Born in Singapore, Rae Lee enjoys the city-state’s melting pot of food hubs and cultural diversity. She is passionate about uplifting communities in need and driving collaboration for meaningful social impact. Rae brings with her over two decades of experience in the social service and philanthropy sectors.

In her current role as Executive Director at International Justice Mission, Singapore and Southeast Asia, she leads a team to influence and fuel investments towards increasing protection for people living in poverty and subjected to violence in Asia.

Join us as Rae shares her life-journey of altruism; the impetus behind her work; the horrifying magnitude of the human trafficking and slavery ‘economy’ worldwide and in SEA; the incredible work of the International Justice Mission; the upstream and downstream interventions to free trafficked children; the impact of climate change on human trafficking; her beautiful belief of ‘grace extended’ and the importance of family, friends, scripture and story to keep her stable and positive to achieve her goals of liberating the vulnerable.

And if your spirit is stirred by these amazing conversations, don’t forget to like, subscribe and leave a review - so more people can find their way to The Modern Crone. Thank you for tuning in!

You can contact Rae at:

Website

Instagram

Linktree

Linkedin

The Modern Crone team -

Theme music and season intro tracks:

Sam Joole:

www.samjoole.com

Cover design and photography

Luana Suciu

https://www.instagram.com/luanasuciu/

Luanasuciu@gmail.com

Voice editing:

Christopher Hales - Mask Music Studios

maskmusicstudios@outlook.com

With 15 years of corporate leadership experience and currently Senior Workplace Leader at LinkedIn, Sara has developed a deep understanding of personal branding and professional development. Her journey with LinkedIn has been transformative; with her insider knowledge, she’s leveraged the platform to connect with influential professionals, build a strong network, and access career-changing opportunities.

Passionate about helping others, she empowers individuals to navigate their own paths to success using the tools and strategies she’s developed. Beyond her corporate journey, Sara is the driving force behind From Me To We and Return Ready—a sanctuary for modern working mothers. Here, she helps women balance career aspirations and motherhood while embracing their evolving identities.

As a Matrescence Facilitator and ICF-accredited coach, with over five years of experience in Ikigai mentoring and Reiki certifications, Sara brings a unique blend of professional expertise and personal experience to support and inspire others.

Join us as Sara shares her fascinating story of using her skills and personal experiences to build women' s communities and change the paradigm around working mothers. We dive into some pertinent and important topics:

• Sara’s work with Ikigai to find her own purpose and now to help others find theirs
• Following the ‘golden thread’ of her writing and helping others, to raise awareness and bring people together
• Does our purpose change through our lives?
• How motherhood changed her outlook and modus operandi as a woman
• The birth of Sara’s movement From Me to We through Matresence
• The true challenges for women returning to work after starting a family
• How workplaces can harness the skills of motherhood
• The power of vulnerability and having a return to work mentor
• Sara’s personal spiritual lens and practice…

… and so much more!

You can contact Sara at:

www.sarapantry.com

spantry@linkedin.com

@sarapantry

LinkedIn: in/sara-pantry

Cynthia Koh, is one of Singapore’s most acclaimed actresses with 32 years of captivating performances in over 78 drama series. Not just a versatile powerhouse on screen, she’s also a certified Bach flower remedy practitioner and sound therapist . With her deep insights into sound's healing powers, Cynthia crafts transformative experiences that nurture the soul.

Join us as Cynthia shares her fascinating story of fame and purpose. We dive into some super juicy topics:

• Cynthia’s exploration of her spiritual side and how this has taken a significant space in her life as a popular healer.
• How incorporating sound therapy, water, Bach remedies and Reiki helps with both diagnosis and healing of her clients
• How acting plays a significant role in her life as a career and also a channel for self-discovery
• The darker characters she has played and the impact on her life
• How trust and integrity are cornerstones of her messaging as an influencer
• Ageism in the acting industry
• Cynthia’s personal spiritual practice

… and so much more!

You can contact Cynthia here:

https://www.purepotentialtherapy.com

And if your spirit is stirred by these amazing conversations, don’t forget to like, subscribe and leave a review - so more people can find their way to The Modern Crone. Thank you for tuning in!

