The SHINE Series features individuals who I meet on my travels or through my network who inspires me through their mindset, actions and/ or heart to flourish.
I first met Patricea when we both attended a workshop and we stayed connected via our socials. I enjoy reading her posts and resonate with her attitude towards life. We caught up over a call and when she attended my book launch. Both times, I enjoyed her warm presence and conversations. It gives me immense joy to have this opportunity to share her story with you.
Patricea Chow – Managing Editor, Expat Living Singapore
I enjoy reading your LinkedIn posts and in one of them, you shared about your diverse and interesting professional journey. Could you share more with us?
I have to preface this by saying that I certainly didn’t expect to take so many detours on my professional journey! As with every fresh graduate, I had a vision of how my career would develop. But life is unpredictable and things don’t always happen linearly. Adding a bit more background, my parents brought me up with the adage, “You do what you need to do, to survive”. They both grew up in big families (6-8 siblings) in the late 1940’s in Singapore, which were the post-war years. This was also a time where males were valued more than females, which my mother told me was particularly challenging for her as she was curious, a quick learner and very resourceful. She had to prove to her parents that an education wasn’t wasted on her. When she was in secondary school, she realised that secretaries were in demand by foreign owned companies in developing Singapore. So she found a way to study shorthand, typing and other secretarial skills, which allowed her to become the personal secretary to an American businessman. In life, she kept looking ahead and always had plans B and C running along with plan A. She always said that a person has to first help themselves because sometimes, we can’t wait for people to save us. My mother’s experience and philosophy continues to inspire me to look ahead and find a solution to whatever issue I’m facing. Most of my career changes happened due to circumstances beyond my control. World recession after the events of 11 Sept 2001; redundancy after an M&A or the company pivoting direction; relocation overseas; returning here; and, the COVID pandemic. The first retrenchment in 2002 came as a shock as it was only 1.5 years after graduating from university. I was in my dream job as an Assistant Editor at a lifestyle website and thought I would grow old in it. I struggled emotionally and financially for almost a year – the world was in recession and I couldn’t get another full time job. I was working part time administrative or data entry jobs – it could be three continuous weeks in one month or only three days in the next month. These were usually covering someone who was on MC or leave. This was the catalyst for me to explore diverse income streams. Even though all I dreamed about since I was 9 years old was to be in print publishing as a writer or editor, I realised that I had no control over world events but they would still directly impact my life. But I’ve been juggling things since the age of 15 years. Even as I was a full-time student sitting for my O levels through to my undergraduate degree, I gave weekly tuition to primary school pupils. During mid- and year-end holidays, I did part-time administration or data entry jobs. In junior college (17 and 18 years), I worked Friday and Saturday nights at 7-Eleven convenience stores, then went to school on Saturday morning for remedial classes for certain subjects. In university, besides giving weekly tuition to primary, secondary and JC students, I was also writing content for websites and working through the school breaks. On top of this, I was juggling leadership roles such as student council in JC. I don’t remember a school holiday where I had the leisure of lounging at home for days on end or hanging out throughout the week with my friends. I don’t think many of my friends knew I was working part time, they just thought my parents were strict with me. A more recent example was when I was teaching yoga and fitness full time in 2018 until Covid hit. I supplemented my income with freelance writing for B2C and B2B websites. During Covid, I couldn’t teach so besides writing, I ventured into headhunting/recruitment (I used my SkillsFuture Credits to take the course). Now that I’m settled into my full time role, I’m figuring out how to return to teaching yoga and fitness on a part time basis. Without health, we’re unable to do anything except lay in bed. So I’d like to bring my belief in movement and fitness to others through my classes. Many people don’t understand the diversity of the things I take on. To me, I’m simply doing what I have with the skills and knowledge that I have. I think what’s most important is that I’m doing things that I enjoy. Each time that I take something on, it helps me to grow as a person.
What challenges, if any, did you find pivoting to the different roles and how did you overcome them?
Even if it’s the same role in a new company, there’s always a huge learning curve as different organisations do things differently. I approach each role with the same curious mindset and attitude of constantly learning. My current boss is in her early 60’s and continues to learn new ways to manage the business more efficiently. If she’s still learning, there’s no excuse for me! While I learn better through doing, there are times where I feel that I need more clarity in terms of theory and a framework to work with. In such cases, I would invest in a certification or course on my own accord. Although these usually require big investments in terms of fees and time, I remind myself that I’m investing in my growth, and that the knowledge and skills will be useful one way or another. For example, after obtaining my Certificate of Employment Intermediaries in early 2020 and jumping into headhunting, I was able to apply my skills when I was myself headhunted in late 2020 for roles in publishing.
Knowing what you know now, is there anything you would have done differently?
