TRANSCRIPT

Becoming a Radio DJ - Lavinia Tan (91.3fm) | The CJH Podcast EP7

*Captions are taken directly from YouTube and may not be 100% accurate

[Music]

today we have Lavinia tan welcome a

little bit about her she is an emcee

voice and a voice over artist she's a

radio DJ for One FM 91.3 host of the

morning show called Brightside 6 to 10

AM Mondays to Fridays right previously

she was on goal 90.5 on the evening show

she was globetrackers a first Asian host

used to be known as Lonely Planet

and she won the reason why she was there

because she won the regional search for

the first host in Asia from Asia right

uh interesting fact also she is a

president's guide highest Gill guy

owners

yes so Lavinia thank you for being here

it was the nicest intro Jason thank you

so much most welcome so I'm very curious

always about this whole idea that you

are now a radio DJ and a long time ago

we wanna I wanna find out from you how

did this whole thing start when do you

know that you want to be a radio DJ or

like just tell us the tell us the

Genesis of it was it when you're young

you already knew that oh I want to

present something or what no actually I

didn't know when I was growing up I

wanted to be a veterinarian I wanted to

be a marine biologist honestly that I

just really loved animals and I love

science so I kind of fell into this

thing and I've been extremely lucky I've

been working with people who gave me

opportunities who trained me and

basically got me to where I am today uh

really fell into it by Chance the first

time I hosted was actually at a campfire

for Girl Guides

the secondary school yeah and then I

figured I didn't think much about it

because I just went on stage we just

have to get the program through right so

you know I was of course nervous and

everything but somehow people didn't

Stone me people never say boo so I

thought this is said what this was in

secondary school I was a company leader

in the scgs second koi probably said

it's like four maybe six four so this is

a gilgax campfire

who invited

the scouts over various schools you know

go guides from like crescents

um yeah we have Scouts as well yeah

they're very Rowdy I know so one of the

guys good fun yeah they always they

always say like okay what actually you

should join of all the all the uniform

groups because I was in boys Brigade

okay they always say you have to join

skulls why in secondary school because

only Scouts have campfires like this and

you get invited to these kind of schools

oh yeah yeah there's quite a few it's

quite a social thing isn't it yes all

right so boys we get the uniform very

nice you look smarter this very smart

looking uniform and then go marching is

definitely better yeah but I think boys

was about matching more than it's called

stats but I admired you are Marching

because I would see it NDP period the

boys Brigade like contingent solid

very nice very sharp thank you thank you

I didn't really think about that but

yeah thank you yeah I remembered a lot

of drills but painful personally for me

not painful so okay coming back when you

are you are set for you hosted it and

who asked you to host it oh do you

volunteer wow gosh I don't know I think

because I was the company leader so I

think we all just had to step up bro we

the leaders were all in charge of like

organizing the campfire and seeing it

through so we just said okay I'll do it

I don't know what I was doing but okay I

do it you know I didn't know about

how to present you know how to hold the

mic uh how to script things in and we

just went with it and really

I don't know what happened but really by

God's grace it worked out nobody killed

me nobody was like oh my god get off the

stage right yeah yeah and since then I

think I was always asked to come like

hey can you host this can you host that

right even when I went to JC new school

everything yeah can you come and Host

this like the this event and whatever

okay yeah so that was your first time

then after that subsequently you got

more comfortable and people just

continue to ask you to host things

you know even after today I still get

nervous you know before we know how the

drill is I'm really trained you know

um definitely more experienced but I

still get nervous just before I'm about

to go up on stage and I take it as a

really good sign because when you care

enough about something right you get

nervous about it because you want to do

a good job it means a lot to you so I

always tell people the day I like kind

of like can't be bothered not nervous

don't care it's probably the time when I

have to quit

so I'm still nervous even now I'm

nervous

so even okay let me try and figure out

because usually when it comes to

something like a talent that happens

that oh you're good in hosting it's not

immediate there there are signs uh when

you were younger that something happened

like okay for example maybe you did a

school project a science project and you

presented and all that is there any

earliest memory even before that when

you were presenting and it's like yeah

actually I don't mind I kind of like it

I kept what you mean I think I never

really thought about it because it

wasn't an official thing right but I

think back in primary school I was

always happy to entertain I love to like

you know make people laugh because I

think that laughter is really important

and that is something that's at my core

since I was young I love to like Joe

play pranks you know make people

entertain and laughing with me at me I

didn't mind so even at primary school I

was very happy to go in front of the

class in order to tell a story to be a

character but I never it's only until

you know you're pointing out now they'll

say oh yeah I never thought about it but

those were probably the earliest

interactions and to get a positive

response yeah or maybe to just not get a

negative response just make me go like

okay this is quite fun I will do again

right so these these sessions in primary

school when you're doing it and all that

um

besides having that positive response uh

when you were up there what were you

thinking about

to tell that story to be that character

and then have fun and I I didn't want to

I mean if you made me think back I did

one that reaction from people you know

because I was trying to be funny I

should make them laugh when they laughed

that was the instant feedback that I got

the instant gratification I got so yeah

oh wow this is really like opening my

life

Epiphany yes yeah so so a lot of times

um yeah these patterns happen and for

you when this pattern happened I'm

always very curious because

besides the feedback one thing about

talent and all that sometimes you may be

up there and you may think that actually

I'm quite funny but then

you're not sure and also sometimes maybe

my my classmates will say certain things

maybe it's positive feedback do you get

any positive feedback from other people

like adults teachers or anybody else

that kind of help me to understand that

hey that's a talent that's something

that you're quite good at oh okay I

don't think I ever had it outrightly

said to me by a teacher or I mean my

friends just go oh yeah hey you were

really good on stage you know uh and we

enjoyed it that's it and and for that

