When a flamboyant, colorful kid learns to hide himself because the world tells him he’s “too much,” you don’t just get a story about fashion — you get a story about survival. In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, Leonard Cheong, founder of Singapore’s first gender-fluid athleisure label, joins Barbara Latimer for a raw conversation about suppression, bullying, and the long road back to authenticity.
Most people think the hardest part of building a business is the grind: raising funds, managing operations, keeping up with trends. But what if the real battle isn’t in the market — it’s in the mirror?
Leonard grew up loving drama, color, and flair. But teachers told him boys shouldn’t move that way. Classmates mocked him for being “too gaudy.” Even adults piled on, until he learned to shrink himself into something more acceptable. The result? A silence that lasted years. Only through the process of designing — first for himself, then for others — did he begin to reclaim the pieces of identity he’d buried.
His brand isn’t just a clothing line. It’s a declaration that life doesn’t have to fit into rigid categories. Athflo, his “athletic + flow” aesthetic, emerged from his own need for clothes that could carry him from workouts to travel to work. But behind every seam and stitch lies a deeper truth: this is about creating space for people who, like him, were told they didn’t belong.
And that’s the tension at the heart of this conversation.
On one side: a culture that still polices gender, expression, and identity. On the other: the liberating act of designing for who you really are. Between them lies a messy middle every creative eventually confronts:
Do I keep conforming to expectations, or do I risk being seen?
How do I create work that reflects who I am without apology?
What does it take to turn personal liberation into public leadership?
Leonard shares openly about the cost of hiding, the liberation of expression, and the ongoing struggle to balance authenticity with acceptance. His journey is not just about fashion — it’s about reclaiming identity after years of erasure.
If you’ve ever:
Been told you were “too much” or “not enough”
Felt the sting of bullying that made you question your worth
Wondered if there’s room in the world for your full, authentic self
…this episode is your reminder that sometimes the most trailblazing thing you can do is to show up exactly as you are.
🧼 Authenticity is the clean water.
🚽 Suppression is the clogged pipe.
💩 Shame is the sludge that blocks the flow.
When you clear the pipes of judgment, you create space for color, movement, and life to stream through without apology.
#CleanYourToiletPodcast #GetReal #InnerWork #PersonalMastery #WhatTrulyMatters
#LivingAuthentically #Trailblazing #DiscoverIdentity #Transformation #Personal Growth #GenderFluid #GenderFluidFashion
Food is never just food. For Yeo Min, pastry chef and author, every recipe is a story, every ingredient a memory, and every dish a link between past and present. In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, Barbara Latimer enters her kitchen of ideas to talk about heritage, identity, and what it means to preserve more than just flavors.
Most people think the hardest part of choosing a career is mastering the skills: the exams, the training, the hours of practice. But what if the deeper struggle is explaining why your choices matter at all?
Yeo Min’s story didn’t begin with cookbooks or pastry courses. It began with social work — a path she pursued out of care for people and community. But studying overseas in London brought unexpected questions. When classmates rejected her pandan cake for being green, such encounters nudged her wrestle with identity: was food just something to eat, or was it something more? Slowly, she began to see that cooking could be activism, storytelling, and preservation rolled into one.
Today, through her writing and the Museum of Food, she documents recipes not just as instructions but as cultural memory. Each dish is an archive of conversations with seniors, a record of techniques that risk being lost, a bridge between generations. Her work asks us to consider what’s worth carrying forward — and how easily the details of heritage can disappear if no one pays attention.
And that’s the tension at the heart of this conversation.
On one side: a world obsessed with food as content, aesthetics, and trend. On the other: the deeper calling to preserve food as memory, story, and truth. Between them lies the messy middle every culture must confront:
What parts of heritage are we willing to let go of?
Can preservation happen without becoming nostalgia?
How does food become both survival and identity?
Yeo Min speaks with candor and warmth about what it means to pivot careers, challenge expectations, and carry heritage in the most everyday of mediums: what we eat. Her story is a reminder that preservation isn’t passive — it’s active, creative, and deeply personal.
If you’ve ever:
Felt out of place because of what you carried from home
Wondered whether your traditions still matter in a changing world
Wanted to connect to your past but weren’t sure where to start
…this episode is your invitation to taste memory differently.
🧼 Heritage is the clean water.
🚽 Forgetfulness is the slow leak.
💩 Dismissal is the residue that erodes culture.
Pay attention, hold onto the details, and let what nourishes you also remind you who you are.
#CleanYourToiletPodcast #GetReal #InnerWork #PersonalMastery #WhatTrulyMatters #TrailBlazing
#FoodIdentity #CulturalPreservation #StoriesThroughFood #HeritageInEveryBite
From prison officer to real estate entrepreneur, Melvin Lim’s (Property Lim Brothers) path was never straightforward. In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, he and Barbara Latimer dive into the messy evolution of a career that began in uniform and grew into multiple businesses, including one of Singapore’s most recognized real estate brands.
Most people assume the hardest part of entrepreneurship is scaling up: hiring teams, managing systems, keeping the numbers afloat. But what if the real challenge is learning to shift your mindset — from chasing the next commission to seeing humans as more than transactions?
Melvin entered real estate in what he calls the “cowboy era” of the industry. It was fast, unregulated, and rewarding to anyone who closed quick deals. For years, he treated clients like one-off commissions. But then came what he describes as a drought season: deals dried up, momentum stalled, and he was forced to ask deeper questions about what kind of leader — and man — he wanted to become.
That crisis became a turning point. Instead of quitting, Melvin recalibrated. He read voraciously, studied business and leadership, and began to build not just sales but relationships. From there, he pioneered storytelling in real estate marketing, bringing video tours and lifestyle-driven narratives to a market that had barely left flyers behind. Today, he leads multiple ventures, but he still credits that season of drought as the moment he stopped hustling blindly and started leading with intention.
