Sonia Chew is one of the most recognised voices in Singapore today. After coming onto the scene as the surprise winner of the 987 Radio Star Competition in 2012, the media star is still at the top of her game 12 years on. Chew co-hosts the popular weekday morning radio programme The Shock Circuit, while championing her own podcast Men Explain for which she won Best Host at the Asian Television Awards 2023. As a content creator, she offers a peek behind the curtain of her glittery days as a celebrity host and emcee. Looking at Chew’s life, one might assume it’s been nothing short of glamorous.

Behind the scenes, though, Chew was hustling—and hustling hard—for her career. As a new name, she fought to get invited to parties in the media industry, eager to meet the right people and make a name for herself. Getting noticed was, by no means, an easy feat, but Chew pulled it off. How? For the 32-year-old, it was all about being relatable and authentic. She worked hard to hone her skills, while remaining true to herself.

While it may have been her drive and ambition that got her this far, Chew admits that hustle culture is not necessarily the route to success. It took a few more good years before she would see the importance of slowing down. Now, the media maven actively separates work from personal time, and goes through a daily gratitude practice to keep her grounded. 

For GRAZIA Singapore’s September digital cover, Chew chats about her career thus far, what it took to get here, and how she keeps herself centred in the cutthroat media landscape. The multihyphenate also opens up about her upbringing and why she believes that success is not built alone.

Throughout the years, you’ve worn many hats—as a radio DJ, host, voiceover artist, business owner and digital creator. How have these diverse experiences shaped you?
When I just started out in the industry, I never intended to be in front of the camera or a digital creator. I just didn’t expect that to come along with the job. I feel like I fell into a lot of these things by chance, because I was naturally a very shy person growing up. But I realised how much I enjoy taking on challenges and new experiences. I believe strongly in knowing more about the job, the different perspectives, and I feel that these different roles have given me more dimension over the years. Fun fact: before I even got into the industry, I used to help my parents out in their production company when I was a student. So I was the person laying the cables, setting up the tripod and all that kind of stuff. In hindsight, I appreciate those things, because it gives me that perspective to see what everyone’s doing on set, and hopefully, that helps me be a better personality as well.

You’re still at the top of your game after 12 years. What is the key to remaining relevant in the fast-paced media industry?
When I started part-time as a presenter, I was still in school, and did not think of this as a real career. The thought of dealing with the fast-paced nature of the job never crossed my mind. I was just having fun. However, thoughts started to creep in especially when I had free days. There are definitely moments where I question myself, where if I don’t have anything on for a couple of days, I feel anxious. I’m like, “Oh, am I not relevant anymore?” And there were many times where I considered quitting the industry, because I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right. But then you soon realise there’s really no right or wrong. It’s your own path. And the one thing that I feel has tided me over these years is being genuine. I realised that being a radio presenter, my content has to be very relatable. Even hosting on stage requires being genuine and connecting with your audience.

During your TED talk earlier this year, you talked about being “ultra-competitive”. How do you balance the drive to succeed with maintaining a sense of gratitude?
It’s interesting you say that, because I’m big on this whole gratitude practice. It plays a part in shaping your mindset. You’re spot-on with it being ultra competitive, with people comparing themselves to each other. It’s only normal, especially in such a saturated industry. It’s so small, and there are so many people trying to achieve similar things. But I feel that when you fall into that trap of comparison, it’s very difficult to climb out of it because it’s a spiral. You question yourself a lot, but I have done a lot of reflection and growth over the past few years. Now I am in a space where I should be more confident and comfortable with myself, which I am—that’s also something I’m proud of myself for. I’ve realised that you really receive the energy that you give.

How do you unplug and decompress to avoid burnout? 
To me, preventing burnout and de-stressing is a state of mind, so I tend to compartmentalise instead. So when I’m off work, I’m really off work. I used to think, “I’ll just reply to my emails or my texts.” But now I tell my manager, “Okay, I really need this weekend to spend time with my family,” because I’m big on family as well. That was one of my goals this year, to at least block out a day of the week where I don’t touch work at all. I think that really helps, especially because I have really crazy hours—I have to wake up very early [for my show The Shock Circuit, on weekdays from 6–10am].

Tell us about your personal style, and how it reflects your growth.
I was a little bit more outrageous with my fashion back then [when I was younger]. I experimented with a lot more colours and so much makeup, because I had no idea what I was doing. Now I feel like I pull back a lot on that, especially my day-to-day, because I focus more on better skin. I’m working harder on that instead of covering up. In fact, I hardly do heavy eye makeup. I was doing all kinds of stuff before, and I re-experimented with that in recent years, but I feel like it just didn’t match me anymore. And I think that’s part of growth as well, because now, I’m all about [needing] to be versatile as an artist who represents several brands. I think it also comes with the whole theme of confidence. When I became more comfortable and confident in myself, I felt like I needed less distractions.

As someone in the spotlight, how do you cultivate true confidence?
The funny thing is that I used to struggle with confidence issues a lot. At the start, I was so used to being that timid person at the back of class. I was so terrified of failing back then, so I realised that cultivating confidence was really about improving my craft. If you are sure of what you’re about to say on stage, you’ve done your research, you’ve done your reading and prep, the confidence will come naturally. I think that’s one important thing that people can’t take away from you, if you cultivate your craft well enough. Something that I always talk about, without fail, is my friends and my family. I think having that strong support system is really important. 

What is one thing your parents did that had a significant impact on shaping who you are today?
It’s not necessarily something they did; I don’t think they even realised that they were doing it. It’s just the way that they are and the way that they brought me up. They have never doubted me; they have never questioned my decisions. And if I failed—even with my relationships or work—they never questioned me. I think they were just observing, like, “If something happens, you’ll learn.”

What is the biggest life lesson you’ve learnt so far?
Focus less on the things that you can’t control. There’s so many things that you cannot control out there. You often tie your self-worth, especially in this industry, to the jobs you get or the number of followers you have. But at the end of the day, I feel that there are certain things you can control, and that’s improving yourself. So you should focus on that more, instead of all the noise out there that causes a ruckus.

You recently achieved a lifelong aspiration of yours, with your own talk show Sip Back With Sonia. Are there any other dream projects that you’re excited about?
Having my own podcast and seeing it go places was something quite unexpected and very rewarding, because I’m all about trying to create an impact somehow. It’s not just about the views or the clicks. As long as someone out there has felt an impact or related to it, that’s very rewarding to me. People have also approached me for public speaking courses, or confidence-related courses. Public speaking, to me, is such an underrated skill. And I feel that everyone could do with a little sharpening of that skill. I’m not saying I’m the best expert out there, but if I’m able to help at least some people, that could be something that I want to work on in the future.

If you could go back in time and deliver a message to your younger self, what would it be?
I would say that success isn’t going to be built on your own. I was always such a lone wolf back then. If I’m going through something or a problem, I’m all about solving it first before sharing it with others. Then I realised that I can’t just do it on my own. If you look behind every successful person, every successful CEO out there, there is a big team behind them. It’s very important to build a good team and to have the unwavering support of one another. It is a synergy; it’s an ecosystem. If you really manage to have that, I think you can really go places. So I would have told myself back then not to put so much pressure on myself as an individual.

The H&M Studio AW24 collection is available online at hm.com on 26 September.

PHOTOGRAPHY NELSON CHONG
SENIOR FASHION STYLIST KELLY HSU
VIDEOGRAPHER NOWO KASTURI
HAIR & MAKEUP BENJI OO
SET DESIGNER FANG YUAN
PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT BERNARD CHONG
STYLING ASSISTANT EFFIE GOH

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