I'm already just very very grateful

right that I didn't get booed off stage

again so like a teacher coming to tell

me I think maybe the first time I ever

heard like a teacher in a position of

like an authority just was when I was in

gc1 and we had to do our student council

speeches so I wanted to be in student

council I mean I really loved that I was

like a prefect before I they're kind of

goody good but I really liked it you

know so you know contributing to the

school and all that so in JC I I wanted

to run for it so we all have to go on

stage all the nominees have to give a

speech and I took it really seriously

it's like oh how can I write this you

know I was speaking to the whole school

not just the J ones that I was a cohort

from but also the j2s and the teachers

and everything and then I remember that

after I gave my speech I said okay it's

over it's done oh my God please let me

be voted in right that's my that's why I

was thinking at that point and I think

uh Crawfield she was in charge of the

debates team at acjc and she is known

for like having the best you know really

uh training the best debates team so our

AC JC debate team was one of the

strongest right and she had uh told one

of her students who who knew me I really

like her asked her to come and join the

debates team yeah and I was just like so

I think that kind of made me feel like

foreign

and I felt really bad to turn her down

because I was I had my heart set on

being a student counselor and you know

she's krita Cafe she's so famous she's a

legend to say no to her like

good thing I wasn't in arts I was in

science

okay so J1 you did that pitch and uh I

remember that I think you all of you had

to go up and make a speech yeah make a

speech yeah and you did something do

something different somebody did a

signboard or something somebody else I

don't know I don't know I can't remember

what I did I can't remember what I did

but I know that she was one and even a

JC's two senior

came up to me just like I really love

you and I'm going to vote for now

so that was really special to me awesome

so help us understand from J2 uh juj1 so

you know that that there's something

that you kind of like uh you're drawn to

at that point of time do you think of

that being your career no okay no I

think I was a very Singaporean

mindsetler you know my grandmother was

and my mom were all like okay accountant

I know triple science not that smart did

you okay

uh what is it uh can you be a lawyer

lawyer and

I never really thought about it I just

wanted to go through the you know the

set route right so on JC okay now we got

to get into you know uni and from there

we're gonna get a job I don't know what

it was and for the longest time I was

clueless I didn't really know what I was

doing I was just okay I I like science

okay I'll do this you know I didn't

really know where it was going to take

me or why I was doing something that's

why up to today where I really admire

you know parents who know how to guide

their kids you know let them find their

way but help them to find a way yeah I'm

a mother of three boys I don't know if

I'm doing that right right now but I've

always admired that and also like I had

classmates who had a very clear idea of

what they wanted you know they're like I

want to be a doctor and from secondary

school they're already planning their

ruin outside

man I feel like I missed out because I

did don't have that kind of clarity but

you know without somehow so you knew

that you didn't okay so you didn't know

what you want to do in JC then how did

you find

um so you went uni right yeah so what

cost you take knowing that you're not

sure what you want to do

I just went to the university that would

take me in

and you know what I always feel like

everything happens for a reason yeah I

agree and I ended up at SMU and you know

what I was in the right place that I was

supposed to be because of the way the

SMU culture was what they aim to be when

they first started I was there as one of

their Pioneer matches and I was just in

the right place because while I was in

SMU I was able to also freely like

explore you know like my other interests

my other passions and I think all of

that led towards me to where I am today

so

at that point I was like uh which

university would take me but you know

what it fell into place I was meant to

be at SMU as well what in SMU helped you

to give you that breath of trying

different things

SMU has you know they always encourage

you to just be more holistic it's not

just about you know chasing the papers

and all that

um I met a lot of interesting people who

are so passionate you know they I met

Elvina Tay she is uh the girl who is an

amazing student but more importantly she

was such a go-getter and she started the

SMU be it's like a a kind of a CCA where

everybody you eat it through like

broadcast they have she set up the radio

broadcast in SMU and also like it's

where the whole host of like a whole

stable of like MCS would be so this was

like the CC and I thought oh my goodness

this is fantastic yeah I shall join you

yes yes what is bee called I think it's

because entertainment I think yeah my

memory is a bit faulty she started it

she's I think she's one year younger

than me but can you imagine I meet

incredible people like that so I'm I am

where I am today because of all these

people in my life and being at the right

place right so in SMU she started this

you joined yeah okay I had already been

hosting quite a bit you know I've got my

campfires and I used to like host little

things like NGC I hosted um when we were

J2 I hosted like the orientation

campfire yeah things like that so I was

always hosting I was always presenting

and stuff like that but I never really

learned the proper skill or format okay

I just did what I could do and I never

knew how to push myself because I was

just doing what I could do and then hope

that it was enough you know yeah so in

SMU of course you know we're getting

older and then there was this this whole

like CC and I found like people who were

also interested in I thought like wow

this is refreshing man yeah and I think

the main thing was that it was all about

presenting you know I mean whether it's

on air or like in front of people at a

campfire it was just always presenting I

never knew it then I always thought it's

like just who might can already yeah you

know yeah

so in in would you say that uh if there

wasn't be

you wouldn't be here uh uh when you say

that they were you would have found

something else it just so happened that

PE helped you to

offend that flame and give you that

professionalism because when it comes to

Passion a lot of times passion is raw

which means that passion has no level no

performance and performance the other

part performance means that the world

sees you as nine upon ten ten upon Tech

so without performance passenger stays

as a hobby

right right so we want to be I want to

understand that so what what happened

how did I cross over yeah

was it because of that then you got

opportunities from other people oh not

really I mean uh yeah it gave me

opportunities to host events so yeah

yeah I wanted to like

um host an event or they needed an emcee

they would first go to smube because

