Captain, Our Captain!

Today is Theresa's last day with MediaCorp, and the Vanilla team reunited to take her out for a farewell lunch. So brilliant is my dear Shaan to remember that when Threez first joined us, the first place SHE brought US was Swensen's @ Thomson Plaza. So for our lunch date, it was there that WE bought HER.  

Vanilla Reunited 

(Front, L to R) Jenn Chew, Theresa Tan, Adlena Wong, Shaan Moledina

(Back, L to R) Lindy Tay, Pamela Ho. Absent: Alvin Leow, Fongfan

Adlena has since left MediaCorp and joined SHAPE magazine, so that spunky, sporty girl made her way from yonder to join us. I too have moved to radio, so I flew over from Caldecott after going off-air at noon. 

As always, it's wonderful to see the Vanilla girls! Our gatherings are always full of laughter and good ole' conversation. I know it sounds surreal, but our editorial meetings have always been sort of like that too! 

We trickle into the room with our coffee mugs, magazines... share ideas, listen to each other, joke and chuckle like mad women, often going off tangent & talking cock, but somehow we manage to create a good product every month that's real and relevant, that speaks to women, and elicits a barrage of reflective letters & email from readers.  

And I would say that what Vanilla always had going for it are two things: (1) passionate team members who believe 100% in its value and purpose, and (2) incredible leadership. Threez is definitely that for us: The visionary, full of passion & compassion, who is gung-ho enough to take risks, fight for her "chicks", and make the near-impossible happen.

Threez, I will never ever forget working with you on my IWD story, "Women of the World" (March 2008). To this day, I still can't believe we managed to pull it off: 20pp featuring women from around the world, without compromising on Vanilla's visual standards (Alvin, you were brilliant!). Gosh. "Don't scared! We find photographers in Cape Town, Phnom Penh, Cebu to shoot the women..." YOU ARE MAD. 

 

But that's why I've always felt your support. You often think me MAD, but you give me freedom & license to pursue my ideas because you trust me. And that's so important for all of us who work with you, Threez. We have room to be creative, to explore, to grow. And you always make it a point to hold our hand, groom us, and encourage us. Regular bosses demand and take, but the really good ones give generously, without reservation or condition. YOU are such.

It wasn't at all a sad farewell gathering, was it? *grin* I guess we all know we'll always stay in touch and be firm friends. I know these nuts will always be in my life. And I promise not to disappear from theirs. And who knows, if God wills, we'll get a chance to work together again?

And Threez, because you are forever "VV" in our eyes, we've put YOU on the final cover of Vanilla. 

If there ever was a true-blue Vanilla Woman, it's Theresa Tan. 

From your Vanilla team... WE LOVE YOU.

MUST. STOP. EATING. CHOCOLATE.

Adios, Muchachos!

Today I handed my boss my resignation letter.

I rejoined MediaCorp exactly 18 months ago on 2 August 2007. Hard to imagine how 18 months could have passed so fast — yet, it feels like an era has come and gone with Vanilla.

Thing about me is that I never really saw coming back to MediaCorp as something that was going to last forever. I knew at that point that I was called to come in and steward this precious product for whatever shelf life it was going to have. 

At the point I joined Vanilla, I was in the midst of some heavy-duty business discussion with my good friend Nanz Chong-Komo. We had worked on her first book together - the best-selling title ONE BUSINESS, 99 LESSONS — and discovered we had an anointed synergy and complementary strengths. We even had our third babies within 2 weeks of each other!

So our talks were put on hold, but after Vanilla closed, they resumed with fervour — mostly through email and short, sharp weekend meetings (six kids between the two of us = more than a handful).

So now, thank God, looks like our plans have finally grown legs. We will be launching in the next few months, an exciting online-cum-live women's club. I'd describe it as Vanilla Online / Vanilla Live. It's called Nanz Inc.Com, and it will be a centre of activity, learning and community for Asian women.

We're still finalising the look, but early feelers sent out among women leaders like MP Lim Hwee Hua and Nanz's million-dollar Rolodex have yielded very positive responses and a flurry of offers to help.

So today I put in my resignation letter, knowing in my heart this is what I've been called to do all along. Vanilla was such a wonderful, soul-feeding detour for a little over a year. Now, this is where the rubber meets the road. We're going to help women, live, every day.

