The Apprentice: ONE Championship edition has been dubbed ‘the toughest Apprentice’ in the history of this legendary franchise.

This series is now the #2 most watched show on Netflix in Singapore and is trending worldwide. 16 participants from all over the world competed for the chance to win a US$250,000 contract and the once in a life time opportunity to be the protege and Chief of Staff of ONE Championship’s CEO and lifelong martial artist Chatri Sityodtong.

ONE Championship is the largest martial arts media property in Asia and so it’s no surprise that this TV series is a marriage of physical endurance and business acumen to find the ‘perfect professionally skilled corporate athlete’. 

On today’s episode, we speak to Jessica Ramella, the inaugural grand winner (spoiler alert, whoops!) of The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition on her surreal experience winning the Apprentice, navigating internal and external pressure, how her Sales experience catapulted her career and she even spilt the beans on some behind-the-scenes Apprentice stories..exclusively on the Actsplore This Podcast!

Having to negotiate for what you want can feel like getting a root canal. You'd rather not do it, but sometimes it's necessary.

That's especially the case when it comes to negotiating on salary, job promotions, you name it.

On today's episode, we speak to Fotini Iconomopoulos, an award-winning negotiation consultant and the author of Say Less, Get More: Unconventional Negotiation Techniques to Get What You Want.

Nicknamed “the negotiator” as a child, Fotini has always channeled her energy into a passion by empowering her clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small business entrepreneurs to help them achieve their goals through her expertise in negotiation, communication and persuasion.

We talk to Fotini about the power of the mental pause, how we can take control of negotiation anxiety and exercise our negotiation muscles as well as how to navigate the fine line between being assertive and aggressive.

Trust us when we say you're going to want a paper and pen handy for this episode - cuz there's so much to take away!

What does it look like to choose courage over comfort and to embark on the road less taken? Amber Leong is the first Malaysian entrepreneur who pitched her light therapy lamp business on Shark Tank, a reality TV show where inventors and entrepreneurs pitch their products to real-life investors. 

Her moving and impactful pitch left the judges teary-eyed and she walked away with an impressive USD750,000 investment for a 20 percent stake in her company, Circadian Optics. 

While her success story seems like a fairy tale today, she navigated a lot of hardships and obstacles along the way. In today’s episode, we hear Amber’s fight for survival as she battled a life-threatening illness, the lightbulb moment that led her to leave her corporate job to start Circadian Optics, how she prepared for this pitch, and the lessons she learnt working with her investors, Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner

In a world where change is the only constant, how do we reshape our relationship with change to be fit for a world in flux? 

April Rinne is a “change navigator,” speaker, investor, and adventurer whose work and travels in more than 100 countries have given her a front-row seat to a world in flux. 

She is one of the 50 leading female futurists in the world, a Harvard Law School graduate, a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum, and is a trusted advisor to well-known startups and companies such as Airbnb and Nike.

She is also the author of Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change. 

From her varied and vast experiences, April developed the concept of a 'Flux Mindset' - how to see and embrace change consistently as an opportunity, not a threat, by being clear and grounded in our values. 

In this episode, we dive into one of the 8 superpowers to thrive in a world of flux, on how and why we should build our Career Portfolios as a never-ending source of discovery and fulfillment to thrive at work. 

Link to HBR Article: https://hbr.org/2021/10/why-you-should-build-a-career-portfolio-not-a-career-path

We've all heard the phrase 'Beauty is only skin deep.' But what does that truly mean?

Rocyie Wong is the embodiment of that phrase. At age 14, she discovered that she was diagnosed with psoriasis, a painful, genetic skin disease that manifests itself through red and scaly patches that itch and bleed.

Since that, she's been through a rollercoaster journey navigating life with this incurable chronic skin disease, with no clear cause or cure. She's taken it upon herself to champion and advocate for this cause which is so close to her heart with courage and zeal. 

But she wasn't always this courageous about it. There was a point in her life where she hid this side of her life from her friends and social circle for more than 10 years. 

In today's episode, Rocyie unpeels the hidden layers behind the physical, psychological, mental and emotional challenges of her very personal journey as she finds purpose and self acceptance in pain as a Psoriasis Advocate and the Founder of Safe Space.

Let’s be real. Any money talk is not easy. Add relationships into the mix and boy oh boy, can it get real complicated! 

High chances that you and your partner would have different personalities, outlooks and approaches to finances. 

