveling and producing digital content on Youtube which has more than 350K followers today. Dany is someone who highly believes not only in financial freedom, but also LOCATION freedom. After struggling initially, today Dany is able to not only financially free, but also able to pick and choose his office location from anywhere in the world.
In this episode, Dany speaks about
- His early childhood and the values instilled in him by his mother which he still carries with him today
- Why its important to go ALL IN in any pursuit or new venture you take
- How he modeled the success of other Youtubers to create his own content
- How you will never know when success will come but its always important to be prepared for it
- Why the hustle never stops
This is an excellent episode for those who strive for success and freedom in their professional and personal life!
In this weeks episode we speak to Guan, founder of the influencer marketing platform Ittify, where he shares light on social media and how ordinary people can start monetizing their Tiktok and Instagram profiles.
Our profiles on social media will soon become digital CVs that represent our personal credibility, which will be vital when even applying for jobs in the future.
In this episode we talk about:
- Why our follower count is significant when engaging with clients
- How our social media bio will become like a personal CV
- How to find the right content for different platforms
- Potential earnings for postings
- How we can overcome plateaus and continue growing our audience.
This will be one of the most important episodes for your future self especially with the recent growth of Tiktok and other digital platforms.
"I treated him like a family, I can honestly say that I gave him a life. But when I was in the shower I saw a hand trying to record me"
In today's episode we speak to Malaysia's singer-songwriter Talitha Tan on her journey of how she turned her passion of singing and song writing into a music career. She shares on the exact moment her music career took-off back in 2016 with her hit single “Okay” and since then she been ranking up the charts with her music and song-writing.
Talitha also opens up on traumatic experience where she was sexually harassed by someone who she trusted and was close to. She speaks up on this incident and wants more women to come out and be open about it in order for us to put an end to it as a society.
This is definitely an episode you don't want to miss.
"I'll never forget what he said to me, everybody has a turn, if it's not your time right now, you just got to be happy for him/her, but that doesn't mean your turn is not going to come"
In today's episode we speak to Asyraf Nasir Malaysia's rising star and rapper. We dived deep into his journey to making a name for himself and how his passion drove him to never giving up on his dream. Asyraf also talks about how losing a competition helped propelled him to opening new doors for greater ventures
Today's episode is a masterclass around property with Sean Tan (Iherng) sharing his expert insights on the changing property market in Malaysia.
The first part of the podcast features Sean going deep and talking about the challenges he had to overcome in order to just put food on the table. These were the same challenges that caused him to stumble across property investing, and hence become a key opinion leader that many of us follow on Youtube today.
The second part consists of all Sean's tips and tricks on navigating the property market successfully. He shares about how the market has changed so much since the 1950's, the difference between renting and buying and the important factors to consider before investing.
In this Episode we speak to Ren Yi, the founder of Malaysia's leading gourmet burger joint, MyBurgerLab. Ren Yi, a mechanical engineering graduate from Nottingham university, discovered the joy of serving others many years ago while he was working at Starbucks. Not thinking much of it, he embarked on a work and travel program to the United States during his university days. It was there and then, that he discovered In-N-Out Burger, inspiring him to bring awesome burgers, warm service, and memorable experiences back home to Malaysia.
We also dived into the struggles he faced during the pandemic and how it has affected his business, and how it took a toll on this health. In this podcast Ran Yi also shares one of his most kept secrets for a while.... Tune in to find out!
MyBurgerLab
https://myburgerlab.com/index.html
https://www.instagram.com/myburgerlab/
Chin Ren yi
https://www.instagram.com/tomatolens/
Sponsors for this podcast:
Colabs Co-Working - https://co-labs.asia
Fundaztic - https://www.fundaztic.com/my/
Zac Liew is the Co-Founder and CEO of Curlec. The fintech startup helps SMEs overlooked by traditional banks collect recurring payments with its automated platform, replacing manual methods like cash, checks or bank transfers. Since its launch in 2018, Curlec has processed over $100 million in transactions and hundreds of businesses currently use its platform. The startup was recently acquired by India’s first full-stack financial solutions company - Razorpay.
