On My Own Terms: Career Change | Life Pivot | Success Redefined

John Lim CY
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On My Own Terms is the podcast for career change, life pivots, and redefining success in today’s fast-changing world.  Hosted by John Lim—whose journey spans banking, entrepreneurship, tech startups, and e-commerce—it explores what it takes to build a meaningful career, especially in Asia where traditions run deep. From launching Singapore’s largest indoor laser tag business to navigating layoffs during the tech winter, John has lived the challenges of reinvention.  Each episode dives into real conversations with career changers, entrepreneurs, and unconventional thinkers, uncovering mindset shifts, strategies, and practical tips. If you’re exploring new career paths, adapting to the age of AI, or rethinking what success means, you’ll find inspiration, insights, and action steps here. Subscribe to the newsletter to receive bonus content from podcast episodes, on career switch and growth in your inbox here: https://bit.ly/3VU2e47

  1. 09/30/2024

    24. Joining AI industry, Anxiety and Why Laid Off Folks Are More Likely to Get Laid Off Again (Part 3)

    This is Part 3 (and final part) of special conversation episode between John Lim and Aaron Wong, guest from Ep 1. At time of recording, John has been actively job hunting for several months.   Some topics covered include: - You need permission to be employed - Crafting a good CV  - Anxiety of an unemployed sole breadwinner with 2 young children - Job vs income - How to reduce probability of being laid off again - Know your triggers and keep a routine Support the show Subscribe to bonus podcast content and career resources via ✉️ email newsletter. About the host John Lim: John Lim has had an unconventional career by Singapore / Asian standards - with several career switches. He started his career in banking before co-founding a laser tag events company. After building the business from ground-up, growing the team to 20+ and running Singapore's largest indoor laser tag center, he joined an early-stage tech startup to lead business development across Southeast Asia. In 2019, he took a leap of faith to join the e-commerce industry, seemingly unknown sector, until a few months later when Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. While John finds himself lucky to have 'survived' the career switches relatively unscathed, he has never forgotten how it feels like to be at the crossroads of your career and life. Now, he has started this podcast - to provide the resources and perspectives he wished he had - and to help you make the most of your career to live your best life. Join him as he speaks with unconventional career changers and risk-takers, taps into their experiences and perspectives and discusses all things career. Together, they will provide you nuggets of wisdom, inspiration and actionable insights to start living life on your own terms.

    21 min

  2. 09/30/2024

    23. Life after Layoff, Building Skills and Network and Career Coaches (Part 2)

    This is Part 2 of 3 of special conversation episode between John Lim and Aaron Wong, guest from Ep 1. At time of recording, John has been actively job hunting for several months.   Some topics covered include: - Dealing with news of ex-employer's extravagant spending  - What could have been done differently  - Building skills and network - How to deal with recruiters - Red flags  - Career coaches - Most things in life are reversible Support the show Subscribe to bonus podcast content and career resources via ✉️ email newsletter. About the host John Lim: John Lim has had an unconventional career by Singapore / Asian standards - with several career switches. He started his career in banking before co-founding a laser tag events company. After building the business from ground-up, growing the team to 20+ and running Singapore's largest indoor laser tag center, he joined an early-stage tech startup to lead business development across Southeast Asia. In 2019, he took a leap of faith to join the e-commerce industry, seemingly unknown sector, until a few months later when Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. While John finds himself lucky to have 'survived' the career switches relatively unscathed, he has never forgotten how it feels like to be at the crossroads of your career and life. Now, he has started this podcast - to provide the resources and perspectives he wished he had - and to help you make the most of your career to live your best life. Join him as he speaks with unconventional career changers and risk-takers, taps into their experiences and perspectives and discusses all things career. Together, they will provide you nuggets of wisdom, inspiration and actionable insights to start living life on your own terms.

    31 min

  3. 09/30/2024

    22. Special Episode, Getting Laid Off in May 2023 and Post Layoff Reaction (Part 1)

    This is Part 1 of 3 of special conversation episode between John Lim and Aaron Wong, guest from Ep 1. At time of recording, John has been actively job hunting for several months.   Some topics covered include: - Getting laid off - What's interest rate got to do with anything - Tech companies - Work vs identity - What's a good layoff exercise  Support the show Subscribe to bonus podcast content and career resources via ✉️ email newsletter. About the host John Lim: John Lim has had an unconventional career by Singapore / Asian standards - with several career switches. He started his career in banking before co-founding a laser tag events company. After building the business from ground-up, growing the team to 20+ and running Singapore's largest indoor laser tag center, he joined an early-stage tech startup to lead business development across Southeast Asia. In 2019, he took a leap of faith to join the e-commerce industry, seemingly unknown sector, until a few months later when Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. While John finds himself lucky to have 'survived' the career switches relatively unscathed, he has never forgotten how it feels like to be at the crossroads of your career and life. Now, he has started this podcast - to provide the resources and perspectives he wished he had - and to help you make the most of your career to live your best life. Join him as he speaks with unconventional career changers and risk-takers, taps into their experiences and perspectives and discusses all things career. Together, they will provide you nuggets of wisdom, inspiration and actionable insights to start living life on your own terms.

