2025 Year in Review - and a sneak peek at 2026

Sometimes you reach a point in your career where things finally click. Not because everything is perfect or because you've hit every goal you set. But because you've stopped trying to be someone else and started building something that actually reflects who you are.

That describes my 2025.

I reread my 2024 year in review recently and was struck by how much of it was about uncertainty. Would RC HR Consulting work? Would Singapore be the right move? Would I regret leaving Hong Kong? I was hopeful but cautious, still testing whether this whole thing was sustainable.

This year felt different.

The turning point came in June when I spoke at the Transform Talent conference in Hong Kong. I delivered a workshop on strengths-based careers to about 150 HR leaders. The feedback was fantastic, but more importantly, I spent that trip meeting with 10 HR leaders one-on-one. These were conversations with people who'd followed my work and wanted to talk through their own career challenges. And in those conversations, I got the validation I didn't know I was looking for. My work was solving real problems for real people.

Before June, I was still operating with a bit of impostor syndrome, wondering if I really understood my market. After June, I knew. And that confidence gave me permission to take bigger risks, to try things even when they weren't fully baked.

The best example? I sent a cold DM to Lisa Young 🚀 , an HR influencer I'd been following and engaging with for about a year. I'd read one of her posts about collaboration and figured the worst that could happen was she'd ignore me. She didn't. We jumped on a call, and she ended up inviting me to speak to her HRHQ membership. During our conversation, she shared this idea about "messy action" versus analysis paralysis. She talked about just getting things started even when you don't have all the answers, rather than spending months in planning mode.

That phrase stuck with me.

So when I was thinking about launching the Women in HR community, I didn't wait until every detail was perfect. I knew from my client conversations that solo HR leaders and HR leaders in large organizations were craving connection and peer support. I knew what problem I was solving. But I didn't know exactly what the community would look like or how it would function. So I launched it anyway, half-baked and messy. And you know what? It’s not quite perfect, but it’s a start.

RC HR Consulting in 2025

This year brought some incredible wins for RC HR. Beyond launching two cohorts of the Job Search Accelerator for Women in HR (with a third rolling out in February 2026), I:

• Sponsored and spoke at the Wellbeing at Work summit in March in Singapore and the Transform Talent conference in June in Hong Kong, connecting with dozens of HR leaders and sharing my message about developing a strengths-aligned career.

• Piloted the Women in HR community in Singapore, with Hong Kong expansion coming soon. This confidential peer group for solo HR leaders and HR leaders seeking more support is the first of its kind in Asia.

• Created a new set of corporate training programs for HR teams focused on shifting from operational to strategic work. These programs directly address what I hear from my clients: they want to step up, but they don't know how.

• Facilitated over 15 workshops with corporate clients on communicating with impact, emotional intelligence, and relationship building. I absolutely love training and facilitation work, and I'm excited to do more with Hatwell Group in 2026.

• Collaborated with Lisa Young 🚀 to speak to her HRHQ membership about strategic strengths spotting. This felt like a bit of a “pinch me” moment, getting to speak a specialized group of HR practitioners about what I do.

• Guested on three podcasts: The Rewired Podcast, The Aligned Achiever, and The Coaching Revolution. It was wonderful to share my perspective on career coaching and HR leadership with new audiences.

Now, here's the part I need to be honest about: I didn't hit my revenue target this year. I landed at about 80 percent of my gross revenue goal, which was disappointing. I worked harder than I have in years, putting in more late nights and more intense months than ever before. I thought the hard work would translate to hitting my number.

It didn't.

But honestly, that miss mattered less than I thought it would. Because the business is working in the ways that actually matter to me. My clients trust me with their career decisions. I'm being recognized as an expert in my field. And I get to be present with my daughter in ways most working parents don't. I can’t put a price tag on that.

Me in 2025

The past year and a half in Singapore has felt surreal. My husband and I will catch each other's eye and wonder how long we get to keep living like this. I'm fortunate to be able to genuinely say I'm really happy, both professionally and personally.

My daughter is 3.5 now, and she's developed this wonderfully cheeky personality. I love spending time with her, especially in those quiet moments between calls or during bedtime routines before I log back into evening meetings. Those moments feel precious in a way I didn't expect before becoming a parent.

That said, motherhood still doesn't come naturally to me. I have very little patience and I get frustrated easily, which are not ideal traits when parenting a mercurial toddler. So I need more breaks than most mothers. I was able to take a few this year with two retreats in Bali and four business trips back to Hong Kong (a place that still feels like home in many ways). These breaks aren't indulgent. They're necessary for me to show up as the person I want to be, both as a mother and as a business owner.

This year also gave us some memorable family moments. In Q1, I flew to the U.S. for my grandmother's 90th birthday party. Seventy-five people showed up to celebrate my grandmother's life, and at 90, she stood up and gave remarks. Watching her surrounded by family and friends who adore her, made me think about what I want my legacy to look like. It was really special.

We celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary with a trip to Langkawi, our first time away from our daughter at the same time. (She barely noticed we were gone, which was both relieving and slightly humbling.) In November, my mom and stepdad visited from the States, though my mom unfortunately ended up with pneumonia after catching a cold from my daughter (a reminder that older folks don't always mix well with germ-carrying toddlers!). December brought a trip to London to see my in-laws over the holidays.

I also got to spend time with Melissa Roberts Tims, my best friend who I hadn't seen in person in seven years. Catching up with her and her family in L.A. felt like finding a missing piece of myself. Throughout 2025, friends kept showing up at our door in Singapore: Gautam Khattak , Monica Chung , David Pope , Robert Kienzle , Joshua Davies , Shen Chiu, Albert Ho, Chloe Kiosk, Francis Li , Queenie Jiang, Malcolm Wright, Andy Mayer, and Amit Kumar Sureka. I even finally got to meet Sarah Short and Jen Mohindra from The Coaching Revolution in-person. Each visit reminded me that the relationships we've built over decades are worth nurturing, even across continents (and how great it is to have friends all over the world that you can crash with!).

2026 and beyond

For 2026, I'm keeping my focus on what I love: working with senior female leaders in HR who feel stuck to help them love their work or find work they love. But I'm also expanding how I do that work.

• I'm launching a podcast called "Women in HR" in early 2026. I know I might be late to the podcast party, but I'm doing it anyway. The format is still taking shape, but it will be a space to explore the challenges and opportunities for women in HR leadership. If you're interested in being a guest, let me know.

• I'm launching a second group coaching program for HRBPs who want to shift from operational to strategic and take their next career step. The Job Search Accelerator will continue, but this new program fills a different gap.

• I'm increasing my newsletter frequency from monthly to weekly. My subscribers are asking for more of my thinking, and frankly, I have more to share.

• Like 2025, I'm committing to being in Hong Kong at least quarterly. Hong Kong is still a core market for me, and the in-person connections matter. If you're there and want to grab coffee, let me know.

• And I'm getting back into a fitness routine. I've completely fallen off the wagon since moving to Singapore, and I want to change that in 2026. (Send recommendations for a good program or trainer on the East Coast!)

So that's my 2025 and a sneak peek at what's ahead. I'm sharing a link to my 2025 reflection worksheet and 2026 planner. Download it, grab a coffee, and give yourself permission to actually think about your own career for once. There's never a better time than right now.

Thank you again to my clients. You made this year possible, and I'm genuinely grateful.

Happy new year. Looking forward to connecting in 2026.

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I work with female senior leaders in Human Resources who feel stuck to help them love their work or find work they love. I write about:

👂 Executive & career coaching

📄 Career development and career transition

🎯 Job search strategy

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