And that’s the tension at the heart of this conversation.
On one side: the lure of quick wins, commissions, and surface-level success. On the other: the slower, harder work of building trust, systems, and legacy. Between them lies a messy middle every entrepreneur eventually faces:
Do I measure myself by deals closed or lives impacted?
How do I reinvent when the old way of working no longer works?
Can failure be the doorway to a different kind of growth?
Melvin doesn’t shy away from the hard truths. He admits to his early mistakes, the cost of ego, and the temptations of shortcuts. But he also shows what’s possible when you stop seeing people as dollar signs and start seeing them as families, communities, and stories.
If you’ve ever:
Chased external markers of success only to feel empty afterward
Wondered if your “drought season” was a sign to quit or a call to grow
Wanted to lead with more purpose but didn’t know where to start
…this episode is your reminder that trailblazing isn’t about avoiding the desert — it’s about who you become when you walk through it.
🧼 Integrity is the clean water.
🚽 Ego is the clogged pipe.
💩 Shortcuts are the sludge that pollute your flow.
Never mistake the drought for the end of the story.
#CleanYourToiletPodcast #GetReal #InnerWork #PersonalMastery #WhatTrulyMatters #TrailBlazing #ReinventIdentity
#ValuesBasedLeadership #Entrepreneurship #FromHustleToPurpose #RealEstateReinvented
Some people create because they can. Chiang Ming Yang creates because he can’t not. In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, Barbara Latimer dives deep with him into the obsession, exhaustion, and experimentation that come from pushing creative limits — and paying for it out of your own pocket.
Most people think burnout is caused by overwork. For Ming Yang, it was caused by over-care.
His path into film was never planned. At university, when no one else in his group wanted to touch the camera, he volunteered — the “sacrificial lamb” who had to teach himself how to shoot, light, and edit from scratch. That accident became a career. From there, he built a name for himself in advertising and commercial film, mastering the language of brands and clients. But something in him kept asking: What else is possible?
Corporate work paid the bills, but passion projects fed his soul — even when they drained his savings. Car chases that didn’t make financial sense. Elaborate set-ups that no one asked for. Experimental edits that took weeks instead of days. Ming Yang poured himself, his time, and his money into work that challenged both industry norms and personal limits. Each project was a statement: creativity is worth paying for, even when you’re the one footing the bill.
But there’s a cost to that kind of devotion. During COVID, the pace caught up with him. Hospitalized from burnout, Ming Yang had to face the truth that not every creative breakthrough is worth the toll it takes on the body. Recovery forced him to ask harder questions: What does enough look like? Where does passion end and self-punishment begin?
And that’s the tension at the heart of this conversation.
On one side: the relentless pursuit of craft, excellence, and innovation. On the other: the human need for rest, sustainability, and self-respect. Between them lies the messy middle every creator eventually confronts:
How do you keep pushing boundaries without breaking yourself?
Can passion coexist with balance?
What happens when your art demands more than you can give?
Ming Yang speaks with raw honesty about the thin line between discipline and obsession, the pride of self-funding his vision, and the humility it takes to slow down without losing momentum. His story is both a warning and an invitation — a reminder that mastery isn’t about giving everything; it’s about knowing what to give, and when to stop.
If you’ve ever:
Spent your own money chasing a creative vision
Equated exhaustion with achievement
Loved your craft so fiercely it almost broke you
…this episode is your mirror.
🧼 Passion is the clean water.
🚽 Overinvestment is the clog.
💩 Burnout is the residue that clouds the lens.
Protect your energy, refine your focus, and remember — even the brightest light needs shadow to define its depth.
#CleanYourToiletPodcast #GetReal #InnerWork #PersonalMastery #WhatTrulyMatters
#CreativeObsession #PassionProjects #FilmmakingLife #BurnoutRecovery #Trailblazing #ReinventIdentity
What happens when your career plan intersects with your family’s legacy? For Chan Weitian, a software engineer and startup founder, it meant swapping out code and venture pitches for laundry machines and customer tickets. In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, Barbara Latimer explores with him the messy truth of second-generation succession: duty, identity, and the quiet weight of stepping into a business you didn’t choose.
Most people imagine family businesses as inheritances waiting to be collected — stable, profitable, and ready for handover. But what if the reality is far less glamorous? What if the “succession plan” is simply a hole that needs plugging, and you’re the only one who can do it?
Weitian grew up helping at his parents’ dry-cleaning shop, folding clothes and tagging orders, long before he learned coding. Later, he built his own path in tech, chasing the excitement of startups. But when his parents began to step back, the choice wasn’t abstract — the family business needed him. Returning meant more than just operating machines; it meant reconciling two very different worlds: his parents’ survival-driven entrepreneurship and his own generation’s search for strategy, innovation, and purpose.
And that’s the tension at the heart of this conversation.
On one side: tradition, built on sacrifice and sheer willpower. On the other: innovation, built on systems and fresh ideas. Between them lies a messy middle that every successor must navigate:
How do you honor your family’s story while writing your own?
Where’s the line between responsibility and self-betrayal?
Can a legacy business become a platform for reinvention, not just repetition?
Weitian speaks candidly about the guilt, the pragmatism, and the unexpected pride that come with taking the reins. His journey reminds us that trailblazing isn’t always about starting something new — sometimes it’s about breathing new life into what already exists.
If you’ve ever:
Felt the pull between personal ambition and family responsibility
Wondered if “duty” and “dreams” can coexist
Inherited something you weren’t sure you wanted
…this episode is your reminder that the mess of legacy can also be a workshop for growth.