The Modern Crone team -

Theme music and season intro tracks:

Sam Joole:

www.samjoole.com

Cover design and photography

Luana Suciu

https://www.instagram.com/luanasuciu/

Luanasuciu@gmail.com

Voice editing:

Christopher Hales - Mask Music Studios

maskmusicstudios@outlook.com

Random Cool People I Know with, Yun Chen

Join us as Yun patches in from her family home in China to share with us her journey to Singapore as a young teenager via a scholarship, and then chooses Singapore as her home. Hear about her fabulous ability to redefine herself, through mastering each role she has taken and attracting sponsorship from her employers. Yun shares with us the importance of determination and work ethic, yet in balance with rest and inner work. Learn about her coaching approach that combines ontology, positive psychology and systems thinking as a powerful offering for leaders and teams to find congruency within. We touch on the power of language and sensation to cultivate resilience and clarity, how the relationship that you cultivate with yourself is key to all relationships and the role of daily meditation and cleansing rituals in her success.

Fanny (Chen Yun) is a seasoned Executive and Life Coach with over 17 years of corporate experience in Change Management across Data, Customer Analytics, Risk Analytics, Regulatory Reporting, and Climate Risk within the banking sector. Originally from China, Yun moved to Singapore as a teenager on a full scholarship and graduated with first-class honours in engineering in 2007. Her passion for continuous learning led her to further studies in Strategic Marketing and Positive Psychology, while leading cross-functional teams in delivering complex projects and driving organizational change in her corporate job.

In 2020, Yun received a scholarship from her employer for coaching training and certification, which sparked her transition into an internal Executive Coach in an international bank, supporting leaders in achieving professional and personal growth. With an ICF-ACC Credential and on her journey toward the ICF-PCC Credential, her passion pushed her to expand her coaching practice in 2024 by launching The Coaching Wave (TCW). Through TCW, Yun helps clients embrace their authentic selves, cultivate resilience and achieve fulfilment, using a holistic coaching approach that integrates ontology, systems thinking, and positive psychology.

Yun’s unique journey from academia to the corporate world and now coaching equips her with a comprehensive understanding of leadership, transformation, and sustainable growth. She said, “I find purpose and joy in coaching.”

You can contact Yun here:

Website:

https://www.thecoachingwave.com/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yun-chen-12199b23/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/fanny.c.yun

And if your spirit is stirred by these amazing conversations, don’t forget to like, subscribe and leave a review - so more people can find their way to The Modern Crone. Thank you for tuning in!

The Modern Crone team -

Theme music and season intro tracks:

Sam Joole:

www.samjoole.com

Cover design and photography

Luana Suciu

https://www.instagram.com/luanasuciu/

Luanasuciu@gmail.com

Voice editing:

Christopher Hales - Mask Music Studios

maskmusicstudios@outlook.com

Random Cool People I Know with, Stephanie Chok, PhD

Join us as Stephanie shares her journey into advocating for the vulnerable, how her PhD field work in the construction industry in Singapore propelled her from her volunteer work, into systemic change in law and politics and pursuing social justice. We talked about volunteering and altruism in the home, the importance of purpose and hope, the caring human nature and how she sees the difference between religion and spirituality. Stephanie talks us through the functions of HOME from shelters, to legal aid, medical aid, connection and training. I’m so grateful to have a deeper understanding of some of the issues our migrant workers deal with and to share Stephanie's inspiring story.

Stephanie Chok has more than 10 years of research experience working and volunteering in various non-governmental organisations in Singapore, with a focus on migrant workers' rights and income inequality.

She is interested in criminal justice reform, income inequality and social protection for marginalised communities and is the Executive Director, Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME).

You can contact Stephanie here:

Website: www.home.org.sg

L​inkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniechok/

And if your spirit is stirred by these amazing conversations, don’t forget to like, subscribe and leave a review - so more people can find their way to The Modern Crone. Thank you for tuning in!

The Modern Crone team -

Theme music and season intro tracks:

Sam Joole:

www.samjoole.com

Cover design and photography

Luana Suciu

https://www.instagram.com/luanasuciu/

Luanasuciu@gmail.com

Voice editing:

Christopher Hales - Mask Music Studios

maskmusicstudios@outlook.com

Random Cool People I Know with, Claire Leow

Join us as Claire shares her story of advocacy for vulnerable communities and historical sites; how her background in journalism at Bloombergs evolved into giving voice for the voiceless; the power of storytelling and accurate and personal historical narratives; the beautiful customs and rituals of Bukit Brown cemetery; the relationship between geomancy, the zodiac and eternal rest; the meaning of Qingming as a reconnection for the living and the dead; the role of Singapore’s Tomb Keepers; Claire’s current humanitarian work with Airlink…and so much more!

Claire Leow is a former journalist. She was the chief reporter for Bloomberg in Southeast Asia before becoming the bureau chief for Bloomberg Indonesia, where she lived for 8 years. She returned to Singapore to find heritage under threat, and campaigned first on the Railway Corridor, the historic former railway lands owned by Malaysia until July 2011. This is the most successful civil society campaign in recent history.

