“There shouldn’t be a concept of retirement actually... whenever people want to stop working, they can; when they want to start, they can. And they shouldn’t be questioned about it. We want to facilitate the fluidity of work.”


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We often think about our career journey from our mid-20s to 50s, and it’s commonly one that is linear from university to corporate, then retirement. And we know that there are a lot of agencies in this space to help people progress in their careers. But what happens to the age groups that fall outside of this range?

I speak with Kai Ning, Lim - a HR business partner at Unilever - who has embarked on a mission outside her corporate role, to not only support these groups of talents in their second chapter, but to also help us rethink the way we hire for our organisations.

She is the Co-Founder of The Courage Chapter, an enterprise founded with a mission to change the narrative around ageing in the workplace. She and her team seeks to redefine “retirement” and promote new practices to ensure that meaningful work is viable throughout people's lifetimes.

It is a conversation on work and retirement.

But Kai Ning’s authentic sharing on her own entrepreneurial path gave a lot more insights into what it means to embark on something new, to go against the “narratives” that society has built, and her learnings on the two main fears that we will face in journeys like these... and that the numerous challenges may not be all that bad.



Key moments:

• How her first internship job showed the inequalities of society
• Started her first project in Career Socius while still in school to help disadvantaged youths with their personal branding
• How coaching helped her get clarity in finding her core purpose
• What was her secret to success, balancing a full-time job with a social enterprise on the side
• Fear is really a narrative drilled into you - “You are not running the race against anyone else.”
• Her time in Korea shifted her Singaporean perspective/narrative
• Balancing the practicality of life vs. the idealism to bring into the world
• How becoming an entrepreneur makes her “smarter”, having to constantly think of ways to better the organization and her life.
• Understanding the 2 types of fear (Pachad and Yirah) in embarking on new journeys
• Why she looks forward to the day when her services are no longer needed.

Connect with Kai Ning: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaininglim/

Website: https://www.thecouragechapter.com/

Connect with Pearl Lim:
linkedin.com/in/pearl-lim-curiousleaderscircle/

Podcast: www.rebelcuriosities.com

If you are a “curious rebel" with a desire to rethink and change the way we work, live and interact with others, drop me a note at rebelcuriosities@gmail.com.

And if you would like to nominate å guest for the podcast and want to find out more, check out the website link for the previous episodes and fill in the contact form - we love to hear from you!