Hello Mentor

In 2016, Jake Yap and his brother Chris launched Lifely (originally E-Living) with a singular mission: to democratize interior design for the "renter generation." Identifying a massive gap between cheap, disposable furniture and unaffordable designer pieces, Yap built what he calls the "Zara of Furniture"—a fast-moving supply chain that delivers on-trend aesthetics at accessible price points. Starting on marketplaces like Catch.com.au and eBay to validate demand without heavy overhead, the brothers rapidly scaled the business from a garage operation to an eight-figure revenue empire, growing their team from two to 50 employees and capitalizing on a 300% growth surge during the pandemic. By 2023, Yap spearheaded the strategic pivot from a transactional reseller to a distinct lifestyle brand, rebranding the company as Lifely to better serve their core millennial persona, "Ashley." This transition wasn't just cosmetic; it was built on Yap’s unique operational philosophy of "Firm Empathy." By cutting out middlemen and maintaining direct, emotionally intelligent yet uncompromising relationships with manufacturers, he ensured high-quality control that allowed the brand to survive early supplier boycotts. Today, Lifely stands as a major player in the Australian home sector, integrating social impact by pledging 1% of profits to Habitat for Humanity.
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Long before she became the face of a modern Batik revolution, Dayang Syafiqah was a musician at heart. She didn’t study fashion, she studied music and she brought that same soulfulness to the world of textiles. When she looked at the Batik industry, she didn't see heritage, she saw boundaries. To her, Batik felt trapped, stuck in the realm of stiff formal wear and government uniforms that didn't resonate with her generation’s desire for freedom. She realized that for this art form to survive, it couldn't just sit in a museum or a bridal suite, it needed to flow, move and feel alive, just like music.

That feeling became the heartbeat of Oh Dayang. Trading instruments for a canting (wax pen), Dayang set out to make tradition feel cool again. She threw out the old rulebook of rigid cuts and embraced the imperfect beauty of hand-drawn art, creating oversized, earthy pieces that you’d actually want to live in. Today, she hasn’t just designed clothes, she’s changed the conversation. By treating Batik as wearable art rather than a uniform, she proved to young Malaysians that honoring your roots doesn't mean looking old-fashioned, it can be the most stylish thing you own.

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Before Minimalist Lab became a staple in Malaysia’s jewelry scene, Nicole Chia was already navigating the retail world with her first venture, Vintage 1988. While that brand celebrated the charm of the past, Nicole noticed a quiet but powerful shift in what modern women actually wanted. They weren’t just looking for accessories; they were seeking clarity, quality, and pieces that could survive the daily grind without losing their shine. Recognizing a gap between cheap "fast fashion" jewelry and inaccessible luxury, Nicole took a leap of faith. She pivoted from the busy aesthetics of vintage to the clean, disciplined philosophy of "less is more," launching Minimalist Lab (MNML) in a small lot at Pavilion’s Tokyo Street.

For Nicole, Minimalist Lab was never just about selling necklaces or rings; it was an "emotional calling." She realized early on that jewelry is rarely bought without a reason, it is almost always a "signifier of an important moment," whether it’s a self-love treat, a birthday, or a relationship milestone. This insight drove her to obsess over the unboxing experience and the quality of materials, focusing on Sterling Silver and Gold Vermeil that could last a lifetime. She wasn't just building a shop, she was building a sanctuary for memories, fighting the industry norm that "affordable" had to mean "disposable."

Today, Nicole’s journey from a small pop-up to commanding presence in premium malls like The Exchange TRX is a masterclass in quiet resilience. Balancing the demands of motherhood with the pressures of retail expansion, she has proved that soft power can build hard results. Her leadership style mirrors her jewelry, understated but enduring. By stripping away the noise and focusing on "little things with big meaning," Nicole Chia has turned Minimalist Lab into more than a brand, it is a reminder to Malaysian women that in a loud world, the most powerful statements are often the quietest ones.


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Abang Brian’s journey into the culinary world began with a deeply personal and emotional catalyst. Originally trained in accounting and finance, his life took a drastic turn in 2012 when his father was diagnosed with cancer. Faced with his father’s specific and strict dietary needs, Brian stepped into the kitchen for the first time, not as a chef, but as a caregiver. This period of selfless service became a profound discovery; through cooking meals that were both nutritious and comforting for his father, Brian found a hidden passion and a sense of peace that he had never experienced in the corporate world. This transformative experience propelled him from the boardroom to the set of MasterChef Malaysia, where he became a national favorite. His background in health-focused cooking for his father stayed with him, shaping his professional philosophy of "healthy-fied" comfort food and his commitment to education. Today, he is widely known as "Abang Brian," a relatable mentor who teaches that cooking is more than just a skill, it is a powerful way to show love, preserve health, and care for those who matter most.

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Sarah Chen-Spellings is a Malaysian-born investor based in America, working at the intersection of women, wealth, and innovation. She works with family offices and institutional investors globally on capital allocation, portfolio construction, and long-term value creation.

