November 19, 2025 • 41 mins
In this episode of we explore the transformative power of resilience, vision, and community through the extraordinary journey of Chrissy Tasker—author, publisher, entrepreneur, and relentless dream-chaser.
Chrissy’s story is more than a tale of success; it’s a blueprint for turning aspirations into tangible achievements, even when life throws its hardest challenges. From navigating personal setbacks to building a thriving creative empire, she exemplifies what it means to seize opportunity, lean into growth, and build a legacy that uplifts others.
Together, we unpack the pivotal moments that shaped her path, the mindset shifts that fueled her rise, and the lessons that can inspire anyone to pursue their own dreams with clarity and courage. If you’ve ever felt stuck, uncertain, or ready for your next chapter—this conversation is for you.
Welcome to One More Thing Before You Go—where every story is a step toward transformation.
Takeaways:
- The journey from a childhood dream of writing to becoming a successful entrepreneur is often fraught with challenges and requires resilience.
- Experiencing a life-altering decision at a young age can significantly shape one's future and instill a sense of responsibility and independence.
- Building a publishing company allows one to not only fulfill personal aspirations but also to empower others in their writing endeavors.
- Collaborating with others in the writing and publishing process can lead to shared success and create a supportive community of authors.
- Transforming personal experiences into stories can inspire others and create meaningful connections through literature.
- The importance of pursuing one's passions and maintaining the freedom to choose one's path is vital for personal fulfillment and professional success.
Find us on Apple, Spotify or your favorite listening platform; visit us on our YouTube channel Find everything "One More Thing" here: https://taplink.cc/beforeyougopodcast
Want to be a guest on One More Thing Before You Go? Send Michael Herst a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/onemorething
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey, one more thing before you go.
In this episode, we're goingto learn what it takes to make your
dreams a reality, even whenpresented with life's obstacle.
We're going to take onewoman's journey of becoming an author,
publisher and an entrepreneurand how you too can take an opportunity
to fill your dreams.
I'm your host, Michael Hirsch.
Welcome to One more thingbefore you go.
(00:30):
My guest today is Chrissy Tasker.
She's an award winningentrepreneur, the founder, CEO of
multiple businesses in the UKand author and the founder of the
publishing company the worldis so big, it's also known as twisb.
Welcome to the show, Chrissy.
Hello, Michael.
Thank you for having me.
I so look forward for Today podcast.
I am absolutely lookingforward to today.
(00:51):
This is going to be afantastic conversation, I believe.
So let's talk a little bitabout your journey in life.
Where'd you grow up?
Oh, I actually born and bredin Singapore but now I actually stay
in uk.
I moved with my family to UK now.
And when did you guys move up?
In the year of 2016.
So the whole family moved upto UK and the kids are studying in
(01:12):
UK right now.
So the majority of your youngchildhood you lived in Singapore?
Yes, all the time.
So what's it like to live inSingapore compared to the uk?
Well, it's like they lock youin the cage and not kidding, actually
Singapore is, you know, Ididn't know I was so sheltered in
Singapore until I moved out toUK because a lot of news are censored
(01:37):
in Singapore and everything isso sanitized.
So when I came to UK Irealized that I was so sheltered
all my life and my kids noware exposed to a lot of things that
you will never like.
I give you a very good example.
If in Singapore we never haveto lock our door, even middle of
the night you never have tolock your doors and nothing happen.
And if your kids are outmiddle of the night until 3am, you
(02:00):
know they are still fine.
But it's not in this case inuk but yet the freedom of speech
is not in Singapore.
So I know we are so shelteredin Singapore because we were not
exposed to most part of the world.
So a lot of things we keepthinking, yes, the world is just
this gray and white.
But when I come into UK andthe first day or the first week in
(02:22):
uk, my kids, the teacheractually came to us and said, your
kids are actually very quiet.
They are too quiet and theydon't ask questions.
But in my mind I say, wellactually in Singapore, we are taught
not to ask questions, you see.
So I. I realized that I wasliving in two, you know, a different
world until now.
So I'm quite glad I have thisexposure and I'm quite glad that
(02:45):
I have the opportunity to seetwo different part of the world,
actually.
That's.
Yeah, that's really interesting.
The aspect of being able tokeep your door unlocked all night
is really kind of.
I know, kind of cool actually.
But yes, freedom.
Freedom of speech is evenbetter though.
Freedom of speech is a veryimportant aspect of life.
So tell me a little bit.
(03:05):
I'm not allowed to host anypublic speaking without getting a
license from the government.
You will get arrested.
That is happening in Singapore.
Wow, that's crazy.
Yes.
So Singapore, is it.
Is it with the governmentwithin itself or is it governed by.
Is it governed by China or is it.
No, no, no, Singapore is.
(03:26):
How crazy is that?
Until today, when in uk,people still ask me, is Singapore
part of China?
I'm like, oh wow, where thesepeople from?
No, we have our own governmentin Singapore, but the same party
that have ruled Singapore haveruled like 30, 40 years.
The same party?
Yeah, Everything.
(03:50):
That's why we love the valueof a democratic system here in the
United States.
Because the opportunity existsto change that party at least every
eight years maximum.
But I will also say freedomcome with a price of.
I think you can only givefreedom to people who are matured
to handle freedom.
So there is certain part ofthe world, probably the people are
(04:13):
just not mature enough tohandle the freedom that hand back
to them.
I mean, if I were to say this,there's a lot of people, it's going
to disagree.
Especially in China, thetenement incidents.
Imagine that very night if thestudent were to win all those.
The part where the kids die,that is such accepting.
(04:34):
It should not have happened.
But imagine if that very nightthe kids were to win and the students
won over the government andthey ruled the China.
It's going to be a big, bigdisaster, isn't it?
So to handle somebody thematurity, they must have the freedom.
They must have the maturity tohandle the freedom.
At the same time, I agree with that.
(04:56):
I think it's important.
You have to have the maturity,the experience and the knowledge
behind you in order tounderstand how to implement it.
So tell me a little bit aboutyour family.
Do you have brothers, sisters?
Oh, wow.
I don't know.
How did my mom do it?
She have 11 kids.
(05:17):
I don't know how to do it, butthat made me tears.
Okay, so she have 11 kids butbecause at that point of time there
was like 1980 something.
People are very poor then.
So she had to give away threechildren in order to keep the rest
survive to totally lost touch.
And there was.
(05:38):
I have a pair of twin sisterthat was given away that I think
to the day she died she wasstill thinking of them.
But they have.
She have no way to trace wherethey are.
Where they are actually.
That's too bad in that regard.
That's.
That's too bad.
Yeah.
We had trouble raising two kids.
I can't imagine raising that man.
I know.
I don't know how they shoulddo it.
(05:59):
Well, don't get me wrong, mykids are great.
They really.
They are.
They're great kids.
But watch out, Michael.
They're listening.
Yeah, it's a lot of work.
Yeah.
My daughter's helped me edit this.
So I have to be careful what I say.
Oh, nice of her.
I can't.
Can't run as fast as them.
Yeah, they are.
So when you were growing upsomething happened to you when you
(06:20):
were about 15 and a half years old.
Can you share that with us?
Oh yes.
When I was 15, my fatherpassed away suddenly and my whole.
We did not have money to buryhim actually, so we have to leave
him in the mortuary.
So it was quite a devastating.
In the night I actually heardmy mom cry.
Crying out of desperationbecause we do not know what to do.
(06:40):
But there was something quitemiracle happened.
There was a group of strangersthat do not know who they are.
They came together to chip inthe money to help the funeral.
And not only that, they camenight after night to support the
family at the same time.
So forever I'm indebted tothis group of kindness, the community
(07:01):
that came together to help our family.
So wherever I am now, I wantto give it back.
So I actually volunteer evenright now I volunteer to help the
children's Society to be theambassador for them at the same time.
So I give back most of thetime because I know my life.
I can be where I am todaybecause I was given, I was supported
(07:24):
by this community.
That's why I can be where I am today.
There is.
Yeah, that was some amazingcompassion and empathy that was expressed
to you.
That's really profound.
Yeah.
Especially coming from strangers.
So that's.
That's a really nice community.
You had to make a.
You had to make a decisionwith that when you were that age,
(07:45):
didn't you?
A very difficult decision.
I know when I have not talkedfor it for many, many years until
I Had that conversation withyou because that very night when
my father was put in theambulance, they actually turned around
and said, who can speak English?
And the whole family look atme, because I'm the only one who
understand, spoke and speak English.
(08:05):
So they actually put me in theambulance with my father to the hospital.