🧼 Responsibility is the clean water.
🚽 Resentment is the blockage.
💩 Guilt is the residue that lingers if you don’t clear it out.
Keep the cycle running, choose what to preserve, and remember: every system — whether code or cleaning — needs maintenance to keep flowing.
#CleanYourToiletPodcast #GetReal #InnerWork #PersonalMastery #WhatTrulyMatters
#FamilyBusiness #SecondGenerationLeadership #Trailblazing #Transformation #PersonalGrowth #LegacyAndInnovation #DutyAndDreams
When a kid who’s been called “lazy,” “stupid,” and “hopeless” discovers he might actually be a genius, you don’t just get a feel-good redemption story — you get a powerful reminder of how fragile and transformative belief can be. In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, Adam Khoo sits down with Barbara Latimer to revisit the messy beginnings of his journey: expulsion in Primary 3, rejection from every secondary school, and the shame of being the family “idiot” when all his cousins were thriving at Raffles and ACS.
Most people think the hardest part of school is the exams, the late nights, the endless grind. But what if the real burden isn’t the workload — it’s the labels we carry?
For Adam, the turning point was a five-day “Super Teen” camp led by his mentor, Ernest Wong. Until then, teachers called him dumb, parents said he was lazy, and he believed them. Ernest was the first to look him in the eye and say: “Whatever others can achieve, you can too. It’s all a question of beliefs and strategy.” Naïve enough to believe it, Adam walked away with a new identity — and the spark that would change his life.
But his story isn’t a straight-line transformation. Adam shares how being the underdog became his strength when he later stood in front of students. Instead of lecturing from a place of authority, he built trust through vulnerability. His PSLE results were worse than theirs, his expulsion story rawer — and that relatability became his superpower. If he could turn things around, so could they.
And that’s the tension at the heart of this conversation.
On one side: the limiting beliefs we inherit from authority figures, families, and culture. On the other: the possibility that one voice, one mentor, one program can rewrite our story. Between them lies a messy middle filled with questions every one of us eventually faces:
Do I let the labels of my past define me?
Am I willing to be “naïve” enough to believe in my own potential?
How do rapport and vulnerability actually unlock change?
Adam doesn’t gloss over the realities either. He admits most students in his programs don’t want to be there — dragged by parents, skeptical, resistant. The first day is often wasted unless he can break through their walls. But that’s where his journey comes full circle: because he knows what it feels like to be dismissed as hopeless, he knows how to reach those who’ve stopped believing.
If you’ve ever:
Felt crushed by the labels others gave you
Wondered if a single experience can change a life
Struggled to motivate yourself or others in the face of doubt
…this episode is your reminder that transformation is rarely clean. It’s messy, uncomfortable, and sometimes works only because you dared to believe before you had evidence.
🧼 Your belief is the clean water.
🚽 Old labels are the clogged pipes.
💩 Doubt is the sludge that keeps you stuck.
Clear them out, let new strategies flow, and see how different your reflection looks when the water finally runs clean.
#CleanYourToiletPodcast #GetReal #InnerWork #PersonalMastery #WhatTrulyMatters
#Trailblazing #Transformation #PersonalDevelopment #InspireOthers #GrowthMindset #BelieveInYourself
Adulthood isn’t a straight line. It’s a juggling act — a little bit of survival, a little bit of dreaming, and a lot of mess. Joanne Xie knows this firsthand. As the founder of a lifestyle brand born during COVID, she never had a mentor, a map, or even much money. What she had was instinct, generosity, and a stubborn belief that she could figure it out as she went.
In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, Joanne shares what she calls her “butterfly cycle”: the phases of transformation that come fast, stall unexpectedly, or stretch far longer than expected. Some cycles were about business — sourcing products, building partnerships, risking collaborations that sometimes backfired. Others were about identity — being a solopreneur in her twenties, carving space for herself in a market that didn’t offer much guidance. Through it all, she carried the chaos of adulthood: finances, friendships, responsibilities that don’t wait for your timing.
Travel became her therapy, offering distance from the noise. In Japan, away from expectations, Joanne found herself returning to the simple questions: what do I want, and who am I becoming? Susan Chen listens closely and reframes the story: strategy is often presented as control, but in reality, it’s about learning how to meet uncertainty without breaking. Together, they explore how business and selfhood grow in parallel — each misstep shaping not only a company, but a person.
Key questions emerge:
How do you build a business when you have no blueprint?
What does it mean to trust intuition when chaos is louder than clarity?
Can adulthood itself be seen not as a burden, but as a creative cycle?
Joanne’s honesty is both practical and poetic. Juggling, she reminds us, isn’t about perfect balance — it’s about learning which balls can be dropped, which must be caught, and which new ones you dare to throw in the air.
🧼 Curiosity is the clean water.
🚽 Perfectionism is the drain.
💩 Comparison, fear, self-doubt? That’s the clog.
Keep juggling. Keep flying. Keep becoming.
#CleanYourToiletPodcast #GetReal #InnerWork #PersonalMastery #MessyButWorthIt
#ButterflyCycle #Joanne #Entrepreneurship #SolopreneurJourney #IdentityAndBusiness #AdulthoodUnscripted #LifeInChaos
Most people think love is about romance, balance, or even compromise. But Leila Ng — childbirth educator, doula, trauma-informed space holder — offers a different lens: love is work, and often the kind you’d rather avoid. It’s like peeling an onion. Layer by layer, you discover hurt, history, and vulnerability you didn’t know were still inside. Tears are guaranteed. But so is growth.
