Buro.'s Brave Living with Simone Heng

The entertainment industry is notoriously demanding and cutthroat; an environment where eating and mental disorders are unsurprisingly rife. Having spent her young adult years building a music career, Ming Bridges developed body dysmorphia, brought on by the unforgiving standards from her former management team and — you guessed it — social media. 

 

It wasn’t until after university that Ming finally sought professional help to work through her issues. Three years post-recovery, she found a new (and sustainable!) path with Rentadella, a fashion rental platform that loans designer pieces and cult labels to its members. 

 

In this episode of Buro.’s Brave Living, Ming Bridges got real with our host Simone Heng about disordered eating, her relationship with food, body shame, as well as her passion for sustainable fashion line.

 

Growing up in Singapore, Ming’s love for singing led her to join a local competition, where she ended up winning. She soon signed a music contract, and with it, developed an unhealthy relationship with her body and weight — in a time where she faced bullying in school and was told to stay thin by her managers. Triggering an eating disorder, Ming started to count calories and would look to magazines on how to lose weight. After continuously starving herself, Ming couldn’t handle the pressure and began to binge-eat. Her weight gain resulted in her pressing the pause button on her singing career.

 

Ming consulted with a doctor in Singapore to help regain control over her disordered eating. Going behind her family's backs, she checked in with the SGH Life Centre, attributing them to saving her life. Through medications, she stopped binge-eating and formed new eating patterns. Although Instagram was one of the many triggers for her eating disorder, Ming remains appreciative of the platform as it’s aided the success of her business.

 

38:12 Loving life

Post-recovery, Ming now has her own clothing rental business, Rentadella, which has a boutique store at Holland Village. For the first time in her life, she feels that she isn’t the business but behind the business. Where she used to be consumed by her physical appearance and tried to achieve an unrealistic version of herself, Ming is now more equipped in dealing with negative self-talk and opinions.

Celine Tan is the embodiment of the fearless, modern-day working woman. Industrious and fiercely independent, she fought tooth and nail for a life she’s always desired — through a troubling childhood, physical abuse, divorce, heartbreak, fertility problems, and financial struggles.

 

Today, Celine is the partner and brand COO of brand communications and strategy firm The Ate Group. Her passion for caviar led to her opening up her own company last June, after working tirelessly behind-the-scenes for two years. On top of that, she is a mother to a 15-month old boy and wife to a Hungarian PE teacher whom she met off Tinder. How does she do it? 

 

In this episode of Buro.’s Brave Living, Celine goes deep with her long-time friend and our host Simone Heng about her father’s cancer relapse, making amends, finding love again in her mid-30s, and how to be a compassionate boss.

 

Celine recounts getting married at a young age, and realising after some time that they both wanted different things out of life. She then went on to chase her career. When she hit her mid-30s, she felt ready to settle down. Contemplating her options, she researched about freezing her eggs abroad in Thailand or Australia. 

 

7:50 Childhood abuse from her cancer-stricken father       

Growing up as the only child in the household, she learnt how to be independent from an early age. Celine’s father was an alcoholic, and she had to endure violent episodes as a kid. The beatings, irrespective of her father’s cancer diagnosis, continued until she found the power to leave home at 18 years old. Because of her dad’s condition, Celine couldn't go to university, as money went into medical treatments. Despite everything, she remained close to her dad and made amends with him towards the end of his life.

 

After graduating polytechnic, Celine landed a full-time job in London. She felt everything fell into place: she was married (at 20) and was gaining crucial work experience in the UK even though she had no higher education. However, she later realised she was unhappy and unsatisfied with her life. She got a divorce and changed careers. After learning about her father’s cancer relapse, Celine decided to come back to Singapore. 

  

After years of prioritising her career, Celine found herself wanting to start a family in 2015. Before tying the knot with her now-husband, she found dating in her 30s difficult; she was worried that she was too old in the dating pool. Celine matched with her Hungarian husband on Tinder and, as they all say, the rest is history. 

Before 28HKS, Tippling Club, and Jigger & Pony, there was Maison Ikkoku, the OG of Singapore’s craft cocktail scene. Sitting at its helm is Malaysian-born, classically-trained chef-turned-mixologist Ethan Leslie Leong.