So while my family was makingtheir way to the hospital, I was
alone with my father there andthe doctors and the nurses were trying
to resuscitate him.
So to the point that theycan't do it anymore, the doctor came
out to me and they asked me,since you are the next of kin here,
(08:29):
we will have to ask forpermission for us to stop saving
your father to resuscitate him.
I was 15.
Imagine you were asked to makea decision to terminate someone's
life and that someone happenedto be my father.
Actually, yes, I know I haveto at that point.
And I did say yes.
(08:51):
I said, if there is nothingelse you can do, I give you that
permission.
Because now when I think back,like, wow, at age 15, I actually
made that dish.
It was quite crazy.
But because you do that andyou have to grow up quickly after
you did that, it justovernight I realized that, wow, I
no longer can be a kid.
(09:12):
I have to grow up.
Yeah.
It changes your life in an instant.
Oh, yes, totally, it does.
Did that create theenvironment for you to succeed further
in your life, to make surethat every moment counted?
Yes, I became very independentand I started my first business when
I was age 16.
(09:33):
So, yeah, so it was like it nolonger think you are kids anymore
when you make such a bigdecision in life.
So at age 16, me and one of myfriends, we walk up to a reception,
a big office building, becausewe know that they have all this worker
that came out of the officeevery day and travel by bus to a
(09:54):
canteen to have, you know,because I happen to work in the canteen
as a part timer.
So we actually marched up tothe office receptions and asked them
for business.
That was age 16.
And I was.
We told them, we say, we haveno experience, but would you give
us an opportunity to cater toyour office staff so they do not
(10:14):
have to travel out to just getthe food and travel back.
And the reception looked atthese two young kids.
They were only like 16 and myfriend was 17.
They're like, they look at meand they look at my friend.
They say, yeah, we'll give youa try.
I was like, wow, Imagine I wascatering to 300 workers every day.
(10:35):
When I was age 16.
I was until today.
I cannot believe my luck.
But we did that for almost oneover a year.
Because after that we wentback to the canteen and we looked
for resources.
We looked for somebody thatwould do the cooking, everything
for us, where we, when we goand get more sales and do the delivery.
And we did that for almost one year.
And in the end I sold thebusiness to my partner and then we.
(10:57):
I move on to do other things.
So from there I never stop.
I never stop again.
An entrepreneur at 16.
That's amazing.
I mean that really is amazing.
Especially catering to like300 people.
That's.
That's kind of a.
That's a very unique journey.
But life is.
I really learned in life ifyou never ask, you never know.
(11:22):
Right?
You can get a no.
Right?
But you never know.
And because I have nothing atthat point of time, I know what else
can I lose?
I have a saying and I've saidit for I don't know how many years.
But the first step to failureis the one you never take.
Oh, what a good quote.
I must steal that.
Michael, that is fantastic.
(11:45):
That's exactly right.
Exactly.
I thought about that 25 years ago.
25 years ago.
That is so true.
Yeah.
So when did your interest inbooks start?
I have quite a few books now.
I started publishing during the.
Because I used to have totravel so much for business.
(12:06):
But because of the COVID allthis traveling was banned.
So literally I was set at home.
I have a lot of time in myhand and since when I was a little
child, I always wanted to bean author.
It's always my secret and bold dream.
But because I'm badly delexistso bad the spelling I get is horrifying.
(12:27):
But that's why I keep tellingmyself it's impossible nobody will
read my story.
And it stopped me for so many years.
So when the COVID come I wasso free and I start enrolling into
different courses.
How to write books and stufflike this and how to be a publisher.
In the end I startedpublishing books.
It's quite amazing.
When I had my first book out,my husband cannot believe, so I started
(12:49):
publishing fiction.
So I write novels and stufflike this.
I have a series book calledthe Secret of the Oddspan Angel.
It's a three book series whichis up on Amazon now.
And then I start tryingfantasy books and now I have my self
help and I did co author bookswith 18 authors which is a very amazing
(13:14):
experience.
18 of my friends who wanted towrite a book but they do not know
how and they don't have the courage.
And in the end I told them, Isaid, come on, let's do that.
Do it together.
Because I started mine.
I know you can do it.
So I wrote them up and then we have.
I round them up and the 18 ofus, we.
We wrote a book.
And it was beautiful.
On day one, we hit Amazonnumber one bestseller.
(13:37):
It was.
Oh, that's amazing.
I know.
It was so cool.
So did you.
I think I read something thatyou had always wanted to be an author
since, like, you were sevenyears old.
Yes.
The first time, when someone.
I can't remember, was it mysister or my.
One of my friends brought meto a bookshop and I saw all this
beautiful book cover on theshelf and I was telling myself, I
want my name to be up on thisbook cover.
(13:59):
That was age 7.
I remember I said, I want myname to be on this book cover.
It was my secret, my intentions.
And when it happened recently,I was so, so like, I know.
I'm so blessed that not manypeople can fulfill their dream.
And I did.
I was.
Which is fantastic.
(14:19):
Yeah, most.
Most girls at 7 years old wantto be a princess or they want, you
know, or, you know, they dreamof many of the things.
So wanting to be a writer andan author is really kind of astounding.
I think.
In our previous discussion,prior to this session, this podcast
session, I think I told youthat my father was a journalist.
(14:41):
Oh, yes, yes, yes, he told me.
Yeah.
I have a. I have a respect forwriters and my family, most of them
wanted me to be an author anda writer.
Kind of follow in my father'sfootsteps a long time.
I.
That's what I was actuallypursuing up until I went to college
and I took some journalisticclasses in college and.
(15:03):
And so forth.
And I had written an outlinefor a novel and my teacher said,
you know, this sounds morelike a movie, a book.
So I kind of switched toscreenwriting, actually.
So I've actually had.
Had kind of transitioned intothat part of it, but.
But.
And then I became a cop, so itkind of completely took another turn.
(15:27):
So, Michael, we're lookingforward for your first book then.
Exactly, exactly.
I still have to do my first book.
Everybody's got their first book.
It's just in the drawersomewhere, you see.
I'm so happy with this kind of collaborations.
That's why recently I came outanother new book called the Power
of Collaborations.
Because literally, I metdifferent people and we all start
(15:50):
brainstorming and become alliance.
And it's just amazing thatcollaborations can Bring people together
and share resources.
And meeting different people,tapping on each other's strength
is such an amazing thing.
So recently I started anotherbook called the Power of Collaboration
which is coming in this October.
(16:13):
I will want to share the linkwith you.
Just I have not put up on Amazon.
Yeah, but I really should say that.
So on your journey to becomingan author and a publisher, you said
you take some classes.
Did you go to university ordid you take a collective of classes?
No, in the industry there arequite a lot of, quite a few, very
(16:36):
reputable teacher that'steaching how to write a book or how
to be a publisher, how topublish your own book.
But different people teachdifferent things.
So I literally paid, I can'ttell my husband I paid almost like
30 over thousand just to learnfrom different teachers of how to
do the books, how to go intopublishing, how to do different things.
(16:56):
Literally every day I wastaking different courses just to
educate myself to how to do it.
I have this nature when I wantto learn something, I literally go
and do all these resources myself.
It's the same as my property business.
When we came into UK becausewe sell out whatever we have in Singapore
and we came to uk, me and myhusband, we thought that we want
(17:18):
to retire.
But after three months we werebored of our head so we decided to
do property.
And so within six months webought eight properties.
But literally we taughtourselves, we went around to learn
all the different causes andthen we start doing it ourselves.
So within six months we, weare, we went into property.
So we are starting a course onhow to, how to invest in property,
(17:41):
UK property at the same time,which the coming months is up and
coming.
We would like to share withyou too.
Yeah, that would be great.
We'll have to, we'll haveanother conversation here.
I would love to, you know,come back and revisit our conversation,
that's for sure.
So the business that youstarted there, I know that you're
this, the founder and the CEOof several businesses.
(18:01):
So the property group is oneof them.
The, the.
You guys, you like buy andsell property?
Yeah.
So we have the publishingcompany, we have the.
We, we do buy to let, but wehave another system where we do up
the property and we rent itout to the government sector.
(18:24):
So it's a guaranteed renterfor like five to 10 years.
And then we also have.
So I don't believe in puttingall the eggs in one basket.
So my property, we have thesector with the government, another
sector which we do serviceaccommodation which bring a Higher
income.
So different part of thebusiness is spread into different
(18:45):
baskets.
And that's perhaps another business.
Sorry, Michael, I'm like, no, stop.
That's okay.
I have another business thatwe do, distribution of Chesterfield.
So far there is handmade in UKand we distribute it into Singapore.
