WOW Stories

Merly Barlaan: Peace Begins With Me

Reality is how things are. Idealism is how things should be. Sometimes, a disconnect between reality and idealism occurs when even the most iron-clad master plan slows down or fails to reach its intended goal. What does one do when this happens? For Merly Barlaan it is all about connecting the dots between reality and idealism. Her words ring with idealism. She talks with purpose and walks the talk. As Vice President of the Women’s Federation for World Peace International (WFWPI) and Director, UN Relations, NY, Merly has worked tirelessly to uplift women, youth and families globally through community development projects. She has achieved success not only in the halls of global offices that write policy, but also on the ground, working pro-bono to experience first-hand the obstacles to implementation of projects and learn to better

Leah Sweet: Weathering the Gender Bias Storm

Imagine working in an environment where you face discrimination constantly: people talk down to you, your abilities are underestimated, and you are overlooked for good opportunities. Yet you love what you do and persist; you look for ways to bring awareness to crippling gender bias; help to develop creative, innovative solutions that will correct centuries-old attitudes and behaviour and support other women with similar frustrations. Against this backdrop describing the sailing industry, we meet Leah Sweet, a professional sailor. While in the corporate world, women have made inroads in the diversity and inclusion agenda, in the sailing

Susanne-Kikki Israelsson: Reframing Life In Post-pandemic Era

The Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. Its global impact is enormous: millions in deaths and cases, billions in lost revenues and jobs lost due to businesses and industries shutting down, an unparalleled spike in mental health issues, induced vulnerability because of mandatory social isolation, and academic deceleration are just some of the pandemic’s direct major consequences. Getting back on our feet called for a considerable recalibration in the way we think and act because, like it or not, life was never the same again.

AI and Talent Sustainability: Putting Heartware In Hardware

The race to push AI beyond today’s limits is just beginning. Are you AI prepared? Is your job at risk? Fear of the unknown, job security concerns, privacy security issues, ethical and moral questions, the digital divide are among the reasons cited for those who feel AI is a threat. The truth is we've been using AI-driven technology for decades. But when proponents started showing fully AI-generated Picasso artworks, Japanese manga and anime content, the controversy surrounding human talent vs AI created a tsunami of reactions. The reluctance to embrace AI is not insurmountable. Understanding the possibilities of what AI can do for us and to us is key in demystifying AI. We need to educate ourselves to better understand it. More importantly, we shouldn’t lose sight of the need to firmly fasten Heartware to Hardware to create a more impactful human connection and to sustain talent onwards.

Soo Son: Women’s Health Equity Matters

Did you know that much of our medical knowledge has been based on a single body type: the white adult male body? That historically medications and treatments have been developed primarily for males, with female bodies often regarded as smaller versions of male bodies? Well, I didn’t know that. I was shocked to learn these facts – and more – from Soo Son, a staunch advocate of gender parity. “I think female health inequality stemmed from the long-held belief that female and male bodies are identical, which has persisted for too long,” she says.

Debbi Francisco: Moving To The Beat Of Her Drum

An opening act for multi-Grammy winner Bruno Mars in a mega concert is undoubtedly on any musician’s wish list. Ecstatic doesn’t even begin to describe Debbi Francisco’s once-in-a-lifetime experience. There was no live audition. Her band was hired based on its Instagram videos. She was only 23. For the leader and drummer cum guitarist of Indie pop rock Juniper’s Club band it was a surreal moment when she got the message in 2022 that they were chosen to be the front act for the American singer-songwriter’s Uptown Funk Live In Bahrain concert on November 28, 2022. It was beyond “Wow!” Fourteen months have gone by when I interviewed Debbi in March, and yet the Bahrain-based musician was still smiling ear to ear as she recounted the exhilarating experience.

Kai Ning Lim: Silver Lining for the Silver Gen

It is rare to come across an MZer (under 30) looking out for retired or retiring Boomers. What is even more rare is a millennial with an advocacy to help an ageing population by offering job-matching solutions to experienced retired senior professionals. Stories about the ageing population and its associated worrisome impact (some say ‘burden’) have been widely covered in the past decade. From Asia and America to Europe and the Middle East, there is a growing cause for concern. Globally, there are 771 million people aged 65+ comprising about 10% of the world population (2022). The number is expected to hit 16% by 2050 and rise to 24% by 2100.

