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 fabulous two-week leadership programme for women entrepreneurs organised by the East-West Center.

I am really 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 me make this podcast a reality.

It took some time though from the time I got back to actually recording and publishing the podcast and getting everything done. I was doing all this while running my main business amidst the pandemic lockdown. (And I also started my FB Live series during the lockdown too…talk about crazy!)

The pandemic lockdown which started in Malaysia on 18 March 2020 was my impetus to really get going. After all, everyone across the world was also stuck at home.

I took this time to get my guests ready and scheduled for recording. I couldn’t even order my microphone (I was eyeing the ATR 2100 microphone) and I thought to myself, what the heck, I’ll just plug in my Apple ear buds and microphone into the Mac and get started.

I wasn’t going to give myself excuses anymore.

There’s one thing about having everything ready and perfect (including the equipment of choice) and there’s another thing about just working with what I had. I chose to work with what I had.

And what do you know? I managed to record all my 13 episodes during the lockdown!

So the lesson I learnt is that I can do anything as long as I put my mind to it. Sure, it is tough. I mean, a year ago, I said I wanted to get a podcast up and running. I had no freaking idea how to do it.

And now I do.

So this episode is the backstory – let me give you the genesis of this podcast and what inspired me and kicked me into action.

Enjoy this episode and get on the Womenpreneur Asia mailing list to get updates when a new episode airs.