In this episode, I sit down with the founders of Matcha Masta, a Singapore-born brand brewing up matcha with benefits, like collagen, protein, and a whole lot of hype on TikTok. We dive into:

🍵 How they transformed loyal TikTok followers into paying customers🤝 Why working with your best friend can be the ultimate business power move💡 The realities of leaving corporate life to build a brand from scratch📱 What it’s really like launching a consumer business in today’s hyper competitive scene💪 Creating a functional food product

Whether you’re dreaming of starting something of your own, fascinated by how food trends grow online, or just love a good matcha latte, their story offers a blend of inspiration and practical lessons.

Pull up a cup of something green and enjoy this candid conversation about taking big swings, betting on friendship, and building a business fuelled by community.

Like many of us, Simone Heng has experienced periods of extreme loneliness.

Unlike many of us, she’s turned those experiences into a successful career, driven by a mission to help people build real human connection in a lonely world.

We talk about her upbringing, and her personal journey from her high profile career in media and entertainment, to becoming a young carer for her mother who suffered a stroke, and how that experienced pushed her to figure out how to build the fulfilling life she has today, and a career that is so aligned with her mission as a person.

She shares her laser focussed vision and grit when it came to building her business and career. With strong visualisation “I visualised speaking at Harvard, Google, all the places I’ve now spoken at, down to the outfit” paired with “boring, hard and labourious work” in pursuit with worthy long term goals, she shares how she brought her plans to fruition.

Simone also shares how we can find real human connection in a world that is as much digital as it is “real”, and how parents can set their children up for better communication skills and connection through synchronous activities like music and sport.

Simone’s is a living example of how human connection, and human traits like charm, can be the foundation of a successful, meaningful (and financially viable) life.

Victoria Cheng’s story is about saying yes to curiosity, and combining interests with skillset.

We talk about how her love of food, inherited from her father, led her to food journalism and eventually video content - skills she later used to become one of Asia’s leading esports hosts and commentators.

As the oldest sister to four brothers, she shares how sports helped her build confidence, and how she’s learned to care less about what others think.

We dive into the rapid evolution of esports, the impact of food and nutrition on player performance, and her goal to create long-term career paths and support for young players through her new agency.

From a childhood filled with explorations of his family’s kitchen cabinets, to a career in F&B that spans over 2 decades, multiple awards and a stint as a Masterchef Singapore judge, Bjorn has built his career on unexpected, creative (sometimes “stupid”) choices and the courage to see them through.

I chat with Bjorn about how he has managed to run one of Singapore’s longest standing and much-loved modern restaurants, Artichoke, for 15 years - in a country where most restaurants close within their first lease term. We talk about failure, questionable decisions, what it takes to succeed in F&B in Singapore and his new direction for Artichoke: pizza!

If you’re thinking about starting something new, or in the thick of running a food business yourself, this one’s for you.

Bjorn, your impact on the Singapore food scene is undeniable. Thank you for sharing your story and inspiring us to be bold, unapologetic and unafraid.

We talk about what it means to walk away from the safe route, how Desmond stays motivated in the face of constant rejection, and the quiet practices that keep him sane.

Along the way, Desmond shares what inspires him, the mindset shifts that have carried him through, and yes - the rituals (and snacks) that keep him camera-ready.

It’s a conversation about creativity, persistence, and carving out a life that feels true to you.