Vanilla Essence on 938LIVE

Last Thursday, we had Vanilla girls Karen Tan & Beatrice Chia in The Living Room to tell us about Toy Factory's Sleepless Town. 

Karen was so cute. She leaned over, grinned, and said something to this effect, "Hey, let's put some Vanilla in today's interview..." 

Anyway, I blogged about our chat on The Living Room blog, so check out if you have time! 

Ning aka Magic Babe is also coming on our show, 27 Feb. She's currently in the UK headlining an international magic convention. So we'll let her tell us about that soon! *wink* 

Newly Discovered Emails to Vanilla!!

Just 5 minutes ago I made a really exciting discovery!

I found an old mailbox under the Vanilla mailbox - we had set it up for a challenge we ran in our September issue. It was a "switch to health" challenge, working with Xndo, a company that promotes not just weight loss but keeping weight off and health on.

At first we had received nothing. I was very distraught - I believed with all my heart that Vanilla women did not believe in quick-fixes, but were the sort of women committed to making a lifelong difference in their bodies, minds and souls.

But this morning - Ahhhhh! I found the mailbox titled "xndochallenge" and in it were 21 FRESH UNREAD EMAILS!

Just reading these women's frank and honest sharings about their struggles with weight and height brought my spirit back alive again. My faith has been restored! I could KISS the webmaster but he's quite hairy.

It feels great to know Vanilla women still exist. It was not a figment of my imagination or a product of my making. They live, they breathe, they hurt, they overcome.

So this blog STILL has a reason to exist. I'm overjoyed!

Okay, now I better send them each an email to explain why they haven't heard from us since September 2008...

Overwhelm the Postman!!

hey Everyone!!

reading Adlena's post and how she received her card from Texas has made me post very quickly.

my first article with Vanilla mentioned letter-writing, that old social thing that was big in the 20th century. i continued writing letters and cards during all of last year, not very often, but certainly as much as i could, and i always got happy responses. 

may i suggest that we all find the time to write one card/letter to someone this week? knowing how the year has begun with so much worry and fear and apprehension, i think we all know at least 5 people who could do with a cheering up, especially in the form they least expect it in. we all want to do something big with our lives, but really, it all begins with very little.

i never appreciated receiving chain letters, but man, the effort behind it all...that's something we all could have!!

much love to everyone

Karen

This is about Ron and Me

The first time I've had any contact or any clue as to who Ron Fletcher is(thanks to Levan Cher at The Body Clinic), was because of a "Sportlight" article I did for Vanilla (Feb 2008).

A year on, I actually got a chance to meet with the disciple of Joseph Pilates himself. I booked him for a 30-min interview initially but our conversation went on for two whole hours. I was just so intrigued and riveted by what he had to share. I never imagined having much in common or being able to click with an Irish/American-Indian 87-year-old gay Gemini like I did. It felt like I was talking to a celebrity, maybe Paul Newman, throw in a couple of demos of back-bending moves. And until what comes next, I thought the feeling was a one-sided affair.

Then a few days later, I got a call from Joyce of iPilates who arranged for my interview and who has the most incredible dog, a deep chocolate royal poodle-lab mix named Coco Chanel (pronounce as "channel"). She said Ron wanted my home address; he had something to send to me.

Turns out it's a Christmas card... all the way from Texas, y'all. But what he wrote inside (in impossibly huge, green letters) moved me further:

" I enjoyed sharing some time with you-- our 'natures' mesh well together and you do your work with style and ease-- I hope you get your foot, with body into Joyce's studio-- It's good work. Stay well, go well. Big Texas good wishes.
p.s. If you come out this way, we'll open the gate. Ron"

I digress: This is going into my "time capsule" of sorts, which include correspondences between my primary classmate, who moved to Melbourne when she was in P1, and I(i.e. from 1987 to 2001; saw how our handwriting morphs and we went from using pencils to ballpoint to computer typo), letters from love's lost and random scraps of paper autographed by the likes of Savage Garden and... Timothy W Go (yes, I got a secret crush on that newscaster!)

Sorry I know this post is completely self-centered but I thought to share and spread around some positive energy (since it's the start of the new year and all), which seems to be seriously lacking these days.