In this episode, we sit down with Marjorie Woo, an inspiring leader whose career journey spans psychology, social services, corporate leadership, and executive coaching. From her early days growing up and studying in the United States to founding her own business in Asia-Pacific, Marjorie shares the pivotal moments, mindset shifts, and lessons that shaped her path.

0:20 Learnings from Felicity

1:40 Who is Marjorie Woo

5:20 Growing up as a child

7:55 Moving to States 

10:00 What motivated her to do Social Services and Psychology

13:50 Adapting to her new life in the States

21:45 Having a business was not a 'proper' job 

23:00 Her journey with Xerox

28:40 Applying what she has learnt from Psychology

31:30 Moving back to APAC and upskilling in MBA

36:15 How did she stand out in the midst of competition and unconventional norms

40:05 Most important career decision

46:00 Beginning her coaching career

47:35 What's next for Marjorie 

49:50 Best career advice

0:00 Host's introduction of guest speaker, Jonathan

1:01: An overview of Jonathan's career journey

3.50 What drives his career reinvention

6:40 What problems is he solving now

8:20 What is purpose-driven

10:02 Biggest lesson when he was teaching first graders

11:50 Younger days

15:00 How did Jonathan get started in his career

17:20 Most important career decision to date

20:25 Defining leadership

21:13 What's next

23:23 What's the desired outcome

24:48 Coming from 'me' to 'we'

25:38 Best career advice

28:16 Being 'broken open' vs as 'broken'

In this episode of the APCDA Podcast, we sit down with Rahul Nath, founder and creative director of Vertical Slice Games Media. From an unconventional start in the gaming industry to directing films and building an immersive media studio, Rahul shares how resilience, curiosity, and a love for craft have guided his career. He reflects on pivotal life moments, lessons from failure, and why staying uncomfortable fuels growth. This conversation is rich with insights on creativity, entrepreneurship, and designing a career on your own terms.

0:00 Learnings by the hosts

4:12 Introduction of the guest

5:20 About the guest - Who is Rahul

7:15 What motivates and drives him

11:05 Getting started in the gaming industry

12:20 Create your own luck

13:15 Do it for the love of craft and other things will follow

15:00 Formative years

19:53 3 pivotal moments

22:28 Starting film directing

25:55 Most important career decision to date

29:30 Lessons learnt in life

33:18 What's next

39:15 Best career advice

In this episode of the APCDA Career Journey podcast, co-hosts Felicity Brown and Samantha Ng speak with Akshay Sharma, an Indian-born entrepreneur and technologist who has spent the last 12 years building a life and career in Vietnam. From giving up a secure engineering job in India to co-founding a proptech startup and a social impact venture producing affordable prosthetics, Akshay shares the mindset behind his bold decisions, lessons from failure, and what drives him to keep learning and contributing. This is a candid conversation about risk, resilience, and redefining success across borders.

00:05 Introduction of the guest

01:10 Learnings by the hosts

03:05 About the guest - Who is Akshay

04:35 What problems is Akshay solving right now?

05:40 How did Akshay end up in Vietnam

14:15 What shapes you to who you are today

18:18 How to choose between being an employee and becoming an entrepreneur

21:45 Biggest career decision till date

24:45 Dealing with uncertainty 

27:45 Life is short

30:00 What's next

31:55 Best piece of career advice

35:20 What inspires Akshay

In this episode of the APCDA Podcast, Felicity Brown sits down with Jimmy Pham AM, founder of KOTO and co-founder of VietHarvest, for a heartfelt and inspiring conversation. Speaking from his car in Hanoi, Jimmy reflects on his early life journey from Saigon to Sydney, the founding of Vietnam’s first social enterprise, and the core values that have guided his decades-long commitment to empowering marginalized youth. From personal philosophy to future plans, Jimmy shares stories of resilience, purpose, and service—offering not only insight into his work, but a powerful reminder of how one person’s vision can shape thousands of lives.

⏱️ Timestamps:

Tamerlaine Beasley: Life-changing high school student exchange leads to intercultural business. In this episode Felicity and Sam interview Tamerlaine Beasley, Founder and CEO of Beasley Intercultural. Tamerlaine recounts how her influential early experiences living in Thailand led to a successful business delivering intercultural training programs to a diverse, globally connected workforce.

0:20 Key takeaways from Samantha and Felicity

4:00 Introducing Tamerlaine

5:30 Her growth spurt in Thailand

11:05 Purpose-driven work

13:10 Tips for working with people from different cultures

16:00 Getting into business at a young age

23:00 Hustling before hustling was a thing

27:00 Most important career (business) decision to-date

31:55 What's next?

34:24 Be willing to sit slightly outside of your comfort zone 

36:50 Best career advice

Benjamin Loh recounts his career journey from a bullied child and introvert through to becoming a public speaker to audiences of thousands. His insights on developing confidence and defining success are memorable. Join us to hear about this Singaporean who is bucking career stereotype trends everyday.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminlohcoach/

APCDA Podcast is a monthly series on career-related discussions. The podcast is in its fifth season in 2025, continuing the theme of ‘Career Journeys’ where the co-hosts interview a range of people with fascinating career journeys to learn about their key career decisions and career advice.

0:05 Hosts' learnings

2:05 Introduction to Angela 

4:13 What drives her 

5:32 How she got started in her business

6:28 Early career exploration

8:20 Happenstance and Career Management

14:32 Coping with burnout

16:32 Balancing different life roles

19:45 Angela's career values 

23:48 One most important career decision

29:42 Best career advice

30.27 Best self-care tip

Abe is the founder of Future Proof Global which is a business transformation consultancy that specializes in strategy, response to disruption, ESG implementation, organization design and development, leadership development and talent management. In his previous engagements, he has held senior management roles across geographies and functions in a career spanning more than 30 years.

Join us in this chat with Abe to learn more about his journey.

Guest: Abe Jacob | LinkedIn Profile

In this episode, Dr. Maze shares her inspiring journey from a career in mathematics and computer programming to her impactful work in career counseling and assessment. She discusses her early influences, time in the Peace Corps, and the founding of APCDA, offering insights into how personal drivers like happiness shape our career paths. Dr. Maze also explores the role of AI in career counseling and offers practical advice for anyone seeking growth in their personal and professional life. Tune in for her reflections on life lessons, career advice, and what’s next on her horizon.

00:59 Introduction to Dr Marilyn Maze

01:58 Personal drivers - happiness

02:19 Current work

03:11 Career start in mathematics teaching and computer programming

04:34 Peace corps work in the Philippines

05:52 Computerised career assessments

08:42 Birth of APCDA

09:27 Why career counselling?

10:54 AI and career counselling

12:11 Childhood influences and hobbies

14:48 Early career planning

16:17 Career advice

16:59 Life lessons

17:44 What's next?

18:17 Favourite motto

18:52 Final words