 Hi, welcome to Think Tech. We are raising public awareness about technology, energy, diversity, and globalism. This show is center stage. I am your host, Donna Blanchard, proud managing director of Kumukuhua Theater. And we are coming to you live from Pioneer Plaza in the heart of downtown Honolulu, very near Kumukuhua Theater. I am excited to tell you that my guest today is Dr. Loretta Chen. She has a new book coming out called The Elim Chew Story Driven By Purpose, Destined for Change. Loretta is not just an author though, she's a professor, a motivational speaker, an executive coach, a creative director, production director, actor, and so much more. We're going to hear about all of that right now. Welcome. Hi. Thank you so much for having me, Donna. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming on. I've never heard all my, I've never heard all of that in one breath, so no, thank you. It's interesting. There's a lot to you. There's a lot to you. And I happen to know, I've read, I read your book, Woman on Top. Thank you. It's a really wonderful biography. I have worked with you as an executive coach and you do a pretty fabulous job with that too. Thank you. It's been a really wonderful experience for me. Thank you. So I am looking forward to your next book and having this conversation with you about your recent travels and how you're taking on the world. What do you feel like, let's start off with a small light question. Okay, sure. What do you feel like is your purpose in the world? Good question. I, since I was a child, like, you know, this high, I've always felt like I wanted to change the world. In fact, in one newspaper article, I said, I was probably like 18, I said, I want to change the world. And it was like a headline. I was like, oh my God, I sound so cocky. But it was literally when I said, I want to change the world. But now that I'm older, I think what it is is that I feel my purpose is I have an ability to connect. I have an ability to create. I love creating. And I think any position that allows me to connect, to create, to communicate, to allow me to change lives, better people's lives, inject positive infectious energy, I truly enjoy it. Whether it's in a classroom, whether it's in a theater, I started as a theater director. I took it to the classroom and then it became something that I did in a corporate board room. And now it's all of that, community and society. And I'm loving every minute of it. So you are an adjunct professor at several different universities. What are the classes that you teach? The one that I'm running currently now at the University of Southern Maine is called Centered Leadership, an Entrepreneurial Woman. So that's something that I run every summer. I also teach classes on leadership, on creativity and innovation. When I first started, though, I was teaching classes and directing presentation skills, and that's what took me eventually to the kingdom of Bhutan, and that's a whole lot of story. We'll get there. We'll get there. We'll get there. So right now, largely leadership, entrepreneurship, creativity, innovation, presentation skills, lots of motivational talks going into just rah-rah people. I love it. Yeah. How do you teach innovation? Very good question. You can't. What I do in my classes is to engage them. I truly am a hands-on learner. That's how I process. So a lot of it is, I think my technique is esoteric, but I think now the world is beginning to accept being a little bit more esoteric. When I first started, I incorporated my theater background, which means a lot of warm-up activity. Because back in the day, people would be like, why am I in a leadership class? Why are you making me lie on the floor to recognize my breath? But if you don't understand who you are, you don't understand how essential your breath is to you, you're not going to be aware of a lot of other things. So not to say that for every class I make people roll on the floor, but there's a component of the physicality, the tai chi, the yoga, the breath. And then obviously there's an element, because I am very academic, there's an element of the philosophy, the theories behind it. But I think that the biggest learning or the creativity and innovation really comes when you know who you are, what you really are like, what motivates you, what gets your goal. And once you know all that, you understand how you can rub off people and how you can connect or don't connect with people. And once you have that fundamental core, you can then really say, okay, this is what I want to create. I want it to be a designer. But these are, it's almost like doing a balance scorecard to say, okay, these are my assets, these are my liabilities. And work on those liabilities and turn that into assets. And then you can really see your project takeoff, because a lot of people say, okay, I want to be a designer, but maybe they don't realize that they can't draw, which is fine, because I can't draw at all. At all. But what I then do is I use my ability to connect and I get somebody who knows how to draw. I've worked with the best set designer, the best costume designer, the best hair designer. I can't draw at all. Everyone thinks that I'm a director because I can draw. I'm like, I