Here is our back story. 2019 was Primary Six Leaving Examination (PSLE) year for my son, Kayden. I panicked. We have been having domestic issues for the last couple of years. I have neglected his studies. I wondered what I could do to help him get into the elite school that we have been eyeing. One day, I had an idea when I saw Peng Joon’s Facebook ad on Videos Challenge. My son was probably 9 or 10 years old when he told me he wanted to be a Youtuber and begged me to help him start his Youtube channel. I ignored him till he won the Singapore Digital Media Award with his schoolmates from his Media Club. I thought we could attempt to use this to beef up Kayden’s profile and use his co-curricular activities (CCA) via the Direct Secondary School Admission’s (DSA) route to get him into the elite school near our home. To make it up to Kayden, I vowed to give my all to create a spectacular portfolio for him. Kayden worked hard during that June holiday. He was the youngest and fastest participant in the Videos Challenge. Peng Joon surprised us when he sent us a video invitation to give him a GameChanger Intensive Scholarship. The following year, Kaylie broke her brother’s record and a month later we became Peng Joon’s affiliate marketer.

Despite all that, Kayden did not get into his school of choice, but he went to the most caring school in Singapore. This school was never in our mind but somehow fate has it that we were led there. We were warmly welcomed from the reception auntie to the teacher who was on duty that day. We found out much later that the school was in the press for committed teachers who went out of their way for underprivileged kids. We were moved by the story. During the pandemic, I personally witnessed how the teachers put in their heart and soul for the kids. Right from the start, home-based learning is very organized and peaceful. Every morning, it is a bliss watching Kayden silently focused, completing task after task watching high quality video tutorials. They had weekly meetings where teachers checked on the kid’s well-being and to clarify any doubts. He was all smiles and occasional chuckled when he was on the calls. Kayden belongs to the Drama Club where he had a ball filming a video with his schoolmate on Zoom. The club has a teacher who is also a professional actor in our local TV station. During the Zoom lessons, he shares his knowledge with his students generously. Kaylie and I sometimes join in his class to become his extras or Prop Assistants. We had a blast! I silently thanked our then Minister of Education, Mr Ong Ye Kong, for his bold mission to “make every school a good school”, a slogan that I once thought was too idealistic and will never materialize in Singapore. I am happy to eat my words now.

By this time, we already have this realisation - making a living doing what we love is THE WAY to true happiness. We should be defining what success means to us, not others. We should allow our children to express themselves freely and tell us what they value in life. We can then help them to get to their right path without wasting precious time studying for anything that they have no talent or interest in. Having said that, discovering children’s passions and talents is useless if they are not turning them into their livelihood. Because as a mum, my top priority is that they can make a living with it. Now, I believe that you need to have an ROI on enrichment programs. They should be enrolled with a purpose. Because time does not only mean money but opportunity cost, which is costlier. The pandemic gave me this enlightenment that we could monetize just with a phone and internet connection. Everyone can do it, even kids. During this period of isolation, the internet world is on sale. We spend a lot of time and money learning from different mentors, attending all kinds of courses and reading a lot of books. It was a journey to merge our ability and our passions from where we are to where we want to be. Being on this journey with us, will help you and your kids to save some time and start their journey early in life, exploring their identity and to seek their truth.

I have a vision to live our dreams doing what we love, working whenever we want, wherever we are and with the people we want in our lives. I am not fond of my children just being influencers with millions of followers. Our favorite internet wealth mastery mentor, Peng Joon, loves to remind us not to be broke influencers with the vanity matrix. Likability and popularity is short-lived. And yes, single mums are really practical people. Sure, I want to have our voices heard but also to make a comfortable living doing it. More than creators, I want us to be Contentprenuers - people who make content that monetizes. So making content for our business makes perfect sense.

On 3rd March 2021, we registered our first company - VideoGenTV.com. We accomplished little. On 29 December 2021, we launched our second business - Video StudyBuddy. The business idea, website and video is conceptualized and created during this holiday with my kids. They learn how to use the App/ software and create the content at the same time. We threw ideas around and googled for answers. We tested a couple of ideas, names, payment gateway, sites and many other things, before finally deciding that Video Study Buddy is a go. As a long term self-employed person, I experienced first hand how lonely and demotivating it can be. If you don't have the right attitude and habits, it is going to be harder to be successful. A great learning attitude and habit towards any task completion should be formed early in life. Video Study Buddy is a high energy virtual space that motivates and encourages kids to complete their tasks on time. This is especially important for entrepreneurs. We are living in a say-that-thing-without-saying-that-thing kind of world right now. Hence, we have this idea of just high energy, muted silence charged right into the work kind of Zoom session. It is a safe space. Your child’s grades or business idea is his own privacy unless he wants to share it. We guide him to the right places to find answers for himself. We encourage him and make him feel okay with comforting words when things get tough, just so that he is still on it.

As Contentpreners, we understand the struggle to stay disciplined and create consistently. Video StudyBuddy is a platform that helps kids to stay motivated especially if they decide to make content. Every month, Kayden and Kaylie will share with other kids what they have learnt and hopefully inspire some to become Contentprenuers. Even if they are not, these are marketable skills for their future. Whether it is video editing or designing, they will come in handy to develop your child’s portfolio and help them stand out in the employment market.

We want to be able to spread the idea that every child is able to achieve his dreams doing what he loves. With the help of his parents he could even start to monetise, even before he leaves school. I believe parents, not schools, help children achieve self-actualisation, living their best lives. We, Video StudyBuddy, are the bridge to the partnership between busy working parents and children working on their talents and passion.