Why staying open to new perspectives and cultures matters for you as an online business owner or even as a human being in general

When you have an online business, you’ll meet a lot of different types of people from different parts of the world. You can be proud of your culture and who you are, while respecting other cultures as well.

When I first started my online business, it was big in the US. I followed business owners and coaches, who were mostly White American women as they were prominent at that point in time.

I never really heard of an Asian person who was a business coach, for example. And on the rare occurrence, I would stumble upon one. The whole scene was largely White women, mostly American. When I was looking for clients in Facebook groups, 99% of them were from the US.

At that time, I never thought there could be a market for Asia or Singapore. I was viewing the landscape through a limited lens. I did not observe my own surroundings and was looking far away instead, because that was only what I knew.

For a long time, I never noticed that coaches were White. To me, a human is a human. I didn’t see them as, “They are Asian” or “They are White”, until I started to feel and experience the difference in communication after a few years of working with clients and coaches.

In the beginning, I was honestly trying to fit in. So I would notice how they speak and I would speak to them similarly so they would not misunderstand me. For example, instead of saying “Yes, I can do this.”, in Singapore we usually say “Can.” (which comes much more naturally to me). But obviously, saying that to someone who isn’t Singaporean can be confusing. So I would always be on my toes to make sure that I speak in a way where my clients can understand me.

But of course, as I got more comfortable with people, especially clients who I’ve been working with for a longer time, my natural way of speaking would come out in conversations. My speech would often be peppered with “Can.”, “la.” and some other Singlish words and phrases would inadvertently pop out. Resulting in some slight confusion and at times, a confused look on my client’s face.

Slowly, I started to notice that there were many instances where I felt like I couldn’t relate or sometimes unable to really understand what they were talking about, even though we all spoke English.

I started to notice that more often than not, I was explaining to people where Singapore is located and why I could speak English well.

It came to a point where I started to feel like an outsider and I felt more and more that it was harder for me to try to relate to them. So I started to look for people who looked like me, who were doing online business or coaching like me.

That said, we are all humans. Regardless of how we look or where we come from, we have similar fears and motivations. The human brain, in many ways, behaves similarly.

Despite coming from different backgrounds, culture and language, we all still have similar motivations, emotions and even experiences.

But what’s different, and less relatable is culture, context and language. For example, even though we all speak English, the way and context of speaking the language are different.

I never noticed there were more White coaches during my first few years in the online business scene because I was looking at White people in magazines my entire life. The music I listened to was mostly pop music from US artists such as the Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, etc. The shows I watched, I literally grew up watching Sesame Street, Barney, and later on Friends and Gilmore Girls.

However, as I got older, my circle of friends started to shrink. We stopped talking about music and TV shows, and talked more about life, work, family, relationships, travel, etc more.

On the other hand, when I was a teenager, probably one of the biggest things I ever wanted was to fit in with the people that I see on screen, on MTV. We would do our makeup like them, dressed like them and want to be like them.

Growing up in Singapore, we have a variety of cultures. We have different races. But then you get a lot of news and shows from the US, and you also have local TV. Then you have your own culture as well, and beliefs passed down from your family. You also have friends from different cultures. I feel like my life so far, was influenced by a unique combination of Western media and local cultures and influences.

But now, I'm more appreciative of my own culture and I’m also thinking more and more about how I can give back to people who are like me.

And that’s why I wish there were more Asian entrepreneurs and coaches.

Because there would be more Asians sharing their stories and experiences, which will then be able to help more Asians relate and inspire them to pursue things that they wouldn’t otherwise have done.

I wish there were more Asian coaches because then I can see how it's possible. I will feel like I have more people who look like me, who I can learn from and look up to. And other Asian people have more people they can learn from and look up to. 

Recently, I’ve been working with a lot more local and Asian people. I'm seeing a lot more Asian entrepreneurs. When I follow someone, I’d consciously prefer to follow Asian entrepreneurs, influencers and brands. Simply because, I want to first continue to support more Asian businesses and people and also, I can relate so much to their message.

What’s really interesting to me is the beauty of the Internet is that it allows us to meet so many different types of people from different parts of the world, yet at the same time, it allows us to meet so many people who are the same race as us, who have similar cultures but live in different parts of the world.

After being on the Internet for many years, I got to know clients from different parts of the world. I learned about their countries and cultures and learned to respect and work with people from different cultures. At this point in time, where it’s so accessible to travel and work in different countries, this is a skill that all of us need to cultivate as we start to work with more people of different cultures and backgrounds.

We can learn from people even if they are from different cultures, even if they don’t look like us. This offers us a completely different perspective from what we understand and believe so far. 

For example, when I was speaking to a couple of friends from the USA, they were chatting about their vacation plans and taking a trip to the mountains in another state, to go hiking. That was really new to me. Because I was thinking, I wouldn’t normally take a vacation in my own country!

But there are some differences here. Singapore is so small, and so a vacation to us (which we normally call a “holiday”), would always be somewhere out of the country, to a different country.

The USA is a huge country. I totally understand why you can literally vacation around your own country because there are probably so many cool places in your own country that you would love to visit, but have never been.

While on the other hand, you could probably cover Singapore in a day or two!

As you can see, this is a non-coaching example that’s easy for most of us to understand. But, there are many examples that are SPECIFICALLY relevant to coaches and business (or whatever your industry is), and maybe you’ve already come across a different point of view that didn’t quite land with you initially. 

And even if we don’t agree with their perspective, it’s still something that we can learn from and be aware of. Because not everyone thinks the same way as us – and this is a blind spot a lot of us have.

While some might argue that exposure to different cultures can make the online space more fragmented, it also provides an opportunity for us to open up our hearts and minds to welcome new ways of doing things and new perspectives.

And yes, some things may be uncomfortable to read because it’s a completely different perspective or it challenges your current perspective and train of thought, but it’s worth considering or at least be aware of this different point of view.

I’d love to know how you’re keeping your hearts and minds open to different perspectives, while meeting people from different cultures and backgrounds.