People keep telling me whowill buy leather sofa in Singapore.
(19:06):
Oh my gosh.
We have our business.
Is that non stop.
It's crazy.
That's a positive thing.
What's it like to be a womanin business?
I mean, what's it like in uk?
What's it like to be a woman CEO?
Now, I must be honest with you.
Running your own business isnot as easy as you think.
(19:26):
But it does give you a lot offreedom of choice.
Running your business.
You literally, when you havestaff or employees, they will be
out on holiday, they will turnoff their phone in the midnight.
But when you are a businessowner, you are committed 100%.
100%.
Because nobody is aspassionate as you for the business.
(19:50):
Nobody.
So literally to make thebusiness work, you have to be resourceful.
And sometimes it's so lonelybecause you have to make the decision
yourself.
So it's nice if you have apartner, but unless you get the right
partner, because a lot oftimes you have to make the decisions.
So decision alone is quite alonely journey because sometimes
you do not know is it right,is it wrong?
(20:10):
And you have to go with yourgut feeling.
But a lot of time your gutfeeling is right.
You have to believe that thatis where the intuitions came from
because that is telling youthe right thing to do.
And I again emphasize, if youare a sole trader, a business owner,
collaborate, collaborate withas many people as possible because
(20:34):
that help you to tap intomany, many different resources.
And do not be afraid to haveto share resources because the more
the pie is so big, the pie isso big, then there's a cut for everyone.
Okay, so when you shareresources, when you collaborate,
you form alliance.
I tell you, that is where yourbusiness can grow faster.
(20:54):
That is how it is.
And that's a good thing.
I mean, that really is a good thing.
So you and your husband bothare the sole owners of both of those
things?
We are doing, yes.
Both of us are in the propertybusiness, but I'm the only one that
running the publishing business.
And I have some other employeethat's in Singapore helping me to
(21:15):
run the publishing business atthe same time.
Yeah.
So what motivated you to be a publisher?
I mean, and to own your ownpublishing company?
That's quite a task.
Actually.
Oh yes, yes.
But because I want to publishbook myself, I want to be an author
myself.
So I thinking since I'm goingto publish so many books, I might
as well be a publisher.
So that's how I started.
(21:36):
But then after that there arefriends who lost their job and thinking
because book, you can use bookas an intellectual property.
Because I believe in creatingintellectual property that bring
you passive income.
And when you have a bookliterally that will bring you passive
income.
That is what happening to me now.
And I have friends who losttheir job and when they come to me
(21:59):
say, what should I do?
I say, why don't you publish books?
And that is where I startpublishing for everybody.
And that is where friends thathave came with me to do the co author
books, literally it gives themthe courage to start their own book.
The 18 authors that came inand do the co author book with me,
the book is called Garden ofHope and you can find them on Amazon
(22:22):
now.
So literally 50% of theseauthors that co author with me, they
went on and do their own books.
And because they found thecourage within this 18 author, we
actually synergy and wecollaborate and they can see that
this is possible.
And in the end they came outand do their own book, which is such
(22:43):
a good thing to see.
That's phenomenal.
Yeah, that's phenomenal.
It's a scary world in thepublishing world.
So it's very.
To be an author you need somuch courage, especially if you're
going to tell your story.
You will have so many thingsin your mind.
You say, I think a lot of timepeople will say my story is not good
(23:04):
enough.
Nobody will buy my book.
But that is not true.
If your story can help oneperson, that is one life you're saving.
So that's why I always tell myfriend, it's one life that is safe
is more than enough.
Yeah, that's a very, verypositive outlook in regard to that.
I think that's.
Yeah, yeah.
And I had made me think about something.
(23:26):
So you, you may have my mindreeling about writing a book.
Yay.
We're going to have your bookthrough Micah.
That'd be amazing.
Amazing to see your story in abook, Micah.
It's called one more thingbefore you.
Go, wow, that's it.
So how, how was, how was beinga publisher?
(23:48):
How has that changed your life now?
You'd be amazed.
Yesterday I was just onanother podcast and you know the
criteria of them inviting youto the podcast.
Literally they were lookingfor credibility and having a book
published undenia your namebring credibility to what you do.
(24:10):
It give you to become theauthority in your field.
So I always encourage peopleif you are doing an online course,
if you're teaching somesubject, do consider publish a book
because it give you so muchauthority in what you're talking
about.
So like I mentioned to you, Iwas on the podcast yesterday and
that was the.
The podcast he have a.
(24:32):
A listener, a download of65,000 viewer and Count Elon Musk
as one of his interview guests.
So literally when he wasscouting for guest to interview,
he was looking for published author.
So this is one of the criteria.
I know being a publishedauthor does help me and lead me to
(24:53):
somewhere and the other day amagazine contact me as well said
because you're a publishedauthor, we would like to talk about
what you do.
So you see, being a publishedauthor lead you to open.
Help you to open door to somany places that you cannot go.
But that lead you to the possibility.
So it definitely changed your life.
Yes.
Yes.
For the better.
(25:13):
Yeah.
Both being an author and apublisher because it gives you an
opportunity to not only theage express your.
Exactly.
You expressed what you've beenwanting to do since you were seven
years old.
You fulfilled that.
And I always say, I alwaystell myself, since I'm the publisher,
I can do it my way.
I don't care whatever, youknow, I can do it my way, the way
I want it.
I mean it's quite cool to havethe authority to do it.
(25:36):
Yeah.
Do I want to write this?
Do I want to do it?
I want my book cover this way.
Yes.
You know, that's how it.
Throw it out.
Try it again.
Yeah.
That'S really.
That's kind of cool.
That's kind of very profound.
As you said, you're the authorof the number one best selling the
Secret of the Oxman's angeland it's a series, correct?
(25:57):
Yes.
Yes.
So tell me a little bit about that.
Now the inspiration from thisbook came from the day when I buried
my grandmother in uk.
When we passed by the cemeteryand I saw all this like over towering
big statue of angel in thecemetery, I was like, what is that?
(26:19):
That is the first time Ientered a cemetery in uk.
And in my mind all theseangels were.
All these angel statues werestaring at me and their eyes were
following me.
I was quite frightened actually.
But it gave me a lot ofinspiration to write this book.
So that's why the book.
There is an element of thisangel statue in the book itself.
(26:44):
But a lot of my books Camefrom inspirations around me.
So this book is about in thissociety where there is people exploit
young women who are who wentto college.
So it's a series that is atrailer that lead to that.
I don't want to tell the wholething so nobody will start rating.
(27:04):
But it's really interesting inthe end, of course people see the
light of exposing these syndicates.
But it's about people exposethis vulnerability of these young
students that went to uni andthey get caught in the syndicate.
So I also have the next bookcoming up.
(27:24):
This is under the pseudo'sname under Leah Taska, which was
my childhood name and mydaughter's name at the same time,
but it was under a pen's name.
So my next book under thispen's name is called the Tree Life
of Elia Douglas which I'mactually going to publish it end
of this week up on Amazon.
(27:46):
And that was inspired when atrip when I went to Scotland with
my family on a camper van.
Scotland is such an amazing place.
It's so beautiful.
But it's hauntingly beautifulat the same time.
You can tell when you enterthat place anyone who has not been
Scotland you have to travel upthere Inverness.
And it's just amazing country.
(28:07):
Lord Schnares and Inverness,the place itself tell you they have
so many history behind them.
And all this castle, theruined castle telling you there was
once a prince or a princessactually stayed in that castle.
But it's now ruined.
So it's amazing.
And so when I see all theseplaces, there's a lot of inspiration
(28:29):
came up.
So my second book is.
My second series book is aboutthis castle that is in Scotland.
So look out for it as well in Amazon.
That's the three lines ofEliot Douglass series.
Yes, that's right.
That is coming up end of this week.
Now what made you like chooseto do a series like within each one
(28:52):
of these things?
Is it something that you.
You felt that it would?
No.
Remember I mentioned aboutbook as a intellectual property.
So when I read book because ofmy nature, you see, because I was
very poor before.
So the fundamental is veryimportant to me.
I don't just do hobby as a hobby.
(29:13):
I must say that.
So when I publish a book I Iwant to create my book as an intellectual
property that will generate apassive income for me.
So one of the strategy isactually doing book series.
So I've just given the biggestindustries like secret to you now
how a lot of books author theymake a very good income through their
(29:35):
book publishing is by doingbook series.
So you have a very goodsuccessful book one and that's where
you bring in reader to comeand do your buy your second and third
book series.
And that is where book serieswill bring you a continuation of
passive income.
And book is such a thing.