In this podcast we talked about how it all started, the challenges and issues which Zac faced throughout his journey and how did Razorpay come into the picture
Zac Liew:
https://www.instagram.com/zac.liew/
Curlec:
https://curlec.com/
Sponsors for this podcast:
Colabs Co-Working - https://co-labs.asia
Fundaztic - https://www.fundaztic.com/my/
Sunil Chandran is a professional Malaysian footballer who currently plays for Petaling Jaya City FC. Sunil is also a founder of a fitness brand called Trnsfrm-Fitness where he specialises in tailored coaching and fitness programs for all age group. Trnsfrm-Fitness coaches you the right mythologies on having the right nutritions for the body, correct fitness routines and the importance of progress.
In this podcast Sunil talks about how an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury cost him his chances in representing the country in the upcoming SUKMA games and how he changed his mindset focusing fully on recovery and not looking back at the past. Sunil also shares his thoughts on losing weight the proper way and the steps on how to maintain a good physique.
Topics:
- Recovering from set backs
- How to change mindset
- Steps to Recovery
- Personalised weight-loss program
- Practical steps on how to get the right nutritions for the body
- All things fitness
Sunil:
https://www.instagram.com/sunil_chandran99/
Sponsors for this podcast:
Colabs Co-Working - https://co-labs.asia
Fundaztic - https://www.fundaztic.com/my/
This week we speak to Fuad, who is the Co-Founder of Kyoto Protocol, where he shares about how they started off entering a local Yahama music competition by chance and eventually becoming one of the largest local bands today.
In this episode, Fuad talks about:
- The importance of taking the first step
- How he used stepping stones to climb up the ladder
- Why having a strong desire and focus can set you apart from the competition
- How time changes things and nothing lasts forever
All the values above are non-negotiables to Fuad and has played a big part in the success of the band. This is an episode you want to hear and the simple practical steps shared by Fuad can help provide a shift in your life.
Today's guest is Fave Co-Founder, Chen Chow. He shares about how he first met Joel Neoh in Groupon to Co-Founding Fave together. It was not an easy road for him and he shares bluntly about some of the challenges and risks he had to take to being to company to where it is today.
Stay tuned to some key nuggets from Chen Chou on:
- How to work effectively and prioritise the important tasks with focus
- Why its important to act with both logic and empathy
- Why it's important to take risks when trying to make a difference
linkedin.com/in/chyeoh/
He grew up in a small town called Taiping in Malaysia, where both his parents were teachers. VJ started off his career as a humble web developer and slowly pivoted his way up to be one of the leading creative figures in South East Asia. In 2019, he got a surprise call from Gary Vee to run VaynerMedia as a Managing Partner, the rest is history.
This inspiring episode shares the journey that VJ had to take in order to be the successful person he is today. We discuss:
- Why kindness and giving back is essential to live a happy life
- Why you should seize as many opportunities as possible in life
- How to conceptualise some of our most creative ideas
- What's important in building a strong company culture
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vjanand1978/
Today's guest is Malaysia's very own Pop Music Production and Songwriting Group "Making Music For Friends" (MFMF). The MFMF journey started from humble beginnings, with the founders started their careers in a corporate setting and with passion ventured into making music. At the verge of giving up, burning through savings and at one point having as little as RM800 in the bank account, they manage to get their break doing music with the likes of Yuna!
Tune in to find out how they succeeded in the music industry and what were their tips and tricks in doing so!
In today's episode we speak to Malaysia's most promising stand-up comedian and a 3x TedX speaker Gajen Nad. Gajen started his career in a corporate setting whilst performing stand-up as a side hustle. In this podcast we dive deep into the power of discovering your "WHY" and how it has helped Gajen take the leap of faith and venturing into stand-up full time.
Today's guest is VJ Anand. He grew up in a small town called Taiping in Malaysia, where both his parents were teachers. VJ started off his career as a humble web developer and slowly pivoted his way up to be one of the leading creative figures in South East Asia. In 2019, he got a surprise call from Gary Vee to run VaynerMedia as a Managing Partner, the rest is history.
