The PURPOSE Podcast

If you've been in the Singapore running scene for a while, it is hard not to know who Jeri Chua is. She was the first Singaporean to qualify for the prestigious Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii in 1997. Formerly a physical education teacher, she later moved to the United Kingdom for her masters degree in exercise and nutrition science. She didn't return to Singapore immediately, choosing to work there in fashion retail.

Her plans to continue triathlons changed when she decided to stop cycling and swimming because of the cold weather. She then joined a running club in 2009 and got introduced to trail running and ultramarathons, which forever changed her life. Jeri has gone on to achieve respectable results in ultrarunning, such as qualifying for the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB). She was also the first Singaporean woman to take part in the Ultra Trail Gobi Race - a 400km self-navigated trail race that took her more than 130 hours.

With all her experience, it was a natural progression that Jeri became a business owner of a running company, Red Dot Running Company, which sells all the useful gear and essential needs for runners, especially ultrarunners.

Listen to this episode with Jeri as she shares her wealth of experience, observations and thoughts on the ever-evolving scenes of endurance sports.

They were both working in Singapore, each pursuing a passion in triathlons. They had mutual friends who thought they would have made a great couple, but with a stroke of fate, it was Tinder that brought Richard Farren and Sophie King together. It didn't take long for their relationship to blossom as their triathlon journey merged as one.

After a few months, including Sophie winning her age group at Ironman 70.3 Xiamen under Richard's guidance, they made the decision to resign from their respective jobs and return to the United Kingdom to embark on a year-long process to turn pro. It's a big dream but one that they have to try, or they will regret forever. They have also started Tri2, a triathlon coaching service.

Listen to this episode on how they met, how they arrived at this decision and the plans ahead.

It's hard when you're on the bigger side. Society judges, people judges; stereotypes are quick to be placed on you. But Kelly Pereira was not going to let any of this negativity stop her from pursuing her passion in triathlons. Her goal is to complete an Ironman 70.3 once the races are back and not even her diabetes or gastroparesis will hamper her efforts.

She learnt about triathlons in her 20s, over a decade ago, but never found the courage nor confidence to get into it until now. The more people think she cannot do it, the more determined she is to prove that she can. Recalling her sprint triathlon experience, she enjoyed every single moment she was in the race. It wasn't about the result; it was about the process and the journey.

Coming from an extreme sports background, Claire Jedrek knows no fear. She used to do aggressive inline during her teenage days, which is where she got talent scouted and subsequently grew her career in entertainment. She has done heaps of hosting, graced too many magazine covers, done her fair share of TV dramas - and later, race commentary when she got into motorsports.

The mother of two toddlers is also a race car driver herself, the only female one in Singapore in fact. If all of that is not enough, her husband Yuey Tan (Porsche Carrera Cup Asia driver) and her founded The Karting Arena, a public go-karting facility. This is only one of the several other businesses that they own and run.

Having done a sprint triathlon before, Claire does have a goal to participate in an Ironman 70.3 one day. At the moment she is big on cycling, especially mountain biking, when her knee injury is not hindering her.

One thing that she is good at is sports marketing - creating a brand out of yourself to offer value to sponsors. Her motor racing career is funded by sponsors - it's a rule that both Yuey and her share: if you don't raise the money, you don't go racing.

Life isn't always smooth sailing and Claire has had her own struggles too, like moving back to Singapore from Australia whilst nursing a massive heartbreak and having to restart her career all over again.

Listen to this episode and pick up some valuable life lessons from this daredevil go-getter mama!

This man needs no introduction. We watched him break the 100 Miles Treadmill Run World Record during a time where most, or all, of us were confined within the walls of our homes. In that same session, he also broke the world record for the furthest distance in 12 hours on the treadmill. Prior to this, he already held the world record for 100 Miles and 12 Hours on the track.

This man is Zach Bitter, whom we just launched a running collection with - complete with his signature on the singlets, tshirt and shorts.

Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Zach's wife Nicole is also an accomplished endurance runner. In this special episode of The PURPOSE Podcast, Zach talks about what went through his mind during the world record runs, how life has changed after earning world records, how the couple dynamics between them work, and more.

