Juliana Chan, PhD

Please give me a refund now.

Nobody told me how hard the 40s would be.

I entered my 40s with excitement: 40s is the new 30s!💥

40 things I've learnt now that I'm 40! 💥

Write a book! Travel! FIRE (financial independence, retire early)! 💥

And then reality hit me like a brick:
- My dad passed away last year
- More bad news than good news daily
- My long-time editor passed away in January
- Serious health diagnoses and mental illnesses
- Bankruptcies, retrenchments, business closures

Whoever said the 40s were the new 30s? 🥹

I want my money back now.

Anyway, here is my playbook for my 40s:

🙏 I will do what I need to do for my family and kids. A mama bear will do what a mama bear has to do.

🙏 I will not scale for the sake of scaling, leverage for the sake of leveraging. A self-funded, profitable business with a small footprint is your best bet in an era where anyone can start a digital business with zero investment and zero coding experience.

🙏 Finally, I will live life like it is my last year, and my last decade. I've seen friends die in their 40s. There is no assurance we'll live a long and healthy life.

To anyone reading this in their 40s:

If you have been shackled by golden handcuffs and "what ifs," now is the time to find that backbone and pursue the life and career you always wanted. You still have plenty of time and energy.

If you've been living your parents' dream, remember they had their life to live out their dream. It is your life, your dream.

Finally, if you've been saving your money and telling yourself, "I'll enjoy myself when I make X amount of dollars or when my kids are 21..." forget it. Do it now.

Life is for living.
Money is for spending.
Time is for creating memories.

Join me in writing your bucket list down and start ticking it off one by one.

📸 Photo: creating memories with my daughter in Kyoto, Japan last week. Photos by my daughter.

What could go right?

I'm tired of people who only see risk and downside in everything.

People who agonize over every decision, even small ones like what bubble tea flavor to pick.

As someone who sees the world as half-glass full, I'm tired of being surrounded by Eeyores who are always pessimistic about their situation.

But my optimism has cost me plenty:
- I've bet on people who promised big but couldn't deliver
- I've made life decisions I was sure were right that flopped
- I've made financial investments that failed

Yet I run two companies serving government and MNC clients, and a 250-pax paid Mastermind while raising two kids. So clearly I've made some good decisions along the way.

People ask how I manage it all. Here's my process:

💜 Use James Clear's decision framework: Is this decision like changing a hat (reversible), getting a haircut (semi-permanent), or getting a tattoo (permanent)? Most decisions are actually "hat" decisions - you can test them quickly and change course if needed. Starting a new content series? Hat decision. Hiring a freelancer for one project? Hat decision. But people treat these like tattoo decisions and spend weeks deliberating. Hat decisions should take seconds or minutes, not days or months.

💜 Look for "free rolls" (thanks to Annie Duke's poker wisdom in her book How to Decide): A free roll has unlimited upside but limited to no downside. Reaching out to a potential collaborator on LinkedIn? Free roll - worst case they ignore you, best case you get a mentor or client. I see dozens of free rolls daily that people are too scared to take. Guess what, I'm free-rolling daily!

💜 Only work with people I trust 100%: When trust is there, politics disappear. You don't spend hours crafting the "perfect" email or wondering about hidden agendas or unsaid thoughts and how to "fix" them. You can be direct, move fast, and focus on results instead of politics. Life's too short for people who drain your energy and slow your progress.

The pessimists will always ask "What could go wrong?"

That's fine. Someone needs to spot the risks.

But while they're paralyzed by fear, I'm asking a different question:

What could go right?

And then I go make it happen.

PS: Who's free-rolling with me today? 💜

My heart is full 💗

My goal in 2025 is to be a powerful magnet.

As a powerful magnet, I want to attract awesome people: those who share resources freely, celebrate others' wins, and who make great clients and colleagues.

At the same time, I want to repel people who don't genuinely want me to succeed.

I decided to activate this so-called magnet by putting myself out there: speaking, writing, showing up consistently on LinkedIn, Instagram, and in my weekly newsletter.

And my magnet worked.

It attracted opportunities and connections in my DMs and emails day after day.

Yesterday, 200 of you showed up at my flagship Find Your Superpower 🚀 Summit 2025.

PS: our photographer Cyril T. C. Ng captured 1,000+ pictures that we'll share with you soon!

Thank you to our incredible speakers Alex Dwek Anna Ong Crystal Lim-Lange Dr. Jason Leong Megha Singh Shub Faujdar Daniel. Thank you to my amazing team led by Samantha Yeap and Maria Leene Camo for your hard work.