This inspiring episode shares the journey that VJ had to take in order to be the successful person he is today. We discuss:
- Why kindness and giving back is essential to live a happy life
- Why you should seize as many opportunities as possible in life
- How to conceptualise some of our most creative ideas
- What's important in building a strong company culture
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vjanand1978/
"Cryptocurrency is essentially taking power away from centralised authorities and giving it to the people."
We're so excited to be able to bring you this episode talking about all things cryptocurrency! We go in great depths with Ross Stephenson from Luno to help you understand the difference between cryptocurrency and cash, how does a currency start to have value, how is it build on top of blockchain, and whats the future of cryptocurrency moving forward.
Ross also shares about how Luno supports cryptocurrency trading in a safe and secure way, being the only licensed crypto platform in Malaysia.
Luno were kind enough to give our listeners some FREE bitcoin so follow the details below while stocks last!
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Sign up with Luno from the App Store or Google Play Store
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Follow the in app instructions to verify your identity
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Once verified, go to the Rewards section in the app
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Type in this promo code: LUNOJOURNEY
Buy RM 100 of any crypto and you’ll receive a reward of RM 25 of Bitcoin! (Talk about immediate ROI)
- This promo code for new users
- This promo code will expire on 31 Dec 2021
- This promo code is limited to the first 200 redemptions
Welcome to a special episode today focused on our top 3 guests from season 1. We have Jalil Rasheed , Adele Chow and Azlan Iskandar giving us their best advice on what has made each of them successful in their own ways. This episode shares in detail about networking, gender equality in corporates, the limitations of labelling and so much more.
Part 1
In the first part we have Jalil Rasheed talking about why its important to know your colleagues and stakeholders well, the bravery to take the road less travelled, the importance of luck and timing, and switching jobs every few years
Part 2
Adele Chow shares about gender equality, what it feels like making tough decisions as a female leader and what we can do to bridge the gender equality gap.
Part 3
In the final part, Azlan Iskandar speaks in depth about labelling and how it limits our growth, constantly adapting to new challenges in life and the importance of planning in your career.
This episode is a combination of the best bits each of them had to share and something we can all integrate easily into our daily lives.
"If you do not have enough savings, then you will sell immediately when your investment portfolio falls, instead of taking the opportunity to buy more"
One of the most important episodes we have recorded, especially in Malaysia where 70% of the people are in need of financial literacy support.
In this episode, we speak to Stashaway Malaysia Country Manager, Wai Ken Wong about when people should start their investing journey, how to balance between savings and investing, balanced vs high risk portfolios, compound interest and dollar cost averaging.
Wai Ken also shares about how Stashaway differentiates itself from competitors, and how it can be used to help you achieve different financial goals at different stages of your life.
This episode could save you years in terms of achieving your personal financial goals. Podcast is live now on Spotify and Apple Podcast!
Nic has more than 15 years of experience in recruitment both in Australia and Malaysia. He has been instrumental in creating a strong culture in Michael Page which focuses on meritocracy, gender equality and teamwork.
In this episode he shares about the Malaysian job market outlook, how does a company hire and retain its best talent, what can candidates do to stand out, salary negotiating and so much more.
We also speak about some of the values that are key for employees to have in order to have a successful career, why networking is essential and how do we know when it's time for a career change.
This episode is so relevant to what we are all going through in the job market today! You do not want to miss this.
"For women to reach the high places, we have to work 10x harder than men to break through the glass ceiling"
In this episode, we speak to Ally Mukhriz on what it's like being a women here in Malaysia and what we as a nation can do to end gender discrimination. Ally shares her thoughts on how corporates can provide equal opportunities and offer a better platform for women to perform at their best. She also speaks about some of the subconscious gender bias she faces from male counterparts and what we can do to be more aware. We touch on the sensitive topic of sexual consent in terms of defining it clearly and where the line is drawn.
This podcast is different compared to previous topics we have covered and sheds light on topics that we don't often speak about.
"Always start with "WHY" and it will lead you a long way in having a good and prosperous business"
With the recent lockdown, many businesses have been started from home especially in the F&B sector. In this episode, we speak to Sugar and I founder Ilyas on his personal journey starting on of the biggest online brands today from his humble home.