that's the whole stable of hosts and we

had some really good voices and everyone

you knows and um we all like I had my

experiences so I I was

I mean for me as a student I'm like it

is not bad you know I mean I'm doing

what I like and I'm getting paid for it

hey you don't need like SME doesn't they

don't they encourage like

entrepreneurship even within the yeah

they try to get businesses try to do it

start it up there I just did not have I

think I always was a little bit more shy

okay you know so I'm just so grateful

that there was this SMU you know I can

come in I'm like you know

right so you've got gigs there and um

when you were doing that like almost

professionally because people kind of

like giving you tokens something like

that do you know that that was your

career no I think the um no

okay so it was during SMU right and okay

uh all in all I think like I have also

arrived where I am because I was quite a

go-getter in the sense that if it was

something that I really wanted I try and

like create opportunity I don't know

where that gung-ho nurse came it doesn't

always happen with all my life I'm also

quite lazy and procrastinator in some

areas yeah but somehow when it came to

like anything doing my voice and Hindu

is like presenting work mcing hosting I

was quite like I'm gonna create the

opportunity myself so back then when I

was in SMU there was the hunt for globe

tracker's first host from Asia or an

Asian host and this was when you're

studying yeah and then I said okay I go

and I went there and it's held somewhere

in Orchard Road I think it was like we

lost place or something you know and

they had masses of people right and then

you see veterans like Hamish Brown

you know you see like Benedict goal and

they're just like oh yeah just go home

part of me is like don't need to try it

but somehow I just kept it yeah

um and then they called me back and I

was really surprised so we went through

the various stages and I got picked it's

very surreal

I took a whole term six months off to

film the show the show was filmed over a

course of like I think uh three weeks in

Florida but I took a whole month off you

know I just took a whole timeline I said

and my grandmother said to me okay you

can do it but please sir I will not die

until you graduate and I was like so if

I don't graduate you'll never and then

my grandma wanted to slap me but yeah

even she I didn't think I could make

money from it I didn't think it could be

a career that would support me and that

I could really create a life for myself

but I just the opportunity came I went

with it you know yeah and when I got

that first paycheck from globetracker I

was like Wow but even though they didn't

register I was a very Singaporean

mindset I would have to get a job maybe

an office and then I went into

advertising

you did I did

so after you finish uh SMU graduated

yeah Wednesday advertising yeah and I

I've said this to people I think if I

never was able to carve out this career

in like presenting or as a radio DJ

right I think I would have ended up in

advertising I quite love just how

Dynamic it is it's I mean people work

hard and they play hard and surrounded

by all that kind of creativity yeah so

there was the backup okay so you went

for a novel job at first yeah

advertising how long was that

uh I don't think I even finished my six

month probation because

uh somewhere in between I got an offer

to host a travel show to Hokkaido yeah

so they wanted four horse and each host

would cover one season of the year and

then I got picked for winter I'm like

eight one I'm really not good with but

anyway I did it so I want I told the

boss and I was like yeah I think I mean

I'm gonna be away for a while it's not

fair for me to like right and I was on

probation right I just joined the agency

so I left and I the boss was quite upset

yeah I should not mention

okay so you saw your boss

um you had this and couldn't you kind of

like so let's be very practical

sometimes you can you can almost tell

somebody that if they really like you in

the company and they feel that you're of

Great Value at uh wasn't the option of

saying that can I come back in three

months time can you hold this space for

me yeah I think I didn't have that kind

of like um self-confidence it's strange

right but I was very shy I was very like

you know uh

I'm I'm a happy worker like I will if

you need a work horse I'm there right

but like I was also very like very quiet

you know I was good with people but on

the whole I think I was more like just

you know

and I didn't I didn't have that much

belief like I am I am you know the

yeah you need to be back yeah yeah like

I'm not I'm like the big dog the people

oh no I was I didn't feel that way I

knew I was good at things but I'll just

be like and I just felt like

at that point I just wanted to do that

hosting gig okay yeah so the focus was

there um didn't really consider like

having some kind of arrangement because

I figure right

in Singapore there's such a big our

advertising agency at that time was huge

you know that we had so many local

agencies we have so many International

agencies right I figure I can just come

back and join okay yeah and I was really

I had a really good Mentor at that point

and he was like the creative director of

the agency that I worked with and I

figured that yeah if this hosting thing

doesn't work out right I would just come

and find you okay thank you and he was

really nice about it so he said of

course you know but it was the the big

boss because I had to tell him they he'd

be like oh my God what's going on you

know so yeah secret and the hosting

thing for Hokkaido was how long about

two to three weeks okay yeah it was

really fun I think more more so at that

point it was not about the money it was

more about the experience yeah right

yeah

how do you even get that

who who uh was it like somebody asked

you to do it or this they saw you on

globetracker and then they contacted you

like you you know what I can't really

remember I knew I had to go for an

audition for it okay that's what I

remember so I went for the Edition and

somehow I got picked and the other three

hosts were actually like uh really

experienced localhost okay oh love is

her name she was absolutely gorgeous I

thought she was so beautiful

it's okay

yeah yeah so after that when you finish

that you got an app paycheck yep so the

funny thing about

um our passion is that if you if you

perform at a high level that means

what's your passion feeds into the

performance part then the market

recognizes it and then pay comes okay so

that's my that's that's the the way that

we that I see things that it starts with

passion but passion without performance

is a hobby so once you gain performance

by trying out different things getting

feedback and all that going for courses

I don't know whether you went for

courses or maybe you lived but you did I

did so

after you get enough performance the

market will say that okay because you

get this performance I will pay you so

that looks like a set formula for you to

just

go straight into that all the way did

you

um somehow something clicked something

clicked that

um I'm really good at this like my after

using my voice no no a long all along

