Shu Qi Poon’s Post

We're expanding! 🙌 More than 1.5 years ago, I chose to open a gym over pursuing a legal career upon graduating Law School (yes, I'm that crazy girl). 👩⚖️ 🏋♂️ A hell of a gutsy move, but one that I have never regretted. That craziness led to this. I'm incredibly thankful that we are doing decently well and we are making a big move to a much bigger, and well-equipped location. We are also officially affiliating with CrossFit to rebrand ourselves as CrossFit Kampung to promote fitness through the methodology that we strongly advocate for. Across these 18 months, I have grown and learnt so much, and the gym's community has grown in size and spirit - I cannot be prouder. I am thankful for the opportunities that came my way, and I am excited for more to come. I am even more thankful for the fair share of doubts that people had of me - they made me work harder to prove everyone wrong ;) We're moving to our new location in Potong Pasir in the fourth week of August - if you would like to pop by to say hi during our soft launch week, I would love to have a chat. 😊

So thankful to have had the team from MONEY FM 89.3 pop by my gym! It may not be much, but I am always happy to share. :) I've learned so much over the past few months and I cannot wait to see what the future holds. Thank you Ashiqin Jaffar for reaching out to me!

Look Ma, I'm on the papers today! It has been 5 months since the doors of the gym have opened and I cannot be happier with how things are currently. We have built a little cosy community where members give their 101% in the workouts, fist bump each other, complain about the workouts, grab a quick Tze Char meal together and then do it all over again the next day. No, it has not been easy, and I am exhausted by the end of every single day. Yet, I look at the gym community and how little milestones are reached every week (someone just got her first pull-up last week!), I know this is exactly where I want to be. With that said, thank you thank you thank you to many of you who have reached out to me for coffee chats, for interviews, or even just by leaving me a simple message on LinkedIn. I have gone for multiple coffee chats to share everything that I can possibly share, and I am even more inspired by the stories I've heard. A father of a 19 year old reached out to me and shared that his daughter was about to embark on her undergraduate studies in LSE Law. Yet, she has similar dreams as me. But hey, you know what, the future truly is boundless, and she holds the key to decide what the future looks for her. And so do you. Thank you to the individuals who made these articles possible: Straits Times: https://lnkd.in/e_prgDUJ Yahoo Finance: https://lnkd.in/eHryAtma

Three weeks ago, I made a post about my transition from a Law graduate to a gym owner (https://lnkd.in/gbvQQbZz). The post garnered close to 500 thousand views and 5000 likes.  Now, I guess I am known as the law-grad-who-opened-a-gym.  No, I don't need another viral post. I just wanted to address what I've observed. Throughout these three weeks, I have received close to 70-80 messages, and even met up with a couple of individuals, and so many of them shared a very common feeling - confusion.  While I have tried my very best to reply each and every single person who shared their worries with me, I want to use this platform to let all of you/them know that they are not alone. Read on, please. It's a scary thought to not know what you want to do, to be uncertain about your career choices. But truly, it's alright. Come on guys, no one knows what we're doing most of the time, we're just winging it.  While it may feel like everyone around you has their shit together, and you don't, things will make sense eventually. You just need a little bit of time to dig deep and think. Perhaps, just perhaps, it's this very uncomfortable present that you're in that will force you to reflect and grow up. I read somewhere that 'most of the answers to where we’re going are in the stories of where we’ve already been'. Nonetheless, take all the time you need to figure things out. You'll be fine. We'll be fine. Life is never a linear path anyway.  I am also... not a career or life coach. This is just a post to reassure the lost sheeps out there that we're in this together. I'm also a LinkedIn message away if anyone needs a little listening ear : )

In 2021, I graduated from the Yong Pung How School of Law. In 2022, I opened my own gym. Guess the drastic change in career path calls for a LinkedIn post (finally!) I am 24 this year, and I have my own gym. Crazy, ain't it? It's been two months since The Kampung Too has been in operation, and I cannot be happier. The process of getting here was... not easy. It took a little more than just a dash of self-confidence and belief, and emptying out my bank account. I had to give up whatever I was set out to do, or at least what I told myself I was set out to do while in Law School. Pass the Bar with flying colours, be a good lawyer, churn out paperwork in desperation at 3am (ok just kidding). In another reality, it probably would have worked out somehow; but would I have liked that reality?  There came a point where I asked myself if that was what I truly wanted. The law profession is incredibly respected and prestigious. The working lawyer is however, different. I am inclined to think that it takes a different breed of people to live and breathe the law every single day. I am not that person, and I know that very well. In fact, it is ironic to say that I had known that fact in my very bones since law school. The first two years in school was me figuring out why I am here and mustering up the courage to give myself a chance to see if it works. Of course, there were points in time where I truly enjoyed the law and its intricacies, and I still do! The next two years in school was then, me grappling with the fact that while I did like bits and pieces of law, I cannot see myself doing it for the rest of my life. Or to put it in another way, I can do it, but do I want to? I gradually came to terms that I want something different. At this point, I recognise how privileged I am to even have the opportunity to ‘want something different’ after graduating with a law degree. I know – I am so incredibly privileged with the many opportunities I had over the years. Yet, they are not going down the drain I promise. I have grown and learnt from simply being in law school, and being within reach of many incredibly talented and learned friends is a blessing, to say the least.  Deep down, I know that there is absolutely nothing wrong in going for something that I feel happy doing. In fact, two months down, I can safely say I am ecstatic to be doing something that I chose, and wholeheartedly want and love. And that brings me to my next point - I realised I wasn't alone. The times when I was confused as to what I wish to do and what the future holds, I know for a fact there are countless individuals that feel the exact same way. And that's alright. I promise, it's really really okay! Don't put a deadline on when you have to find what you want to do. Listen to me - learn to believe in yourself, give yourself TIME, take a small leap of faith, go chase that dream, you never know what will happen my dear. : )

Happy to announce that I am officially part of the American Council on Exercise (ACE Fitness) family as a Certified Personal Trainer! I have also since taken up two freelance opportunities to teach group fitness classes at F45 Training as well as The Kampung Gym separately (or in today's context, you may call it a 'side hustle'). Over the past year or two, I have learnt to focus on myself, what I can do and what I like to do. I started to shift away from doing things for the sake of doing things and doing things with intention and meaning. I believe this is definitely a small step to doing things that I enjoy and find fulfilment in. It is easy to be absorbed and let yourself be labelled as a 'law student'; yet, there are still many more things to do! Define success for yourself :) Feel free to leave me a message if you have any questions!

It’s a wrap! I am tremendously thankful for the team from BlackOak LLC and my team from CoCo who worked tirelessly to make this possible. Two months ago, we were still unsure whether we were able to hold the competition, virtual or not. Was not the easiest ride but I am elated that we pulled through! Thank you to my incredibly hardworking team, BlackOak LLC, judges, SMU Law faculty, all participants and everyone who helped in one way or another! Cheyenne Valenza Low Carrisa Low Tan Jie Loong Tan Tuan Ying Aaron Cheuk Emelyn Aw Aisyah Az Zuhra Norkhalim Joel Soon Wen Yee Chang Janice Jiang 江昕璇 Zizheng Li

This year's edition of BlackOak Negotiation Competition is a little special with all rounds held virtually. Nonetheless, I am extremely heartened to have close to 100 participants from SMU and NUS Law School join us this year! I cannot wait to see how the Semi-Finals and Grand Finals unfold. The Finals will also be live-streamed so that's definitely something to look forward to :-)