Ilyas goes in depth about some of the challenges people will need to expect, how to manage time efficiently, growing the brand through social media, and finding the perfect moment to scale your business to the next level.
Ilyas inspired us throughout our conversation with many pointers on not only how to develop your business, but also personally. Take down your pen and paper as there are many golden nuggets shared by Ilyas in this episode that you do not want to miss!
"Preserving a Good Mental Health is as Equally Important as Being Physically Fit and Active"
The second episode of our Mental Health series features Ku ZhenWei, COO of Thoughfull, where he shares with us the importance of identifying early signs of mental health depreciation and the underlying reasons that cause it to arise.
ZhenWei also breaks down in simple methods on how we can overcome stress by applying daily practical steps. For those who are in more serious conditions, he shares about how to know when to seek for professional help and the avenues that are available.
With everything that's happening with the lockdown, this episode will help us stay conscious about our mental health and keep it in a stable and healthy condition.
"The Long Impossible Journeys Are Just A Collection Of Small Daily Steps"
In this brand new season 2, we speak to Azran Osman-Rani on his business journey from leading both AirAsiaX and Iflix to now running his own company, Naluri and how he managed to bring success wherever he went.
We also dived into the importance of cultivating a healthy mental state and why is it crucial to identify signs of mental health at an early stage.
This episode is really useful for all of us who are going through the lockdown and it sheds light on what we can do to ensure we are constantly in a healthy mental condition, and when we should actually seek help.
We’re excited to move on to a bigger and more improved Season 2 where our goal is to curate episodes that will add more value to our listeners in terms of their personal development.
In Season 2, stay tuned for more in depth episodes where we speak to industry experts about topics such as mental health, personal finance, corporate career insights and entrepreneurship.
Our episodes will be available for free on Spotify and Apple podcast. We are excited to share them with you! This is the journey podcast.
"I hope in 10 years time, we can see a women's coach in Malaysian Futsal. Football is a sport for both genders"
In the final episode of Season 1, we speak to Malaysian Futsal player Steffi Sidhu. She shares about how her career started, the influence from her family in supporting her to go professional, how she believed in herself throughout her entire journey and her aspiration to one day coach the Malaysian team.
She also speaks about her hopes in having more Malaysian women participate in Futsal and the importance of a switch in the mentality where women and men are treated equally in Malaysia.
In this episode, Henry shares with us on how he skipped 4 days of school each week to play games at home until he would get warning letters, why that was an important period for him when discovering his passion and developing TT racing into the company it is today.
He also tells us why it's important to go all in when starting your business, for your people to fully embrace the culture and values of the company, and how having a sense of purpose in your business can take you far.
This is one of the rare success stories that has come out during this pandemic and we hope will be able to inspire you during troubled times like this. Tune into Spotify and Apple Podcast for the full episode. Link in Bio
"When you rigidly structure how you should live your life from day one, chances are you will end up not living your life to the fullest"
In this podcast we speak to Azlan Iskandar, Malaysia's very own former world No.10 in squash. Azlan began his playing career at a mere age of 6, and out of passion and necessity, rose above the rest to represent Malaysia at the international scene, winning multiple tournaments, and ultimately being ranked no 10 in the world.
He then realised how short a sporting career was, and made a decision to pivot and reinvent himself. Today, he runs multiple million dollar businesses and is a proud husband and father to 3 beautiful children. He says his motivation has changed a lot over the years and he is now proving himself in different ways.
Azlan also talks about the importance of hard work, why labelling is toxic, and why failure is inevitable when it comes to achieving success.
This is one of our most entertaining episodes yet.
*Due to certain connection issues, listeners may experience certain background noises during some parts of the episode.
"You create your own reality, anything and everything that you do is a result of your thoughts, words and actions"
At only 18 years of age Harsha Ravindran is a teenage phenomenon, from accompanying her mother to attend talks by social business incubators to now running her own company called start my name.com. Harsha is also part of a founding member of the nationwide youth organization called ascendence and recently published her book called the makings of a teenage entrepreneur.