the way but I just never really

uh I wasn't I would try and create

opportunities for myself I don't think I

was as aggressive as like I think I

could have been but somehow it worked

out somehow it did

um and again I just never really knew if

this could be enough to support myself

because there's a practicality right we

live here I want to one day have a

family have a house to raise my kids and

all that so it I was a little bit

um yeah gung-ho I didn't really have to

worry too much at that point because of

my age you know so I just I just went

with it now like it was a bit Fearless

yeah now it'll be different you know I

have so many things I have to look after

my three kids you know husband house

everything so not so easy to be Fearless

what happened do you go back to

advertising or you actually continue

exploring oh okay so after Hokkaido

right I was I told myself that if I like

I said if I was never ever in uh

DJing or even like any form of

presenting or hosting right it will be

advertising agency or doing something to

do with branding so at that point I was

jobless where I came back from Hokkaido

from a high and it's really a humbling

experience you know and like I had all

these experiences I had one look tracker

but it wasn't enough as a calling card I

went so I came back from me and I said

okay I gotta make something out of this

I went to a different uh talent agencies

I said hey you know I did this thing is

there anything you know can I come on

board you know work with you on

something

nobody nobody would uh they say that

yeah okay thanks and I'm like okay okay

thanks and so you should try you could

try the thing was that there was this

one agency that I approached now her

name she's run by this incredible lady

who set it up her name is Wendy Hall

okay and this agency specifically

handles

um emceeing talents okay and it's called

artist E I should have mentioned that at

the start but so she I approached her

and I was like oh you know I did

interesting I'm the I'm ready I am this

I want to say that I just don't know if

it's allowed I'm not to say that or here

but yeah I was like

yeah like yeah so and it was humbling

because I went to her and she was like

yeah it's very good that you did that

she was very upfront about it and she

said but you know you have no proper

training you know

um

if I take you on I have to train you and

I I will want to train you before I can

even see whether or not you're good

enough to introduce to clients and some

hosting shows it was super humbling

and so she kind of rejected me at that

point right and then I just you know I

kept tabs on what are you doing I'm

curious about that yeah you were in your

mind you you were good in your mind you

were good but you don't know how good

you are right so in your mind you were

good when somebody tells you that you

need training

what was going on in your mind of course

if it's chocolate I was just like is

it is a truth right because I never went

for any formal training right I didn't

know you could go for training for these

kind of things but um it's humbling like

really humbling I mean it's a shock I

was just like but

Wendy is someone I'm really grateful for

she has been my agent yeah so soon after

that she her agency had this cause she

would conduct it like maybe once a year

to try and spot new talent and it was a

hosting Workshop so it'd be like over

two or three days and it's a couple

hours and she would train you know

everything from Minecraft how you stand

on stage you know how do you where's

your eye line with the audience and

things like that it was the best thing

ever one of the best few like workshops

I've ever gone for and it stayed with me

everything that she's taught me has

stayed with me to today and you can tell

the difference from a a well-trained and

experienced event host who has been

trained well to those who just think

that I am the

and I'm so so good at what I do no

there's no difference yeah okay so so

that was your first training ever in

your entire life pretty much uh yes yes

so I did that and then

um maybe yeah I did that and then uh she

she said you know I remember you I know

you came to me some months back right

and I was like yes and she said you know

the fact that you signed up for this and

I saw how hard you worked yeah I'm very

impressed I'm gonna give you a chance

and she gave me my first chance so she

took me under her wing and she continued

to train me as an event host and um

I'm just really lucky I've met all these

incredible people she's still my agent

up till today and of course we know

we're now more friends but um I respect

her greatly and I attribute a lot of My

Success today into her

awesome yeah yeah so was that the start

of everything that means um okay first

first thing before that Workshop that

you went for or was it something that's

paid or given no I pay for it you paid

for it yeah okay okay yeah and um so at

that point it was more of like I still

didn't know whether I could make this

into a career and I was just trying

everything that I could yeah

um and I was I was a saw that I'm

willing to like okay I will come up

money in order to like and create an

opportunity for myself right and I also

believed in being trained like anything

that can help me better my craft yes I

would do it or better like just my way

of thinking or I think I would do it so

that was the one thing I did I can't

remember whether I did that before I

went for

what I tell people is my most expensive

audition

so back then meter Corp heads what they

call a radio Academy and they had this

course it was like a week long every

evening you go in Monday to Friday and

they would teach you everything they

expose you to everything of how it's

like to be an on-air DJ you get to do

mock talk sets you get to like you know

go to visit the studios you get

critiqued by like a program director of

a radio station so I saw that and I went

it's like at that time 500 and remember

I got no job but I come back from

hosting I'm like I'm broke right and I

said okay I gotta do this because I knew

that we would do demos and it would be

listened and critiqued on the spot by

the program director

that's my way in yeah so I've you know

trying to find the money did it and

during that that week right whoever was

partnered we did in groups with three I

did it with this girl called Sharon and

this um older guy

and I just like okay come let's rehearse

come I help you script you know like you

know and do it so that all three of us

came up with a really good demo and it

got picked up so the program director

came in to direct was another key

individual in my life and Stephen Chu he

was the program director of gold at that

point right and he heard like the demo

that I did with my teammates and then

after the whole thing he got the

organizer to like get in touch with me

and say Hey you know the program

director is really interested he thinks

you have something there would you like

to come back you know and have a chat

with him and maybe start training and

all that and I was like it worked out

most expensive audition now but Stephen

Chu I created for helping me with my

career specifically in radio he was the

one who saw my potential validated me

gave me an opportunity he was in a