Here's what I learned: The law of attraction is about showing up consistently as the person you want to become.

When you do that, the right people find you.

My heart is full because of you. 💗

I took my company fully remote in 2023! 🚀

Some of you may already know that my company has been working remotely since the pandemic.

That said, not everyone knows that I had a beautiful office renovated from scratch and a filming studio filled with top-quality video equipment (pictures in comments).

When I signed the lease three years prior, I spent around $30k in built-in renovations, at least $20k more on furniture, plus an obscene amount on video equipment, office consumables and other items.

Was I sad to lose this office? I was absolutely gutted. 🥹

One amazing event we ran out of our office was our 2021 International Women's Day event where we helped 50 women do makeovers and photoshoots for their LinkedIn profiles. Imagine that!

Here's my remote-work report card:

✅ I believe we are on the right side of history. The future of work means smaller physical footprints, not bigger offices. We were already underutilizing the office for years, but nostalgia and status quo prevailed over my sharper instincts.

✅ I have never had one person complain about our 100% WFH or WFA policy. I've had employees work remotely while traveling around the world, including Europe, Australia and the US. During performance reviews they always mention how grateful they are not to commute and fight traffic jams daily.

✅ Mothers love working remotely, and I love hiring mothers. Remote work levels the playing field for career women who are pregnant or have babies and toddlers. PS: Future mothers: please find a remote or flexible job if you want to juggle young kids, your health and your sanity.

✅ My teammates do regular meetups (sometimes twice a month) that are intentional—company-sponsored lunches or coffees that are social and recreational. I never feel out of touch. In fact, I look forward to meeting them more now than if I saw them daily! 😅

✅ I've taken the future savings and consolidated them into an annual fully-sponsored company retreat. In 2022, we flew to Langkawi with an executive coach. In 2023, Bali. In 2024, Kota Kinabalu. Doesn't remote work sound great?

Guess where we're hanging out this year… SINGAPORE! ✈️

Next week, everyone flies into town for a 4D3N retreat that coincides with our flagship Find Your Superpower Summit 2025.

Was it still hard to say goodbye? Yes.

Do I still feel mushy and nostalgic? Yes.

Is change hard? Yes, but change is the only constant.

Like Marie Kondo said: ask yourself, does it spark joy? If not, bid it farewell and thank it for its service and let it go. 🙏

So here goes…

"Dear office, I still think of you and talk about you. Thank you for looking after all of us for so many years!" 🥹

"And to my teammates flying in from across Asia... see you next week!" 🙌

How to keep winning in life 🏆

Please, before you write this off as a cringey LinkedIn post, I ask for just a couple of minutes of your time.

I don't have a PhD on this topic, but I think I have cracked the code to why some people keep on winning, and why some people keep on losing.

You see, before you can win, you need to first have a winner's mindset.

Before you can lose, you need to first have a victim mindset.

If you have a victim mindset, you can have a perfectly reasonable job and still moan about your boss, the commute, your colleagues, your clients. And without a job, you can also moan about the economy, AI taking away your job, lack of opportunities.

And yet, I know people who:

🏆 When suddenly retrenched, say: "I am so grateful for the generous severance, which gives me enough of a runway to reconnect with my family, friends and myself, as I find work that truly aligns with who I'm becoming."

🏆 When diagnosed with breast cancer, say: "I am going to fight the cancer with all my strength, and shout from the mountaintops to remind women everywhere to get themselves screened annually for breast and cervical cancer."

🏆 While resigning from a toxic job, say: "I've been a corporate executive all my life. Maybe this is a sign from the universe for me to give entrepreneurship a shot instead of immediately finding a new role."

I agree that there are situations harder than others.

But if you want to lose? You'll always find a way to lose.

The winning and losing first happens up there. You get to pick.

Guess what I've picked? 🏆

So this happened! ✨

The little girl-scientist-turned-entrepreneur cannot believe that she just moderated a headliner dialogue at Marina Bay Sands Singapore with this VVVIP.

I was interviewing respected business leader and thinker Mr Ho Kwon Ping, Founder and Executive Chairman of Banyan Group, for TechInnovation 2025.

I'm going to give you 10 nuggets from the session for those who couldn't join us this morning.

Please write these down... they will improve your odds of success!

1. Managers are paid to manage. CEOs are paid to think.

2. Hold on to your values, let go of your hubris.

3. Banyan Tree's service culture starts with "I Am With You". Having empathy for your customer beats any form of AI automation.

