The Incomplete Guide to Life was born from my love of conversations that make the world feel bigger, that allow me to meet versions of myself that are possible and make me feel like anything is possible. In this series, I explore topics around career choices, niche passions and how our past both the triumphs but particularly the challenges, shape the people we become today.
EP5:From Wharton and McKinsey to Executive Coaching: Grace on Energy Patterns, Range, and Bringing the "Woo-Woo" Into the Boardroom
Grace didn't land so much as a McKinsey interview out of undergrad, so she cut her teeth at boutiques founded by ex-McKinsey consultants, then went to Wharton for an MBA where she carved out her own major in leadership and finally into McKinsey itself — establishing the legitimacy she felt she needed before she could bring meditation, emotions, and bring clients to the "deep end" in corporate boardrooms without being dismissed as fluffy. Today she's an executive and leadership coach, married more than 20 years, and a mum of three raising them Montessori-style.
In this episode, Grace breaks down why she believes there's more luck than planning in any life, and why you still have to see the door and walk through it; how trauma quietly shrinks your sense of choice, and why there are always more "degrees of freedom" than you think; what she means by good leadership is about developing "range," and how being an Asian woman sharpened her ability to read systems and the unspoken relational space; and, for anyone eyeing consulting, candid advice on casing, recruiting and what interviewers are actually looking for.
If you've ever felt torn between the rigorous structured path and the deeper, more human work you actually want to do, this one's for you.
16 Sept 2026
EP4: I Went to McKinsey to Understand Big Pharma From the Inside: Reynolds Tang-Smith on Reinventing Health From the Ground Up
Reynolds has quite possibly the most varied resume you've ever seen: physiologist, McKinsey consultant, DJ, retreat facilitator, angel investor, co-living founder, and now integrative-medicine practitioner. His curiosity traces all the way back to childhood, where witnessing his loved ones' experience with alcoholism shaped his passion for health and to become an endlessly experimental person. He studied physiology and economics, treated his own body as the lab and became convinced that the modern healthcare system isn't built around keeping people healthy but rather stopping them from getting sicker. So he did something counterintuitive: he joined McKinsey to understand the machine, and big pharma, from the inside.
In this episode, Reynolds breaks down his "Health 1.0 to 3.0" framework and why he wants to merge Western biomedicine with Eastern and indigenous wisdom; the simple daily habits he swears by, how he prepped creatively for consulting as someone from a non-standard background and what he had to unlearn afterwards; why he'd rather angel-invest in a friend's startup than the S&P 500, even if it goes to zero; and the misquoted-Picasso line that guides how he lives — find your gift, develop it, give it away.
If you've ever suspected there's a healthier, more connected way to live and work than the one you inherited, this one's for you.
5 Sept 2026
EP03: The Recovering High Achiever: Eric Liu on Burnout, Following What Makes You Feel Alive, and Sitting With Your Feelings
Eric Liu grew up in a slow-paced New Zealand environment, raised by "typical typical Asian parents," until something flipped at 15: he went on New Zealand's Got Talent in a pirate costume, playing Pirates of the Caribbean on piano blindfolded, to impress a girl. It didn't work, but that year he won "best all-round boy," and that first taste of being above average kicked off a decade of chasing achievement: a University of Auckland scholarship, a top-eight finish at a global Microsoft competition beating teams from Harvard and Princeton — all, he'd only later realise, driven by a deep fear of being invisible. Then came a brutal consulting recruiting run filled with rejection, a stint at an engineering firm where he sat with zero real work for nine months, and a COVID-era dashboard that helped win a multimillion-dollar government contract overnight. On his second attempt, he finally got into McKinsey.
In this episode, Eric breaks down why every achievement he chased brought only relief, never joy and what that relief was really telling him. He walks through the McKinsey "hell project" that pushed him to 90-hour weeks and a breakdown in a client bathroom stall, and the single sentence from his counselor "you've spent all your life building an identity that says Eric doesn't let people down" that cracked him open. We get into how he stopped trying to conquer his fears, why giving himself permission to disappoint people made him both more authentic and more effective, how he shifted from performing out of fear to performing out of love in front of 1,000 McKinsey colleagues, what he looks for in a good counselor, and why every real breakthrough of his life came not from thinking harder, but from sitting with his feelings.
If you're a high achiever who's ever wondered why the wins feel empty or suspected that the drive which got you here is quietly running the show, this one's for you.
29 Aug 2026
EP02: Chasing Prestige to Choosing Hard Things: Jassis Chen on Turning Rejection Into Redirection
Jassis Chen started out doing exactly what she was "supposed" to — studying commerce / law, doing prestigious internships, going for leadership roles in student societies. Then COVID hit, she dropped law, went all-in at her first job at a private equity firm, then made her way into McKinsey off-cycle. A few years later she left it all behind to move solo to New York, a dream she's had ever since she was young.
In this episode, Jassis breaks down how she learned to "eat sh*t" and choose the hard thing on purpose, why every failure she's ever had turned out to be a redirection, and the one question that cuts a self-doubt spiral dead. We get into the tiny micro-steps she used to start speaking up in meetings with senior clients after being told she was too quiet, what it really costs to be a "fit in" as an Asian woman in male-dominated rooms.
16 Jul 2026
EP01: From 180 No's a Day to Millions in Revenue: Nathan Liang on Turning Awkwardness Into a Superpower
Nathan Liang started out broke, awkward, and doing 100%-commission door-to-door charity sales — getting told "no" roughly 180 times a day. That rejection became the foundation for a career that took him from charity sales to building Rumble Boxing into a $1M+/year business, then closing major deals with property developers at Arc Energy.
In this episode, Nate breaks down how he turned his natural awkwardness into his biggest sales asset, why the discomfort of a hard conversation only exists before you start it (never during), how "state control" turns anxiety into excitement, and why skipping university gave him an edge most degree-holders don't have. We also get into his "gas man theory," why great salespeople ask more than they talk, and the moment he chose to be brave in a boardroom full of people twice his age and won them over.
If you've ever let fear talk you out of a conversation, this one's for you.
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