 

Since his first big break in 1997 at the International Flair Competition in Birmingham, Ethan has nabbed more bartending awards, made his rounds in the nightlife circuit as a bar manager in the ‘90s, and gone on to create cocktails for F&B establishments and brands including Chanel, Mont Blanc, Guess, and Penhaligon’s.

 

Of course, there’s no easy road to success. From juggling different jobs at a young age to enduring multiple challenges in business, the cocktail maestro recounts the triumphs and adversities he has faced in the 10th episode of Buro.’s Brave Living with Simon Heng.

 

1:23 Background

Born in Malaysia and raised by his grandparents, Ethan grew up in a kampong with 13 other children in his family. His father was murdered when he was just a baby. To support the household, his grandfather would do all sorts of odd, hard-labour jobs. Not fond of school, Ethan abandoned his studies and began working in a restaurant at 17.

 

7:40 Started out washing dishes

While he was serving up to 100 tables every day in a busy restaurant, his mother gave him a one-way ticket and $300 to help him move on to the next phase of his life. His first job was at an American steakhouse, and his next was bartending at a rowdy discotheque frequented by gangsters.

 

21:32 Learning to speak English and going to Birmingham

Having moved from Malaysia to Singapore abruptly, Ethan didn’t speak a word of English at the time. Nevertheless, he went ahead to compete in the world finals of a bartending flair competition in Birmingham. Held in a stadium with four giant screens and packed with over 5,000 spectators, Ethan came in 13th.

 

26:54 Job-hopping

He returned to Malaysia to open his very own bar, but business was slow to pick up. To continue operations, he worked in Singapore to support the bar’s finances. Things turned around after some time, but to his dismay, his name was removed from the bar by his business partner.

 

37:25 Maison Ikkoku

Never one to quit, he set up Maison Ikkoku in Singapore with another partner, where he crafted drinks using natural ingredients. He later became the main shareholder of Maison Ikkoku after parting ways with his business partner. Maison Ikkoku then evolved from a cafe to a restaurant-bar. Most recently, Ethan re-branded the ground floor of Maison Ikkoku with a new concept called SLING, which serves renditions of Singapore’s national cocktail alongside Peranakan dishes inspired by his childhood.

Danielle West was born in Boston to dysfunctional parents. She has lived in some harsh environments in America, Canada and London, including cardboard boxes on the streets of Toronto. Singapore was supposed to be her last stop, where she planned to end her life.

Thankfully, that didn't happen. Instead, she wrote a page-turner of a memoir titled Girls Can't Be in the Mafia, where she detailed her heartbreaking — disturbing, even — childhood, her time in a mental institution and foster homes, her multiple escapes from her sociopathic father and alcoholic mother, her dominatrix stint, and her journey to become a pro-MMA fighter in London.

In this episode of Buro.'s Brave Living, Danielle opens up to our host Simone Heng about her tempestuous past, her relationship with her daughter, and the personal healing she had to do to be her very own knight in shining armour. Spoiler alert if you haven't read her book.

Danielle and her sisters suffered years of emotional abuse at home. Her mother would continuously threaten to send them to an orphanage if they misbehave. This terrified little Danielle, who was told tales of horror and torture in orphanages. Eventually, she became desensitised to the threats and discovered her strength.

 

Danielle was only six years old when she first ran away from home. Desperate to distance herself from her abusive parents, she ended up in multiple foster homes, juvie jail and, eventually, in a psychiatric hospital where she met the father of her daughter, who she had when she was just 16.

  

Danielle’s father found out about her pregnancy and wanted her to have an abortion. Taking advantage of her then-boyfriend’s Native American travelling privileges, she left for Canada to protect her baby. But with nothing in the bank, they were both homeless and lived off his North American state benefits.  

 

With the money she earned as a dominatrix, Danielle built a creative portfolio featuring local artists and photographers, which helped get her foot in the door of an advertising agency. Life started to look a little less tumultuous: Danielle got married, and she moved to London with her family. There, as she became overweight and feeling defenceless, Danielle decided to pursue MMA and later became one of the first MMA fighters in the UK. 