position to give me an opportunity which

is so rare I mean you think about it

each radio station and how many DJs can

you have it right on the on the roster

yeah and he let me come in as a

part-timer

trained me you know as things on air off

her he gave me the best advice and he

was really upfront he'd be like that

really sucked let me you need to change

that I'll be like okay you know and so

we we worked together and then you know

he went on to do other stations other

things I also went on to do other things

other stations now we are back together

we are reunited and it feels so good

we're reunited SPH radio yes and he's my

boss again yeah I call him my boss man

I'm my boss man

yeah so I've always been lucky I mean

I've had really

important people take me to where I am

and I don't think I would have gone so

it is very interesting ah why

I believe that if you are passionate

enough about something you will create

your own luck

and creating your own luck means that

you are as close to the epicenter of

what is happening or the decision makers

of what's happening and that's what

exactly you did you went to as you paid

for a workshop so you had two

trajectories one is the MC route and the

other one is the radio

but both you put yourself and you paid

money to put yourself in positions of

decision makers yeah where you can prove

yourself yes so success is always when

when preparedness hits that opportunity

an opportunity so once you hit success a

success is when that preparedness hits

that opportunity and you get that so you

created that luck for yourself by paying

money because you know that they are

going to see you and if you're really

good

they will give you an opportunity yeah

have you ever thought of it that way

that you were actually creating it

um I I I I was just really

in a way pot desperate and pot no no

really like you know I was like oh I

have to make this work you know like if

not I really have to go and find an

office job you know I have to go back to

advertising and stuff like she was

trying to bring that advertising I

didn't mind it actually I really liked

it yeah they work hard they play hard I

know for a fact that if I didn't end up

in this I would end up either in brandy

and then and when I came back from

Hokkaido I actually also did the same

thing I I went up to agencies I wrote I

wrote emails saying like hey you know

I'm happy to come in as an intern I call

myself a radioactive cockroach I'm tough

yeah just to get their attention and

then uh a branding firm took me on

yeah it's an intern as an intern and I

said you don't even have to pay me just

let me be here for a week I was that

kind at that point I was just really

like I've got nothing to lose yeah but I

need a job you know and then after one

week she hired me like she said I'm

gonna pay you for that week I'm gonna

give you a thousand dollars and come and

work for me awesome yeah so

so that's interesting um the tenacity

that you have to to give them that no

risk kind of offer so that Norris can

offer is almost like you go so it's

almost like if anybody has passion for

something you go to some Mentor or some

sifu or some whoever is good at that you

go there and you give them a no risk

offer yeah no risk offer is I will do

anything it's almost like Mr miyagira I

will I'll carry your water and all that

anything

but it's creating love because you are

close to the person that can make that

decision yeah but I think make sure that

it's really in an industry or a company

that you really believe in and you're

passionate about love because I think

wow

I mean not many people will say that you

don't have to pay me I just want to work

I want to be close to whatever the

action is close as close to the campfire

as possible yeah and I think I just knew

uh I just really knew that I would work

hard you know I would do everything to

impress you you know like so I remember

for that one week I

I would like just like oh what you're

doing you know oh who's this brand and

you know what at night I go home I will

come up with campaigns and then the next

day I'll be like uh her name was Kim

Faulkner right and then I said can I can

I just you know if you have time I'd

like to just present to you I just like

oh okay and she's probably really yeah

surprised and then I had I even Drew my

own you know creatives and stuff like

that and this is the you know the basis

of and you know yeah so

I could do that because I went to SMU

and I did marketing I did law in like

SMU and I think that trained my like

creative brain for Branding and all that

so right

so when it comes to Passion

I I break down passion to three parts

one is interest that means topics and

things that you can talk about forever

right a very long time so that's

interest

the other one is strengths the task that

comes easily to you very natural for you

for example picking up might in front of

people some people get stitched right

maybe it didn't maybe it didn't

um didn't affect you that much right I

don't understand you could at the start

when I when I started you could hear

quiver in my voice oh quiver because I

was nervous yeah okay okay but maybe

that but now we know how to now I know

how to control it and fight it yeah okay

and then the last one was the values

values are the ones that for whatever

um that you're doing if it aligns to

that value it's almost like I'm living

up my values while I am doing my job so

what is interesting is that I believe in

this whole idea of a Multiverse

what it means is that you could have

been if given the right opportunities

you could have been doing very well in

advertising

or if the doors open even more for that

side you could have been doing very well

in branding

but just that so happened that the doors

open more could be the doors open more

for radio yeah yeah and DJing and I'm

seeing and then they just went there but

in a different life a Lavinia in another

dimension

might not have paid that 500 dollars

ah yeah yeah you could have been there

to say like oh I have no money and then

like too bad you know too bad it's not

for me pretty sure I borrowed money from

my grand and my girl was like what not

an office job even when I was in

advertising right if I say hey Ma I'm a

accounts executive then she like ah very

good accounting then I like no no no no

we deal with clients we handle the

account right it's just like ah

accounting and I was like no mama I did

not train as an accountant I can't be

one you know right right yeah so she

didn't recognize all that but she loved

me enough to say okay fine you look like

this really means a lot to you I'll loan

you the money

yeah so if that never happened you are

Lavinia the advertising girl

you don't mind though but you know now

that you've pointed this out I also feel

that

everything

was meant to be right like the parts you

know now I went through that whole route

in the advertising agency and that kind

of helped me in my understanding of how

it was you know for advertising creating

Those ads really down to the processes

right working with the production houses

and all that and now when I do

voiceovers it helps me understand you

know like because I've worked with like

for the client I've worked with like you