can't draw at all. But it stems from intense personal self-knowledge. I know what I'm good at. I know what I'm not good at. And I'm never, ever shy to hire someone that is leaps and bounds better than me in a specific area that I don't, that I'm not good at. And I love harnessing those complementary energies and then magic happens. Right. Yeah. Well, and that sort of collaboration is getting so much, I'm sure that it's been around for millennia, but it's getting a lot more attention now. It's being recognized as it's not us against them, it's us. That's right. That's right. It's the people to take ownership and rhythm millennials is all about, I need my ownership. And it is so fundamental because the whole divide and conquer thing for me has never really worked. I think my leadership training stemmed from my working as a theater director back in the days. As you would probably know, you don't have a lot of budget and you had to create something out of nothing. And you had a deadline. You had paying audiences. They were going to sit there and watch you. And so like you had to beg, borrow, steal, grubble and make sure you got a show. There were days when I had an actor, I remember the story, I had an actor. She was my lead actress. She was famous in Asia and she came down with cancer. And she literally called me and she said, I can't go on. I'm so broken and I can't go on. And I said, okay, just rest. Two days before opening, I just rest, my dear. I'll take care of everything. I hung up the phone. I was really calm in front of her. Don't worry. I'll take care of everything. And the next thing I knew, I rallied everybody and I said, okay, so when is the cancer? But we've still got a show to deliver and we're going to rally everybody. And it's nothing more powerful than when you're completely honest and vulnerable and you share what the problem is instead of trying to like, oh, you know, everything's really okay. And the team just got together and I became the stand-in actress. I couldn't speak a word of Mandarin. It was in Mandarin, right? And I was, and I had to, we had 48 hours to get the show going. My costume designers had to turn around and get entire costume, you know, stitched up for me. But the point I was trying to make is I think a lot of the leadership training that I had stemmed less from the boardroom, but from my humble beginnings as theater director because you recognized that you had to make something happen with so little. And what really motivated my actors was passion, energy. And when I reciprocated and when I thanked them and I showed them how much I appreciated them, because they worked for me for my ideas, I made them laugh and cry and tear and bury their souls because they believed in me. And that in turn fueled my desire to do my best for them, be the best mummy, daddy, you know, to them. They were my children. And together we would make magic. And I took that same energy that could not be bought because there was not much money in theater. And I took that and I think soon corporates began to see, oh, there's something there because I have nothing against, you know, getting paid because later on I got paid pretty well. But my point is corporates began to realize, oh, there's something about the kind of energy that we didn't see in commercial directors. And that's how I started getting gigs from like Samsung or Nikon or Louis Vuitton or LVMH. I started directing these gigs and obviously they paid the bills and they started doing better. But I always remember my theater roots and I bring my theater actors in and it became a virtuous cycle because you had really passionate people that were going in and now they're getting paid and it was great to see the industry sort of grow and bloom as well. And gradually I took on leadership roles as well in the corporate boardroom but I think that fundamental beginning as a theater director has really just shaped me. Well, yeah, I totally see that. You don't, you have a shoestring budget. You have to get it together. We all have our stories of the moment, you know, the roof cave did and you had to figure out how to get the show on any way. And so, and you know, that's the one thing that I often say. Most times people would say creativity means thinking out of the box. And I'll always say yes but I think you're really creative when you have to think within the box. You have no budget, no actor who's sick at home with cancer and you still got to get a show going. Obviously later on when I did have the budget in Samsung and Dubai and, you know, I was directing the Samsung Galaxy launch, but you do have the budget. You actually, it's easier because then you have resources, you have money, your budget is easier. But I think what trains you is when you don't have these things and you have to think within the box and that's when you really, it pushes your creativity to the max. And you understand the importance of a deadline. And discipline. I don't know which wise guy said it, maybe it's Einstein, but I think he said, you know, creativity is discipline, having fun. And I really think so. And I truly think so. We always act as if we're having a lot of fun, but I think we're very disciplined in what we do. Absolutely. Some of the