In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, Leila opens up about partnership, marriage, and the hidden labor of intimacy. She shares how emotional safety, not romance, is the oxygen of relationships — and how fights are rarely about what they seem. A complaint about dishes might really be about not feeling heard; a sigh at bedtime might mask years of unspoken need. Susan Chen listens and reflects on how triggers and venting are not signs of weakness, but survival strategies that demand respect.
Together, they map out how identity shifts within love. Leila speaks about how becoming a mother, a partner, and an entrepreneur blurred into one continuous negotiation: who am I when so much of me belongs to others? Susan highlights the parallels to leadership, where building trust and holding space requires the same patience as nurturing a family. The conversation is messy, tender, and unapologetically real.
Key questions emerge:
What does emotional safety actually look like in daily life?
How do we recognize venting not as complaint, but as a plea for connection?
When identity changes — as a parent, as a partner — how can love evolve alongside it?
Leila’s voice reminds us that the work of love is never finished, and never wasted. The onion is not there to punish you with tears; it’s there to help you uncover the flavors of who you really are.
🧼 Vulnerability is the clean water.
🚽 Pretending everything is fine is the drain.
💩 Dismissal, neglect, silence? That’s the clog.
Peel the layers. Cry the tears. Taste the truth.
#CleanYourToiletPodcast #GetReal #InnerWork #PersonalMastery #MessyButWorthIt
#LoveAndIdentity #EmotionalSafety #InnerWorkOnion #Partnerships #TriggersAndTrust #Leila #RelationshipsThatHeal
Ten years ago, Sophia Philippon-Tan was given a sentence, not a choice: acute myeloid leukemia, six months to live. Doctors spoke in absolutes, charts and probabilities. But Sophia felt something different rise up in her body: rage. A refusal. A quiet, stubborn no.
In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, Sophia retraces the journey from patient to protagonist — from lying in a hospital bed surrounded by statistics, to reclaiming her life one decision at a time. She speaks about the strange psychology of illness: how being told you are dying can strip you of agency before death itself arrives, and how survival sometimes begins with the simplest act of resistance.
What followed was not an easy miracle. The treatments were brutal, the hospital stays long, and others she witnessed going through the same thing did not always make it. But Sophia’s story is not framed in sentimentality. It is framed in boundaries. The cancer, that stemmed from her internal resentment, forced her to redraw every line in her life: when to say yes, when to say no, and how to stop being the person who accepted every demand at the cost of her own well-being. Illness became a ruthless teacher — and oddly, a liberator.
Susan Chen listens closely and reflects on the parallels to professional and personal life: how often we wait for crisis to give us permission to say no, and how identity can be reshaped by the very things we once feared would destroy it. Together, they examine what it means to live beyond survival, to carry both gratitude and exhaustion, and to tell your own story before others tell it for you.
Key questions emerge:
What happens when mortality becomes the sharpest boundary of all?
How do you live differently when you realize survival is not guaranteed?
What shifts when you stop being a patient in someone else’s system, and start becoming the author of your own?
Sophia’s honesty cuts through the veil of survival stories. This is not about beating cancer with positivity — it’s about refusing to be edited out of your own life.
🧼 Defiance is the clean water.
🚽 Helplessness is the drain.
💩 Fear, silence, resignation? That’s the clog.
Say no. Say yes. And say it on your own terms.
#CleanYourToiletPodcast #GetReal #InnerWork #PersonalMastery #MessyButWorthIt
#CancerSurvivor #Sophia #IdentityAfterIllness #Boundaries #ReclaimYourStory #RefusalAsStrength #FromPatientToProtagonist
As a senior operations manager, Angelia Ng was ordered to terminate a colleague. On paper, it was just a business decision. But to Angelia, it was a betrayal of values — a line she refused to cross. That decision cost her the role, but it also gave her something more enduring: a compass. Integrity became the strategy that would guide her life.
In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, Angelia reflects on the pivot from corporate security to entrepreneurship, from following orders to writing her own. She shares how she built a business to support women on the path to parenthood — couples navigating IVF, mothers carrying loss, families piecing together resilience. The business was never just about revenue; it was about creating spaces where compassion could live alongside science.
But values don’t exempt anyone from struggle. Angelia recounts how a family health crisis, followed by the upheaval of COVID-19, threatened to close her doors. In that limbo, she wrote to her clients, offering refunds she could barely afford. Their answer stunned her: We’ll wait for you. That trust, born from years of choosing relationships over transactions, became the proof that integrity had never been weakness. It was her strongest asset.
Susan Chen draws out the parallels to leadership and identity: how staying true to your principles may slow your climb in conventional systems, but creates deeper reservoirs of loyalty and strength when crisis hits. Together, they explore the tension between numbers and values — and what it means to build a life that counts differently.
Key questions emerge:
What is the cost of saying no to the corporate script?
How do we measure success when the numbers contradict our values?
Can a business built on compassion survive in a world obsessed with profit?
Angelia’s story reminds us that reinvention isn’t about abandoning ambition — it’s about rewriting what ambition serves. Sometimes strategy is not growth at all costs, but growth with the right costs.
🧼 Integrity is the clean water.
🚽 Blind obedience is the drain.
💩 Compromise, betrayal, short-term wins? That’s the clog.
Lead with values. Build with endurance.
#CleanYourToiletPodcast #GetReal #InnerWork #PersonalMastery #MessyButWorthIt
#IntegrityAsStrategy #WomenInBusiness #ParenthoodSupport #IVFJourney #CompassionInLeadership #Angelia #ValuesOverNumbers #ResilientEntrepreneurship
For two decades, Theresa Goh was synonymous with one thing: swimming. A Paralympian, national record-holder, and decorated athlete, she carried an identity that sparkled in medals and headlines. But when the cheering stopped in 2019 and retirement set in, she faced a quieter and more difficult question: who am I without the pool?