know the design studio in the agency I

worked with the creatives and the

agencies the different account

Executives managing all that has helped

me even when I'm now in this position

doing voiceovers or even as a radio DJ

we work with clients and stuff like this

everything happened for a reason

honestly yeah agree

so

I I do believe that even in the next

five ten years you might be where you

are it might be different but whatever

the experiences and that you have and it

most likely could be something to do

with that still advertising marketing uh

understanding the clients what clients

want how do you present it and

communicate it in a way that they really

want so if I were to ask you

so for me I have like 10 different

interests 10 20 interest right uh I was

with so I was with Mark doing basking on

the streets of Orchard Road writing our

own songs also balloon artists

yeah clown outfit there takashimaya and

clown outfit over at CC

Curry Center where it was super hot it

was a super long queue and we were just

complaining because there's only one

balloonist and I'm everybody and

everybody wants something super

complicated and not very good at it I

just learned it from my friend so I'll

be like can I get used for can I get you

a sword because sword is the easiest to

do can I get you a dog can I get you a

dog then they were like teddy bear and

teddy bear okay so from the skills zero

to ten teddy bears dead eleven okay

teddy bear is around like nine

difficulty and he can burst I'm not very

good at it then a dog is like a one okay

a sword is a one okay so every child

comes to me and says like it's either a

sword if you're a boy or a dog if you're

a girl then some of them is like

creative like okay you I don't want a

dog you like animals yeah animals okay

can I get you a giraffe which is just a

longer neck dog

it is very clever oh because it's like

what I got no time and there's a sword

it's such a long queue and it's a

community center and it was like I was

just burning up in this clown costume

so she's dying there and then the

parents would be like

you will see the parents just getting

more and more agitated yeah because it

was hot and they were just queuing up

and imagine like probably like 20 to 40

people just queuing up and I had to take

so long my fingers were like killing me

and then the parents all come to me and

like you're gonna you can't get another

person why only one person today

another person around me if there was so

there's like what on the talent budget

issues but I don't forget it so so I I

had interest in that but that was just

interesting I I don't think I had

interest in ballooning but interest in

what was their interest it was just a

job it was just an odd job out of

nowhere and a couple hundred bucks so I

did um

I did Insurance last time no yeah I did

professional will writing that's not

easy insurance will will writing not

easy I did fun management I did uh so I

attempted to do a street Culture

magazine as well so we went to high MDA

I think ah yeah so try to present it and

then at the point of time they were like

what there was a lot of controversial

things in our street Culture magazine

then they'd be like uh this is not PG

this is not PG this yeah things like so

many many different things and I do feel

that my interest always lies in

somewhere along uh hacking something

okay so finding something faster uh

something about personal uh motivations

something about psychology something

about how do you live a life that's

meaningful feeling and purposeful and

then also something about strength so I

did all these things and after a while

they kind of kind of like went to where

I have no as a performance coach I coach

mnc's I coach one on one I try to bring

out the best in people because everybody

I believe that everybody can have your

everybody can be a king or a queen of

your own Mountain

but your Mountain has to be that very

very unique Niche it cannot be something

generic it has to be extremely unique

but if you find that thing that is like

the most unique thing about you you

leverage it you play to your strengths

you can be the king and queen and that's

why it's like wow I enjoy that a lot

because that's in my life as well the

whole idea of searching and all that so

I had a lot of interest and I could have

been in I also love advertising so I'll

do logo designs I want a word for logo

design

so I could have been many different

things for you you had these two

interests were there any other interests

that you could have explored and when

you think back now it's like actually I

could have been good in that as well

was it because you studied by you and

you're like I like bio or something yeah

I really like science and I was good at

it like I got something at primary three

we went into doing the Australian

International mathematics competition

and then he had the science one all

Primary School students went for it

and then like you know you do the test

and then you get the score yeah I was

like top one percent then we would go to

the Australian commission get money well

what does it check and then they give us

a medal I was like okay yeah

I don't think I scored very well so yeah

so was there something was there another

route instead of branding advertising

radio DJing MC was there another rule of

Bio that you could have like actually I

could have done that no I think I lost

that opportunity because I was actually

quite a playful kid in Jay-Z so I didn't

do well for my first a levels not well

enough for me to end up in nus science

and at that point what I you see I'm

just so really clueless about things you

know I just I didn't know I wasn't very

resourceful I was resource I was very

street smart but yet also not very

results so I don't know how to explain

that you're like what

I could have gone into SMU at that point

but I think I was just so like one-track

mind I was like oh no I must end up in

nus and I must do something there like

science you know because that was just

ingrowned into me as the you know the

SGP yes yes like the studying this the

education path and SM news is new so

there was a risk no I did mind it I

think at that point I just I just never

thought about it because I was just like

no nus right everyone goes to nusr yeah

it went up there right yeah even NT USM

what do if I ended up at du maybe I

would have met my future husband there I

don't know he's also my interest

okay okay so by any other interest

besides that so sobio was a closed door

there was no more doors well and then I

actually I actually redid my a levels

okay because I was like I need to get

into nus science right well that was the

purpose of doing redoing your whole

levels I could have gone into SMU but I

I don't know why and now I look back and

be like Oh my goodness

foolish of you but somehow I was meant

to only go in I really believe this it

was meant to happen only at that time if

I had gone in a year before I would have

not met certain people

like okay this a bit sidetracker Yeah if

I didn't end up the second year and the

second Pioneer bachelor in SMU I

wouldn't have met my girlfriend Sylvia

and Silva was the one who introduced me

to my now husband they work together

yeah so I see if I was one year but uh

