FROM CONSULTANT TO ENTREPRENEUR

Do you like your job? Or wonder what it would be like if you'd gone against your parents' advice and pursued your dream career? Her World's Career Confessions column spotlights the professional journeys of individuals, revealing how their career path and choices impact their personal finances, psychological health, and interpersonal relationships.

- WONG WAN LING PH

If you love what you're doing, you will most likely excel at it. That was the advice that Lynette Seow's parents gave her when she was growing up.

"I grew up in an environment where my parents emphasised finding a job I love. You'll also enjoy doing something that you're going to be spending a significant amount of your life working on," says the co-founder of Safe Space, a local start-up that aims to improve access to mental health services in Singapore.

Despite earning a five-figure monthly salary at the time, Lynette had no qualms about trading her high-paying job with a global consulting firm to focus on building Safe Space in 2020. The 31-year-old had been a business consultant for about seven years before she decided to make the switch.

"I always knew I wanted to get into entrepreneurship, but decided to go into tech consulting in an MNC right after graduation to get some corporate experience," she shares.

Safe Space is an online platform that connects users to a pool of professional clinical therapists offering both digital and face-to-face counselling sessions, as well as a directory of resources - from webinars to informative articles - on mental health. These services are available on the Safe Space iPhone and Android apps too.

Together with CEO Antoinette Renee Patterson, Lynette currently leads a team of 20 full-time employees. The company also collaborates with an advisory panel that includes entrepreneur Elim Chew, and Georgette Tan, president at local nonprofit United Women Singapore.