What first pulled you toward building this?
What's a question you find yourself asking over and over in your work?
Is there a moment or memory from your own life that this project is trying to recreate or make possible for others?
For at least 6 years, my wife and I have held the dream of being able to call both Singapore and Perth, Australia home: to have ‘a foot in each country’. For almost as long, it was more of a fantasy than an actionable reality; up until just over 18 months ago when, on our annual family holiday in Perth, my wife stared out to the river and the city from Kings Park, and said…
‘Let’s do it’.
Except in this case, it was more so: let’s move to Perth.
This set forth a series of tangible actions related to a move: visas, moving furniture, renovating our home in Perth, settling the kids schooling there, and more. However, what that also practically meant was that, while the family would move permanently, I could not: there just isn’t any work in my industry there. As a result, I would need to commute back and forth from Singapore where my full-time work is located, to Perth very regularly. But it would ultimately mean that for an undetermined period of time, the family would be separated.
So when I think of both ‘what’ pulls me toward doing what I do: my full-time job; and setting up No 9 Advisory for advisory projects and Board memberships - it’s all in service of both creating the freedom and independence to be able to eventually be as whole as one family in Perth. It’s re-creating the simplicity, pace, healthiness (in all its forms, physical, mental) and overall quality of life I recall as a kid growing up in Australia) - for both my family and myself
Similarly, the question I find myself asking over and over in my work is: ‘Why? In service of what?’
What's something small you do consistently that most people wouldn't see but that shapes everything?
Every December, for the last 9-10 years, I write my December 202X vision. For example, last December 2025, I imagined myself in December 2026 looking back on the year, and I wrote down - in past tense - all of the things I have accomplished both professionally and personally: ‘I achieved…’, ‘I travelled to…’, ‘I experienced…’.
For me, writing this down and referring to it constantly through the year, gives me a fuller, holistic sense of what I am seeking to prioritise and what I value most for the year, and writing it in the past tense almost having achieved these priorities is both empowering and creates a huge sense of accountability to need (want) to make the vision a reality
What do people misunderstand about what you're doing?
The hardest part of our current chapter is actually not the family separation, the frequent travel, or the juggling of a demanding career. The hardest part was actually prior to the move.
‘That sounds hard’
‘I wouldn’t do it’
Was what I would hear, telling our story to friends. While it was all well-intentioned and coming from a place of empathy, hearing it over and over again would create anxiety and really began to make me question whether we were doing the right thing.
What I realised in their responses was that people would be projecting their own situation, lifestage, circumstances into ours - versus judging our decisions.
What are you unwilling to compromise on, even if it would make things grow faster?
What do you want to protect as this grows?
I’m unwilling to compromise on health and family. At work, my team and colleagues would often interchangeably say #healthfirst or #familyfirst: there will always be another meeting to attend, a deck to write, a document to read. But there’s only one ‘you’, and only one family.
I’m also unwilling to compromise on the striving for my December 202x vision. The vision might evolve over the course of any given year, but everything I care about most is embodied in this vision, and it really is my north star each year.
I consider myself fortunate and have a lot of gratitude to protect this at work. I’ve been empowered from day 1 (actually, prior to day 1!) to establish boundaries early: the safety to shift the mindset to ‘working super hard and proving oneself first then creating boundaries later’, to co-creating what makes sense both professionally and personally with my manager prior to joining; to enable me to live the answer to, ‘what is unique about you that leads to your happiest times and best performances at work?’ (reference, Culture Code, Daniel Coyle)
What inspires you outside your own field?
Of course I take a lot of inspiration from my family: the sacrifice, commitment and enterprising ways of my wife; the sensibility, responsibility and selflessness of my son; and the creativity and rebelliousness of my daughter.
In addition I take a lot of inspiration from sports - namely my favourite sport as a player and fan, tennis. At the highest level of the sport, I draw a lot of inspiration from Roger Federer. I draw on a lot of his stories and apply them to a work context; but overall I admire the respect he has for his sport, and the humility in the way he carries himself despite his extraordinary success.
Perhaps even more importantly, I pay tribute here to my tennis coach growing up. He became almost like a second father, and as I look back he taught me some invaluable lessons off the court, while we were on the court together. He recently turned 80, and yet is still fit and competing in global seniors tennis tournaments, which is another source of huge inspiration healthwise.
If you had to describe your work as a gift, who's it for?
My work is for my goals and values, my intellectual stimulation, the fulfilment of my personal visions, my family, and my team.
How do you want to be known?
I consistently introduce myself as ‘A husband and father, a tennis player and tennis fan, and <insert job here> - in that order’. The first two parts of my intro are enduring; the last part is fleeting. And there would have been other times in my life where the last part would have proudly have been the first part of my intro.
The other word that has always resonated with me is: humble.
Visual of you, your work, or your inspirations