I probably would have stuck it out longer in certain roles. I was very ambitious in my mid 20’s – there was the expectation to attain a certain designation or salary within a time frame I’d imposed on myself. Like, I must hold the title of Editor before the age of 28 years. I expected to be promoted annually otherwise, I moved to another company. Looking back, I was simply inexperienced in negotiation. When I heard “no”, rather than negotiating a timeline, I looked for another opportunity. If I had known how to negotiate, I believe I would have achieved what I wanted in an agreed time frame as well as acquired more skills and grown faster as a manager.
What are some favourite aspects of your current role as Managing Editor?
More than a year in the role, it continues to be interesting and challenging. What I do remains the same – delegating stories to the editorial team, ensuring that all stories are submitted by the deadline, editors are responding in a timely manner to clients, and my own stories are filed on time. However, there are months where we get an influx of story bookings or when two editors are on leave at the same time. It becomes a challenge to manage the workload of everyone on the team. Another aspect is training those who join our editorial team; we’re expanding and gradually adding junior writers to the team. Most of the young writers nowadays have only written for online, very few have written for a print lifestyle publication – sign of the times as digital media has become dominant over the past 10 years. The skills needed to write for a monthly print publication are different from those of writing for an online publication. It’s not only about writing grammatically correct articles – it’s a different production timeline, writing style and word limit when writing for print. They also need very good time management and organisation to meet print deadlines. While we can move deadlines for online publishing, we can’t move print deadlines as it affects the date when the magazine is received by our subscribers. If it has to go to the printer by 6pm on the 10th of the month, it must be by 6pm on the 10th; it can’t go at 6.15pm, much less on the 11th, 12th or 13th. Having done both mediums for over 28 years, I’m able to mentor new team members in these aspects. I enjoy it as I would like to continue seeing print publications on the newsstands. The last thing that I absolutely love in my current role is that I’m working with a fantastic team. My boss has created a wonderful company culture and gathered a team that truly feels like a family. We all focus seriously on our work with great synergy but we also have fun together! My boss has organised so many company activities that bring the team in Singapore together. These include buffet meals at restaurants, festive dinners with gifts from her, a yacht trip, family picnics in the park, evening cocktails, a cooking lesson, team workouts and much more. We have a karaoke session coming up in early June!
What daily habits do you use to help you to remain joyful and flourish at what you do? Any favourite quotes that inspire you to keep going?
#1 My favourite quote is “Today is the tomorrow you were promised yesterday.” It’s the title of a Stacey Pullen album released in 2001. I love how it reflects Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now. In essence: you can’t change the past since it’s over, you can’t do anything about the future since it hasn’t arrived, but you can do your best now because this moment is all that you have. #2 I’m a believer in God and Christ – I was baptised as a toddler. My spiritual faith continues to be strong as there have been many unexplained blessings in my life, even through very challenging times. Other than attributing them to the grace of God, I can’t find any tangible explanation of how things worked out in their own time, despite my sometimes unnecessary efforts. I speak daily and throughout the day with God through Christ, especially upon waking and just before falling asleep. I do literally talk to them until I drift off to sleep. #3 Since I was a toddler, I’ve kept diaries where I write my feelings, goals and steps. It started because I didn’t have a family member or friend to talk to when making decisions or when something upset me; I had to figure out a lot of things by myself and writing helped in organising my thoughts and feelings. Through the process, I’m also challenged to list action steps. These entries are also a way to reflect and gauge my progress over the months and years. I don’t need to go fast as long as I’m moving versus being stuck at the same place one, two or three years down the road. Additionally, each evening I write what I’m grateful for. It can be “had a great yoga session” or “did a video call with my best friends”. #4 Daily movement is important for me. It can be brisk walking, yoga, gym or aqua workouts. Moving physically and pushing myself reminds me of the control I have over my physical body. Having a strong body that moves well makes me feel youthful, and being youthful fills me with hope and happiness of all the things that I can do. #5 This may sound obvious but a well hydrated and nourished body keeps the immune system strong. So I take vitamins and drink loads of filtered water daily. Once you’re sick, you can’t do anything! #6 I sleep before midnight. There was a period where I fell asleep around 2am each night. It wrecked my day as my attention and energy were affected. After a particular evening where I did a vigorous aqua fitness workout followed by a yoga class and a sauna session, I crashed at 10.30am. I woke up the next day at 7am, absolutely refreshed. Since then, I’ve kept to sleeping at no later than 11.30pm.
What is one aspirational goal you would like to actualise soon?
I actually have two. #1 I would like to teach private or small group classes of Hatha yoga or fitness (Animal Flow) again. If anyone is interested in a private practice, let me know! #2 Finish decorating my home, which I moved into in October 2022. It’s my first home and it took many years to get it so I’m very proud of this achievement. I would love to have friends over for catch ups but it’s still lacking certain furnishing and decor. Hopefully this can be completed in time for a Christmas open house this year! In the span of 3-5 years, I’m looking to obtain my coaching certification from ICF.