It started the way so many great Malaysian things do, over a late-night mamak conversation, two young people complaining that nobody was telling their generation's stories the way they deserved to be told. Chris Khristie and Michelle Tan are the co-founders of Influasia, the digital media powerhouse behind World of Buzz, Lobak Merah, Noodou, and In Real Life, a network of publications that collectively became the pulse of Malaysian internet culture. What makes their story remarkable isn't just the scale of what they built, but how they built it: no funding, no safety net, working seven days a week while Chris had just quit a high-paying job and Michelle was still completing her degree, both of them learning everything from scratch because there was simply no other option. 

By the time Forbes named them both to the prestigious 30 Under 30 Asia list in 2019, they had already proved what most people twice their age were still figuring out, that if you understand your audience deeply enough and respect them enough to create content that actually matters to them, they will show up for you every single time. This episode is for every young Malaysian with a wild idea and a mamak receipt because this is proof that the best media empires are built one conversation at a time.

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