Once you up there, you justneed to do it once and you continue
(29:55):
to generate the passive incomefor you as long as you do the right
marketing.
I have an online course thatteach about that which I will talk
to you in the next podcast iscalled the Author Syndicates Academy
that teach students how to dohow to how to convert or publish
a book into business thatbring passive income.
(30:16):
That's outstanding.
I can't wait for that conversation.
Is it difficult to write aseries compared to just like one
book?
No, surprisingly.
Surprisingly.
Because once you started thebase and then the story will flow.
But how we started a reallygood series is always by an element.
(30:36):
That means we always have anobject, a focus object.
And from there we, you know,like we call it the mind map or things
like that.
From there we explore intolike, you know, chain into many different
part of the stories.
So do you have the sameprimary character in like the current
series that you have out?
Yes, there is always a focus character.
(31:00):
Same character runs throughthe series.
Then there's a continuity thatreader can follow.
So sometimes you can see.
So sometimes there's certainseries book based on one character
and you go for like 10, 15series because the reader wanted
it.
The reader think this is aninteresting character and you can
actually get the sentimentbecause from the feedback the reader
actually wrote to you and saidcan you carry on?
(31:22):
I literally have readerfeeling back to me to say that oh,
this is quite amazing.
Why didn't she go this way?
Why they actually suggest aplot for you which is quite cool.
Yeah.
Do you think it's easier towrite a fiction book compared to
a a.
Nonfiction since you have both100% easier.
Because I tell you, talkingabout your own story is much more
(31:45):
difficult because it has to bea fact.
But where else when you do nonfiction book it can be imaginations.
Nobody check your facts.
You see, that's how it is.
But because of demands.
And I actually came out my ownnon fiction book.
Now I have the new book calledthe Power of Collaborations.
(32:07):
Another book is based on myexperience as a podcast guest.
It's called how to be aperfect podcast guest which is coming
up too.
And I have another book whichbased on my journey to Ukraine of
how I simplified my life whenI come to UK it's called Stillness
in My Soul.
So these are all coming up inthe month of October.
(32:28):
Actually I'm all targetingbefore Christmas.
That's a good thing.
Good thing.
Hopefully we'll all have aBlack Friday.
So I mean, I mean that's one.
I guess I'm probably going toget a lot of flack for saying this
statement, but I guess there'sone thing that, that came out of
(32:51):
COVID and having to bequarantined in your home for so long,
it allows you the opportunityto use that creativity into something
positive.
I. I must tell you, I.
When I spoke to quite a few ofmy friends, in fact there's a lot
of possibility or there's alot of positive things that came
out of this Covid.
(33:11):
Actually like a lot of myfriends started online course, but
I think basically before theCOVID there were so many noise around
the world, isn't it?
It's only during this timethat where you really stay still
and listen to yourself.
There's a lot of conversationbetween friends and things, but there's
also a lot of conversationbetween yourself and God.
(33:33):
And that is the part where youreally listen.
Because the COVID time andduring the lockdown everything became
quiet.
I can hear myself think othertime I'm always so busy on the Internet.
I'm always like, when I'mgoing to do something, I literally
open up 10 over tabs.
So imagine that in your mind.
That is exactly what happenedto us.
(33:55):
So when I realized, and thatis where my first book is, because
that's how I started my firstbook, I realized that suddenly I
shut down.
I don't have to listen to thevoices outside and only myself.
I realized.
And that is how when you canhear the silence, when you can hear
the stillness, you actuallyfind the purpose.
(34:17):
It will help you to find thepurpose of what your life really
mean.
And remember we had thatconversation of me had a dream that
I was dead?
Yes, that was exactly what happened.
Should I say that?
Please say that.
Yes.
So a few months back, Iactually had very vivid dreams.
(34:38):
I dreamt that I was dead in my dream.
It was not one of those dreamsthat I wake up and I forget, but
I actually woke up middle ofthe night.
And I know that I rememberevery single thing in the dream.
And I was dead in my dream.
And my mom who had passed awaywas alive in the dream.
And during that journey.
(34:59):
And I only have seven days onearth in that dream to settle my
affair before I totally pass away.
And that made me realize thereis a lot of things on earth that
I currently thought is so important.
And the moment when you knowyou're dead is no longer important.
So it made me revalue life again.
(35:20):
It made me realize that what Iwant to do and I want to do it passionately
because truly life can takeyou anytime where we think we have
so much time, but life cantake you overnight and you never
know.
So I really urge everyone tolook into your life again and live
life with purpose and livelife with passion.
(35:40):
That's amazing.
I'm glad that you did remember that.
So you like inspire otherpeople and help them thrive.
Is that part of that, to helpspread that joy?
Inspiration.
So you see, because I rememberI told you because since I was helped
by this community of peoplethat came, they're not going to get
anything out of me.
(36:01):
So that means they camewithout a purpose, of without thinking
they're going to benefit,helping me.
No, nothing.
But they came with a passion,with a compassion of just helping
this poor family out.
So I knew that I'm gifted.
These people have given me achance, a second chance in, you know.
(36:21):
And that is what I want to do.
I want to give people a secondchance too.
So all the time if I comeacross anybody that need help, if
I could lead them to somebody,I will.
If I could share theresources, I will.
Because by giving I actuallyreceive even more.
That's amazing.
(36:44):
What do you like to do torelax and enjoy life?
Writing books?
No, part of it.
I used to be, you know, afterthat dream, that's where I realized
I used to be so serious.
I used to think that I have towork all the time because of my brought
up right.
I'm thinking that if I don'twork I will be like not doing right
thing.
That means I'm not achieving anything.
(37:05):
But right now I know my family.
I know the most importantthing is my family.
My family came first, mypassion came second and freedom came
third.
That means passion of what Ican do and freedom of choice.
So I must not.
So I have this principle.
Whatever I do, I must have thefreedom of choice.
(37:26):
Freedom to continue, freedomto do it because I want to do it.
Freedom to be able to walk outand have lunch with my husband.
So that is freedom of choice.
So whatever I do, it has tolead to this.
Three principles of my life.
That works.
That works a lot.
I know you like taking walksalong the UK countryside with your
rescue dog.
(37:46):
Yes, yes I have.
And now he's sitting beside me actually.
So we rescue a dog Called Reggie.
He was transferred from afamily that had him for two years.
I think he actually bit someone.
He bit a kid, but I think itwas because he had a ear infection
and the kids went to poke his ear.
So he get aggressive.
(38:07):
But now when he's with us,he's amazing.
He just stay at home, he'slike a Labrador.
He's a Labrador cross retriever.
So at home he's like a Labrador.
He literally want to sit onyour lap all the time.
But when he's out there, he'slike, wow, I'm not coming back.
That's a true nature.
But we are so thankful we havethis dog.
(38:27):
Literally.
We actually adopt him one daybefore the lockdown.
But because of the dog, wehave a good excuse to walk, to go
outside and walk miles andmiles because of him.
And it really get us out ofthe house.
And you know, during the COVIDit's quite.
During the lockdown, it's quite.
(38:48):
What is the words I say literally?
I think my kids or even myhusband, there is something that
crop up in us that we cannot express.
But a lot of times you willsee what happened.
My kids will go to the dog andhug the dog and same like my husband.
They would just express theirlove or the compassion or, you know,
anything.
(39:09):
They're using the dog as a wayto express it instead of, you know,
sometimes you can't express toeach other.
You do that to the dog.
So I felt the dog being aroundhe's very healing for us.
It's such amazing that theanimal have actually given us this
opportunity to express, youknow, the freedom of express instead
of us the other way.
(39:29):
So I'm quite thankful to have this.
Amazing.
That's really nice.
That's probably because thedog knows when you rescue the dog
like that, they know you didit for a reason.
We have a rescue dog.
Oh, you did.
Wow.
Clint.
We Our last 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
Our last seven animals wereactually rescues.
Wow.
Yeah, we believe in that.
(39:51):
We don't believe in puppy mills.
So it works.
If someone is interested inyour publishing services, how do
they get in touch with you?
So my website in UK is calledtwisbpublishing.com twisb literally
stands for the world is so bigpublishing dot com.
(40:14):
So why I say the world is sobig because we are only one book
away.
You actually connect and linkeveryone with just one book away.
That's why it's called theword issobigpublishing.com.
That'S kind of cute.
I like that.
So profound.
See, I'm the publisher.
I can do anything I want.
Exactly.
You set the rules.
(40:35):
You set the rules.
Do you have any words ofwisdom that you'd like to share?
No.
Thank you for having me, Michael.
So I hope everyone will have a.
