How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
My positive life experiences with visionary leaders has taught me how empowering my staff is a very powerful tool to motivate my team. A sense of ownership provides them an opportunity to recognise the value they bring to the table and feel they matter to the organisation. This sense of belonging is critical to the success of an organisation.
What traits do you look for in your talent or how do you decide who is right for a job?
I typically look for candidates with the right mindset. The top three traits are growth mindset, a “can-do” attitude and a strong problem solver. As an entrepreneur, I look to attract like-minded candidates to run alongside me.
How do you think the industry you are in will evolve in the future?
The education industry is definitely evolving into a more digital-driven era. EduTech is going to take the front seat very quickly. After running the business for more than 12 years, we have pioneered several AI-assisted digital learning solutions to support students to learn English more effectively. Some of these apps include the first SPM-English Speaking mobile application (LJEC x Lango) in Malaysia, which helps students practice and prepare for their SPM Speaking Examinations. In order to help millions of students to access education support, digitalisation is the only way to reach and scale the impact we envisioned across the states and corners of Malaysia in a fast and effective way.
What advice can you offer those looking to start their career/own business?
Seize every opportunity that comes your way, even if it is above your pay scale. As an entrepreneur, you need to have the ability to master every part of the business and such exposure will come in handy.
We all know about the industrial revolution, are we in for a technological revolution? Your thoughts.
Yes, we are already in a technological revolution. Speaking from the education industry, teachers need to recognise the need to move beyond textbooks and classrooms. At Learning Journey, we recognise this reality. Since 2020, we have been implementing AI solutions in our classrooms, making us one of the pioneers in Singapore and Malaysia. While we have an award-winning curriculum, many students in need would be unable to benefit from it without digital access and scalability.
How has mentorship made a difference in your professional life?
Meeting the right mentors has certainly broadened my mindset and perspective in life early in my career. It made me realise that micro-managing is not the only way to succeed as a leader.
What do you want to accomplish in the next five years?
As a firm believer of technological solutions, I want to use AI to help at least 1 million students in Malaysia to improve their English proficiency, regardless of their location.
Best piece of advice you ever got on your career.
Do things above your pay scale. Don’t underestimate the value of these precious learning opportunities.
Most admired business leader? Why?
The Airbnb founders. I admired how they solved a pain point for travellers and small-home owners with no real estate by developing a simple, and ingenious online platform to create a win-win outcome that disrupted the travel industry for 18 years. It amazes me how the best solutions are often the simplest ones right before your eyes.
How do you stay abreast of issues affecting your industry?
I stay close to the ground by teaching and communicating frequently with parents, teachers and industry leaders until today. This keeps me close to the latest struggles they are facing when it comes to learning English. This actually motivated me to develop the first SPM English-speaking guidebook in Malaysia. It was launched in Popular bookstores in January 2026. I have many parents and students writing to me to share how thankful they are to have such a useful resource finally made available to the masses at an affordable price.
Tan’s vision is to support students in their learning journey by providing a quality curriculum and best teaching practices to help them succeed in life. As a passionate and versatile educator, she is committed to help academically weaker students to love the subject they learn, especially English.
Her strengths include devising techniques and strategies that will help weaker students achieve mastery of the English Language. She takes pride in transforming students with “fail” composition/ comprehension grades or “borderline” marks in English to achieving a better grade.
Tan is also the author of a series of six (6) Comprehension Cloze Techniques Assessment books with Singapore Asia Publishers. These books have been on sale at Popular Bookstores for the last six years with numerous MOE Primary Schools using the books in their curriculum. In addition, she has also authored two model essays books for secondary and Integrated Programme (IP) students – Ace Your Essay Writing: Argumentative, Discursive & Expository Essays (O-Level/IP) and Ace Your Essay Writing: Personal Recount, Reflective & Expository Essays (Secondary). Her latest book Ace Your PSLE English Oral (2nd edition) was launched in November 2024.
Since 2016, she has published high-quality assessment books available at Popular Bookstores, reinforcing her centre’s position as a trusted English language specialist. As education continues to evolve, these resources empower parents to better support their children’s learning while giving them confidence in the centre’s ability to help every child reach their full potential.
So far, six out of nine assessment books Tan had written are ranked as the Top 20 & 50 Best-selling English assessment books in Popular bookstores. More than 50,000 copies of her books have been sold so far for the last eight years.
“We believe that providing high-quality study resources will build trust in our brand. We are in the midst of launching an AI practice platform PSLE English Oral Success Plan, which is one of the first in Singapore to use AI to help students practise and ace Primary English Oral. We will also utilise AI to provide students with immediate, personalised feedback, allowing them to identify and correct mistakes while practising for oral assessments. The process will be ‘gamified’ to make learning more engaging and encourage regular practice.”