sliding doors at the show oh so I don't

think I've made the love of my life no

how so

okay okay

fantastic side note I actually love my

husband yes awesome so no more no more

interest uh so coming back then

after you have so you got the job uh

your Stephen is it um Stephen so Stephen

gave you a job yeah as a part-timer so

we were known as part-timers or flowches

so if anybody part time is so we're

actually paid by the hour and if anybody

any of the DJs on the roster were going

on leave we would come in and and we

would sub oh yeah so you uh you attain

that level of uh performance that you

are actually able to do that he allowed

you to actually do that of course there

was a lot of training before I could

even do my first show but you know what

Stephen Chu is the kind of guy that you

know he

he has just started the career for many

many radio talents because he just has a

this innate ability to spot out Talent

you know and to actually be considered a

talent by him to me is a huge honor like

I want to write on my resume kind of

thing you know so when he takes you on

as a talent he will really nurture and

I'm so grateful to Stephen Drew for that

because took me under his wing the first

time I went on air really so nervous

right and he's texting in this is an

early morning shift like coming in at

like 6 a.m to cover on the weekend and

he is that's the first time when was it

I do quite some number of music okay 23

years it's Saturday Sunday I came in on

a Saturday morning to say and 6 a.m you

know and uh I'm nervous like when I get

the panels right

never switch off my then you know say a

bad word or whatever right and he was

actually listening he actually bothered

to be up at that time and critique and

as I go along he said okay you know you

might want to try this

that's the kind of man that I got to

work for and I'm now working for him

again I tell you I'm just really

grateful yeah right

do you think that so one one thing I I

think about always is that for somebody

to to gain that performance as fast as

possible they need mentors

oh for sure yeah for sure and good

mentors you know yeah and good mentors

and and they have to be in that level of

performance that you can actually grow

into so sometimes the idea of knowing

what you are passionate about is not

good enough you need to be able to find

those mentors to be able to bring you up

in the faster way imagine that if you

didn't have those mentors

besides the opportunity they gave you

just a cloning your craft

how different would that be yeah I think

yeah if they if they were not in the

position give me your opportunity I

think everything

I'm not sure if I could even be where I

am today honestly yeah

I also think that

is great you know I I see kids nowadays

they're like yes you know I must find a

mentor and then like but I also think

you need to come to the table with the

right kind of attitude yes I was a sort

that I was very I was very humble by all

these people that you know I met and I

always felt like even up till today I'm

like what is the next thing I can learn

how can I get better at what I do you

know and every session of even a

voiceover I'm always like um that's a

very good thing I learn from it you know

so yeah I get a mentor but also come

with a mindset to learn you're a sponge

right and you have to put your ego aside

is it very bad if I say that I do not

have much of it that's that's uh very

humble of you no I really I was being

like yeah you're like the most humble

person in the world like I felt like I

you know like I have so much to love you

know am I top of my game I don't know

you know yeah yeah so I just was really

always wanting to learn and get better

get stronger get good yeah

I when it comes to mentorship and um the

ideal student the ideal person that a

person wants to Mentor is a person whose

attitude is just very eager and I do

share with uh people that if you are

trying to be mentored by somebody you

need to show that you are learning you

need to show that you are you are

absorbing and you can absorb and you can

show that through for example active

listening they say okay uh Mr X you said

this this so that's active listening you

you say back what that person is saying

to you so that you they know that hey

this guy is serious another way that I

do share with people is that you need to

take notes so for some people maybe just

sharing back is enough but taking notes

show The MENTOR that this person is damn

serious

so the idea of being uh that student

mind-mindedness that always wanting to

exalt and learn from them and the idea

is also just to respect them that's okay

I respect their time because sometimes

mentors are busy and you cannot demand

things you can request things so being

so respectful for the time and

understanding that everything they're

giving you the light of day

is chance I really felt that way every

so and I'm the notes taker I'm the one

that loves to take notes yes yes yeah

I'm the nerdler so even up to today I'm

always like oh my God we need to jot

that down it needs to be in a physical

form yeah so that we never lose that

idea yeah and to a mentor that shows uh

that shows that you are serious compared

to people and I've seen so many that

they just come in they sit down and then

listen to you they don't do active

listening they don't tell you what they

don't tell you they don't say about what

you you just told them they don't take

notes in your minds like why are you

here where is your learning where is

your tenacity to learn there's no

nothing exactly so terrible and it

affects the mentor to a point where yeah

forget it and uh hopefully it doesn't

like stop that Mentor from taking more

mentees or are they called mentees

mentees mentees yes yes hey but I have

questions yeah go for it you know it's

very interesting that you pointed out

but like what you became passionate

about right when do you think that

started for you do you think that you

know you look bad in your previous

memory when you think that yeah

I did not have that kind of clarity you

know yeah I didn't have the client

Clarity all the way

um

I just keep trying different things so

when I try different things I

along the way as I tried so my analogy

for curious is like food

if you haven't tried laksa and I can

describe to you how nice luck size and

all that you will never be able to

understand it you never try not see the

mark before you never tried one time me

before you will never know so careers in

such a way that if you don't try it you

don't know if you don't if you didn't go

for that

Globe tracker you wouldn't have known

that you're actually quite fine right so

one way is the total experimentation of

your career and some people say that

okay you can only do that in your 20s

that's not true you can do it in the 30s

40s 50s any time depending on the amount

of the financial

um maybe financial responsibility that

you have

uh you should continue exploring all the

way KFC Mr Colonel Sanders 65 started

yeah anytime so it's not about age it's

about having always they're trying to

figure out hey is this my place in the

world is this where I value it so

throughout my entire life while I was

doing insurance I thought that was the

thing but after a while I was like [ __ ]