In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, Theresa sits with Susan Chen to talk about the identity shifts that come with leaving behind the one role that once defined you. For athletes, retirement often feels like free fall — not because the training stops, but because the mirror does. The world remembers your lane lines, your splits, your podiums. Few are ready to meet you as a human first.
Theresa shares how she navigated that liminal space: experimenting with shooting sports, working at the Singapore Disability Sports Council, and refusing to let her story calcify around a single chapter. She speaks candidly about the stubbornness of public perception — how strangers still ask if she’s competing, and how retirement can feel like a refusal others won’t accept. Susan reflects on similar transitions in business and identity, drawing out how reinvention isn’t about discarding the old self, but layering it into something broader.
This conversation also touches the deeper currents beneath sport: disability advocacy, the invisibility of emotional labor, and the cultural fixation on external achievement. Theresa reminds us that medals are powerful symbols, but they cannot replace meaning — and that meaning is built in the quieter hours when no one is watching.
Key questions emerge:
How do you step beyond a label that others refuse to let go of?
What happens when the public clings to your past success more tightly than you do?
How do you find identity not in medals, but in the everyday work of growth and care?
Theresa’s honesty reframes retirement not as an end, but as a beginning — a chance to keep moving, to keep discovering, and to build a self that no podium could ever contain.
🧼 Curiosity is the clean water.
🚽 Old labels are the drain.
💩 Nostalgia and fear of change? That’s the clog.
Step out of the pool. Step into yourself.
#CleanYourToiletPodcast #GetReal #InnerWork #PersonalMastery #MessyButWorthIt
#TheresaGoh #LifeAfterSport #FromMedalsToMeaning #AthleteIdentity #Reinvention #DisabilityAdvocacy #BeyondThePodium #RetirementAsBeginning
Marie Soh — mother of three, makeup artist, baker, former nurse — joins Susan Chen to unpack the expectations written into women’s lives long before they get to write their own script. This isn’t just about motherhood or marriage; it’s about the invisible ledger of obligation that Asian women are born into, and the courage it takes to cross out what no longer serves.
In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, Marie reflects on setting boundaries with her parents, navigating the judgments of extended family, and refusing to let cultural scripts define what kind of daughter, mother, or woman she must be. Social media only sharpens the tension: highlight reels of flawless moms make the daily grind look like failure, while old traditions demand obedience in the name of “respect.” Somewhere between these pressures, Marie has been carving out space for Pilates, for saying no, and for living by a different measure of success.
Susan brings her lens as a coach and HR practitioner to the conversation, highlighting how personal boundaries ripple outward: they affect not only self-care, but also how we model authority to children, negotiate with spouses, and resist toxic workplace dynamics. Together, they sketch out what it looks like to rewrite, not reject — keeping love intact while refusing to perpetuate inherited constraints.
Key questions emerge:
Does setting boundaries make you selfish, or does it make you human?
How can women move beyond the myth of the “dutiful daughter” without abandoning family ties?
What happens when the labor of motherhood collides with the labor of identity itself?
Marie’s honesty cuts through the noise: motherhood isn’t martyrdom, and tradition isn’t destiny. She shows how rewriting the rules can be an act of love — not only for yourself, but for the generations who follow.
🧼 Self-respect is the clean water.
🚽 Outdated obligations are the drain.
💩 Guilt, shame, and silence? That’s the clog.
Rewrite. Redefine. And refuse to apologize for taking up space.
#CleanYourToiletPodcast #GetReal #InnerWork #PersonalMastery #MessyButWorthIt
#AsianWomanhood #Boundaries #ModernMotherhood #CulturalExpectations #RewriteTheRules #FamilyDynamics #FeminineStrength #Marie
What happens when a former CFO and a veteran marketing strategist sit down to talk about risk, reinvention, and purpose? In this episode of *Clean Your Toilet*, Pei Ying and Will unpack what it *really* means to “go big or go home” when the stakes are high and the safety net is gone.
Most people romanticize the leap from corporate to entrepreneurship as a bold, passion-fuelled adventure. But Pei Ying — who walked away from a secure C-suite role to build her own business — knows the truth: the leap is less about adrenaline and more about wrestling with uncertainty, self-belief, and the parts of yourself you’ve avoided for years.
Her journey began with a laser-focused goal: become a CFO. And she did — within ten years, faster than most. But once she got there, the question shifted: What now? The shiny title wasn’t enough. The pull toward work that felt purposeful grew too strong to ignore. Leaving wasn’t just a career move — it was an identity shift.
Will’s path was less linear but no less revealing. From aspiring athlete to musician to engineer to advertising professional, he stumbled through false starts, firings, and frustrations until he realized he could no longer work for leaders without vision. Starting his own agency wasn’t just about creative control — it was about refusing to settle for mediocrity.
Together, they explore the messy middle that comes after you’ve said no to the old path but haven’t fully built the new one:
- Navigating the gap between who you were and who you’re becoming
- Developing the inner confidence to keep going when external validation disappears
- Bridging the disconnect between ground-level employees and strategic decision-makers
- Playing roles beyond your pay grade — and turning that into leverage
It’s a conversation about ambition without the burnout, leadership without the ego, and impact without the illusion that you have to do it all alone. Pei Ying shares how coaching sharpened her ability to spot and bridge gaps inside organizations — a skill that accelerated her corporate climb and later became the foundation of her entrepreneurial work. Will reflects on how caring deeply (even to the point of conflict) can be the very thing that sets you apart in a crowded marketplace.
If you’ve ever:
- Wondered if you’re “wasting” your potential by staying safe
- Felt caught between chasing impact and protecting stability
- Struggled to trust yourself when the plan isn’t clear
…this episode will give you both the permission and the push to redefine what “going big” actually means for you.