You know, remember that youcan live life passionately.
You can now set the intentionsand you know a lot.
(40:56):
I see a lot of people just toyday and night working that 9 to 5
job, thinking you have no way out.
But you do.
Unless you believe you can getout of what you do and live life
passionately.
And that's what I wanteverybody to know.
Live life with a purpose.
Live life with a passion.
That's profound words of wisdom.
I will have links to yourbooks and your website, on my website
(41:19):
and in the show notes, but Ican just follow through with a link.
And I really appreciate youconnecting with me.
It was a great conversation.
So thank you very much.
Thank you for having me, Michael.
It's such a great conversationwith you.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for listening to thisepisode of One More Thing before
youe Go.
Check out our website atbefore you Go podcast.
(41:41):
Com.
You can find us as well assubscribe to the program and rate
us on your favorite podcastlistening platform.
Hey, one more thing before you go.
In this episode, we're goingto learn what it takes to make your
dreams a reality, even whenpresented with life's obstacle.
We're going to take onewoman's journey of becoming an author,
publisher and an entrepreneurand how you too can take an opportunity
to fill your dreams.
I'm your host, Michael Hirsch.
Welcome to One more thingbefore you go.
(00:30):
My guest today is Chrissy Tasker.
She's an award winningentrepreneur, the founder, CEO of
multiple businesses in the UKand author and the founder of the
publishing company the worldis so big, it's also known as twisb.
Welcome to the show, Chrissy.
Hello, Michael.
Thank you for having me.
I so look forward for Today podcast.
I am absolutely lookingforward to today.
(00:51):
This is going to be afantastic conversation, I believe.
So let's talk a little bitabout your journey in life.
Where'd you grow up?
Oh, I actually born and bredin Singapore but now I actually stay
in uk.
I moved with my family to UK now.
And when did you guys move up?
In the year of 2016.
So the whole family moved upto UK and the kids are studying in
(01:12):
UK right now.
So the majority of your youngchildhood you lived in Singapore?
Yes, all the time.
So what's it like to live inSingapore compared to the uk?
Well, it's like they lock youin the cage and not kidding, actually
Singapore is, you know, Ididn't know I was so sheltered in
Singapore until I moved out toUK because a lot of news are censored
(01:37):
in Singapore and everything isso sanitized.
So when I came to UK Irealized that I was so sheltered
all my life and my kids noware exposed to a lot of things that
you will never like.
I give you a very good example.
If in Singapore we never haveto lock our door, even middle of
the night you never have tolock your doors and nothing happen.
And if your kids are outmiddle of the night until 3am, you
(02:00):
know they are still fine.
But it's not in this case inuk but yet the freedom of speech
is not in Singapore.
So I know we are so shelteredin Singapore because we were not
exposed to most part of the world.
So a lot of things we keepthinking, yes, the world is just
this gray and white.
But when I come into UK andthe first day or the first week in
(02:22):
uk, my kids, the teacheractually came to us and said, your
kids are actually very quiet.
They are too quiet and theydon't ask questions.
But in my mind I say, wellactually in Singapore, we are taught
not to ask questions, you see.
So I. I realized that I wasliving in two, you know, a different
world until now.
So I'm quite glad I have thisexposure and I'm quite glad that
(02:45):
I have the opportunity to seetwo different part of the world,
actually.
That's.
Yeah, that's really interesting.
The aspect of being able tokeep your door unlocked all night
is really kind of.
I know, kind of cool actually.
But yes, freedom.
Freedom of speech is evenbetter though.
Freedom of speech is a veryimportant aspect of life.
So tell me a little bit.
(03:05):
I'm not allowed to host anypublic speaking without getting a
license from the government.
You will get arrested.
That is happening in Singapore.
Wow, that's crazy.
Yes.
So Singapore, is it.
Is it with the governmentwithin itself or is it governed by.
Is it governed by China or is it.
No, no, no, Singapore is.
(03:26):
How crazy is that?
Until today, when in uk,people still ask me, is Singapore
part of China?
I'm like, oh wow, where thesepeople from?
No, we have our own governmentin Singapore, but the same party
that have ruled Singapore haveruled like 30, 40 years.
The same party?
Yeah, Everything.
(03:50):
That's why we love the valueof a democratic system here in the
United States.
Because the opportunity existsto change that party at least every
eight years maximum.
But I will also say freedomcome with a price of.
I think you can only givefreedom to people who are matured
to handle freedom.
So there is certain part ofthe world, probably the people are
(04:13):
just not mature enough tohandle the freedom that hand back
to them.
I mean, if I were to say this,there's a lot of people, it's going
to disagree.
Especially in China, thetenement incidents.
Imagine that very night if thestudent were to win all those.
The part where the kids die,that is such accepting.
(04:34):
It should not have happened.
But imagine if that very nightthe kids were to win and the students
won over the government andthey ruled the China.
It's going to be a big, bigdisaster, isn't it?
So to handle somebody thematurity, they must have the freedom.
They must have the maturity tohandle the freedom.
At the same time, I agree with that.
(04:56):
I think it's important.
You have to have the maturity,the experience and the knowledge
behind you in order tounderstand how to implement it.
So tell me a little bit aboutyour family.
Do you have brothers, sisters?
Oh, wow.
I don't know.
How did my mom do it?
She have 11 kids.
(05:17):
I don't know how to do it, butthat made me tears.
Okay, so she have 11 kids butbecause at that point of time there
was like 1980 something.
People are very poor then.
So she had to give away threechildren in order to keep the rest
survive to totally lost touch.
And there was.
(05:38):
I have a pair of twin sisterthat was given away that I think
to the day she died she wasstill thinking of them.
But they have.
She have no way to trace wherethey are.
Where they are actually.
That's too bad in that regard.
That's.
That's too bad.
Yeah.
We had trouble raising two kids.
I can't imagine raising that man.
I know.
I don't know how they shoulddo it.
(05:59):
Well, don't get me wrong, mykids are great.
They really.
They are.
They're great kids.
But watch out, Michael.
They're listening.
Yeah, it's a lot of work.
Yeah.
My daughter's helped me edit this.
So I have to be careful what I say.
Oh, nice of her.
I can't.
Can't run as fast as them.
Yeah, they are.
So when you were growing upsomething happened to you when you
(06:20):
were about 15 and a half years old.
Can you share that with us?
Oh yes.
When I was 15, my fatherpassed away suddenly and my whole.
We did not have money to buryhim actually, so we have to leave
him in the mortuary.
So it was quite a devastating.
In the night I actually heardmy mom cry.
Crying out of desperationbecause we do not know what to do.
(06:40):
But there was something quitemiracle happened.
There was a group of strangersthat do not know who they are.
They came together to chip inthe money to help the funeral.
And not only that, they camenight after night to support the
family at the same time.
So forever I'm indebted tothis group of kindness, the community
(07:01):
that came together to help our family.
So wherever I am now, I wantto give it back.
So I actually volunteer evenright now I volunteer to help the
children's Society to be theambassador for them at the same time.
So I give back most of thetime because I know my life.
I can be where I am todaybecause I was given, I was supported
(07:24):
by this community.
That's why I can be where I am today.
There is.
Yeah, that was some amazingcompassion and empathy that was expressed
to you.
That's really profound.
Yeah.
Especially coming from strangers.
So that's.
That's a really nice community.
You had to make a.
You had to make a decisionwith that when you were that age,
(07:45):
didn't you?
A very difficult decision.
I know when I have not talkedfor it for many, many years until
I Had that conversation withyou because that very night when
my father was put in theambulance, they actually turned around
and said, who can speak English?
And the whole family look atme, because I'm the only one who
understand, spoke and speak English.
(08:05):
So they actually put me in theambulance with my father to the hospital.
So while my family was makingtheir way to the hospital, I was
alone with my father there andthe doctors and the nurses were trying
to resuscitate him.
So to the point that theycan't do it anymore, the doctor came
out to me and they asked me,since you are the next of kin here,
(08:29):
we will have to ask forpermission for us to stop saving
your father to resuscitate him.
I was 15.
Imagine you were asked to makea decision to terminate someone's
life and that someone happenedto be my father.
Actually, yes, I know I haveto at that point.
And I did say yes.
(08:51):
I said, if there is nothingelse you can do, I give you that
permission.
Because now when I think back,like, wow, at age 15, I actually
made that dish.
It was quite crazy.
But because you do that andyou have to grow up quickly after
you did that, it justovernight I realized that, wow, I
no longer can be a kid.
(09:12):
I have to grow up.
Yeah.
It changes your life in an instant.
Oh, yes, totally, it does.