most disciplined people I know of are in theater. We're going to take our first break real quick. When we come back, we're going to talk about what led you to the book. Okay. Okay. We're going to be right back after a short break. Please stay put. We'll see you soon on the center stage. Aloha. Welcome to our company. Host of Think Tech Hawaii's Movers, Shakers and Reformers. I hope you join us over the next several weeks as we take a deep dive into biofuels in Hawaii and explore the alternative fuels supply chain necessary for the local and global transition towards transportation fuel sustainability. Join us as we have good conversations with our farmers, our producers, our conversion technologies, our investors and our legislators as we try to to achieve our transportation sustainability goals. See you soon. Aloha, I'm Chantel Seville, host of the Savvy Chick Show on Think Tech, Hawaii. This show is for you. It's all about inspiring and empowering girls of the future to do what they love, get out there and be healthy, fit and confident. If you're up for that, 11 a.m. every Wednesday, I'll see you there. Hi, welcome back to Center Stage. I am your host, Donna Blanchard, and I wanna let you know a couple of things. First, if you would ever like to join us in the downtown studio audience here in Pioneer Plaza, you may do so. Just email J, that's J-A-Y, at ThinkTechHawaii.com. If you or anyone you know really should be on this show sitting here with me, then just send me a message. You can tweet me at It's All About Donna, and I would be really happy to talk with you. Okay, we're back with Loretta Chan, author, creative director, actor, professor, extraordinaire. Let's talk about the Ilim Chu story, driven by purpose, destined for change. That's a fabulous title. What drove you to Ilim and her story? I think what happened was after a woman on top, that was my first book that you read. I was actually very inspired and overwhelmed by the responses I had, and I spoke to a publisher, and he said, well, do you wanna write another book? And I said, yes! I didn't know what possessed me to say yes, and before I knew it, I had a three-book contract. But I think it was also because it was moving to Hawaii, right, and I knew that I wanted to stay connected to Singapore without being physically there, and writing was a good way for me to connect with my culture, my people, and yet not be physically there. So there was a logistics reason. But, having said that, Ilim is a wonderful person. She didn't pay me to say this. She is a social entrepreneur, and we connected, I think, a couple of years ago. I mean, we've always kind of known each other in the community. But we got together when I appeared on a TV program called Body and Soul, talking about depression, and she connected with me to say, hey, should we collaborate on a project? Because she really wanted to help youths out there that suffer from depression. Now, just a little segue. Singapore is a very cosmopolitan city, very busy. People live very fast-paced life, and as a result, failure, they get stressed. And it's also the Asian culture where you don't talk about your personal life. It's seen as a taboo, or any kind of setback or failure. You don't talk about it because it's a very almost stoic culture where you always wanna present your best face forward, which is not a bad thing. But what happens to a lot of people, youths, or, you know, or not, internalize a lot their pain and their anger, and maybe feel very lonely. And there've been an increased incidences of teen suicides, and it's very sad because they don't even reach the full potential of what they might become, and they kill themselves over bad grades, stressed from school, thinking that they've left their parents or society down, and they literally just jump off the buildings. So, Elam connected with me and said, let's do something about them. And we said, okay, let's do this. And we became really good friends. We talked story, and I said, you know what? Let's do your story. Because I think what we need is a voice, a champion, an ambassador, because Elam, kinda like me, we broke stereotypes, right? She was a school dropout, and she ended up becoming a social, she ended up becoming an entrepreneur, and then a social entrepreneur. So, in a way, her story defies the social trajectory that we have in Singapore, where you need to get a good education. Only then can you become successful. Only then can you go on to become an upstanding citizen. But, you know, she was a school dropout. She didn't enjoy school one bit, and she talked about it in the book. And I think we wanted to use that as a story for youths who feel disenfranchised just cause they're not academic. So that's how this started. I said, let's talk about you. And before we knew it, I mean, the stories came out, and I said, well, let's, we got a book. We got a book, and here we are. Yeah. Huh? Just like that. Just like that. Yeah, but also we, you know, she had a 30 year career called Sandy Seven Street. Sandy Seven Street was back in the day. She retired from Sandy Seven Street this year in 2016. So she's had it for 29 years. Back in the day in the 80s and 90s, it was like the coolest hangout. I don't know what the equivalent