Because sometimes, going big isn’t about more money, more followers, or more recognition. It’s about the courage to clean out the inner clutter that keeps you chained to a version of success you’ve outgrown.
🧼 Your clarity is the clean water.
🚽 Your old definitions of success are the drain.
💩 The fear, self-doubt, and people-pleasing? That’s the clog.
Flush it out. Step in. And build something that matters.
When a restless maker who’s been designing since his teens sits down with a marketing strategist, you don’t just get a chat about aesthetics—you get a hard-edged interrogation of what it really means to turn an idea into a brand that survives. In this episode of *Clean Your Toilet*, Freddy and Will talk about crafts and commerce, toys and trade-offs, and why creators must become uncomfortable hybrid-operators if their art is going to pay the rent.
Most people picture an artist’s life as romantic: sketchbooks, midnight inspiration, gallery openings. Freddy’s life shows the other side. He started drawing as a kid, launched his first company while still young, and spent decades learning both craft and the messy business of making things people want to buy. Hungry Hamster Club is the result — an IP that started as collectible toys and artworks. Freddy also has an interest in NFTs, Web3 collaborations, and a variety of product experiments. But building an IP isn’t the same as building a business; the two require wildly different muscles.
This conversation pulls no punches. Freddy admits the survival moves: taking odd jobs (waiting tables, restaurant management), doing paid work to fund toys, and taking a day job in Web3 to sustain production. He’s honest about the compromises and the weird humility of pitching your passion as a commercial product. Will pushes on the tough marketing truths: a brilliant object doesn’t always sell itself, and visibility is not the same as value.
They unpack the creative paradox at the center of every maker’s life:
- How do you keep a creative spark alive when production calendars and cashflow start dictating what you make?
- When is a passion project allowed to remain "just" passion, and when must it be productized?
- Can you scale a collectible without turning it into a soulless commodity?
Freddy’s craft philosophies emerge as practical playbooks. He draws a clear line between art (conceptual, expressive) and design (user-focused, functional). He describes the role he plays now: creative director, provocateur, mentor, negotiator — someone who must “switch heads” between artist, salesman, and client whisperer. That tension gives birth to one of his favorite lessons: “The best ideas aren’t only created — they’re sold.” Execution, packaging, and the ability to sell the vision to a partner (or a retailer, or a licensee) are what turn an IP into a global toy.
Will reframes this as marketing truth: narrative is leverage. Hungry Hamster isn’t only a toy — it can be a story, a license, a tiny cultural world that other brands want to plug into. The commercial pathway Freddy sketches — 12 activations in a year, licensing deals, and retail presence — is ambitious but deliberate. Freddy doesn’t want to sell out; he wants to learn how to sell smart.
If you’ve ever:
- Felt guilty about “selling out” but needed the money anyway
- Wanted to keep making the things you love while scaling a business
- Wondered whether to take paid client work or guard your creative time
…this episode hands you both the hard questions and the practical reframes. Freddy’s journey shows that being an artist in business isn’t betrayal — it’s evolution.
🧼 Your creativity is the clean water.
🚽 Monetisation pressures are the drain.
💩 Compromise, fear, and procrastination — that’s the clog.
Clear it. Build slowly. License wisely. And let what you make carry your voice to the world.
When a first-time meeting between a fearless life-explorer and a seasoned marketing strategist turns into a conversation, it’s never just small talk — it’s an unfiltered deep dive into conviction, courage, and the messy business of walking a path you can’t quite see until you’ve lived it. In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, Phoebe and Will meet for the very first time — ten minutes before hitting record — and jump straight into what it really means to live and work off the beaten path.
Most people think clarity comes first, then action. Phoebe’s life is proof that sometimes you act first — and the clarity comes later. From rejecting the “safe” route of junior college for a more self-discovering polytechnic education, to choosing a scrappy startup over a dream-brand corporate gig, she has repeatedly chosen growth over guarantees. Her philosophy? Let your heart lead and let your mind catch up.
It’s a mindset that took years to cultivate. Growing up as a self-described people pleaser, Phoebe often deferred to others’ opinions — until she realised that external validation is a shaky foundation for a fulfilling life. The turning point? A week-long yoga and meditation retreat in Cambodia that reawakened her inner joy and reminded her of a childlike curiosity she had almost lost to “adulting.” That clarity sparked a radical decision: to leave a stable role in sales and customer success to embrace uncertainty, trusting it would lead somewhere truer.
One of those unexpected turns was publishing her own poetry and prose book — now sitting on Kinokuniya’s shelves — alongside training in healing modalities like breathwork and Akashic records. Another was shaving her waist-length hair for Hair for Hope, a personal act of non-attachment that also challenged societal ideas of beauty. “When I come from a space of inner conviction,” she says, “there’s no room for challenge — I see it through.”
Will, ever the challenger, probes Phoebe’s thinking on intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation, the myths of entrepreneurship, and why not every bout of dissatisfaction means you should quit your job. Together, they explore the tension between trusting your gut and rationalising it, between holding core values and turning them into actionable verbs, between keeping life “safe” and letting a little bit of crazy seep out.
Key questions surface:
- How do you know if you’re walking *your* path, not one shaped by conditioning?
- When is discomfort a sign to push forward — and when is it a cue to pause?
- What anchors you when your choices make sense to no one but you?
Phoebe’s anchors are authenticity and courage — but lived as actions, not just words. Staying true through the noise. Choosing the braver option when fear whispers “play small.” And perhaps most importantly, remembering to find joy in the mess.
