Season 1
Listen to all our episodes of Season 1 here or on your favourite podcast player.
Each season runs for 13 weeks.
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If you’re new here, start with our trailer.
Or start with individual episodes below.
S01E14: Bonus – Anushia Kandasamy Interviews Krista Goon, Episode 14
This is a bonus episode where Anushia Kandasamy (of Episode 4) decides to reverse the roles and ask me questions! She did a brilliant job as she made me talk about what mattered to me the most and how I ended up doing what I do now. I also had many a-ha moments during the course of our interview as I realised how stories have been a major influence in my life even from a young age.
S01E13: Krista Goon, Co-Founder of Redbox Studio
This final episode of the first season is about me. I was asked by Anushia Kandasamy to talk about my own journey of how I got to be where I am today. I didn’t start out with entrepreneurial ideas after I graduated from university. I just wanted to climb the corporate ladder and become really good at communications.
S01E12: Anja Juliah Abu Bakar, founder of Athena Holdings Sdn Bhd
Today, I am speaking with Malaysian entrepreneur Anja Juliah Abu Bakar who is the founder of Athena Holdings Sdn Bhd (formerly Blubear Holdings Sdn Bhd), a social enterprise that sells washable cloth pads and other earth-friendly products. Her journey as an entrepreneur has many twists and turns, some hilarious and others quite heartbreaking.
S1E11: Rina Neoh, Co- Founder & Managing Partner of Ficus Venture Capital
Today’s episode is all about Rina Neoh who is the co-founder and managing partner of Ficus Venture Capital. This Malaysian entrepreneur started out as a computer scientist who was smart enough to be at the right place at the right time and was able to turn opportunities into businesses not just in Malaysia but also in Singapore and The Philippines.
S01E10: Ooi Lay Pheng, CEO of Berjayapak Sdn Bhd
This episode, I spoke to Ooi Lay Pheng who is the CEO of Berjayapak Sdn Bhd in Penang, Malaysia and she is in a business that many women would not choose to be in! The wood packaging business that she runs manufactures wood packaging such as pallets, crates and boxes and it is also a hot, tough and dusty business. Her passion is in cooking and baking so how did she end up in this manufacturing business?
S01E09: Dr Vimi Ramasamy, CEO of STRAVIK
This week, I spoke to Dr Vimaleswari Ramasamy who is the CEO and founder of STRAVIK, a business consulting firm based in Penang, Malaysia. But Vimi, as she is fondly known, wasn’t always an entrepreneur. She started off as an engineer in a multinational corporation environment, working her way up the career ladder for more than 20 years. What made her quit the corporate world for the world of entrepreneurship?
S01E08: Ann Wong, Co-founder of Penan Women Project
This week, I talk to Ann Wong of the Penan Women Project. She had lived for 10 years in in the US before deciding to come home to Sarawak. She met Shida Mojet one day and became highly interested in what Shida was trying to do for the Penan tribe of Sarawak through woven crafts. But the Penan Women Project isn’t just about selling handmade bags and baskets; it is about impacting and uplifting an entire community of Penan people.
S01E07: Marlienna Suwito, CEO of Heavenly Nest
In this week’s episode, I spoke to Marlienna Suwito who is the CEO of Heavenly Nest based in Jakarta, Indonesia. This gorgeous mother of two is in the business of rearing swiftlets for their nests in 2006. Marlienna, as you will hear in this episode, has a heart for her community. This is why she volunteers at Focus on the Family Indonesia, an international foundation established to empower families across the archipelago and Woman and Youth Detention Centre, Tangerang.
S01E06: Nina Othman, Founder of Grow The Goose
In this week’s episode, I speak to Nina Othman of Grow The Goose. Her business offers financial literacy programmes for children that includes an entrepreneurial component. This Malaysian social entrepreneur didn’t start out wanting to be a social enterprise. Grow The Goose happened because her two sons came to her one day and asked for roller shoes! Listen as Nina tells how she got her boys to put on their thinking caps to earn their own money and how her suggestion turned into a business.
S01E05: Zhafira Loebis, CEO of Babyloania
When she was pregnant with her first child in 2014, Zhafira was dismayed at how expensive everything was! This problem prompted her and her husband to start their business called Babyloania, a baby equipment rental business. Zhafira reveals a lot of practical strategies in this episode that she uses in the running of her business from the creative way she got her first employee to how she turned to her competitors to collaborate and even shared best practices with them.
S01E04: Anushia Kandasamy, CEO of Samanea Asia Consulting
In this episode, I spoke to Anushia Kandasamy, the CEO of Samanea Asia Consulting in Malaysia. Anushia is an independent adviser focusing on socio-economic development, change management and transformational leadership since 2016. This interview was delightful as we spoke about life as she experienced it and Anushia is such an optimistic person. She counts herself lucky at every turn even though some things didn’t initially work in her favour.
S01E03: Norhani Pacasum, CEO of Ziya Inc.
In this episode, I spoke to Norhani Pacasum who is the CEO of Ziya Inc., a fashion retail business in The Philippines. Norhani started her business when she walked into a mall and asked if the mall had space that she could lease and that was how Ziya, her fashion business began in 2004. Hear how Norhani and her business were in a dark place when the coronavirus lockdown started in Manila and what changes she made to her business to continue staying afloat.
S01E02: Maresa Ng, CEO of The Spark Group Asia
In this episode, I spoke to Maresa Ng of The Spark Group Asia who is a business growth turnaround specialist and a business intelligence coach who works with business owners to help them work more effectively to obtain better results in their businesses without sacrificing their lives. Yet at one point in her life, she was working so hard that she almost burnt out! She shares openly about the dangers of having your business run you and the mistakes she made in her business life.
S01E01: The Hawaii Effect
My first episode is all about how Womenpreneur Asia got its start. And it started in Oahu, Hawaii when I was chosen to undergo a two-week leadership programme for women entrepreneurs organised by the East-West Center. I am grateful that I got the opportunity to fly all the way from Penang, Malaysia to Oahu and Maui, Hawaii for two weeks of immersive learning on a full scholarship. More than that, the programme made this podcast a reality.
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