Soul Food with Natasha Chiam

Delonix Tan’s story is one of transformation. In Singapore’s high-pressure academic landscape, grades are often a primary measure of self-worth. When school failed to provide Delon with that sense of value, he looked for belonging elsewhere: in gangs. For a time, Delon felt "really lost" and didn’t know who he was anymore, drifting between gang life, startup business attempts, and unfulfilling sal...

So much has been said about the challenges of Singapore’s local F&B scene, but very little about the decline of home cooking. While our grandmothers and aunties cooked almost daily, just 38% of us today cook at home on a regular basis (according to a 2022 study by the Institute of Policy Studies, reported in the Straits Times ). In this episode, our guest Christopher Tan, author, food historian an...

What do private equity, content creation and vegan cooking have in common? Our guest, Divya Butani, has done them all. Her unconventional journey took her from corporate finance to culinary queen. And in the process, she became a mother and built a community of over 100,000 veggie-forward foodies. At the start of her journey, Divya joked that she was “an Indian wife who couldn’t cook”, trying to f...

In this episode, I sit down with the founders of Matcha Masta , a Singapore-born brand brewing up matcha with benefits, like collagen, protein, and a whole lot of hype on TikTok. We dive into: 🍵 How they transformed loyal TikTok followers into paying customers 🤝 Why working with your best friend can be the ultimate business power move 💡 The realities of leaving corporate life to build a brand f...

Like many of us, Simone Heng has experienced periods of extreme loneliness. Unlike many of us, she’s turned those experiences into a successful career, driven by a mission to help people build real human connection in a lonely world. We talk about her upbringing, and her personal journey from her high profile career in media and entertainment, to becoming a young carer for her mother who suffered...

Victoria Cheng’s story is about saying yes to curiosity, and combining interests with skillset. We talk about how her love of food, inherited from her father, led her to food journalism and eventually video content - skills she later used to become one of Asia’s leading esports hosts and commentators. As the oldest sister to four brothers, she shares how sports helped her build confidence, and how...

From a childhood filled with explorations of his family’s kitchen cabinets, to a career in F&B that spans over 2 decades, multiple awards and a stint as a Masterchef Singapore judge, Bjorn has built his career on unexpected, creative (sometimes “stupid”) choices and the courage to see them through. I chat with Bjorn about how he has managed to run one of Singapore’s longest standing and much-loved...

We talk about what it means to walk away from the safe route, how Desmond stays motivated in the face of constant rejection, and the quiet practices that keep him sane. Along the way, Desmond shares what inspires him, the mindset shifts that have carried him through, and yes - the rituals (and snacks) that keep him camera-ready. It’s a conversation about creativity, persistence, and carving out a...