Did that create theenvironment for you to succeed further
in your life, to make surethat every moment counted?
Yes, I became very independentand I started my first business when
I was age 16.
(09:33):
So, yeah, so it was like it nolonger think you are kids anymore
when you make such a bigdecision in life.
So at age 16, me and one of myfriends, we walk up to a reception,
a big office building, becausewe know that they have all this worker
that came out of the officeevery day and travel by bus to a
(09:54):
canteen to have, you know,because I happen to work in the canteen
as a part timer.
So we actually marched up tothe office receptions and asked them
for business.
That was age 16.
And I was.
We told them, we say, we haveno experience, but would you give
us an opportunity to cater toyour office staff so they do not
(10:14):
have to travel out to just getthe food and travel back.
And the reception looked atthese two young kids.
They were only like 16 and myfriend was 17.
They're like, they look at meand they look at my friend.
They say, yeah, we'll give youa try.
I was like, wow, Imagine I wascatering to 300 workers every day.
(10:35):
When I was age 16.
I was until today.
I cannot believe my luck.
But we did that for almost oneover a year.
Because after that we wentback to the canteen and we looked
for resources.
We looked for somebody thatwould do the cooking, everything
for us, where we, when we goand get more sales and do the delivery.
And we did that for almost one year.
And in the end I sold thebusiness to my partner and then we.
(10:57):
I move on to do other things.
So from there I never stop.
I never stop again.
An entrepreneur at 16.
That's amazing.
I mean that really is amazing.
Especially catering to like300 people.
That's.
That's kind of a.
That's a very unique journey.
But life is.
I really learned in life ifyou never ask, you never know.
(11:22):
Right?
You can get a no.
Right?
But you never know.
And because I have nothing atthat point of time, I know what else
can I lose?
I have a saying and I've saidit for I don't know how many years.
But the first step to failureis the one you never take.
Oh, what a good quote.
I must steal that.
Michael, that is fantastic.
(11:45):
That's exactly right.
Exactly.
I thought about that 25 years ago.
25 years ago.
That is so true.
Yeah.
So when did your interest inbooks start?
I have quite a few books now.
I started publishing during the.
Because I used to have totravel so much for business.
(12:06):
But because of the COVID allthis traveling was banned.
So literally I was set at home.
I have a lot of time in myhand and since when I was a little
child, I always wanted to bean author.
It's always my secret and bold dream.
But because I'm badly delexistso bad the spelling I get is horrifying.
(12:27):
But that's why I keep tellingmyself it's impossible nobody will
read my story.
And it stopped me for so many years.
So when the COVID come I wasso free and I start enrolling into
different courses.
How to write books and stufflike this and how to be a publisher.
In the end I startedpublishing books.
It's quite amazing.
When I had my first book out,my husband cannot believe, so I started
(12:49):
publishing fiction.
So I write novels and stufflike this.
I have a series book calledthe Secret of the Oddspan Angel.
It's a three book series whichis up on Amazon now.
And then I start tryingfantasy books and now I have my self
help and I did co author bookswith 18 authors which is a very amazing
(13:14):
experience.
18 of my friends who wanted towrite a book but they do not know
how and they don't have the courage.
And in the end I told them, Isaid, come on, let's do that.
Do it together.
Because I started mine.
I know you can do it.
So I wrote them up and then we have.
I round them up and the 18 ofus, we.
We wrote a book.
And it was beautiful.
On day one, we hit Amazonnumber one bestseller.
(13:37):
It was.
Oh, that's amazing.
I know.
It was so cool.
So did you.
I think I read something thatyou had always wanted to be an author
since, like, you were sevenyears old.
Yes.
The first time, when someone.
I can't remember, was it mysister or my.
One of my friends brought meto a bookshop and I saw all this
beautiful book cover on theshelf and I was telling myself, I
want my name to be up on thisbook cover.
(13:59):
That was age 7.
I remember I said, I want myname to be on this book cover.
It was my secret, my intentions.
And when it happened recently,I was so, so like, I know.
I'm so blessed that not manypeople can fulfill their dream.
And I did.
I was.
Which is fantastic.
(14:19):
Yeah, most.
Most girls at 7 years old wantto be a princess or they want, you
know, or, you know, they dreamof many of the things.
So wanting to be a writer andan author is really kind of astounding.
I think.
In our previous discussion,prior to this session, this podcast
session, I think I told youthat my father was a journalist.
(14:41):
Oh, yes, yes, yes, he told me.
Yeah.
I have a. I have a respect forwriters and my family, most of them
wanted me to be an author anda writer.
Kind of follow in my father'sfootsteps a long time.
I.
That's what I was actuallypursuing up until I went to college
and I took some journalisticclasses in college and.
(15:03):
And so forth.
And I had written an outlinefor a novel and my teacher said,
you know, this sounds morelike a movie, a book.
So I kind of switched toscreenwriting, actually.
So I've actually had.
Had kind of transitioned intothat part of it, but.
But.
And then I became a cop, so itkind of completely took another turn.
(15:27):
So, Michael, we're lookingforward for your first book then.
Exactly, exactly.
I still have to do my first book.
Everybody's got their first book.
It's just in the drawersomewhere, you see.
I'm so happy with this kind of collaborations.
That's why recently I came outanother new book called the Power
of Collaborations.
Because literally, I metdifferent people and we all start
(15:50):
brainstorming and become alliance.
And it's just amazing thatcollaborations can Bring people together
and share resources.
And meeting different people,tapping on each other's strength
is such an amazing thing.
So recently I started anotherbook called the Power of Collaboration
which is coming in this October.
(16:13):
I will want to share the linkwith you.
Just I have not put up on Amazon.
Yeah, but I really should say that.
So on your journey to becomingan author and a publisher, you said
you take some classes.
Did you go to university ordid you take a collective of classes?
No, in the industry there arequite a lot of, quite a few, very
(16:36):
reputable teacher that'steaching how to write a book or how
to be a publisher, how topublish your own book.
But different people teachdifferent things.
So I literally paid, I can'ttell my husband I paid almost like
30 over thousand just to learnfrom different teachers of how to
do the books, how to go intopublishing, how to do different things.
(16:56):
Literally every day I wastaking different courses just to
educate myself to how to do it.
I have this nature when I wantto learn something, I literally go
and do all these resources myself.
It's the same as my property business.
When we came into UK becausewe sell out whatever we have in Singapore
and we came to uk, me and myhusband, we thought that we want
(17:18):
to retire.
But after three months we werebored of our head so we decided to
do property.
And so within six months webought eight properties.
But literally we taughtourselves, we went around to learn
all the different causes andthen we start doing it ourselves.
So within six months we, weare, we went into property.
So we are starting a course onhow to, how to invest in property,
(17:41):
UK property at the same time,which the coming months is up and
coming.
We would like to share withyou too.
Yeah, that would be great.
We'll have to, we'll haveanother conversation here.
I would love to, you know,come back and revisit our conversation,
that's for sure.
So the business that youstarted there, I know that you're
this, the founder and the CEOof several businesses.
(18:01):
So the property group is oneof them.
The, the.
You guys, you like buy andsell property?
Yeah.
So we have the publishingcompany, we have the.
We, we do buy to let, but wehave another system where we do up
the property and we rent itout to the government sector.
(18:24):
So it's a guaranteed renterfor like five to 10 years.
And then we also have.
So I don't believe in puttingall the eggs in one basket.
So my property, we have thesector with the government, another
sector which we do serviceaccommodation which bring a Higher
income.
So different part of thebusiness is spread into different
(18:45):
baskets.
And that's perhaps another business.
Sorry, Michael, I'm like, no, stop.
That's okay.
I have another business thatwe do, distribution of Chesterfield.
So far there is handmade in UKand we distribute it into Singapore.
People keep telling me whowill buy leather sofa in Singapore.
(19:06):
Oh my gosh.
We have our business.
Is that non stop.
It's crazy.
That's a positive thing.
What's it like to be a womanin business?
I mean, what's it like in uk?
What's it like to be a woman CEO?
Now, I must be honest with you.
Running your own business isnot as easy as you think.
(19:26):
But it does give you a lot offreedom of choice.
Running your business.
You literally, when you havestaff or employees, they will be
out on holiday, they will turnoff their phone in the midnight.
But when you are a businessowner, you are committed 100%.
100%.
Because nobody is aspassionate as you for the business.
(19:50):
Nobody.
So literally to make thebusiness work, you have to be resourceful.
And sometimes it's so lonelybecause you have to make the decision
yourself.