4. We are way past climate mitigation. All CEOs need to focus on climate adaptation to protect their businesses.

5. We should be optimistic about the "civilizational reset" we are now seeing take place.

6. Rather than focus on being the fastest in an AI race, AI can help Asia gain mindshare through sharing Asian knowledge and culture such as traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine.

7. Like the dot-com bubble, there will be an AI bubble. While AI will bring new jobs long-term, its incredible speed will lead to short-term job losses across all industries.

8. You'd be lucky if your success rate in business is 1 out of 10. Have the guts to try, but also the guts to know when to stop.

9. Much of success is luck. But you still have to show up for it.

10. Young Singaporeans: remember humility and hunger.

Thank you IPI Singapore and the team for this opportunity, and Mr Ho for showing us how to think both deeply and boldly about the future.

Which insight by Mr Ho spoke to you? ✨



📸 Photo by David Owyong

I didn't meet a real scientist until I was 18 🧬

My daughter met a Nobel Prize winner at 11 🤯

Last week, at the Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum in Kyoto, Japan, my 11-year-old daughter was fortunate enough to meet Sir Paul Nurse.

Sir Paul Nurse is a Nobel laureate, geneticist, and former President of the Royal Society.

He's one of the world's most respected biologists, and as a biology student I studied in textbooks the cell cycle gene he discovered that won him the Nobel Prize.

When I was my daughter’s age, I didn't know any scientists.

My parents didn’t go to college.

My mom worked in retail 7 days a week.

We didn’t have fancy friends or connections.

I didn’t have role models to show me that curiosity could become a career.

That's why exposure matters.

Across Asia, millions of kids with hidden talents will never meet a scientist or step into a lab due to a lack of access.

It's why one of my life goals is to help young people across Asia see themselves as future scientists, founders and innovators.

Especially girls. Women make up less than 25-30% of the STEM workforce in many countries.

I didn't meet a scientist until I was 18.

But just one meeting one can change a young person’s life.

Tha single conversation can plant the seed that "maybe I could do that too."

How to decide faster 🍜

Like this giant cup of instant noodles, I like things done fast.

I know what you're thinking: "But Juliana, that sounds reckless. Surely there's a need for deliberation?"

Yes and no.

The reason that I can decide quickly is because I refer to James Clear's hat-haircut-tattoo decision framework.

🚨Is this decision like changing a hat (reversible), getting a haircut (semi-permanent), or getting a tattoo (permanent)?

Unless you get completely unhinged on social media, which I do NOT recommend, most content and branding decisions are “hat” decisions.

You can test them quickly, get real-time market feedback, and adjust.

That new content series you're thinking about? Try it in 1-2 posts this week.

The market will tell you what works faster than any amount of thinking ever could.

As a branding coach, I see professionals procrastinating on “hat” decisions like:

- Should I post on LinkedIn?
- Should I DM them on LinkedIn?
- Should I buy that $20 book?

Just do it. ✅

The person who wins is the one putting on and taking off 5 hats while others are still scheduling Zoom meetings about whether to get a hat in the first place.

So here's my challenge to you: Look at that idea you've been sitting on.

The one you've been "thinking about" for months.

Is it really a tattoo or a haircut?

Or is it just a hat you're afraid to try on?

If I were GenZ I'd start a company immediately 🙏

While working my day job. While studying.

Whatever I'm doing.

Here's why: the barriers have never been lower. AI assistants, Canva, Shopify, no-code tools that didn't exist when I was starting out. You can test dozens of ideas until one hits.

If you are a poker player, it is basically a free roll with the dice.

Sure, you'd lose some free time. But you have more time to lose (no kids, no mortgage noose around your neck) and way more energy to burn. 🔥

You have superpowers we didn't have.

You're digital natives. Creative. Purpose-driven.

You challenge the status quo instead of keeping your head down like my generation was taught to do.

Use that fire in your belly to launch companies, create intellectual property, start movements.

Why the urgency?

The AI era will be extremely tough on individual contributors, content creators, creatives, and a whole swathe of white-collar employees.

But it's a goldmine for entrepreneurs who can adapt.

Bootstrapping has never been easier. You don't even need to hire anyone at first; learn to build AI agents and customGPTs.

My advice: combine your existing skills with AI knowledge.
- Art training + AI = turbo-charged creativity.
- Writing skills + AI = content at scale.
- Business model + AI = sell 24-7 to a global audience.

You were born into this digital world.

That's your edge.

Use it.

This auntie is rooting for you. ❤️


PS: Let's debate this further at my flagship Find Your Superpower Summit on 31 October 2025. See you on Halloween! 🎃

"Virtual communities don't work." 👎

That's what someone told me when I was launching my flagship 12-month Brand Builder Mastermind in 2024.