She is the co-founder of Beyond The Billion, which mobilized over $1 billion into women-founded companies through a global consortium of venture funds. Partner funds within this ecosystem have backed 16 unicorns, including Canva and Airwallex, giving Sarah a rare vantage point into how early-stage capital compounds into category-defining global platforms.

Earlier in her career, Sarah was a corporate venture capitalist at a $13B Asian conglomerate, where she helped build a venture arm from the ground up and supported multi-million-dollar investments, gaining deep experience in underwriting, governance, and institutional decision-making.

She is also the creator and host of Billion Dollar Moves, part of the HubSpot Podcast Network, where she sits down with billionaires, unicorn founders, and global investors to unpack how capital, power, and influence actually move behind the scenes.

She is also a co-founder of Lean In Malaysia, one of Malaysia’s leading nonprofit platforms advancing women in leadership, convening senior executives, founders, and decision-makers across sectors.

Learn more about Sarah: www.sarah-chen.com / 
Instagram : https://instagram.com/sarahchenglobal
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobal

🎙️ Watch the full episode on Hello Mentor to hear the full story (Link in Bio)

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Kim May Chee’s journey with COCOdry began long before the brand existed, in her father’s small hair salon in Penang. As a child, she swept floors, helped customers, and quietly observed the beauty industry from the inside out. She saw how meaningful a simple service could be, but also how intimidating, inconsistent, and underserved the experience felt for many Malaysians. Years later, after hearing a podcast about Drybar in the U.S., everything clicked. Kim realised she could bring a localized, inclusive version of that experience to Malaysia, one designed for Asian hair textures, local culture, and the everyday woman who just wants to feel confident again.

But building COCOdry wasn’t glamorous. Her first location fell through on signing day, industry veterans told her “a salon with no cuts and color will fail,” and even her dad doubted whether a blow dry bar could survive. Kim moved to KL alone, educated the market one customer at a time, and kept going even when COVID nearly wiped the business out. She delivered products herself, hosted scalp-education livestreams, and built trust the hard way. When lockdowns lifted, COCOdry bounced back stronger, fully booked for months, proving there was space for a modern, joyful, accessible beauty experience.

Today, COCOdry has expanded into KL’s busiest neighbourhoods, serving women for everything from job interviews to birthdays to quiet personal resets. Kim designed the brand to feel safe, warm, and empowering, transparent pricing, laptop-friendly spaces, private rooms for Muslim women, and a team culture built on kindness. And in a full-circle moment, she even revived her father’s salon in Penang under the COCOdry name. From salon kid to beauty entrepreneur, Kim’s story is a reminder that innovation doesn’t always mean inventing something new, sometimes it means reimagining something familiar with more heart, more intention, and more courage.

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Before she became known across LinkedIn as “Aunty HR,” Sim Ling Ku never planned a career in Human Resources. She didn’t study HR, she learned people. Growing up as the middle child in a humble family, she naturally stepped into the mediator role, the listener, the one everyone turned to. When she entered the working world in admin and support roles, the same thing happened: colleagues came to her with problems they didn’t dare voice elsewhere. Long before she held the title, she was already doing HR without knowing it. When she finally stepped into HR officially, she brought something most don’t learn from textbooks, a people-first instinct. HR wasn’t policies or paperwork to her; it was the emotional labour of caring for humans at their most vulnerable. She handled everything from workplace conflict to employees battling depression, often being the only safe person they could turn to. That empathy, mixed with her courage to say the unpopular but right thing, shaped her into the leader people trusted. That’s how “Aunty HR” was born, not from age, but from warmth, protection, and the belief that HR should be human. Today, Aunty HR is one of Malaysia’s most relatable and authentic HR voices. She speaks openly about burnout, toxic leadership, and the unseen weight HR professionals carry, topics many shy away from. Her story reminds us that you don’t need the “perfect” background to lead; you just need heart, resilience, and the willingness to stand up for people even when it’s hard. And in this Hello Mentor episode, she opens up about that journey, the truth behind the title, the battles no one sees, and why HR, to her, isn’t just a job but a calling.
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Before becoming the founder of Sabai Health, Rohit Nambiar spent more than 21 years in the insurance industry, rising through the ranks across six countries and eventually becoming one of the youngest CEOs in Malaysia. He built his reputation at AXA, where he led regional strategy, M&A, digital transformation, and later helmed AXA Affin Life Insurance before taking on leadership roles with Tune Protect. Despite a decorated corporate career, something in him began to shift: after decades of certainty, structure, and scale, he wanted to build something new.

Rohit’s pivot to entrepreneurship wasn’t planned. After leaving the corporate world, he took a career break, travelling with his kids, spending time with his mother in the U.S., and rediscovering life without back-to-back meetings. But very quickly, opportunities came knocking. Startups began approaching him for advisory work, especially in the fast-growing world of AI-driven health solutions. His deep experience in insurance, healthcare systems, and consumer protection made him the rare leader who understood both innovation and regulation. That eventually sparked the birth of Sabai Health, an AI-powered wellness companion built directly into platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.