By the end of the year, she was the lead campaigner to save Bukit Brown Cemetery, the largest and oldest cemetery in Singapore and one of the largest in Southeast Asia. She formed All Things Bukit Brown to raise awareness of the intrinsic value of the site, and successfully won an application for a World Monuments Fund listing in 2014. Here is her TED talk.

With her interest in war history, she also published a book, World War II at Bukit Brown (Ethos Books), and is editing a second edition for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Singapore in 2025. She has rallied a group of volunteers who have collectively guided more than 27,000 people to the site, including academics, researchers, archaeologists and sociologists.

Claire’s walking tours are under the banner “Between Monsoons” to reflect the contemporaneous history and connect those aspects to modern Singapore.

Claire currently works for Washington, DC-based Airlink Inc., a 501(C) aviation-based non-profit that specialises in the logistics of humanitarian response. Airlink is responding to natural disasters as well as conflicts.

You can contact Claire here:
Claire@betweenmonsoons.com

Random Cool People I Know with, Megha Singh

Join us as Megha shares her story from studies and early career in India, to becoming a seasoned coach and community builder in Singapore, her initiation into motherhood and how this evolved into working with female founders, her take on women, altruism and the money-mindset, how she manages to be so massively productive, her beautiful spirituality that blends origin practices with modern perspectives, and so much more!

Megha Singh is a Business Growth Coach; Fractional Consultant in the areas of Marketing, Communication and Community Building; an Independent Board Director and a Professional Speaker.

She has over 17 years of work experience across startups, SMEs and MNCs like Shell, Sephora, Meta, Publicis Group and Honeycombers.

Through her company, Megha has worked in a variety of roles including Project Management, Community Management, Relationship Management, Marketing, Communication, PR, Events, Partnerships, Business Development, People Management and Pitch Training across industries including Lifestyle, Entrepreneurship Development, Education, Media, Energy, Impact & Art.

Megha has also been building vibrant communities since 2015 including CRIB, Trehaus and Launchpad.

She has a Master’s degree in mass communication and loves the arts - word, visual and motion.

Mom to 2 boys, she is currently working on her first book.

She is also a trustee on the board of Swayam Foundation, an Indian NGO that is creating learning and work opportunities for people in the country.

You can contact Megha here:

Website: https://www.b-inc.asia/

Instagram: @bincbymegha

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bincbymegha/

Email: megha@b-inc.asia

And if your spirit is stirred by these amazing conversations, don’t forget to like, subscribe and leave a review - so more people can find their way to The Modern Crone. Thank you for tuning in!

The Modern Crone team -

Theme music and season intro tracks:

Sam Joole:

www.samjoole.com

Cover design and photography

Luana Suciu

https://www.instagram.com/luanasuciu/

Luanasuciu@gmail.com

Voice editing:

Christopher Hales - Mask Music Studios

maskmusicstudios@outlook.com

Random Cool People I Know with, Ed Howard

Join us as Ed shares his incredible journey from Corporate Law and Banking, to being ordained a Zen Buddhist monk in Japan, to now bringing Zen principles of mindfulness and non-duality to industry leaders. Discover a refreshing take on 'Zen' and how we can adopt Zen's ancient principles into modern busy lives.

Born in the North West of England, Ed Howard relocated to Singapore in 2016 bringing with him extensive experience in investment and wholesale financial law and regulation including roles at Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, SMBC and Standard Chartered. Having lived for five years in Japan after university, he was ordained in the Soto Zen tradition and completed a Master’s degree in Advanced Japanese.

In 2024, having graduated from incubators with the Founder’s Institute and ACE he set up Kokoro Business Performance, combining almost 30 years of Zen and other techniques with a deep understanding of the corporate world, executive coaching and consultancy. Drawing on the latest research in neuroscience and psychology, he currently offers online and in-person speaking engagements and seminar programmes and 1-1 coaching. Kokoro is also building online AI driven tools for large businesses, aimed at providing techniques to prevent burnout in employees and leaders by discovering what really matters whilst developing resilience and an innovative mindset.

You can contact Ed here:

info@kokorobusinessperformance.com

www.kokorobusinessperformance.com

www.linkedin.com/in/edward-howard-a86aa823/

And if your spirit is stirred by these amazing conversations, don’t forget to like, subscribe and leave a review - so more people can find their way to The Modern Crone. Thank you for tuning in!

The Modern Crone team -

Theme music and season intro tracks:

Sam Joole:

www.samjoole.com

Cover design and photography

Luana Suciu

https://www.instagram.com/luanasuciu/

Luanasuciu@gmail.com

Voice editing:

Christopher Hales - Mask Music Studios

maskmusicstudios@outlook.com