She spent a decade in financial writing, first as a financial journalist for six years, before moving into investment communications at a major bank. But when Kelly Tay decided to leave her job to become a stay-at-home mum, little did she know that she was on her way to taking the lead in a parenting movement.
Today, she’s the founder of Juicy Parenting, a coaching business with an aim to help Asian parents raise resilient children without using age-old techniques like yelling, meting out punishments, or instilling fear.
Blending science-backed strategies with cultural nuance, Kelly aims to bridge traditional Asian parenting and modern child development research with her work. Here’s how she made the switch to coaching parents full-time.
Identifying a need for parent education
When Kelly had her first child, she decided to leave her corporate career and spend more time with her daughter in person. While she “loved motherhood so much”, Kelly realised that she didn’t know the first thing about parenting.
So, she tapped into her journalistic roots of researching and investigating to learn everything she could on how to raise a child. She immersed herself in courses, reading scholarly articles and books, and completing professional certifications to understand child development better.
Through this learning journey, she found that conventional parenting methods in Asia, such as yelling and beating, often contradicted decades of scientific research on child development.
Initially, Kelly had no plans to teach others. However, what ultimately sparked her move to providing parent education was when her friends and strangers noticed her calm approach in dealing with her child and asked if she could teach them what she’d learnt.
“It made me realise that not only is there a demand for parent education, but it could also do a lot of good in the world,” she shares.
She decided to launch an online course and membership community for parents where she offered 30 spots as a test run. To her pleasant surprise, all spots were sold out on the very same day — it was all the proof she needed that Juicy Parenting had the potential to be an actual career, not some side hustle or hobby.
“I do this because I truly believe Asian kids deserve better parents — ones who are firm and kind, not ones who rule by fear and force,” she adds.
Building a business as a one-woman show
While the success of her first course validated her idea, building a business from scratch was anything but easy. In her early days, Kelly had to run the entire operation solo — from delivering the actual parent education component of her business and marketing her courses, to coding the website, and processing payments.
“The list goes on. It was difficult but because I was so purpose-driven, I genuinely enjoyed it!” Today, Juicy Parenting has become a thriving business and now consists of a team of three (four, including herself), which she says has been “game-changing”.
With their support, she is able to work on the actual business more, instead of being caught up with the daily backend operations of running a business. She now has more time to engage with her community and serve her audiences better.
Read Also: Are You Ready for a Mid-Career Industry Switch? Take this Quiz to Find Out
Using her communication strengths and learning on the job
Switching careers wasn’t easy, but Kelly’s journalistic skills and self-motivation contributed to a smoother career transition.
“Being able to distill massive blocks of information in a clear, concise, and layman-friendly manner has allowed me to break down rather turgid neuroscience and psychology concepts in my course. This ensures that everyone can understand the theory and also apply it in their everyday lives,” she says.
Along the way, Kelly also sought advice from mentors and business coaches who helped shift her mindset. “These business coaches transformed my mindset of what was possible in my business,” she shares.
Initially, Kelly wasn’t keen on spending money on the business. She wanted to keep costs low — which she felt was wise at the beginning as she wasn’t confident that the business would succeed.
However, undergoing coaching motivated her to shift her mindset. She learnt to look at the bigger picture, focusing on the potential positive impact and possibilities of her business.
“What got me to my first sales milestone wouldn’t get me to my next one and beyond. I needed to invest in myself to learn how to grow my business and amplify my message,” she says.
Read Also: Reskilling and Upskilling for Working Parents: How to Juggle Your Responsibilities while Learning
Let purpose drive you
Leaving a stable job to start a business isn’t easy, but with a strong purpose, Kelly’s example shows that it is indeed possible. She had doubts about whether her teachings were too counter-cultural for Asians to accept, but she stayed through to her vision when she saw how transformative it could be for children and families.
Her advice? To make sure you’re fuelled by a strong purpose. “Because entrepreneurship is a hundred times harder than salaried work, but a thousand times more rewarding,” she reveals.
She also warns against starting something simply for money. “Don’t get into something because you think you’re going to get rich,” she says. “Profitability is important, but that comes only when you have the heart to serve others.”