"I think there should be weekly meetups."

"Weekly?" But I don't even meet my best friends every month! 😱

I decided to stick to my instincts, which have gotten stronger over the years.

🤚 When someone suggested that my Mastermind promise a fixed number of in-person meetups: I said no, that would make my non-Singapore members second-class citizens. We currently have 240+ members from ~20 cities worldwide.

🤚 When someone said physical communities are better than virtual communities: I remembered my four 2024 LinkedIn bootcamps where I trained 160 people virtually. Many of them are still BFFs. I believe that like-minded people will connect offline on their own.

My instincts told me that it would be more productive to channel all of my team's energy into one annual flagship Find Your Superpower Summit.

I was right. 🥳

95% of our tickets have been sold with two weeks to go till 31 October.

Our tickets cost 2x of last year but we have had no problems selling them.

The pent-up anticipation is electrifying my community. People are flying in from Sydney, Melbourne, Switzerland, Dubai, Hong Kong, Bangkok etc.

Self-professed introverts in my community have told me, "Juliana, I'm showing up for you on the 31st. For one day only."

So yes, my Brand Builder Mastermind is a virtual community. We meet up once a year, and spontaneously when the opportunity beckons.

To the person who says virtual communities don't work:

They do. They really do. 🙏

#findyoursuperpower #FYSSummit2025 #brandbuildermastermind

"Don’t think so big." ✨

Some people may have heard their well-meaning parents and friends tell them this.

Save for a rainy day...

But you can't save your way to success.

Do it yourself, don't outsource it....

But you can't buy back time, your most precious and non-renewable asset.

Many people we love grew up in an era where scarcity was everywhere. Even if they are affluent and well-off today, living in million-dollar apartments, they still carry with them a poverty mindset.

Abundance really starts in the mind. 🧠

When you behave like everything is scarce, like everything is a zero-sum game, you turn into someone who is penny-pinching, calculative, distrusting, hesitant, doubtful, risk-averse, narrow-minded and fearful for the future.

When you behave like everything is abundant, like everything you need and want can be manifested, you turn into someone who is generous, warm, embracing, trusting, ambitious, curious, open-minded, optimistic, excited for the future.

The strange thing? Reality often mirrors what goes on in our head.

Instead of making tiny decisions, roll some dice this week. Think big.

Instead of DIY everything, outsource 2-3 tasks this week. Think big.

To solve big problems, you can't be solving small problems.

The small-timers can solve the small problems.

To make it big, you can't be training yourself to fret about $20.

The part of your brain that fires up awe, creativity, adventure and optimism is completely different from the part that activates fear and constant risk-scanning.

Let's fire up the part of our brain that gives us happiness and success instead.

Think big, my friend.


PS: I look forward to seeing 200 of you later this week at my Find Your Superpower Summit 2025. Happy Halloween!

Luck favors the bold 🍀

In 2018, when I first left academia as a medical school assistant professor, the "real world" humbled me fast.

I felt confident about my US patents and publications in top scientific journals, but nobody seemed to care.

Amongst marketers and PR experts, I stuck out like a sore thumb with my PhD and geeky approach to personal branding. Nobody was giving me industry awards or inviting me to speak on panels.

There were industry events, but I wasn't invited.

Workshops to be given, but not by me.

It wasn't pleasant going from top of your game to bottom of the pile. 🙏

--

But then I realized something profound:

If nobody invites you to dinner, create a dinner and invite others.

If nobody invites you to speak on their podcast, start your own.

If the New York Times doesn't feature you, feature yourself.

And if no industry summit invites you to give the opening keynote...

Well, you get the idea.

Thank you everyone who came to my flagship annual Find Your Superpower 🚀 Summit 2025.

So what are you waiting for an invitation to?

Pick yourself first.

Luck favors the bold. 🍀

Yes the new LinkedIn algorithm hates you. 🤯

It hates you so much that your impressions have dropped in the past 6-12 months.

I remember when I first started posting on LinkedIn in January 2020 while speaking at Davos. I would get 500-1000 likes on my posts before noon.

Impressions were sky high. Frankly, I don't think I even tried very hard to write each post carefully.

Then the pandemic hit. Millions flocked to LinkedIn as brick-and-mortar businesses shut down and events went virtual.

Today there are one billion users on LinkedIn. Still less than Instagram and Facebook, but a lot of executives and decision makers in one place.

With a billion users come incredible writers and communicators, but also many more bad actors creating fake engagement through bots and pods.

