What better way to mark a milestone than with the very community that made it possible? On the occasion of GRAZIA Singapore’s third anniversary, we gathered a compelling and ever-inspiring group of women at the Mett Singapore for a celebration of sisterhood and community. As drinks and conversation flowed in equal measure, we turned our attention to the afternoon’s focal point: a panel talk on The Power of Mentorship, hosted by GRAZIA Singapore’s Editor-in-Chief, Pakkee Tan.
“Today, we celebrate our third anniversary in our fourth year, and we celebrate the way that we know best: with a conversation that is worth having,” said Tan. As the latest edition of our Power Series, the afternoon’s panel talk sparked a profound discussion on the impact of mentorship on our lives. “Our Power Series is where we put the most compelling and formidable women in a room together, and we ask them the questions that matter.”
The women joining Tan on stage possessed both of these qualities—and many more—in abundance. “They have been shaped by mentors, and in turn, they have mentored countless other women,” Tan said of the three panellists. “I could not be more honoured to have them here with us.” The first to join him on stage was Shireena Shroff Manchharam, a certified life coach, mental health consultant, and the founder of Sheens Consulting. “Shireena is one of Singapore’s most compelling voices on well-being and resilience,” said Tan.
Also joining us for the afternoon was Eileen Goh, a 2026 GRAZIA Singapore Game Changer and the chief creative officer of homegrown footwear label DMK. “As a second-generation leader, Eileen has reimagined her family brand around style, social impact, and women’s empowerment,” shared Tan.
Lastly, Tan was joined by entrepreneur Tjin Lee, the head of Southeast Asia for Gusto Collective. “Tjin calls herself a dreamer at heart, but her dreams always tend to become empires, somehow,” Tan said with a laugh. Amongst Lee’s empires are Mercury Communications, which she founded in 2003, and CRIB Society, a women-led entrepreneurship community.
Moderated by Tan, the conversation blossomed into a lively discussion on the myriad ways that mentorship can leave a mark. Ahead, we gather the most compelling and insightful takeaways from GRAZIA Singapore’s third anniversary discussion on The Power of Mentorship.
Never Apologise For Ambition
To commence the afternoon’s discussion, Tan asked the three panellists to take a look back at the women who shaped them, and to name one key piece of wisdom that they imparted. For Goh, the answer was both close to her heart and heritage. “In my opinion, a real mentor is someone who shapes your life completely,” Goh said. “For me, that’s my mother.” As a young girl, Goh watched her mother grow and develop a family business without hesitation, imparting in her a fierce confidence.
“At DMK, we didn’t want women to settle. As a result of that, I learned that you never have to shrink your dreams to fit expectations. I also learned to be unapologetic—where many working women struggled with guilt, my mom was very unapologetic about growing the brand and helping a community to feel better about themselves. It taught me that ambition and identity can coexist. As women, we are always taught to be lesser—but the way my mom shaped womanhood, I really felt I could ask for more without feeling like too much.”
Perfection Does Not Exist
Tan’s next question asked the panellists to dig beyond the successes and to recall the challenges that came before them. “What is one truth you had to learn the difficult way,” he asked, “and that you now make a point of passing on to the women you mentor?”
For Manchharam, the answer was born of a deeply personal struggle with fertility and family. “My answer goes back to when I first learned that there’s no such thing as a perfect woman,” she shared. “I was in my early 20s, I had just gotten married, and I was told I could never get pregnant naturally. At that time, it just felt like I wasn’t good enough. Now, after many years, I have two teenagers, and it’s a beautiful story which is my version of perfect. There’s so much noise around being perfect, being empowered, getting everything right, and I think it needs to stop. The truth is that your way is good enough—your way of getting pregnant, your way of leading, your way of being a mother is perfect for you.”
Embrace Your Insecurities
For Goh, the difficult truth was learned during an ambitious and risky rebrand of her family business, and it culminated in learning to make peace with her own insecurities. “The hardest truth that I’ve learned, and that I’m still learning about, is that we’ll probably struggle with imposter syndrome for all our lives,” she confessed. “The reality is, you will never feel like you’re good enough, especially if you’re trying something new. That’s what growth requires: for you to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. If you don’t have a feeling of not being confident, you’re not really pushing to the limit of your boundaries.”
Be The Square Peg In A Round Hole
The next quandary put to the panellists was one that every woman has pondered: the challenge of being the perfect woman, balancing every aspect of her identity at once. “What advice do you have for the women struggling with that right now?” asked Tan.
For Lee, the solution came from an unexpected place, and it ultimately lay in accepting that she was meant to go against the grain. She recalled standing at an intersection on Orchard Road, watching Apple’s famed ‘Here’s To The Crazy Ones’ advertisement, and bursting into tears. “I remember seeing that quote about people who have never fit in, who felt like square pegs in round holes, and for the first time in my life, I felt seen. I felt like I wasn’t alone. Not everybody is meant to be a round peg in a round hole. Some of you are meant to be square pegs in round holes, so that you can challenge the status quo, so that you can shift things, and so that you can disrupt.”
Be Kind To Yourself
To cap off the afternoon’s discussion, Tan asked the panellists to look towards the future and share a piece of advice for the young women currently shaping their lives and entering the workforce. For Lee, the most important piece of advice for Gen Z was profound in its simplicity, and ended the afternoon on a gentle note.
“It’s so difficult to be a young woman today, so much more than it ever was for my generation,” she confessed. “I have so much empathy for them. Women growing up in the digital world need so much more kindness and empathy. Mental health is a real, real challenge, and I just want young women to be kind to themselves.”
PHOTOGRAPHY SHERMAN SEE-THO, GOH CHIANG YANG
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