What makes Sabai Health unique is its philosophy. Rohit isn’t building a doctor-replacement tool. Instead, the platform functions as a horizontal health AI, something that guides users in preventive health, mindset, fitness, nutrition, sexual health, and lifestyle habits, while knowing when to redirect them to real clinicians. His belief is simple: AI is as big as the discovery of fire and the wheel, and the future of health will be shaped by tools that meet people where they already are , in simple messaging apps they use every day.

Beyond the product, Rohit’s journey is shaped by lessons only decades in corporate trenches can teach. His leadership philosophy from building “argumentative but healthy” teams to practicing empowerment within boundaries was forged through global roles, mistakes he openly discusses, and the pressure of managing multinational portfolios. He believes innovation requires vulnerability, risk, and the courage to be fired, a mindset that most large organisations struggle to adopt. His transition from corporate to startup life stripped away titles, drivers, and assistants, but replaced it with something better: speed, zero ego, and the joy of building from scratch.

Today, Rohit is standing at the intersection of insurance, AI, and preventive health at a time when Malaysia’s healthcare system faces rising costs, outdated structures, and growing mental-health challenges. His mission with Sabai Health is clear, make reliable health guidance accessible, stigma-free, and culturally relevant, and build technology that evolves with people instead of intimidating them. His story is ultimately about reinvention: how a seasoned CEO stepped out of the safest path to rebuild himself as a founder in one of the fastest-moving spaces in the world

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Before she became the founder of The Flow Studio, Malaysia’s leading yoga and Pilates brand, Tiffany Yow was crunching numbers in Melbourne’s banking world.

After seven years in finance, she decided to take a leap few would, leaving a stable career in Australia to move home and open a Pilates studio. “It wasn’t burnout,” she says. “I just wanted to do something meaningful.” What began as a personal search for movement and mental clarity soon grew into a full-blown business vision. Tiffany wasn’t always a fitness enthusiast.

In fact, she used to hate exercise until she discovered reformer Pilates. “It was the first workout that made me feel better, not worse,” she recalls. When she returned to Malaysia, she noticed that reformer Pilates was nearly non-existent, often seen as rehab for injuries rather than a powerful form of strength training. Determined to change that perception, she took an instructor course, quit her job, and signed her first lease, all within months. Starting The Flow Studio in 2018 wasn’t easy.

Tiffany had no investors, relying solely on her savings. But she held on to one principle: if Pilates could make someone like her fall in love with movement, it could do the same for others. Her first studio in Bangsar quickly took off, and despite the pandemic, she found creative ways to stay afloat including renting reformer machines to clients’ homes and livestreaming daily classes. The demand didn’t stop; even lockdowns couldn’t slow her growing community.

Today, The Flow Studio has expanded to eight locations across Malaysia and four in Singapore, offering group classes, teacher training programs, and corporate wellness courses. Tiffany still plays a hands-on role, ensuring every studio maintains the same quality, warmth, and signature “sweat, burn, and shake” experience. Behind the elegant branding lies her belief that movement should be accessible, safe, and joyful, not intimidating. For Tiffany, The Flow Studio isn’t just about fitness; it’s about redefining what success looks like. “Resigning was the easy part,” she says. “The real work came after.” From banker to entrepreneur, mother, and mentor, Tiffany’s story proves that purpose-led work can grow from the most unexpected pivots, one reformer at a time.
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Joshua and Joel Lim didn’t plan to become startup founders straight out of university but the pandemic had other ideas. What began as a simple university project to reduce plastic waste soon evolved into a full-fledged tech startup. The twins’ first idea, BeeBag, encouraged people to bring reusable bags by rewarding them with points. It was a clever concept that landed early partnerships with Sunway and local agencies but scaling a sustainability app in Malaysia proved difficult. The duo soon learned their first big founder lesson: a good idea isn’t always a viable business.

Determined not to give up, they pivoted. “We realised people loved the rewards, not just the sustainability,” Joshua recalls. That insight became the seed for Buzz, a fintech and adtech platform helping banks and e-wallets run in-app engagement programs, personalised rewards, and ad campaigns. Today, Buzz powers cashback experiences in apps like Touch ’n Go eWallet, turning financial platforms into advertising and engagement ecosystems.

But the journey wasn’t glamorous. Early on, the brothers faced rejections from investors, a failed first pitch with Touch ’n Go, and even layoffs when funds ran low. “There was a point we thought we might have to shut down,” Joel admits. Yet they persisted, reworking their demo, asking for a second chance, and eventually landing their biggest client partnership. “That moment changed everything,” Joshua says. “It reminded us that resilience matters more than speed.”

The twins’ dynamic also shapes Buzz’s DNA. Joshua, the front-facing connector, drives relationships and sales, while Joel manages operations and finance behind the scenes. Their differences occasionally clash but ultimately balance the company. “We argue a lot,” Joel laughs, “but that honesty helps us move faster.” Raised by a father who taught them to “always think about others,” they credit their upbringing for grounding their entrepreneurial values, humility, persistence, and empathy.

Now in their mid-20s, Joshua and Joel see Buzz as more than a business. They’ve built something that connects people, data, and opportunity, proof that Malaysian founders can compete on global terms. “We started as students with no experience, just curiosity,” Joshua says. “If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that you don’t need to be the smartest, you just need to care enough to keep going.”

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