This podcast is a real eye opener where Harsha mesmerised us with insights on her journey so far and tells us why it is important to always have a positive mindset, how to program the human mind and body to work to your favour to achieve your goals and why age is just a number when it comes to success.
"Forgiveness needs to start from yourself to yourself"
In this episode we talk to Arwind Kumar, who is a social media influencer and prides himself on adding value to everyone around him in the most selfless way. His Instagram page has 150K loyal followers whom he strives to create valuable content for on a daily basis.
We talk to him about how to overcome social anxiety and is it a matter of a want or a need in having an opposite partner.
This is as raw as it gets, where the walls are removed and we share some things that have never been shared before.
"Always be willing enough to remove toxic connections from your life"
In this episode we talk to Arwind Kumar, who is a social media influencer and prides himself on adding value to everyone around him in the most selfless way. His Instagram page has 150K loyal followers whom he strives to create valuable content for on a daily basis.
We talk to him about relationships, forgiveness and taking accountability for your own life. We share our real life experiences and steps we can take to improve the quality of our life in these three areas.
This is as raw as it gets, where the walls are removed and we share some things that have never been shared before.
Finally after months of rescheduling, we finally find the time to speak to Adele Chow and it was worth the wait.
This episode features a well known blogger turned influencer in the Malaysian social media scene. Adele found passion in blogging and stuck through it until the current social media boom, where she took the opportunity to start Sevenvault.
Today she is a mentor, life coach and leader to many influencers who make a living here in Malaysia. She inspires them to be authentic and push their boundaries on a day to day basis.
This is an episode you do not want to miss!
This episode features Jalil Rasheed, the newly announced CEO of Berjaya Group in his first interview since being officially handed the mandate to bring the company forward.
Jalil is one of the most inspiring leaders who puts strong belief in ability before age and the importance of networking and relationship building. He speaks about his experience in PNB as well as providing tips on his journey that led him to be one of the youngest leaders in the region.
The insights shared by Jalil are really inspiring, some of them are so obvious that we often overlook them in our careers. This is a podcast you do not want to miss! Do share this with you friends and family so that it can add value for them as well.
"Success is never built overnight, but rather a journey with many ups and downs"
Today's guest is a well known entrepreneur in the Malaysian events scene. In this podcast Iqbal talks about how his ice cream truck business led him to witnessing a massive rave event in Malaysia which inspired him to start Livescape - one of Malaysia's largest events company.
Iqbal also talks about how the Covid-19 pandemic led him to his lone protest at night markets for the reopening of the events industry. The Journey managed to capture the juicy insights as to why Iqbal started this protest and what's his thought process behind doing it at a night market.
"Taking the first step is always the toughest, but its the only way to succeed"
Our second episode features an ambitious entrepreneur who took advantage of the E-commerce booming space at a very young age. He started by selling off second hand items in Carousell, and then went on building large scale E-commerce businesses, to now running his own Digital Marketing company called Wolves Digital.
Shaun is the walking truth of why age is just a number. When you actually put your mind and soul into something you believe in or have passion in, you can go a long way. In this podcast Shaun shares his golden nugget on how to overcome different challenges, and what is needed to run multiple businesses concurrently.
For many aspiring business people out there, if you're stuck in the balance of wanting to know when is the right time to start or even trying to take your business to the next level, then this podcast will definitely bring you tremendous value.
"I had a huge ego and that made me want to succeed on my own without asking anyone for money. The first thing I did was to google 'Best businesses to start without capital'..."
Today’s guest is a young entrepreneur who once lived pay check to pay check, took a gamble and turned his life around, building a million dollar business here in Malaysia. He is also the current owner of Gajaa 8, a premium Indian restaurant located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
Many young Malaysians currently dream of starting their own business or just growing their career generally, and in this podcast, Dharran shares with us his secret sauce of not just dreaming but also how to walk the talk.
For young aspiring entrepreneurs out there, this podcast will transform your mindset into whats possible and how to take action to achieve your goals.
Dharran is also currently offering free consultation for his personal fitness programmes after going through a massive transformation himself. Follow him @thefastingbull on Instagram for fantastic content on fitness, health and mindset.