LinkedIn is far more crowded today and it is harder and harder to stand out.

But here's what really matters: why are you here? 🙏

May I introduce you to something I call the "LinkedIn success mindset"?

I even wrote an e-book with this title.

💜 The law of abundance: Are you on LinkedIn to share priceless industry knowledge that others cannot find elsewhere? Or are you on LinkedIn to discuss industry gossip, complain about something that affected you, and announce how "humbled and delighted" you are about your latest award and promotion? People can see through your intentions very quickly.

💜 The law of reciprocity: Are you commenting and liking on posts from industry peers? If you aren't, then why should they reciprocate? Remember, LinkedIn is just networking in a digital space. Imagine going to a conference and sitting down in a corner, waiting for people to approach you. Why not go over and say hello instead?

💜 The law of attraction: I see an increasing amount of generic AI-slop and faceless content on LinkedIn. How am I supposed to know who you are and to leave you a like because I want to support you? Some of you are against putting your photo in your post. But what about a professionally relevant, work-appropriate, context-relevant photo, such as of you speaking on stage or attending an industry event? Combine that with signature content only you can write and you have an absolute winner.

---

The algorithm has indeed changed every 6 months or so since I started posting on LinkedIn five years ago.

But rain or shine, I am still here.

Why? Because every time I post, I earn money. 💰

I make new friends and connections. I promote my business.

I share my ideas and knowledge.

With the right mindset, you'll succeed regardless of algorithm changes.

I have found 100K of my people this way.

I would love to show you how to do that too. 🙏



📸 Photo from when I gave a keynote for LinkedIn's enterprise clients in Singapore.

PS: My flagship Brand Builder Mastermind is fully booked for 2025. But enrollment reopens in two weeks for our January 2026 cohort. Get waitlisted!

The real reason you're not making a career move 🙏

You hate your client portfolio.

You go to sleep with anxiety every work night.

You can't open your inbox without rolling your eyes.

But you feel you can't.

When asked, you easily give us lots of excuses:
"Oh, it's not so bad..."
"I think it's pretty good overall..."
"There's a big promotion cycle coming up, waiting for my bonus..."

And then that day finally comes. It always comes. The straw that breaks the camel's back.

Promotion → denied.

Bonus → denied.

Raise → denied.

You snap and resign on the spot, out of frustration. All those years of denial and excuses come pouring out of you. And you wonder why you made all those excuses in the first place. Why was I so naive?

Because you were loss-averse.

When we think of making a career pivot, we don't immediately think of optimism, the possibilities... "What could go right?"

We think of the loss of salary, the loss of stability, the loss of everything familiar to us. We think: "What could go wrong?"

And to be fair, many things could go wrong! 🙏

In my case, after every career pivot, I can only share these realizations:
- I am so glad I finally did it
- I should have done it a lot earlier
- Why did I keep denying instead of preparing?

The smart ones prepare. They build their brand. They start networking. They get their ducks lined up in a row.

And that's what I do these days as a LinkedIn branding coach and career strategist. I show people how to make career pivots the right way.

The first step? Fix that mindset. Fix that fear of loss that's holding you back.

The second step? Take action. Get educated on the correct way to pivot.

PS: Do you know what lies on the other side of fear?

Freedom.

Power.

Joy.


PS: If this drug-delivery nanoparticle scientist can become a media entrepreneur then honestly... what are you missing out on? To all participants of my Find Your Superpower Summit 2025, see you on Friday! 🎃

What I learned about branding from a jet company CMO ✈️

I've spent years helping executives and founders build their personal brands.

But every now and then, I meet someone who reminds me what great branding actually feels like.

Earlier this month in Singapore, I met Ève Laurier, Chief Marketing Officer of Bombardier Jets, one of the most iconic names in aviation.

In branding, people often confuse visibility with value. They think a strong brand is made from loud campaigns and clever marketing strategy.

Listening to Ève talk about Bombardier, it occurred to me that true branding isn't about being seen. It's about being felt.

She spoke about how Bombardier is reimagining luxury through sustainability: with cactus-based leather, recycled fabrics, and responsibly sourced veneers. Every design choice tells a story of care and luxury. 🌵

She emphasized that for Bombardier, luxury means service: It's about anticipating needs before you speak them. It's the quiet confidence of a brand built on family values and generational craftsmanship.

As a branding coach, that deeply resonated.

Because the best brands, like the best families, lead with care, consistency, and quiet confidence.

Thank you Ève for the chat.

Sometimes the best branding lessons come from the most unexpected conversations. ✨