Listen and get to know Zach better on a personal level!

At a young age of 19 when most teenagers are chasing their K-pop idols or getting videos done for Tik Tok, Mandy Chan took a gap year so she could start her own business to sell her idea - a multi-functional sports bag.

This idea came to her when she kept forgetting to bring her toiletries whenever she went to the gym. It hit her that she needed a multi-functional bag which can also house her toiletries, on top of her everyday things and gym gear. This was how BOW was born - designed for modern people who have many activities within their day.

With some experience from her internships at start-ups, Mandy knew what she was getting into. She also had a mentor who backed her crazy idea of taking a break from university to build BOW and guided her through the process. Unfortunately, her parents weren't as supportive. They threatened to cut her off and on top of that, her friends dissuaded her from pausing her studies.

Deciding to follow her heart, Mandy plunged herself fully into this and was determined to prove everyone wrong. She knew that if she waited on it, she might miss a valuable opportunity.

Of course, she had her fair share of struggles. For example, she faced many difficulties finding a supplier in China because many factories did not take her seriously. In addition, she did everything by herself to cut costs - marketing, design, accounting. It was an uphill task from the get-go but that never stopped her from persisting.

At the moment, Mandy is back in university and now has to deal with the challenge of balancing school and business. But no matter how hard things get, she has no regrets. Her advice to all entrepreneurs out there is to “know your why and the greater purpose of your business.”

RC Coaching is a name you would have (and should have) heard of if you're in the sport of triathlon in Malaysia. Named after the founder and head coach Rupert Chen, RC Coaching started out with him coaching some close friends for a couple of years for free, while he started to race at more competitive levels. Soon after, he decided to take up coaching certification and RC Coaching became his full-time job. In just a few years, with three full-time staff, three full-time coaches, six part-time coaches and about 150 students across Klang Valley and Penang, Rupert aspires to expand RC Coaching to Johor in the near future.

It was a long journey though. 14 years ago, Rupert started as a runner but felt he was hitting a plateau, thus he searched for a sport which could challenge him more and give more variety. That’s when he stumbled across triathlon. At first, he competed in triathlons purely for leisure. However, after he resigned from his corporate job as an engineer, Rupert had more time to train and he saw results within a short period of time.

When he started coaching people in triathlon, one challenge he faced was finding a proper swimming pool to coach in as most of the pools were already tied up with other club or coaches. “I had to sneak into other people’s pools to coach!” he revealed cheekily.

Thankfully, with some luck in 2017, a friend who manages a pool offered to collaborate. With this, he registered RC Coaching as a business and officially began coaching full-time in early 2018. This is not his first business - Rupert set up other businesses before but they hit rock bottom. Finally finding his calling, seeing his athletes - both on an age group and national level - progress gives Rupert the motivation and gratification to continue his pursuit in coaching. 

Still competitive at the age group level himself, Rupert built RC Coaching with the belief and culture of inclusivity. He aims to change the culture of triathlon in Malaysia to become a more welcoming and inclusive community.

Listen to what Rupert has to say about his experience in switching careers and how he balances coaching, training and his relationship!

Only 24 years of age, Allison Yee has accomplished more than her peers, in competitive sports, academics and business.

So what’s her secret to balancing all these at the same time? "Time management is important for any triathlete or high achiever," she said.

About a year ago, Malaysian national triathlete Allison decided to start her own home-based confectionary bakery called Zeal. In her pursuit of building her business, she realised that the core essence of success is similar to being a triathlete - perseverance.

Just like triathlon which involves three types of sports, Allison's life is split into three main pillars - sports, academics and business - and each deserves the same focus and discipline. “You should give all your focus and discipline in each and every thing you do," she added.

The sweet and petite athlete with girl-next-door vibes was actually not an outdoor person. But at 19, Allison decided to take up running with the goal of being fitter. She got noticed at her daily runs in the park and she went to compete in a small 10km run race held in her hometown Kuantan, Pahang. She enjoyed the experience, thus she joined a running club and eventually it led her to the sport of triathlon at 20.

Although she didn't know how to swim, Allison was determined to participate in her first Ironman 70.3 so she learnt swimming from her boyfriend and through YouTube videos. Having achieved wins in the triathlon circuit, all the way to the full Ironman distance even, Allison's proudest moment was making it to the SEA Games team last year.

