Michelle, Our Founder, at TedxYouth @ Singapore

How do you envision the Future of Us? Is it a greener world? Is it a more harmonised world or is it just the same as the present? On 14 September, we had a mind-changing session.

Themed ‘Future of Us’, TedxYouth @ Singapore has brought together home-grown speakers from all walks of life to share their ideas, perspectives and talents, in the hope of inspiring our future generation, the youths, to understand important issues that are prevalent in Singapore society. And our founder, Michelle, was invited by them to share her last 25 years journey and the key takeaways she has gotten from them.

Michelle believes in building an authentic relationship with oneself and in her talk, she shared the formula which has guided her in the last 25 years journey and that is Formula ONE; Taking Ownership, Embracing New Perspectives and Be Enterprising.

In her teen years, Michelle has envisioned herself to be a prominent banker, as most would call the dream job, and to be a millionaire by the age of 30. With her determination to turn her dream into reality, she took the first step, packed her bags and traveled across the Causeway to pursue her education. As a foreign student, she struggled to adjust herself to the unfamiliar environment; the language barrier, the judgmental stares from her classmates and to the occasional thoughts of home on the lonely nights. She had a big dream and she took ownership of it.

However, this dream of hers took a 180-degree turn on her very first day as a banker. What was in front of her was definitely not what she has fantasized of her entire teen years. Burned out colleagues, unhealthy break habits and mercenary (money-orientated) work culture was none of the things she had worked so hard for. Everything she had in mind since she was a 17 years old girl was just a naive imagination which reality had struck hard upon. At that moment, she knew this new life wasn’t for her. And she quit. She had to embrace new perspectives.

It was really a matter of all or nothing. She was jobless and all she had was her fresh degree. But something in her sparked; her newfound passion, her passion to make a change in the world. The road in front of her was daunting yet she saw the opportunities to learn, to grow and to make a change. And so begins her serial entrepreneurship journey. Today, we celebrate the 6th anniversary of Make The Change and the 16th anniversary of M.A.D. School. She had to be enterprising and she did.

Formula ONE; If your life journey is a drive, what kind of driver would you be and why?

Thank you TedxYouth @ Singapore for the amazing opportunity! It has been an enriching session for us all and we really appreciate all the time and effort put into the show.