While not everyone may find discussing 'money talk' sexy, one thing we can't deny: it is a necessary conversation to have with our significant other to build successful relationships. 

In conjunction with Valentine's Day, we speak to Suraya Zainudin, a Personal Finance Blogger and Founder of the Ringgit oh Ringgit blog, to help us untangle some awkward money conversations that you and your current/future partner may have sometime in the future!

We also chat about : 

- At what stage of the relationship should you ask about your partner's finances?

- What happens if both parties have fundamentally different money beliefs?

- What approach to take in the case of couples where one party is earning a lot more than the other?

Described as the psychological capacity to adapt to stressful circumstances and to bounce back from adverse events, ‘Resilience’ is a highly sought-after personality trait in the modern workplace. In the face of redundancies, organisational changes and disruptions, it’s no wonder Resilience has become somewhat of a buzzword in the wake of the pandemic. Thankfully, there are steps we can take to build our Resilience muscles!

To unpack this topic, we speak to Siru Heino, an Executive & Leadership Coach who has had 20 years of management and leadership experience in the FMCG industry and over 12 years of leadership development. Siru has experience coaching mid-level managers to C-suite leaders across diverse industries including supply chain, fashion, entertainment, higher education, oil and gas and FMCG in Asia, Europe and USA.

In this conversation, Siru shares with us her personal journey of building resilience, how we can all develop our change muscles, what leaders can do to build a resilience workforce, plus some tips on managing difficult conversations!

What comes to mind when you hear the saying ‘Thirty, Flirty and Thriving’? Many people associate the 20s as the prime time to explore different possibilities, make mistakes and hustle hard whereas the 30 milestone often comes with the expectations of being married, starting a family, or being at a particular place in their career.

To unpack this, we had the pleasure of having our friend, Ashley Suelyn (Founder of The Real Planner) to join us for this raw and personal episode on the lessons learnt in our 20s and hear her personal insights on what it’s been like to cross the big 3-0! We dive into what it means to redefine personal success, navigate societal expectations, and making the most out of life - whatever age you are at.  

Ashley received the Marie Claire Amazing Women 2018 Award for successfully building a startup whilst climbing the corporate ladder and for her contribution as an activist in the area of women and youth empowerment. She founded The Real Planner, a social innovation firm and productivity consultancy in July 2016, and currently serves as a Board of Advisor at Sisu Wellness, Lean In Malaysia, Command Tech, and Emerging Leaders Asia.

Link to Yi Xuan (No Money Lah) Post: https://www.facebook.com/nomoneylah2018/photos/a.302983080307766/964029057536495

In this episode, we get up close and personal with Yi Jun Loh, the wildly creative cook and author behind Jun and Tonic, a recipe blog that was nominated for the Saveur Blog Awards in 2018.

A chemical engineer graduate turned self-confessed food geek, Jun now runs a gamut of gastronomical projects, from producing Take a Bao, a narrative Asian food podcast that gives voice to the under-represented food stories of the region, sharing cross-cultural cooking and recipes, to writing about food culture and history for publications like Saveur and Food52.

From culinary school in London and Paris, followed by a six-month stint at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York, Jun is now making waves in our Asian food scene through his creative and unorthodox approach to food and has recently been listed as Asia’s Most Influential: Malaysia’s 30 Tastemakers 2021 ! 

Check out Jun's website here: https://junandtonic.com/ (and don't say we don't warn you, get ready to salivate and enjoy some serious ASMR wonders!)

If you’ve ever asked yourself how you can elevate your performance (be it inside or outside the workplace), this episode is for you. Take it from us, this episode is an actionable and action-packed one, grab a pen and paper, get comfy, and tune in! 

With decades of experience leading, consulting and coaching leaders globally, Deno Hewson, an Executive Performance Coach and Principal of Summit Culture, shares his take on how we can achieve peak performance. Apart from being an Executive Performance Coach, Deno is a mountaineer and have spent decades climbing in the Himalayas and all around the world. 

Drawing on lessons from his climbing expeditions and performance coaching work, Deno explains how we can prime our mindset to achieve peak performance and live a summit culture. In this episode, Deno also sheds some light on the barriers that tend to hold people back from elevating their performance and provide a helpful 4-step Summit Culture management framework on how you can do more, better.

New episodes drop every Monday at 8 pm. Connect with us on Instagram @actsplorethispodcast to get the conversation going