If you’ve ever:
- Felt pulled towards something without being able to explain why
- Wondered if stability is costing you growth
- Wanted to live by your own definitions, even when they defy expectations
…this episode is your permission slip to act before you have the map, to trust the steps you can’t yet see, and to clean out the clutter of shoulds so you can make space for what actually matters.
🧼 Your conviction is the clean water.
🚽 Fear of judgment is the drain.
💩 Old conditioning and people-pleasing? That’s the clog.
Flush it. Live it. And let your heart lead you somewhere your head hasn’t yet imagined.
When a Master Certified coach sets aside the toolkit and invites a marketer to talk about family, friendships, and adult care, you get something quieter and deeper than most business episodes: a patient excavation of how relationships change over time. In this episode of Clean Your Toilet, Xing Jian and Will explore the hidden labour of keeping people in your life — the patch notes, the role changes, and the surprising costs of going solo.
Most people assume relationships are stable unless something dramatic happens. Xing Jian argues they’re more like software: without regular updates, assumptions and misreadings accumulate. Will was raised between grandparents and extended family, he grew up with multiple caregivers and a kind of gentle hands-off upbringing. That created space to be independent — but it also created gaps. For Xing Jian, years away from home felt like pressing pause; moving back felt like hitting play and discovering how much repair the stalled relationship needed.
This episode traces several subtle but powerful tensions: moving from dependent child to caregiver, the protective instincts that morph into managerial ones when people age, and the disorienting experience of learning to parent in a very different cultural moment. Will talks about concrete parenting choices — treating kids like people instead of babies, using candid language, and balancing scold-with-love — and the cognitive reframes that follow once you become a parent yourself.
They also talk adult friendships: why they’re rarer, why “friend-friend” status matters, and why it’s sometimes necessary to end a relationship rather than let resentments calcify. Will brings a marketer’s clarity to the emotional mess, reframing leadership and team-building as parallel forms of parenting: your company is your first child, managers are deputies, and different “parenting styles” can be tested across each domain.
Key questions emerge:
- How do you keep relationships updated so assumptions don’t calcify into resentment?
- What changes when you move from “receive care” to “give care,” and how does that affect risk-taking?
- How do you draw boundaries between clients, colleagues, and friends without losing humanity?
Xing Jian’s honesty about friendship breakups, parenting rules, and the “pause/play” dynamics of modern life is disarmingly practical. Will contributes a simple moral line he uses with his children — don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want done to you — and explains how modelling that steady ethic is both easier and harder than it sounds.
If you’ve ever:
- Felt a relationship go stale and didn’t know how to approach it
- Moved home after years away and been surprised by how people had frozen in time
- Struggled to balance work, family, and the invisible labour of caretaking
…this episode gives gentle permission to update, to speak plainly, and to treat relationships as ongoing work rather than static assets.
🧼 Your presence is the clean water.
🚽 Frozen assumptions are the drain.
💩 Neglect, resentment, and performative love? That’s the clog.
Unpause. Update your relationships. And be brave enough to play again.
When a bona fide artist sits down with a marketing strategist, you get more than a talk about art or business — you get a deep excavation of how identity, culture, and confidence shape the way we show up in the world. In this episode of *Clean Your Toilet*, Shui Lam and Will strip away the glossy layers of creative work to confront what’s really behind the lens: self-worth, belonging, and the courage to claim your space.
Most people see art as capturing beauty. Shui Lam sees it as revealing truth — especially for those who’ve been taught to shrink themselves, hide their features, or fit a mould. Raised in Hong Kong and now based in Singapore, Shui knows first-hand how cultural narratives about success, appearance, and propriety can become invisible chains. Putting pencil to paper wasn’t just about mastering a craft; it was about reclaiming the right to see and be seen on her own terms.
But building a career around art that’s true to her vision hasn’t been without its mess. The industry’s obsession with trends, filters, and instant gratification can push even the most grounded creatives into questioning their worth. Add in the challenge of running a business, managing client expectations, and marketing in a world that rewards sameness over substance — and you’ve got the perfect storm for self-doubt.
Will, drawing from years of positioning brands in saturated markets, challenges Shui to think bigger about visibility without diluting her voice. They tackle the tricky questions:
- How do you sell your art without selling out?
- Can you adapt to market demands without losing your cultural and personal truth?
- What happens when your confidence wavers — and your work becomes a mirror you don’t want to look into?
The conversation moves beyond tactics into the heart of creative resilience. Shui shares the deeply personal breakthroughs that fuel her commitment to authenticity. Will reframes marketing not as manipulation, but as amplification — a way to make sure the right people find and value your work.
If you’ve ever:
- Felt the tension between staying true to your art and staying relevant
- Wondered if your unique voice is “too much” or “not enough”
- Struggled to own your space in industries shaped by other people’s standards
…this episode is your call to stop playing small.
Because the real art isn’t just in the illustrations you make — it’s in the inner clearing that lets you show up fully, unedited, and unapologetically.
🧼 Your vision is the clean water.
🚽 Outdated standards are the drain.
💩 Self-doubt and cultural baggage? That’s the clog.
Clear it. Claim it. And create work that refuses to be invisible.
When a former national athlete meets a seasoned marketing strategist, you don’t just get a conversation about business — you get a real conversation about discipline and disruption. In this episode of *Clean Your Toilet*, Yao Xiang and Will go head-to-head (and heart-to-heart) on what it really takes to build a business without losing yourself in the noise.
Most people think the hardest part of running a business is the hustle: the hours, the planning, the endless doing. But what if the real battle isn’t out there in the market — it’s in your own head?
Yao Xiang — national athlete turned gym studio owner — sits down with Will to wrestle with one of the most under-acknowledged struggles of entrepreneurship: holding onto your values when the noise around you gets so loud, you can’t hear yourself anymore.
