Asian Business Owners - A.B.O.

Growing up, Jerwine followed the path that made sense.A stable career, a secure future and a life that looked successful from the outside.But she had something else on her mind. There was always a creative side of her asking for more.In this conversation, Jerwine shares what it took to leave accounting behind, build THE BLOMSTRE in Hong Kong and trust herself enough to create a life that finally felt aligned.She also shares an exciting milestone exclusively in this episode, make sure you listen until the end!We talk about:Walking away from the "safe" pathStarting a creative business in Hong KongSelf-doubt and uncertaintyLearning to trust yourselfRedefining successThe exciting next chapter for THE BLOMSTRE✅ Get your free day pass at Garage Society!Timestamps: (00:00) Teaser(00:57) Podcast and Guest Intro(03:24) Life as an Accountant(04:54) Creativity After Work(06:51) Planning the Exit(10:07) Pandemic Candle Pivot(11:58) Pitching Retailers(16:00) Workshops and Wellness(18:27) First Big Corporate Event(22:18) Motherhood and Identity(25:00) Mentorship and Systems(29:50) Overwhelm and Boundaries(31:23) Husband Joins Full Time(34:14) Partners In Business(36:37) Quitting The Day Job(38:04) Dream Clients Come True(39:37) Comfort Zone Breakup(41:59) Slow Sustainable Growth(46:01) Time Delegation Hiring(50:11) BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!(52:07) Scenting Underrated Moods(54:26) Founder Mindset Shifts(57:57) Community Pay It Forward(01:00:59) Closing✅ Get your free day pass at Garage Society!👉 To find out more: The BLOMSTRE's websiteThe BLOMSTRE on InstagramTo follow my journey:📲 Find me on LinkedIn 💬 Follow abo.pod🎧 Subscribe to Asian Business Owners Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a founder, you’re constantly faced with opportunities, requests, collaborations and ideas.Some look exciting, some feel urgent, some sound too good to say no to.But one of the most important skills in entrepreneurship is learning when saying no is actually the healthiest decision for your business.In this episode of Asian Business Owners, I share five situations where I’ve learned that saying no protects your time, energy and long-term focus as a founder.I talk about:When someone else’s urgency becomes your emergencyProjects that look interesting but come with messy contextOpportunities that start with too many unknownsHidden free workSaying yes when you’re already overloadedYour business doesn’t only grow through the things you say yes to, it also grows through the opportunities you decide not to take on.Timestamps:(00:00) Welcome to Asian Business Owners(00:38) Why Saying No Matters(01:37) Urgency Is Not Yours(03:23) Heavy Project Context(04:54) Too Many Unknowns(06:33) Hidden Free Work(08:00) Overloaded Schedule Trap(09:29) Final Takeaways Follow the journey:💬 abo.pod📲 Find me on LinkedIn🎧 Subscribe to Asian Business Owners wherever you listen to it! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you’re a people pleaser, being a founder can become even more exhausting.Saying yes too fast, replying instantly, overdelivering more than expected, explaining and justifying every decision.In this episode of Asian Business Owners, I share five boundaries I had to learn as a people-pleasing founder to protect my time, regain clarity and grow a more sustainable business.These shifts didn’t happen overnight, they took years of noticing patterns and learning to respond differently.What I talk about:why replying instantly can create unnecessary pressuretaking time before committing to requestsclarifying expectations instead of overdeliveringwhy you don’t need to overexplain your decisionsdeciding in advance who gets access to your timeTimestamps:(00:00) Welcome to Asian Business Owners(00:31) Are you a people pleaser?(00:45) What being a people pleasing founder costs(01:36) Tip 1 Pause replies(03:15) Tip 2 Delay commitments(04:15) Tip 3 Clarify expectations(05:20) Tip 4 Stop overexplaining(06:42) Tip 5 Protect access(07:50) Wrap up(08:35) OutroFollow the journey:💬 abo.pod📲 Find me on LinkedIn🎧 Subscribe to Asian Business Owners wherever you listen to it! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You don’t need to say much for people to form an opinion. Your voice does it for you.In this episode of Asian Business Owners, we explore how your voice shapes confidence, credibility and leadership often before your words are fully heard.Together with executive voice coach David Pope, we unpack why many founders and leaders sound less confident than they actually are and how voice, presence and authenticity are deeply connected.We talk about:How people subconsciously judge confidence through voiceWhy leadership presence is often heard before it’s understoodThe difference between sounding confident and sounding authenticCommon voice habits that undermine credibilityHow founders and leaders can find a voice that truly reflects who they are✅ Get your free day pass at Garage Society!Timestamps:(00:00) Welcome to Asian Business Owners(00:31) Meet My Guest: David Pope(01:41) Beginnings In the Media London(03:21) Working For the BBC (04:21) Hong Kong for Six Months(07:36) Founding All Voice Talent(09:51) From Producer to Voice Coach(14:12) This or That Quickfire(14:56) Voice Coaching Process (18:40) Confidence Tips and Programmes(20:52) Culture Accent and Intelligibility(23:31) Speak Up to Lead(24:23) High Pitch Voices and Credibility(26:30) Posture Breath and Resonance(27:35) Top Speaking Mistakes(29:37) Three Pillars of Communication(30:42) Record Review and Transcribe(32:13) Storytelling for Recall(33:09) Gender Patterns and Confidence(35:57) Authentic Feedback and Care(39:32) Lessons For Founders(43:13) Closing✅ Get your free day pass at Garage Society!👉 To find out more:David on LinkedInAll Voice Talent's websiteTo follow my journey: 💬 abo.pod📲 Find me on LinkedIn🎧 Subscribe to Asian Business Owners wherever you listen to it! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ChatGPT won’t run your business for you but used well, it can save you hours and help you think more clearly as a founder.In this episode of Asian Business Owners, I share 7 concrete ways I use ChatGPT in my day-to-day as a founder to reduce mental load, save time and make better decisions.Spoiler alert: there's no magic prompts, no overnight success. I share real use cases from my work.You’ll hear how I use ChatGPT for:generating content ideas with context, not generic promptsorganising my thinking with one thread per topictranslating content accuratelyrefining strategy and turning ideas into next stepspreparing quotations and pricing with more confidenceimproving podcast metadatagetting an external perspective when things feel stuckTimestamps:(00:00) Welcome to Asian Business Owners(00:38) Why founders should use ChatGPT (and what this episode covers)(01:27) 1- Content ideas that actually match your niche(02:53) 2- One ChatGPT thread per topic to keep context(03:35) 3- Translating content(04:10) 4- Refining strategy: challenge assumptions & turn ideas into next steps(05:03) 5- Quotations & pricing: scope checks, benchmarks, confidence(05:53) 6- Podcast metadata, descriptions, thumbnails & SEO(06:43) 7- External perspective: stuck moments, client issues, hard emails(07:34) Wrap-up: ChatGPT doesn’t replace thinking + final piece of advice(08:29) DM me, subscribe and leave a reviewFollow the journey:💬 abo.pod📲 Find me on LinkedIn🎧 Subscribe to Asian Business Owners wherever you listen to it! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.