“You need to have a strong discipline in yourself,” she said. “Train smart and progressively; that way you can achieve your target.”

Ironman age group elite athlete Andy Wibowo from Indonesia is a well-known name in the triathlon circuit, having qualified for the prestigious Ironman World Championship in Kona twice, as well as often winning triathlon races of varying distances. Triathlon, however, is his second competitive sports career. He was first a swimmer, specialising in the 100m butterfly, with medals from the Southeast Asian Games in this event. He  also qualified for the men's 100m butterfly at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

But did you know that before he started swimming, he was trying his hand at badminton?

Having achieved the highest level at swimming, Andy felt it was time for a new challenge. His first brush with triathlon is when he took part in a relay, covering the swim leg of course. However, with the swim being the shortest time taken out of the three disciplines, Andy found himself getting bored waiting for teammates to finish. That was when he decided to try doing the entire race by himself.

At 40 years old, Andy shows no signs of slowing down. His goal is to finish in the top 6 overall in his age group at Kona. Based out of Bali (a beautiful place to be stuck at in this pandemic honestly), Andy tells us how he met his wife, how he handled attention from girls during his younger days and what Team Hope is all about.

Malaysian professional track cyclist Josiah Ng (now retired) was the first Malaysian to make it into the Olympic cycling finals, before going on to become a three-time Olympian at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Based in Malaysia now, Josiah had an illustrious cycling career, including a Commonwealth Games gold medal, three Asian Championship gold medals, two Southeast Asian Games gold medals and more.

Growing up in the States, Josiah secretly went cycling at night, hiding his bicycle at his friend's home, as his parents did not approve of his cycling endeavours. At the age of 18, his father gave him a choice and Josiah decided to leave home to pursue his cycling dreams (and some girls along the way). He never stopped chasing his dream, even dropping out of university. Eventually his parents came around when he qualified for his first Olympic Games and came to support him at his races.

Finally at 35, after multiple serious injuries (two of which were near-death), Josiah retired from professional cycling. Therein lies another challenge - transitioning out of the professional athlete life into normal life - but that is where mental strength comes to play. A father of one, Josiah found his purpose and is now focused on growing his cycling academy to help develop the scene in Malaysia. He also gives motivational talks, in hope of inspiring the next generation of athletes.

After working in the prison for 20 years (his first and only job since he finished national service), Masri Khairuman resigned to pursue a completely new career - as a swim coach. At the age of 42, Masri realised he had fallen out of love with rehabilitation work and was all excited to start something else.

Not wanting to wait until he is retired to start looking for a career in sports coaching - which he felt might be too late - he took a leap of faith and made the jump, with the full support of his wife.

Now a respected coach in swimming and triathlon, Masri is also an active committee member of Terai Melayu - Singapore's largest triathlon community.

This episode explores his reasons for leaving the prison services and how he made that bold career change at a late stage in life.

Head coach of Swimsmooth Singapore, Merle Talviste, only switched to sports as a career later in life. She was a landscape architect previously, doing city and regional planning, and her job took her to Dubai. Always armed with a love for swimming, Merle found like-minded friends in swimming in Dubai who then got her into the sport of triathlon. It was also during her time there that she started considering a career switch to become a swim coach. Merle started her first swim squad in Dubai before moving to Singapore, but she has something bigger in the works now.

Seven years ago, Colin O'Shea came to Singapore with his finance career in the commodities market. However, in 2015, the market took a downturn and after a redundancy, Colin was considering his next move. Having been settled in Singapore at that time (his first son was born here!), he and his wife Donna decided to stay put in Singapore. 

Colin went to get his qualifications as a triathlon coach and renewed his swim coaching qualifications; and then registered COS Coaching as a business and began taking on athletes. COS Coaching rose quickly and is one of the top triathlon coaching squads in Singapore, with many top athletes qualifying for the Ironman/Ironman 70.3 World Championships and also securing podium finishes regularly.

Here, we talk to Colin about his background as a college swimmer and university swim captain, his career in finance and how he went from managing assets to managing athletes.