Yao Xiang’s story isn’t your typical “athlete turned entrepreneur” highlight reel. This is a man who’s been in the pool and at the top of his game for a large part of his life. Decades of discipline, consistency, and high performance have shaped his approach to fitness — and life. But stepping out of the sporting arena into the business world brought a shock: in the age of Instagram-perfect abs and TikTok workout trends, deep knowledge and skill don’t always win the algorithm.
And that’s the tension at the heart of this conversation.
On one side: Yao Xiang’s no-nonsense philosophy on training, forged through years of sweat, competition, and technical mastery. On the other: a fitness industry obsessed with aesthetics, trends, and the next viral challenge. Between them lies a messy middle filled with questions every purpose-driven business owner eventually faces:
- How do you stand out when louder, flashier, and shallower gets more clicks?
- How do you share your truth without sounding like you’re tearing others down?
- Is it possible to play the “content game” without losing your integrity?
Will doesn’t sugarcoat his side either. Drawing from over a decade in marketing, he breaks down the realities of discoverability, platform algorithms, and the unromantic truth: you either learn to “play the game” or you get drowned out by it. But he also challenges the idea that “playing the game” means selling out. With smart positioning, relentless consistency, and a willingness to experiment, Yao Xiang could turn his authenticity into a brand advantage — not a liability.
The conversation doesn’t shy away from the emotional mess, either. Yao Xiang admits the moments of envy and frustration that creep in when he sees trend-hoppers gaining fame and opportunities that took him decades to earn. Will reframes jealousy not as a flaw, but as proof that you care deeply — and a signal to channel that energy into telling your story with even more clarity and conviction.
If you’ve ever:
- Felt invisible next to competitors who are all style and no substance
- Wondered if authenticity still matters in a clickbait economy
- Struggled to separate healthy ambition from comparison-fueled bitterness
…this episode is your reminder that the mess you’re in isn’t a distraction from the work. It *is* the work.
🧼 Your expertise is the clean water.
🚽 The internet is the drain.
💩 The noise is the sludge that keeps it from flowing.
Flush often. Stay clear. And never mistake the mess for the mirror.
In this no-bullshit, soul-rattling episode of Clean Your Toilet, Raymond strips away the surface-level productivity talk and dives straight into the often-ignored world of self-leadership—the kind that doesn’t happen on LinkedIn posts, but in late-night reflections, quietly broken promises to yourself, and uncomfortable moments of truth no one claps for.
With Xing Jian holding space, this conversation pulls no punches. Raymond talks openly about how easy it is to lie to yourself in subtle, self-soothing ways—and how costly those lies can be when left unchecked. From his years in HR and leadership development, he’s seen firsthand how people at every level avoid their own inner mirrors. But the biggest breakthroughs don’t come from frameworks. They come from glimmers—those brief, painful flashes of truth we’d rather ignore.
This episode isn’t about hustle. It’s about honesty. The kind you don’t share on your performance review but that shapes everything beneath the surface.
This is a masterclass in:
And true to Clean Your Toilet form, we’re not avoiding the mess:
Raymond gets real about the false narratives we use to feel in control: “I told myself I was adventurous—but had zero proof.” He talks about identity myths, the slippery comfort of performance personas, and the terrifying moment you realize the hardest person to be honest with... is you.
This episode will hit especially deep if:
Highlights:
🧠 “Self-leadership is what you do when no one claps.”
🪞 “The moment I discovered I was lying to myself—that was my glimmer.”
🚽 “The toilet doesn’t care how successful you look. It knows what you’re full of.”
This isn’t an episode about fixing yourself. It’s about facing yourself.
Because freedom doesn’t come from quitting your job or buying the planner. It comes from cleaning the inner toilet you’ve been pretending doesn’t exist.
🧍♂️ Your identity is outdated.
🪞 Your mirror is foggy.
💩 Your internal system is clogged.
Time to scrub the narrative and flush the noise. Clean leadership starts here.
You flattened your Tetra Pak. You brought your tote bag. You skipped the straw. But deep down, you’re wondering: Does any of this actually matter?
In this refreshingly unfiltered episode of Clean Your Toilet, sustainability leader Yen Lyng joins Xing Jian to talk trash — literally — and confront the quiet exhaustion hiding behind your best eco-intentions.
After 15 years in the waste management industry, Yen Lyng has seen it all. And she’s not here to sell you a feel-good fantasy. She’s here to make the system make sense — and to remind you that sustainability isn’t a vibe. It’s a structure.
This conversation is part myth-busting, part emotional reckoning. Because when you’re trying to care in a world designed for convenience and waste, the burnout is real. So is the guilt. And that shame spiral isn’t saving the planet — it’s paralyzing you.
We dive into:
Yen Lyng keeps it real — from operational processes to personal moments of eco-disillusionment. She shares how even she, someone who works in sustainability daily, has asked herself: Is this even working? Spoiler: It is — just not in the ways we often think.
This episode is a deep breath for anyone who:
Highlights:
♻️ “Sustainability isn’t sexy. It’s systems, mess, and persistence.”
🪞 “We are cogs in a machine — but we’re not powerless.”
🧃 “Flattening a Tetra Pak won’t save the world. But it supports the infrastructure that might.”
🧠 “Even burnout has a carbon footprint.”
And in true Clean Your Toilet form, we’re flushing the performative purity and making room for grounded, imperfect, conscious participation.
You don’t have to save the planet. You just have to stop pretending your efforts are worthless.
💡 Awareness is impact.
🧹 Small acts stack.
🚽 Your habits matter — even the invisible ones.
Time to take the guilt out of the green. Clean your mental landfill. Recycle the shame. And keep showing up.