    23 min
  4. 21. Why You Don't Have to Look the Part with Winnie Wong

    06/12/2023

    21. Why You Don't Have to Look the Part with Winnie Wong

    Winnie Wong (her LinkedIn) is the author of Amazon #1 New Release - You Don't Have to Look the Part: How East Asian Women Thrive as Entrepreneurs (link).  Winnie is also a business leader, educator, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. She has over a decade of corporate experience working with start-ups, scale-ups, and big tech companies.  An advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in entrepreneurship, Winnie has mentored foreign domestic workers in entrepreneurship and advised social impact funds in granting $1 million to female-led start-ups. She is a speaker on women, entrepreneurship, and technology.  Winnie holds an MBA from INSEAD, where she was a Forte Fellow, and was named a Rising Talent by the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society. A Canadian-born Chinese, Winnie has lived in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, China, and Singapore.  In this conversation, we spoke about: - The different expectations of men vs women in the workplace - Why is her book important and why East Asian women - How Covid19 has affected women at work - Why it is important to support female entrepreneurs - What's one lesson for women (and men) considering a career change Connect with Winnie via LinkedIn. Check out her book You Don't Have to Look the Part: How East Asian Women Thrive as Entrepreneurs (link). About the book: You Don’t Have to Look the Part: How East Asian Women Thrive as Entrepreneurs Women-led start-ups get only 2% of venture capital funding, even though women own 1 in 3 businesses globally. Of that percentage, East Asian women-led startups only receive a small sliver of that 2%. Despite this disparity, women-founded businesses return more than twice as much per dollar invested than those founded by men.  In the book, you’ll learn the:  Lessons from the stories of East Asian women entrepreneurs who have built some of the world’s biggest companies, like Coffee Meets Bagel, Canva, and Grab Innovative solutions to support diversity in the start-up industry, starting with government legislators, educators, and investors And so much more... Support the show Subscribe to bonus podcast content and career resources via ✉️ email newsletter. About the host John Lim: John Lim has had an unconventional career by Singapore / Asian standards - with several career switches. He started his career in banking before co-founding a laser tag events company. After building the business from ground-up, growing the team to 20+ and running Singapore's largest indoor laser tag center, he joined an early-stage tech startup to lead business development across Southeast Asia. In 2019, he took a leap of faith to join the e-commerce industry, seemingly unknown sector, until a few months later when Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. While John finds himself lucky to have 'survived' the career switches relatively unscathed, he has never forgotten how it feels like to be at the crossroads of your career and life. Now, he has started this podcast - to provide the resources and perspectives he wished he had - and to help you make the most of your career to live your best life. Join him as he speaks with unconventional career changers and risk-takers, taps into their experiences and perspectives and discusses all things career. Together, they will provide you nuggets of wisdom, inspiration and actionable insights to start living life on your own terms.

    55 min
  5. 20. Moving From Finance to Fashion, Test Driving Your Next Dream Job and Investing in Yourself with Career Change Coach Jennifer Ong

    03/13/2023

    20. Moving From Finance to Fashion, Test Driving Your Next Dream Job and Investing in Yourself with Career Change Coach Jennifer Ong