I love talking to clients I love trying

to draw certain things but I don't like

Finance

I hate Finance I did very well I didn't

I was a million dollar Roundtable yeah

so it was good but it's just money was

good in order but it was bad inside you

just

fulfilled because I I didn't only want

to talk about money I wanted to talk

about

this what are you passionate about why

does this excite you what's what is what

is God's gift to you that you can

actually show the world and be the

lighthouse that I can top 10 upon 10. so

along the way I I kind of like stumbled

and stumbled and fall and fall forward

to a point where it's like yeah I know

being a coach

um is something I really want to do and

that's my calling my calling of my

passion my calling of my performance and

paid the entire three things it's just

something that

Istanbul into Istanbul forward can I ask

can you remember when was that moment

when you had that Clarity you knew like

okay this zero Clarity all the way no no

is it like when it fell into place and

then it's like okay so whenever I I'm in

a workshop and I'm sharing with somebody

something that they are very positive

about about human psychology about

people about performance and I see that

it's almost like a student teacher kind

of thing that's like oh I see them it's

like yeah I never thought about it that

we it made sense and every time I do

that the enlightenment is like wow

I gave freedom to somebody

from being chained up by another belief

so a lot of times people come to me and

say if I'm good at doing that job just

purely performance it is my passion

right it is not

passion is things that energize you the

fire the inside that just just fires up

it's almost like the eagle that's

running that eagle that's flying not

running so it's like looking around you

can run but sir very tough very

beautiful I can so every time I see the

enlightenment I do feel that I am

breaking some trains some chains or some

believe that you you didn't know that

that was your

your built to do that if your numbers

guy didn't do numbers if you are a

people guy do people if you're a

presenter kind of girl present so but

there's something that

for whatever reason the world doesn't

tell you that if I'm your boss and you

are you are doing numbers and you hate

doing numbers I'll tell you that Lavinia

you're good at numbers that's your

talent suck it up only suck it up I

approve that I promote you into that and

I tell you that hey John you're really

good at it and your mind it messes up it

messes up your mind to a point where

actually my boss tells me I'm good in

numbers my colleagues tell me I'm good

at numbers there is results and

performance

maybe that's my calling but that's not

oh I can see that happening a lot to

many people tons of people tons of

people so they go to work without firing

their eyes but they do a very good job

and that's painful so I I see

whenever I coach somebody one-on-one or

in a or when I'm doing a workshop and I

see the enlightenment that they

something some changes broke in their

mindset okay I know this is this is the

path and I never saw that when I talked

about Finance I never saw that when I

talked about professional wheel writing

I've never saw that man I thought when I

did uh when I yeah other things but

that's the thing right we look back and

in retrospect I see it you know I've

been but at the moment I'm like no I

just going through it exactly what's

going on yeah but it's it's the life you

stumble towards things and hopefully you

stumble uh forward rather than stumble

back I hope so I hope so I hope I

continue stumbling forward yes so one

one uh interesting thing I want to ask

you

the perfect career and the perfect job

has your passion inside but there's also

within passion there's this called

values so for me I value

I value Discovery a lot I value boldness

I value

um adventure and that's why I'm doing

what I do right I'm pushing I'm pushing

the barrier

for you when you're doing both am seeing

and we do teaching what is that value if

you were to think about a value that you

had to say yeah actually this is why I

do this this is living out my value oh

wow that one is very

this is pretty profound question yeah

and and when I think about your story

just now when you first start off in

primary school and all that you wanted

to make people laugh yeah you want the

people to smile I always wanted to

entertain you wanted to entertain and

maybe that maybe there's something about

that as a clue for you I'm not sure I

guess yeah I mean at the core of it it

was always about

um yeah entertaining someone

and in a way just making them feel good

so I guess it applies to everything

right on when we do this show in the

morning it's about

picking those people happy you know they

turn on the radio they're actually

tuning in to us and we just want them to

we want to be great companions to them

when I go into a voiceover it's about

helping that client to achieve what they

want with my voice you know and putting

a smile on their face because how when

everything falls together you've got the

right voice for what you're doing and

everything falls into place

is such a satisfaction you know I guess

yeah that's my value you know it's

always

the core of is always about

a person I have to say that I really

like being around people but I strangely

enough I like one-on-one or like you

know smaller groups I'm kind of like a

an extroverted introvert like I I can do

big crowds I can stand in front of a

stage but I actually like you know to

just be in a more intimate setting with

just that one person and finding out

what they're about and like yeah so I

guess at the yeah okay I never really

saw it thanks for nailing it for me wow

Jason you're very good

all right so thank you for sharing that

um I think one last

um last last two questions one question

I had is that do you think that in the

next 5 10 15 years

are you still doing this or something

else oh for sure for sure I mean um it's

a little bit tricky I mean being in the

entertainment and the media a lot of it

is also about your image yes yeah

there's sort of like a shelf date but I

think like what I am doing is you know

there's also my other my other

things that I do like voiceover

voiceover I'm semen I'm seeing and all

that so I think I can still be doing

this in soccer's time definitely for

voiceovers because not to see the feet

so something about

putting a smile on people's face and

something about using your voice and

your personality

yeah so it definitely will be something

there I really think so

um definitely for voiceovers and I

I just enjoy every bit of it so I I

don't see like I I know that there's a

shelf life and that's only natural like

you know for radio DJ after a while when

I'm just old and gray and wrinkled I

also don't want to be on any mola you

know so yeah I want to be able to say

okay it's time it's time to just

gracefully leave and exit yeah and move

on to the next best thing yeah and I'm

I'm Not Afraid about that

so glad that I'm in the position and

having able to have that mindset right

I love life I love life hacks and I

wanted to ask you when it comes to any

kind of Life Hack that you have that you

can share with me about presenting about

maybe presenting or communicating what

is the one thing that you learned

throughout your entire life about that

it's like okay if you do this it's going

to be really good

just one I know that a lot I ain't hard

I said

oh

one is

this will improve your any form of

presenting that you do

uh don't gesture so much with your hands

really yeah

I thought it's the opposite

because it's very distracting

so let's say you have a little bit

conversation slowly yeah that's okay but

if you gesture a lot and like yeah yeah

okay so speed so it's it's it's

gesturing but it is speed measured

versus flip it yeah so don't gesture too

much make it controlled and if you can

like if you're on stage right it's

really about like okay you use your body

to interact with the audience so that

everyone feels like they are being

talked to by you you're talking to them

but you don't have to like and whatever

right it's very distracting man is one

thing good yeah so measured controlled

gestures but you you should also not you

should you should gesture you can't be

just don't gestures at all right it has

to be very controlled

um and you do find that

that's a lot to teach learn how to give

in one one heck no no just one hack okay

so so gesture but be measured

don't go so fast yeah or in the other

one is uh do you have a do you have a

standing mic like a mic okay I used it

okay okay so if you're holding a mic the

one trick I can teach you and already

you will sound better you will look

better on stage is this is my craft you

place the the top of the mic just on

your chin and rest it there it is the

perfect height the perfect length from

like your the space from your mouth to

catch your sound and it will be

consistent because it's resting on

something yeah so it doesn't know

because some people did you're holding

their head yeah just like that like that

well it's a good hack thank you okay ah

this is a damn good hack yeah both both

so if you are uh doing any kind of

presenting make sure you gesture by very

measured don't go crazy on it second

thing put it on your chin so that

there's always a perfect a distance and

it the volume is always the same so that

way you don't look so nervous you look

like you're in control you know what

you're doing yeah yeah and it actually

helps you will still feel nervous okay

but doing those two things will actually

help to Center you then you start to

control your nervousness

thank you so much for today thank you

for your time sharing your passion any

one last thing that you want to share

with people about passion some of them

have a passion but they kind of like

it's normal Singapore way it's like Nola

cannot lie

yeah I feel when I think back on like

you know some friends who are just you

know they've fallen into the kind of

jobs that they do they may not find

absolute joy and it gets worse as you

grow older because the pay gets more and

more to let that go it's more difficult

very painful anything you want to share

with them

finding your passion I think start small

start small you know just make sure that

you're doing something that makes you

happy because I think you need to get

into that mindset of recognizing whether

it's it means so much for you that you

need to go into it and leave what you're

currently doing or change how your life

is right so just little things that make

you happy I think you start from there

yeah

I am absolutely like even though I'm

doing what I'm doing I also have to make

sure that I make enough money right and

that's the reality of it and I don't

think I

want you to be irresponsible disco your

passion just quit your job go for it you

know cannot no you know because that is

not practical you sometimes need funding

if there's somewhere else to support

your passion then that's just how it is

so I would say yeah just as small don't

let go of it you know just pursue it in

a way that fits your lifestyle because I

think

yeah paychecks are hard to turn down

especially when you're good at what you

do even though you don't really like it

but

that way you can still keep your passion

going and do it in a way that fits in

your life and then one day something

will become very clear to you people

like yeah I think I'm ready to take this

to the next level

thank you so much for your time living

today really enjoyed it okay now we can

have our own chat

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