Women in Business - Gwen Neo
Post on April 30, 2022
As we continue to celebrate Women in Business, we caught up with workbuddy member, Gwen Neo, for a chat about startups, work-life balance and a fantastic new app called UntangleMe!
1. Please tell us a little about your business.
I work at a startup called Human.e Solutions. Our mission is to build technology that saves — rather than steals — human attention, with a focus on solving for overchoice and digital fragmentation.
Imagine you’re looking for a nice restaurant for dinner. Right now you have to Google for options, bypass a bunch of ads, sift through blog articles, get distracted a few times, book on a separate platform, take a screenshot of the confirmation and Whatsapp it to your friend. You shouldn’t have to waste all that energy on such a simple task.
Our solution is a free app called UntangleMe, which brings the whole planning journey together, and optimises every step of the way. We want to help you search more efficiently so you can do more.
UntangleMe has just gone live, and I’m so excited to share the beta version with the workbuddy community!
2. What is your current role?
I’m the company’s Director and Chief Growth Officer, where I oversee areas across business development, partnerships, and marketing.
3. What do you enjoy most about your role?
The nature of my role means that I get to touch on all aspects of the business. This provides many opportunities for growth and learning, and I love working with my incredible team to find creative ways to solve problems.
4. What does a typical work day look like for you?
I think most people in startups would agree that there isn’t really such thing as “a typical day” — which keeps things exciting. My day can involve anything from pitching to potential partners, to developing our marketing strategy, to figuring out the look and function of a specific feature within our app. Given that we’ve just gone live, I’m also spending a lot of time gathering feedback. Do reach out if you’d like to be one of our super special first users too!
5. How do you work towards achieving work-life balance?
A while ago, I made a list of all the things that matter in my life — including my career, relationships, hobbies, and health — and what the ideal version of each area looks like. I then try to map out my week accordingly, and make an effort to be fully present in whatever I’m doing. workbuddy gives me the flexibility to pick a space that’s most conducive to powering through my to-do list, while also being located near wherever else I need to be after work, whether that’s the yoga studio or a restaurant I’m meeting friends at.
6. How do you wind down and relax after a stressful day at work?
By spending time with people who re-energise me, like my husband or my friends, or I’ll give my mum a call. I also organise weekly neighbourhood walks, which gets me outdoors — if anyone’s interested, you can join the Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/walkies.sg!
7. Do you have any tips or advice to give other women in business?
This isn’t specific to women, but one of my favourite quotes is from Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who wrote that “the best antidote for stress is competence.” I love that, because while we all experience the cold sweat of Imposter Syndrome sometimes, there is so much power in taking action to become a better version of ourselves. And with competence comes confidence, which becomes fuel for things that are bigger than ourselves.
8. What is your favourite workbuddy location and why?
I tend to hop from place to place, but the locations I frequent most are The Hive Carpenter, whose team is super friendly and helpful, One&Co for the best coffee, and WeWork Suntec City with its million-dollar view.
UntangleMe has just gone live! If you love exploring the best restaurants and activities that Singapore has to offer, you should 100% download the app for free on the App Store and Play Store at: https://tinyurl.com/DownloadUntangleMe
And here’s the super secret early access code for our friends at workbuddy, so you can check it out before we release it to the public: 087901
We’re also actively looking for feedback on the app experience, so if you’re happy to share your thoughts over a coffee with us, please email me at [email protected]
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