here is, Honolulu, but it's like the coolest hangout where you could get like, you know, Guns N' Roses T-shirts or Metallica. And back in the day, like in conservative Asia, was seen as, oh my God, is that a cult? Like, oh my God, you know, is that, like, satanic? Right? But, you know, she catered to a population that was not looked to in Asia or in Singapore because people were only looking at the shishi individuals that could buy the Chanel's and the Louis Vuitton's. But she was catering to the youths because back in the day in the 80s, nobody thought they had any money. Nobody thought that we should cater to the youths. Like, why would we? Right? And he poo pooed them and you said like, youth is coming in. Let's just look the other way. Pretend we don't see them. But, Sandy Seven Street catered to the youths and it started this whole suburban youth culture, which is now like this whole millennial thing. I mean, it's so much part of our intrinsic culture. But back in the day, it wasn't. And so we thought that'd be a great story as well. So the book traces as well Singapore's development through the 70s, 80s and 90s to now how culture has evolved, how pop youth culture has evolved. We also share about her business, failures, her trials, her tribulations. Because behind every successful entrepreneur, like even in my own book, I shared, there'll always stories, right? We only think that someone's successful and we only see the entire packaging and think that, oh, they're just born of a silver spoon. They have it easy. But when you unravel and pack, you realize there's a lot of, they're tear shed, you know? Heart, hearts are broken and you draw strength and pull yourself back. And that's inspiring. And that's what we wanna give back to the community. I think, I'm anxious to read this book. I did enjoy Woman on Top and I think that they're both, anytime you tell someone's story, whether it's someone's rise up or their fall down or somewhere in between, that other those stories resonate with us, we can all learn something from the other stories that were here as long as they are told honestly and with heart. Honestly, I think that's key. It's never talking down to, it's always about connecting. Because remember I said, I feel like I have a gift for connecting, creating, communicating. And that's how when I write my book, whenever you read my book, it feels like it's a conversation. And I hope you will get a chance to read it. I hope the viewers here in Honolulu will get a chance to pick up the book as well. When does it go on sale? It goes on sale in Singapore on September 20th, I think, but I think the official launch is at September 13th, so it'll be in a press in Singapore. I think my publisher said we'll have the books on online, I think in October, November. Oh, okay. Yeah. We can look forward to that. Let's talk about your trip, just so we cover as much material as we possibly can. I care. I would like to talk about your trip to Bhutan. What took you to Bhutan? In 2012, I had two very good friends, Michael Cheung and Cheong Yun, Mark. Michael Cheung was the ex-CEO of Metacorp Publishing, which is like our national printing press. He was in charge of magazines and the press. And I had a friend, Cheong Yun, that was a financial guy. And they both went to Bhutan. And I said, oh, I want to go, of course, for our unbridled passion, but I want to go too. So Mark sends my CV off to Bhutan. Now, and then I got a call. I remember I was in Japan, a career, and I got a call and they invited me to Bhutan. And I thought, okay, they're probably inviting me to like a community school. Not that there's anything wrong with that, because I work at a community school, but I thought I was going to a community school. And the next thing I knew, because Michael said, you know, when you do go down Loretta, you got to slow down, don't be so fast, because I'm always like huffing and puffing, right? And he's like, you know, people, they're kind of relaxed, like calm down. And I said, okay, okay. So I got to Bhutan. I didn't realize that it was actually, because they explained to me if I didn't really get it, right? And I realized I was working in the government. I was working with a government investment arm called DHI, or Duke Holdings and Investments. So basically, this was like a thing tank of the smartest, brightest, most experienced individuals in Bhutan. They put them together and the government investment arm and they in turn look to all the assets of the country. So whether it's the telco or the state trading corporation or the cement plan, but anyway. So I was tasked to go in to work on the presentation skills, the media skills, crisis management, and eventually I got seconded to different agencies. I got seconded to Bhutan Telco, where I worked with them in marketing and branding and got them to understand marketing and branding. And I also worked on leadership and development with the state trading corporation. And then I went on to work with the cement company on same thing, leadership, organizational development. And then they in turn succumbed me to other places where I started going to school to talk to youths. And so it just became one thing after another. And in the midst of that, I