So it's nice if you have apartner, but unless you get the right
partner, because a lot oftimes you have to make the decisions.
So decision alone is quite alonely journey because sometimes
you do not know is it right,is it wrong?
(20:10):
And you have to go with yourgut feeling.
But a lot of time your gutfeeling is right.
You have to believe that thatis where the intuitions came from
because that is telling youthe right thing to do.
And I again emphasize, if youare a sole trader, a business owner,
collaborate, collaborate withas many people as possible because
(20:34):
that help you to tap intomany, many different resources.
And do not be afraid to haveto share resources because the more
the pie is so big, the pie isso big, then there's a cut for everyone.
Okay, so when you shareresources, when you collaborate,
you form alliance.
I tell you, that is where yourbusiness can grow faster.
(20:54):
That is how it is.
And that's a good thing.
I mean, that really is a good thing.
So you and your husband bothare the sole owners of both of those
things?
We are doing, yes.
Both of us are in the propertybusiness, but I'm the only one that
running the publishing business.
And I have some other employeethat's in Singapore helping me to
(21:15):
run the publishing business atthe same time.
Yeah.
So what motivated you to be a publisher?
I mean, and to own your ownpublishing company?
That's quite a task.
Actually.
Oh yes, yes.
But because I want to publishbook myself, I want to be an author
myself.
So I thinking since I'm goingto publish so many books, I might
as well be a publisher.
So that's how I started.
(21:36):
But then after that there arefriends who lost their job and thinking
because book, you can use bookas an intellectual property.
Because I believe in creatingintellectual property that bring
you passive income.
And when you have a bookliterally that will bring you passive
income.
That is what happening to me now.
And I have friends who losttheir job and when they come to me
(21:59):
say, what should I do?
I say, why don't you publish books?
And that is where I startpublishing for everybody.
And that is where friends thathave came with me to do the co author
books, literally it gives themthe courage to start their own book.
The 18 authors that came inand do the co author book with me,
the book is called Garden ofHope and you can find them on Amazon
(22:22):
now.
So literally 50% of theseauthors that co author with me, they
went on and do their own books.
And because they found thecourage within this 18 author, we
actually synergy and wecollaborate and they can see that
this is possible.
And in the end they came outand do their own book, which is such
(22:43):
a good thing to see.
That's phenomenal.
Yeah, that's phenomenal.
It's a scary world in thepublishing world.
So it's very.
To be an author you need somuch courage, especially if you're
going to tell your story.
You will have so many thingsin your mind.
You say, I think a lot of timepeople will say my story is not good
(23:04):
enough.
Nobody will buy my book.
But that is not true.
If your story can help oneperson, that is one life you're saving.
So that's why I always tell myfriend, it's one life that is safe
is more than enough.
Yeah, that's a very, verypositive outlook in regard to that.
I think that's.
Yeah, yeah.
And I had made me think about something.
(23:26):
So you, you may have my mindreeling about writing a book.
Yay.
We're going to have your bookthrough Micah.
That'd be amazing.
Amazing to see your story in abook, Micah.
It's called one more thingbefore you.
Go, wow, that's it.
So how, how was, how was beinga publisher?
(23:48):
How has that changed your life now?
You'd be amazed.
Yesterday I was just onanother podcast and you know the
criteria of them inviting youto the podcast.
Literally they were lookingfor credibility and having a book
published undenia your namebring credibility to what you do.
(24:10):
It give you to become theauthority in your field.
So I always encourage peopleif you are doing an online course,
if you're teaching somesubject, do consider publish a book
because it give you so muchauthority in what you're talking
about.
So like I mentioned to you, Iwas on the podcast yesterday and
that was the.
The podcast he have a.
(24:32):
A listener, a download of65,000 viewer and Count Elon Musk
as one of his interview guests.
So literally when he wasscouting for guest to interview,
he was looking for published author.
So this is one of the criteria.
I know being a publishedauthor does help me and lead me to
(24:53):
somewhere and the other day amagazine contact me as well said
because you're a publishedauthor, we would like to talk about
what you do.
So you see, being a publishedauthor lead you to open.
Help you to open door to somany places that you cannot go.
But that lead you to the possibility.
So it definitely changed your life.
Yes.
Yes.
For the better.
(25:13):
Yeah.
Both being an author and apublisher because it gives you an
opportunity to not only theage express your.
Exactly.
You expressed what you've beenwanting to do since you were seven
years old.
You fulfilled that.
And I always say, I alwaystell myself, since I'm the publisher,
I can do it my way.
I don't care whatever, youknow, I can do it my way, the way
I want it.
I mean it's quite cool to havethe authority to do it.
(25:36):
Yeah.
Do I want to write this?
Do I want to do it?
I want my book cover this way.
Yes.
You know, that's how it.
Throw it out.
Try it again.
Yeah.
That'S really.
That's kind of cool.
That's kind of very profound.
As you said, you're the authorof the number one best selling the
Secret of the Oxman's angeland it's a series, correct?
(25:57):
Yes.
Yes.
So tell me a little bit about that.
Now the inspiration from thisbook came from the day when I buried
my grandmother in uk.
When we passed by the cemeteryand I saw all this like over towering
big statue of angel in thecemetery, I was like, what is that?
(26:19):
That is the first time Ientered a cemetery in uk.
And in my mind all theseangels were.
All these angel statues werestaring at me and their eyes were
following me.
I was quite frightened actually.
But it gave me a lot ofinspiration to write this book.
So that's why the book.
There is an element of thisangel statue in the book itself.
(26:44):
But a lot of my books Camefrom inspirations around me.
So this book is about in thissociety where there is people exploit
young women who are who wentto college.
So it's a series that is atrailer that lead to that.
I don't want to tell the wholething so nobody will start rating.
(27:04):
But it's really interesting inthe end, of course people see the
light of exposing these syndicates.
But it's about people exposethis vulnerability of these young
students that went to uni andthey get caught in the syndicate.
So I also have the next bookcoming up.
(27:24):
This is under the pseudo'sname under Leah Taska, which was
my childhood name and mydaughter's name at the same time,
but it was under a pen's name.
So my next book under thispen's name is called the Tree Life
of Elia Douglas which I'mactually going to publish it end
of this week up on Amazon.
(27:46):
And that was inspired when atrip when I went to Scotland with
my family on a camper van.
Scotland is such an amazing place.
It's so beautiful.
But it's hauntingly beautifulat the same time.
You can tell when you enterthat place anyone who has not been
Scotland you have to travel upthere Inverness.
And it's just amazing country.
(28:07):
Lord Schnares and Inverness,the place itself tell you they have
so many history behind them.
And all this castle, theruined castle telling you there was
once a prince or a princessactually stayed in that castle.
But it's now ruined.
So it's amazing.
And so when I see all theseplaces, there's a lot of inspiration
(28:29):
came up.
So my second book is.
My second series book is aboutthis castle that is in Scotland.
So look out for it as well in Amazon.
That's the three lines ofEliot Douglass series.
Yes, that's right.
That is coming up end of this week.
Now what made you like chooseto do a series like within each one
(28:52):
of these things?
Is it something that you.
You felt that it would?
No.
Remember I mentioned aboutbook as a intellectual property.
So when I read book because ofmy nature, you see, because I was
very poor before.
So the fundamental is veryimportant to me.
I don't just do hobby as a hobby.
(29:13):
I must say that.
So when I publish a book I Iwant to create my book as an intellectual
property that will generate apassive income for me.
So one of the strategy isactually doing book series.
So I've just given the biggestindustries like secret to you now
how a lot of books author theymake a very good income through their
(29:35):
book publishing is by doingbook series.
So you have a very goodsuccessful book one and that's where
you bring in reader to comeand do your buy your second and third
book series.
And that is where book serieswill bring you a continuation of
passive income.
And book is such a thing.
Once you up there, you justneed to do it once and you continue
(29:55):
to generate the passive incomefor you as long as you do the right
marketing.
I have an online course thatteach about that which I will talk
to you in the next podcast iscalled the Author Syndicates Academy
that teach students how to dohow to how to convert or publish
a book into business thatbring passive income.
(30:16):
That's outstanding.
I can't wait for that conversation.
Is it difficult to write aseries compared to just like one
book?
No, surprisingly.
Surprisingly.
Because once you started thebase and then the story will flow.
But how we started a reallygood series is always by an element.
(30:36):
That means we always have anobject, a focus object.
And from there we, you know,like we call it the mind map or things
like that.
From there we explore intolike, you know, chain into many different
part of the stories.
So do you have the sameprimary character in like the current
series that you have out?
Yes, there is always a focus character.
(31:00):
Same character runs throughthe series.