    In this episode, we have a special guest - a career change coach who has helped numerous individuals successfully navigate their career transitions. If you're a millennial in Singapore looking to make a career switch, this episode is for you.  Former VP at BlackRock, career change coach Jennifer Ong (www.ongjennifer.com) shares her own personal career change story, insights on career and career change and provides the breakdown of her 1:1 career coaching program which has successfully helped her students from Google, Microsoft, Stripe, Accenture pivot careers. We also discuss the reasons why millennials are frustrated with their corporate jobs, the self-limiting beliefs that hold millennials back from a successful career transition and the importance of investing and betting on yourself. Jennifer provides practical tips and strategies that you can implement immediately to jumpstart your career switch journey. Whether you're feeling stuck in your current job, looking to pivot to a new industry, or simply curious about the world of career coaching, you won't want to miss this insightful conversation.  Ready to take ownership of your life and explore what a fulfilling career could look like for you?  Sign up for a free 45-min  1:1 coaching call with Jennifer here: http://bit.ly/3yxcjKP.  This podcast episode was recorded in Jan 2023. Support the show Subscribe to bonus podcast content and career resources via ✉️ email newsletter. About the host John Lim: John Lim has had an unconventional career by Singapore / Asian standards - with several career switches. He started his career in banking before co-founding a laser tag events company. After building the business from ground-up, growing the team to 20+ and running Singapore's largest indoor laser tag center, he joined an early-stage tech startup to lead business development across Southeast Asia. In 2019, he took a leap of faith to join the e-commerce industry, seemingly unknown sector, until a few months later when Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. While John finds himself lucky to have 'survived' the career switches relatively unscathed, he has never forgotten how it feels like to be at the crossroads of your career and life. Now, he has started this podcast - to provide the resources and perspectives he wished he had - and to help you make the most of your career to live your best life. Join him as he speaks with unconventional career changers and risk-takers, taps into their experiences and perspectives and discusses all things career. Together, they will provide you nuggets of wisdom, inspiration and actionable insights to start living life on your own terms.

    1h 24m
  6. 19. Switching from Service Industry to Corporate, Working with Chatri Sityodtong at One Championship to Starting New Career in E-commerce and Showing Hunger at Interviews with Jasper Lim

    02/27/2023

    19. Switching from Service Industry to Corporate, Working with Chatri Sityodtong at One Championship to Starting New Career in E-commerce and Showing Hunger at Interviews with Jasper Lim

    During a career switch, it is common to assume that one needs to take a pay cut when joining a completely different industry to "start from scratch".  Or in job hunting, the candidate with the most relevant job experience should be the most obvious choice.  Both not necessarily true. If you're currently in the service industry looking to pivot to a corporate job or if you feel like your current career is stuck, this episode is for you.   Jasper Lim is currently the Assistant Vice President, Head of E-commerce at Primer Group of Companies, a distribution and retail company with operations in 10 countries and relationships with over 150 leading brands in the outdoor, travel, action sports and urban lifestyle spaces. Some of these brands include Quiksilver, Billabong, The North Face, Hydro Flask and Reef. Before that, he has had wide-ranging experiences in his career - he started his career 14 years ago as a Flight Steward at Singapore Airlines. He then did marketing at Far East Organization, one of the biggest real estate developers in Singapore. He went on to be a Constituency Manager at People’s Association, a government-linked statutory board which promotes racial harmony and social cohesion in Singapore. Jasper then joined ONE Championship, Asia’s largest global mixed martial arts sports media platform with a global broadcast to over 150 countries.  Jasper then did a career switch to a completely different industry- e-commerce, joining AceCom Technologies, a regional e-commerce enabler and multichannel distributor. He started out as the Head of Marketing and Partnerships before becoming the General Manager. This podcast episode was recorded in Sep 2022. Support the show Subscribe to bonus podcast content and career resources via ✉️ email newsletter. About the host John Lim: John Lim has had an unconventional career by Singapore / Asian standards - with several career switches. He started his career in banking before co-founding a laser tag events company. After building the business from ground-up, growing the team to 20+ and running Singapore's largest indoor laser tag center, he joined an early-stage tech startup to lead business development across Southeast Asia. In 2019, he took a leap of faith to join the e-commerce industry, seemingly unknown sector, until a few months later when Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. While John finds himself lucky to have 'survived' the career switches relatively unscathed, he has never forgotten how it feels like to be at the crossroads of your career and life. Now, he has started this podcast - to provide the resources and perspectives he wished he had - and to help you make the most of your career to live your best life. Join him as he speaks with unconventional career changers and risk-takers, taps into their experiences and perspectives and discusses all things career. Together, they will provide you nuggets of wisdom, inspiration and actionable insights to start living life on your own terms.

