Lessons from Lea Salonga’s concert

​I caught Lea Salonga’s concert over the weekend. If you aren’t familiar with her, she’s a very famous actress and singer who has performed on Broadway and provided the singing voices for Disney princesses Mulan and Princess Jasmine, among other achievements.

The concert was very very good. She sang SO well, it was insane. And I was so inspired while watching her.

For one, I think we—as a society—should nurture the artistic talents in our community. Yes, science and math are important and all, but art and music help feed the soul.

Second, I was struck by how Lea made it big.

She credited her big break to successfully auditioning for the role of Kim in the Miss Saigon musical at 17 years old. She shared that at that time, she had been a biology major in university, and snagging the role totally changed her life trajectory.

I looked up her biography after the concert. Before Miss Saigon, she had already been acting and singing for 10 years.

But it was this role that changed her life.

At that time of her audition, could she have known that this was it? That this role in Miss Saigon would catapult her into stardom?

She couldn’t have. She just couldn’t.

But she signed up for the audition anyway.

My takeaway was that you have to keep shooting your shot.

Keep chasing after new freelance work opportunities, and keep chasing after your dream clients. Because you never know which project will lead to your big break.

Even if one project doesn’t lead to your big break, it’s still one more project that adds to your experience. And that you can add to your portfolio.

From there, who knows? When you show your souped-up portfolio to potential clients, and they say yes, that may end up being the turning point (or one of many!) that takes your freelance career upwards.

More freelancer news

The Smart Creator: Business, Boundaries & Burnout

Content creators Das (@dasdyl), Cherrell (@squidddooo) and Rishitha (@devilwearsbata) are co-hosting a workshop called “The Smart Creator: Business, Boundaries & Burnout” to share tips about running a content creation business.

They’ll cover topics like:

• How to network with brands and agencies
• How to spot red flags in brand emails and barter deals
• How to set boundaries and avoid creator burnout

The workshop is free, and it’s on 11 Apr from 3pm to 5.30pm.

​Learn more about the workshop and register here.​

(Also, a gentle reminder that I’m conducting a contracts and finances workshop for freelance coaches on 9 Apr! More info and registration link here.)

How driving for Grab is like: then vs now

Grab has been operating in Singapore for about 13 years now, and driving for the company has changed a lot since then.

Drivers now spend more hours on the road to earn the same amount, and they typically auto-accept rides (instead of manually accepting them) to qualify for incentive rewards.

Earning a lot is possible, but often at the cost of working long hours with no days off, and potential health issues like lower back pain.

​Read more in this article, where some private-hire drivers share their experiences driving for Grab.