 

Danielle admits to having several of her identities died at once before she left for Singapore. Her role as a parent shifted when she gave all her savings to her daughter, who wanted to go back to the States for college. She was also newly divorced, and her MMA career was coming to an end as well. Inspired by the accomplishments of the mighty little red dot, she chose to move to Singapore with no money and no job guaranteed. At some point, depression got the better of her, and she nearly died from a suicide attempt. Following this, a new lease on life was formed, commencing her extensive healing journey.

Even if you don't know who Sam Lo is, you probably have seen her work in and around Singapore. She was the rebel artist who stuck "Press Until Shiok" and "Anyhow Paste Kena Fine" stickers at traffic lights, wrote the words "My Grandfather's Road" on Telegraph Street and on Circular Road on two occasions, and created the LIMPEH portraits series featuring our founding father Lee Kuan Yew.

Sam was arrested in 2012 for vandalism. The following year, she was charged with 15 counts of mischief and was sentenced to 240 hours of community service. Her arrest, which sparked a public debate on whether her work was art or vandalism, set her on a journey to become one of the city's most recognised visual artists. Today, she continues to challenge notions of what makes us Singaporean.

Tune in to the latest episode of Buro's Brave Living to hear Sam spill the tea on how she became an artist, details of her arrest, its aftermath, and her views on the local art scene.

She recollects her formative years in CHIJ Katong. A lot of her peers came out of school being more outspoken and expressive. Her time in school and her growing up in a traditional family made her who she is. She goes on to talk about an identity crisis post-arrest, as the media first called her a vandal, then an artist.

 

Sam shares details on the things she did leading up to her arrest in 2012, and what happened after she was released from lock-up. The attention and support she got through social media helped her and her family move on after the incident. Sentenced to 240 hours of community service, she put time in an old folks' home and connected with its residents the same way she had sought to connect with people through her art.

Together with her top collaborator Soph O (@waywardclouds), they formed UCA (Unknown Chinese Artists) creating murals around Singapore. Also, apart from working with governmental boards such as the Singapore Tourism Board and different brands, she produces works internationally. Her recent work for Nike is featured on a wall at Changi Jewel.

For more inspiring stories, subscribe and tune in every fortnight to Buro.'s Brave Living with Simone Heng. For more updates, head over to our website, Facebook, and Instagram. 

She’s known to many as Zouk’s former marketing manager, Buro.’s contributing editor, and founder of marketing agency Ppurpose. If you follow her on Instagram (@tracyjoyphillips), you’ll also know that she’s an avid traveller, a culture insider, an advocate for mindfulness and an all-round joyful being — after all, this is a woman whose middle name is “Joy”. 

Sure, social media only reveals so much about someone, but if you delve deeper into Tracy’s life on the ‘gram, you’ll discover snippets of her journey that wasn’t always easy-going. Caring for a bipolar parent, dropping out of business school to support herself, and growing up in an abusive environment, her formative years were far from idyllic. It wasn’t until she turned her enthusiasm for music and nightlife into a career that things took off for her.

In this episode of Buro.’s Brave Living, Tracy gets candid with our host Simone Heng about how she handled her tumultuous childhood, found friends that became her family, and how she lives mindfully.

Tracy found herself in Perth with her mother soon after her parents’ divorce at the tender age of four. After years of shuttling back and forth between Australia and Singapore, where her dad resided, she finally settled down here when she was 13 years old. Tracy recounts how stressful the constant move was — which wasn’t made any easier by the fact that her mom was suffering from bipolar disorder.

Tracy opens up about handling her mother’s severe emotional highs and lows. She first realised something was off when she witnessed her mom go through a manic episode triggered by her dad’s attempt to reconnect. It was a downward spiral from there, with her mom eventually getting institutionalised. 

Fulfilling as it may be, ten years in the nightlife industry left Tracy burnt out. The odd working hours had started to take a toll on her. This spurred her to start her own programming agency. armed with experience and knowledge on the inner workings of the industry.

Being single is the least of her concerns and Tracy is in no rush to get hitched. Having experienced her parents’ divorce and re-marriages first-hand, the idea of a “happily-ever after” is almost an utopian concept to her. She’ll rather wait for a partner that she is truly convinced about, than going into a relationship because of societal and peer pressure.