Then there's a continuity thatreader can follow.
So sometimes you can see.
So sometimes there's certainseries book based on one character
and you go for like 10, 15series because the reader wanted
it.
The reader think this is aninteresting character and you can
actually get the sentimentbecause from the feedback the reader
actually wrote to you and saidcan you carry on?
(31:22):
I literally have readerfeeling back to me to say that oh,
this is quite amazing.
Why didn't she go this way?
Why they actually suggest aplot for you which is quite cool.
Yeah.
Do you think it's easier towrite a fiction book compared to
a a.
Nonfiction since you have both100% easier.
Because I tell you, talkingabout your own story is much more
(31:45):
difficult because it has to bea fact.
But where else when you do nonfiction book it can be imaginations.
Nobody check your facts.
You see, that's how it is.
But because of demands.
And I actually came out my ownnon fiction book.
Now I have the new book calledthe Power of Collaborations.
(32:07):
Another book is based on myexperience as a podcast guest.
It's called how to be aperfect podcast guest which is coming
up too.
And I have another book whichbased on my journey to Ukraine of
how I simplified my life whenI come to UK it's called Stillness
in My Soul.
So these are all coming up inthe month of October.
(32:28):
Actually I'm all targetingbefore Christmas.
That's a good thing.
Good thing.
Hopefully we'll all have aBlack Friday.
So I mean, I mean that's one.
I guess I'm probably going toget a lot of flack for saying this
statement, but I guess there'sone thing that, that came out of
(32:51):
COVID and having to bequarantined in your home for so long,
it allows you the opportunityto use that creativity into something
positive.
I. I must tell you, I.
When I spoke to quite a few ofmy friends, in fact there's a lot
of possibility or there's alot of positive things that came
out of this Covid.
(33:11):
Actually like a lot of myfriends started online course, but
I think basically before theCOVID there were so many noise around
the world, isn't it?
It's only during this timethat where you really stay still
and listen to yourself.
There's a lot of conversationbetween friends and things, but there's
also a lot of conversationbetween yourself and God.
(33:33):
And that is the part where youreally listen.
Because the COVID time andduring the lockdown everything became
quiet.
I can hear myself think othertime I'm always so busy on the Internet.
I'm always like, when I'mgoing to do something, I literally
open up 10 over tabs.
So imagine that in your mind.
That is exactly what happenedto us.
(33:55):
So when I realized, and thatis where my first book is, because
that's how I started my firstbook, I realized that suddenly I
shut down.
I don't have to listen to thevoices outside and only myself.
I realized.
And that is how when you canhear the silence, when you can hear
the stillness, you actuallyfind the purpose.
(34:17):
It will help you to find thepurpose of what your life really
mean.
And remember we had thatconversation of me had a dream that
I was dead?
Yes, that was exactly what happened.
Should I say that?
Please say that.
Yes.
So a few months back, Iactually had very vivid dreams.
(34:38):
I dreamt that I was dead in my dream.
It was not one of those dreamsthat I wake up and I forget, but
I actually woke up middle ofthe night.
And I know that I rememberevery single thing in the dream.
And I was dead in my dream.
And my mom who had passed awaywas alive in the dream.
And during that journey.
(34:59):
And I only have seven days onearth in that dream to settle my
affair before I totally pass away.
And that made me realize thereis a lot of things on earth that
I currently thought is so important.
And the moment when you knowyou're dead is no longer important.
So it made me revalue life again.
(35:20):
It made me realize that what Iwant to do and I want to do it passionately
because truly life can takeyou anytime where we think we have
so much time, but life cantake you overnight and you never
know.
So I really urge everyone tolook into your life again and live
life with purpose and livelife with passion.
(35:40):
That's amazing.
I'm glad that you did remember that.
So you like inspire otherpeople and help them thrive.
Is that part of that, to helpspread that joy?
Inspiration.
So you see, because I rememberI told you because since I was helped
by this community of peoplethat came, they're not going to get
anything out of me.
(36:01):
So that means they camewithout a purpose, of without thinking
they're going to benefit,helping me.
No, nothing.
But they came with a passion,with a compassion of just helping
this poor family out.
So I knew that I'm gifted.
These people have given me achance, a second chance in, you know.
(36:21):
And that is what I want to do.
I want to give people a secondchance too.
So all the time if I comeacross anybody that need help, if
I could lead them to somebody,I will.
If I could share theresources, I will.
Because by giving I actuallyreceive even more.
That's amazing.
(36:44):
What do you like to do torelax and enjoy life?
Writing books?
No, part of it.
I used to be, you know, afterthat dream, that's where I realized
I used to be so serious.
I used to think that I have towork all the time because of my brought
up right.
I'm thinking that if I don'twork I will be like not doing right
thing.
That means I'm not achieving anything.
(37:05):
But right now I know my family.
I know the most importantthing is my family.
My family came first, mypassion came second and freedom came
third.
That means passion of what Ican do and freedom of choice.
So I must not.
So I have this principle.
Whatever I do, I must have thefreedom of choice.
(37:26):
Freedom to continue, freedomto do it because I want to do it.
Freedom to be able to walk outand have lunch with my husband.
So that is freedom of choice.
So whatever I do, it has tolead to this.
Three principles of my life.
That works.
That works a lot.
I know you like taking walksalong the UK countryside with your
rescue dog.
(37:46):
Yes, yes I have.
And now he's sitting beside me actually.
So we rescue a dog Called Reggie.
He was transferred from afamily that had him for two years.
I think he actually bit someone.
He bit a kid, but I think itwas because he had a ear infection
and the kids went to poke his ear.
So he get aggressive.
(38:07):
But now when he's with us,he's amazing.
He just stay at home, he'slike a Labrador.
He's a Labrador cross retriever.
So at home he's like a Labrador.
He literally want to sit onyour lap all the time.
But when he's out there, he'slike, wow, I'm not coming back.
That's a true nature.
But we are so thankful we havethis dog.
(38:27):
Literally.
We actually adopt him one daybefore the lockdown.
But because of the dog, wehave a good excuse to walk, to go
outside and walk miles andmiles because of him.
And it really get us out ofthe house.
And you know, during the COVIDit's quite.
During the lockdown, it's quite.
(38:48):
What is the words I say literally?
I think my kids or even myhusband, there is something that
crop up in us that we cannot express.
But a lot of times you willsee what happened.
My kids will go to the dog andhug the dog and same like my husband.
They would just express theirlove or the compassion or, you know,
anything.
(39:09):
They're using the dog as a wayto express it instead of, you know,
sometimes you can't express toeach other.
You do that to the dog.
So I felt the dog being aroundhe's very healing for us.
It's such amazing that theanimal have actually given us this
opportunity to express, youknow, the freedom of express instead
of us the other way.
(39:29):
So I'm quite thankful to have this.
Amazing.
That's really nice.
That's probably because thedog knows when you rescue the dog
like that, they know you didit for a reason.
We have a rescue dog.
Oh, you did.
Wow.
Clint.
We Our last 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
Our last seven animals wereactually rescues.
Wow.
Yeah, we believe in that.
(39:51):
We don't believe in puppy mills.
So it works.
If someone is interested inyour publishing services, how do
they get in touch with you?
So my website in UK is calledtwisbpublishing.com twisb literally
stands for the world is so bigpublishing dot com.
(40:14):
So why I say the world is sobig because we are only one book
away.
You actually connect and linkeveryone with just one book away.
That's why it's called theword issobigpublishing.com.
That'S kind of cute.
I like that.
So profound.
See, I'm the publisher.
I can do anything I want.
Exactly.
You set the rules.
(40:35):
You set the rules.
Do you have any words ofwisdom that you'd like to share?
No.
Thank you for having me, Michael.
So I hope everyone will have a.
You know, remember that youcan live life passionately.
You can now set the intentionsand you know a lot.
(40:56):
I see a lot of people just toyday and night working that 9 to 5
job, thinking you have no way out.
But you do.
Unless you believe you can getout of what you do and live life
passionately.
And that's what I wanteverybody to know.
Live life with a purpose.
Live life with a passion.
That's profound words of wisdom.
I will have links to yourbooks and your website, on my website
(41:19):
and in the show notes, but Ican just follow through with a link.
And I really appreciate youconnecting with me.
It was a great conversation.
So thank you very much.
Thank you for having me, Michael.
It's such a great conversationwith you.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for listening to thisepisode of One More Thing before
youe Go.
Check out our website atbefore you Go podcast.
(41:41):
Com.
You can find us as well assubscribe to the program and rate
us on your favorite podcastlistening platform.
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