The Power of Sisterhood: Nurturing ‘She for She’ Culture

Women can collectively break the cynical cultural cycle of gender prejudices if they band together. Women of the World (WOW), a global community of women, proves that this can be achieved by giving refreshing new meaning to ‘inclusion and diversity’: raising each other up and channeling the power of collaboration is how to change the equation while having fun along the way. “We are a ‘She For She’ alliance that focuses on pro-actively developing our fellow women to do better in their professional and personal lives,” says Isa Buencamino, founder of WOW. “It’s very much a Sisterhood league at its core. We’re fostering a ‘No Judgment Zone’ kinship to rise above gender related biases, among other things.” Sisterhood, the power of the pack, will impact — or at least influence — the changes in societal issues that negatively affect women.

Milica Clayton: Living and Learning

A person’s life is like a book. Interwoven chapters encapsulate unique narratives describing the choices one makes, big or small, every step of the way. Milica Clayton’s life is a rich collage packed with heartening chapters of positive learning in her past 42 years. Her book of life is still a work-in-progress because there’s so much more to look forward to as her journey continues. A list of the many roles she plays is impressive enough: executive coach, customer experience expert, talent spotter and nurturer, career sounding board, problem solver, voracious reader, fitness enthusiast, lifelong learner as well as wife, mom, daughter, sister, colleague and friend.

Lizette B. Suxo: Language is The Soul of a Culture

Born in Manhattan, New York to emigrant parents from Copacabana, Bolivia (South America), Dr. Lizette B. Suxo is on a mission to protect and preserve her heritage language Aymara so that future generations including her son can also be connected to their Aymara cultural heritage. Her quest turned to passion, then purpose and now advocacy. “It's never too late to be the change… Learning Aymara, the indigenous language spoken by my ancestors, is both a connection to my culture and people, as well as an act of resistance and repair. I want to make sure that my family’s heritage language does not disappear with my generation,” says Lizette.

Julie Rees: Lessons to Live By

British educator Julie Rees is instilling life skills grounded in character-building values. “I had the desire to not only influence the children in my class but also to shape how the school was run. I didn’t want the school to be an educating machine focused on outcomes. I wanted to give the children experiences to help them grow,” shares Julie. Teaching values is important so children understand that materialism will not bring them happiness. She believes that “comparison causes mental health issues and that comes from judgement, judgement of self against others."

Aida Santaolalla: Rising Above Prejudices

The reverberating voices of “Me Too” crusaders may have reached all corners of the world. Despite that there is still the lack of diversity for women in technology who are disproportionately missing out on career opportunities especially in leadership positions. Data scientist Dr. Aida Santaolalla concedes that the challenges in gender and workplace culture gaps are real. However, she remains steadfast in focusing on her quest to find a cure for cancer through data science. Her track record in clinical research, which consists of co-authoring 52 peer-reviewed published articles in the past 10 years, is proof that women in tech more than deserve a leadership spot in a predominantly male industry.

Isa Buencamino: The Trailing Spouse Plays Big

“The world misses out when women play small.” Isa Buencamino transcended the typical trailing wife syndrome when she created her dream job: one that she can take with her when travelling or relocating but, more importantly, one that she can keep doing to benefit other women, trailing spouses or not, for the rest of her life. “I set up the Women of the World (WOW) coaching programme, borne out of a desire to help women live their best lives: for young women to unleash their potential and for senior women to build powerful legacies. WOW enables women to play big.”

Jocelyn Goh: Boundaries Matter

Do boundaries keep people out or fence you in? For Jocelyn Goh, the answer lies in why they were put up in the first place. She hurdled barriers just being a young female Chinese from the working class. She understood and learned to set boundaries and not just subject herself to conventions if they were unfair and unjust. It’s not about erecting walls to fence her in. Rather, it's to fence out unwelcome situations and people, choosing to rise above parochial prejudices against gender, race, age and cultures. “After a while I realised that my background and heritage had its benefits,” she says.