    1h 25m

  7. 02/20/2023

    18. Three Lessons I learnt at Lazada

    In this solo episode,  I share the 3 lessons I learnt during my time at Lazada Nov 2019 - Jan 2022. I had front row seat watching the world rushing to pivot to e-commerce when Covid19 brought the world to its knees in early 2020. Lazada is one of the biggest e-commerce operators in Southeast Asia. They were founded in 2012 and they currently operate in six countries: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Opinions expressed in this podcast are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of Lazada, past, current or future organizations that I am part of. Subscribe to bonus podcast content and career resources via ✉️ email newsletter here. Support the show Subscribe to bonus podcast content and career resources via ✉️ email newsletter. About the host John Lim: John Lim has had an unconventional career by Singapore / Asian standards - with several career switches. He started his career in banking before co-founding a laser tag events company. After building the business from ground-up, growing the team to 20+ and running Singapore's largest indoor laser tag center, he joined an early-stage tech startup to lead business development across Southeast Asia. In 2019, he took a leap of faith to join the e-commerce industry, seemingly unknown sector, until a few months later when Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. While John finds himself lucky to have 'survived' the career switches relatively unscathed, he has never forgotten how it feels like to be at the crossroads of your career and life. Now, he has started this podcast - to provide the resources and perspectives he wished he had - and to help you make the most of your career to live your best life. Join him as he speaks with unconventional career changers and risk-takers, taps into their experiences and perspectives and discusses all things career. Together, they will provide you nuggets of wisdom, inspiration and actionable insights to start living life on your own terms.

    12 min
  8. 17. Building No Harm Done, Uprooting his life and Management Consultant career in Europe to Yishun in Singapore and Reducing Social Isolation with Simon Lieberum

    02/13/2023

    17. Building No Harm Done, Uprooting his life and Management Consultant career in Europe to Yishun in Singapore and Reducing Social Isolation with Simon Lieberum

    It is one thing to have a career change. It is another to do it while you're uprooting your life to move to another country with no social network. It is one thing to start a business. It is another to start a social enterprise where you're chasing other outcomes other than just financial sustainability. Simon Lieberum has done all of the above.  If you are curious about sustainability and social enterprises, this episode is for you. And if you love local Singaporean kopi, you're in for a treat (scroll down). Simon Lieberum is the Founder and CEO of No Harm Done, a social enterprise which sells Nespresso-compatible coffee pods which are biodegradable. What makes No Harm Done and their coffee pods unique is that the coffee pods are organic, vegan and 100% plastic-free. The coffee pods and packaging are compostable and the coffee beans are sourced from sustainable partner farms around the world. But what I really love is that No Harm Done does the Singapore local coffee - the Kopi O - so damn good! Kopi-O refers to black Singapore local coffee (also known as Nanyang coffee) with no milk. Before Simon started No Harm Done, he led a jet-setting career in Europe being a Management Consultant at Accenture. And from flying around Europe suited up and carrying a laptop with beautiful powerpoint slides, he landed in Singapore and ended up working in a family-owned business which sells plastic packaging to FnB brands. This podcast episode was recorded in Nov 2022. Use special promo code ONMYOWNTERMS on No Harm Done (click on the link) to receive a special 20% discount. Limited time offer. Timestamps: (02:08) Well-kept secret (06:14) No Harm Done (13:44) Why make it organic and plastic free (22:31) Management Consulting (26:16) From Europe to Yishun in Singapore (29:11) No technical background (29:59) The hardest part (34:02) Lessons learnt (35:50) Hiring 65 years old and above (39:04) Kopi for a Cause Disclosure: When you purchase through links on the podcast, I may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting this podcast. Support the show Subscribe to bonus podcast content and career resources via ✉️ email newsletter. About the host John Lim: John Lim has had an unconventional career by Singapore / Asian standards - with several career switches. He started his career in banking before co-founding a laser tag events company. After building the business from ground-up, growing the team to 20+ and running Singapore's largest indoor laser tag center, he joined an early-stage tech startup to lead business development across Southeast Asia. In 2019, he took a leap of faith to join the e-commerce industry, seemingly unknown sector, until a few months later when Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. While John finds himself lucky to have 'survived' the career switches relatively unscathed, he has never forgotten how it feels like to be at the crossroads of your career and life. Now, he has started this podcast - to provide the resources and perspectives he wished he had - and to help you make the most of your career to live your best life. Join him as he speaks with unconventional career changers and risk-takers, taps into their experiences and perspectives and discusses all things career. Together, they will provide you nuggets of wisdom, inspiration and actionable insights to start living life on your own terms.

    42 min
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About

On My Own Terms is the podcast for career change, life pivots, and redefining success in today’s fast-changing world.  Hosted by John Lim—whose journey spans banking, entrepreneurship, tech startups, and e-commerce—it explores what it takes to build a meaningful career, especially in Asia where traditions run deep. From launching Singapore’s largest indoor laser tag business to navigating layoffs during the tech winter, John has lived the challenges of reinvention.  Each episode dives into real conversations with career changers, entrepreneurs, and unconventional thinkers, uncovering mindset shifts, strategies, and practical tips. If you’re exploring new career paths, adapting to the age of AI, or rethinking what success means, you’ll find inspiration, insights, and action steps here. Subscribe to the newsletter to receive bonus content from podcast episodes, on career switch and growth in your inbox here: https://bit.ly/3VU2e47

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