The unexpected passing of her mother, coupled with the pressure to continue her parents’ legacy, drove her to the brink of an existential crisis. It took years of grieving and the unconditional support of her friends to get back on her feet. 

She owes her emotional and mental stability to the work she’s done to make peace with both of her parents. Growing up as a Catholic, she found a whole new perspective with Buddhism and yoga, both of which acted as anchors that kept her grounded through her journey of self-discovery. 

For more inspiring stories, subscribe and tune in every fortnight to Buro.'s Brave Living with Simone Heng. For more updates, head over to our website, Facebook, and Instagram. 

On the runway and in magazines, Saara Sihvonen — who was runner-up in Finland's Next Top Model (cycle three) and has walked for fashion's biggest names including Givenchy, Zimmerman and Saint Laurent — looks every bit put together. However, the picture isn't all rosy.

The fashion industry is infamous for its brutal and, at times, dysfunctional working environments, which can hit hard on one's mental well-being. At 19 years old, Saara was unprepared for the curveballs thrown at her when she first stepped into the modelling field. In spite of the loneliness, rejection, and criticism, she took all the lessons and went on to steadily carve a successful modelling career and, now, a new wellness platform to empower those who are new and struggling in the industry.

In the sixth episode of Buro's Brave Living, Saara shares with our host Simone Heng the grit behind all the glamour and glitz of modelling, how her personal struggles led to her being an ardent advocate for positive psychology, and the impact of social media on the mental health of budding models.

Fresh off her successful run in Finland’s Next Top Model, she was promptly booked by one of the biggest modelling agencies in New York. However, her rise to stardom didn’t last long as she was soon dropped from the agency six weeks in. She recounts how that rejection made her realise the harsh and unpredictable nature of the fashion industry. 

Saara talks about her parents’ unexpected divorce and how badly it affected her mental health. With the guidance of a life coach, Saara took some time off modelling to explore what she wanted out of life. Withsaara soon followed when she discovered there wasn’t any support system in place for young models navigating the fashion world. 

Saara shares her thoughts on social media’s omnipresence and learning how to balance the real world and the virtual world. A firm believer in human connection, she emphasises the need for interaction with people around us to lead a more fulfilling life in general.

Withsaara is all about starting a dialogue, implementing daily interventions and developing a sense of togetherness, all in the hopes to initiate a favourable change in the current culture of the fashion industry.

For more inspiring stories, subscribe and tune in every fortnight to Buro.'s Brave Living with Simone Heng. For more updates, head over to our website, Facebook, and Instagram. 

Is it any wonder that Nicolas Travis has an amazing complexion? The man is behind local cult beauty brand Allies of Skin, which boasts clean and effective products that are stocked in big-name retailers around the world including Sephora, Harrods, Net-a-Porter, Space NK, and Galeries Lafayette.

However, behind that flawlessness is a backstory of imperfections and faith. Nicolas launched his own skincare label because he became increasingly dissatisfied with the products that claimed to treat his severe acne. Somewhere along the way, Nicolas also suffered a major fall, that saw him sink into a period of depression.

In the fifth episode of Buro's Brave Living, the tenacious founder talks to our host Simone Heng about his unusual childhood, how he struggled to find his footing in the beauty industry, and his unwavering commitment to his dreams.

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Estranged from his biological parents when he was just three months old, Nicolas was raised by his nanny, whose family he calls “an incredible blessing”. It was in this self-made household that he learnt the value of hard work and self-reliance.

Nicolas shares how, as a biomedical undergrad, he had always been fascinated with skin. It was only after unfulfilling stints in advertising and PR that he considered building a skincare business on his own. However, it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine in the beginning. He recounts how he was constantly worried about money and working with major retailers.

A major fall in Nicolas’ younger days changed him. He sunk into depression and was on antidepressants for years. After popping mood-adjusting pills for a decade, Nicolas decided to stop medicating and, under the advice of his shrink at the time, made a bucket list of his dreams.

Nicolas reveals his expansion plans for Allies of Skin in terms of products and distribution. He concludes with words of encouragement: “The grass is not greener on the other side; it’s green where you water it.”