even founded an orphanage together with a friend of mine who's now like my brother, Mr. Chanchu Tsering, who's the ex-CEO of the press in Bhutan. And I helped to raise funds to build an orphanage. Oh my goodness. And this was all over three months? No, this is all over four years. Oh, oh, oh, four years altogether. Yes, so for 2012, yeah, 2012 to 2016, right, three months. I know, I know, right. Why wouldn't I do it within three months? Yeah, so this is during the span of four years and I'm still very dedicated and committed to Bhutan. I think it's changed me so fundamentally to see how simply people live and they're happy and they're content. And then, and the country believes in gross national happiness. And I mean, they have the fundamentals path. It's all about this life is worth living and we need to live it well and be happy. And there's something so profound about that and you see it in practice. And it's changed me how I am and I live that every day. And so I go back at least once or twice every year. I'm doing a documentary on Bhutan. So I'm going back in November to do that. To do that? Yeah. Okay, so let me ask you about this. Women do not have an equal say in life as men do in Bhutan, correct? So I wonder about the philosophy behind feeling happy and content at the same time, recognizing that you are not recognized as fully as a man just because he is a different gender. I don't know how much time we have but in a nutshell, it is not, the gender inequality as with most cultures and societies is not as pronounces, it's not like, the one I'm trying to say is in Bhutan, if you're not a part of the system, you might immediately think that but once you understand how the system works, it's actually very matriarchal. In the sense that when you walk into a household, you know grandma rules the household and all the men are very differential to mom and they're also very respectful of their wives. But yes, I think when you talk about going out to the world, the working world, you do see that income or you do see that gender disparity. You know, in the same way, I don't know if I can say this on air, but I am, is when I worked with a certain, very known Korean company that runs telcos and other things, when I was working with them as a creative director, I witnessed how women actually literally took a couple of steps back behind their senior management. I observed that. It's not right or wrong, but I observed that. But I was allowed into the network of the CEO and the head of marketing because I was not a, I was not part of the community I was seen as an invited guest, so I could speak with them. You didn't have to walk a couple of steps behind. So I don't think it's just Bhutan. I think it's something that I have observed in most parts of the world that I travel to. There is almost like a distinction between, when you step into the inner sanctum or the homes, you can see grandma my ruling the household. But the minute you walk out to the work sphere, you know, there is a difference. And I think we will probably need a whole other session for me to unpack that and more nuanced terms. Sorry to throw that one at you. But no, I appreciate it, that question tremendously. But yes, to answer your point, I do think that women in general do need to be more educated to become confident because for centuries, and even today I've seen so many communities, they take the back seat and they push their sons forward. And I'm like, no, your daughter's too, not just your sons. I think there is still that tendency to do that. I think women need to make that change and make that call and recognize that if they don't step up and lean in, they're gonna raise a whole generation of girls that are always gonna wanna take a back seat. Oh, another generation. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, well, then you'll have to come back. And we'll talk about that. I'll have to come back, and then we can talk in more nuanced terms for sure. And I will love to. It is an important issue, it's very close to my heart. It is, and the idea of stuffing emotions, and what that does, when it's part of your culture, it's what you do. However, those emotions have to go somewhere. You have to do something with them eventually. I'm learning all about that in therapy right now. Okay, well, thank you very much for being here. I want everyone to, your book, Woman on Top, that's available on Amazon. That's available on Amazon. I think it's available as an e-book version as well. And Alain Chew's story, Driven by Purpose, Lesson for Change will be out. And all good bookstores in Asia and Singapore, I think next week, or September 20th, but I think it's available online from October and November. Okay, everybody should look for those and look for the next fabulous things that are coming from you. And thank you very much for being here, for you and Loretta and everyone else. There's a few people here in the studio I would like to thank. Our floor manager, Nick Sexton, who's right over there, thanks, Nick. I'd also like to thank Zuri Bender, our studio overlord who is in my ear, and Jay Fidel who somehow manages to put all of this together. We will see you next week here, two o'clock on Wednesdays on Center Stage. Bye.