For more inspiring stories, subscribe and tune in every fortnight to Buro.'s Brave Living with Simone Heng. For more updates, head over to our website, Facebook, and Instagram. 

"Don't fall because you'll bruise your knees and you cannot be a beauty queen."

Joey Mead King — supermodel, TV personality, and co-judge of Asia's Next Top Model — grew up in a community that valued looks more than a college degree, which may come as a surprise, considering how education is prioritised among Asian families.

It seemed natural then that Joey went on to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. By the time she was 15, she knew that she wanted to be a model. Blessed with good looks that could kill, you'd think that she would have had it easy in the glamorous world of television and media, but her interview with our podcast host Simone Heng would reveal otherwise.

In this all-new third episode of Buro.'s Brave Living, Joey revisits her complicated childhood, how she hustled to get jobs as a teen model, and lets us in on her unconventional life with her partner, now known as Angelina Mead King.

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Simone begins the podcast with quote from Brené Brown: “We all struggle to understand why some people who have survived trauma — be it in combat, domestic violence, sexual or physical abuse, or the quieter but equally devastating covert traumas of oppression, neglect, isolation, or living in extreme fear or stress — exhibit tremendous resilience and lead full, wholehearted lives, while others become defined by their trauma.” Buro.’s Brave Living was founded with that in mind. Simone then goes on to introduce our next guest, Joey Mead King, whom she refers to as her former mentor and a source of inspiration for women. 

As an introverted child with mostly-absent parents and impermanent surroundings, Joey often found herself alone. Kids are generally uncivilised and dangerous if left to their own devices, but she considered herself a good kid who stayed out of trouble. Here, she opens up about rescuing helpless creatures, her mother’s affair with her biological father, and the not-so-pretty years as a fearless teenager hungry to succeed before turning 30.

He was The Bad Boy — charming, successful and generous. It started with a slap after she was found talking to several boys in a club. The punches and black eyes came soon after, and for a while, she stayed because she felt like it was something she could fix.

“Ian is different,” says Joey. His persistence with her paid off. But her whirlwind romance took a turn when she discovered a woman’s underwear in their home, which Ian later admitted to be his — to her relief. They got married in Beverly Hills in 2011, and despite all the changes in their lives, including Ian’s gender identity, they remain solidly in each other’s lives. 

For more inspiring stories, subscribe and tune in every fortnight to Buro.'s Brave Living with Simone Heng. Connect with us by following us on our website, Facebook, and Instagram. 

Simone Heng met Greg Oh, our first guest on Buro's Brave Living, 15 years ago at a shoot. She had gained a bit of weight, and overheard the crew making comments about it in dialect. Greg noticed how affected she was by their comment, took her under his wing and made her feel safe — a gesture Simone that led to a life-long friendship.

As one of Singapore's most prominent hairstylists and makeup artists in Singapore, Greg has worked his magic on countless models for renowned fashion titles (including our own Buro. Large), as well as on Hollywood personalities like Michelle Yeoh and Shirley Manson.

In this first episode, she cosies up with her long-time friend, as he shares his life story as a "fairy in the forest". The pair dive into his childhood, and talk about how he found his way into the fashion and beauty industry in Europe and New York, the positive side to social media, his beliefs, and what it means to live life to the fullest.

Get ready to hit play to get inspired.

Our host Simone Heng introduces her first guest, Greg Oh, someone whom she considers to be a “shining light to the world” and the godfather of hair-and-makeup in Singapore. They delve into Greg’s colourful life, from his parents’ divorce to how he got into the fashion industry to how he goes on to experience life beyond what is “normal”. 

 

Greg and Simone discuss about living in different parts of the world as Asians, how their thirst for experience opened up doors to opportunities, and how social media has turned into a space for diversity to exist.

 

Greg shares how his mum has always allowed him to be himself.

 

Simone wraps up the podcast with a final question for Greg, where he ends with a message to celebrate living and exploring all that the universe has in store for us.

For more inspiring stories, subscribe and tune in every fortnight to Buro.'s Brave Living with Simone Heng. Connect with us by following us on our website, Facebook, and Instagram.