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“Be a good story, live a good story, and tell great stories.” This is what Angeline always tells her participants of the digital storytelling workshops she held. Angeline is the founder of Tyros Global for more than ten years. She has been helping communities, government agencies, organisations and individuals through stories and design to capture memories, discover and brand themselves.

The name Tyros comes from the word “story”. The Latin meaning of the word “Tyros” is learner or apprentice. It ties in with Angeline’s lifelong learning motto to all about storytelling.    

The challenge Angeline faced in running her business as a sole proprietor is she hopes to have a team to operate together. She shared how being a caregiver for six times inspired her to be more passionate about capturing memories and stories. Looking back at how God orchestrates her through the events in her life, she learns to identify her core product and customizes her customers’ needs using storytelling. 

Her desire is always to bring people with deeper connection and relationship with Jesus, and passing on her skill set to enable others with tools to use for the Gospel. 

Experience with DM@360

“We are not meant to be alone,” Angeline says about her partnership with DM@360. She sees DM@360 where she can exchange her digital storytelling skills in ministry and technology with other DM partners, connect with them to share her experiences in order to have more opportunities to reach the world. 

Advice for budding entrepreneurs:

1. Expect challenges
2. To follow Christ, the connection with Jesus needs to be there
3. Connect with others and look out for mentors

EmSociety began with a dream. Samuel, one of the co-founders of EmSociety, dreamt of this new venture, woke up and decided to turn that dream into a reality.

The name EmSociety is a combination of “Empowering” and “Society” which is the goal of the brand. Financial literacy today is mostly available for those with higher income due to its high costs, and this is where Samuel wants to make a change. The team believes in making financial literacy available for everyone.

EmSociety first launched before the first Circuit Breaker, making it one of the most memorable experiences for Samuel. Despite the restrictions that took place, they could reach out to families since it was an opportune time to learn about financial opportunities.

In the next few years, EmSociety plans to build more on its content and reputation. They are also partnering with different stakeholders. Samuel also shares that if there was one thing they could change, he would have invested more in digital marketing.

Experience with DM@360

He was invited to DM by a friend and has since connected with different DM Partners. “Starting something is not easy…Having a community, there’s always a support network“.

Samuel and his team have also utilised the amenities to host classes and attended events, where they heard what other missional start-ups were doing.

Advice for budding entrepreneurs:

1. Keep praying for the direction and listen
2. No matter what problems, there will be a solution.

An amalgamation of “story” and “original”, Storigin aims to connect with people through their original stories. “Networking today as we know is fast-paced, … a lot of times we fail to understand the person behind the title”

Behind the platform, Storigin started after his co-founder, Si Ying, wanted to connect with people after her flight from China.

Like many start-ups, Storigin had a few hiccups along the way.  For instance, there were many questions like why should they start another story platform or whether they should have a paid event. Despite the challenges, Raymond’s motivation to continue Storigin was God’s grace and God’s love. Moreover, understanding and staying grounded in Storigin’s purpose also motivated Raymond.

Among the different gatherings held, Raymond shares that there was a particularly memorable session. An ice breaker question was raised and unexpectedly, everyone was opening up about deep and personal stories that were locked away or forgotten for many years.

Experience at DM@360

Raymond is one of DM’s longest partners.

What convinced him to join was seeing how God’s hand was working at DM, forming a whole ecosystem from literally nothing. He shared how he saw the team-knitted and had the vision to build something for God’s work, and as such, he wanted to be a part of the community.

His initial hesitation quickly went away after speaking to Shu Chen. He encourages any with the same initial hesitation to speak with someone at DM@360 if you have any doubts to clear.

Advice for budding Christian entrepreneurs:

Remember that it is a long game and remember your purpose. Like Joseph, everyone’s journey is different, but Joseph remained patient. Likewise, entrepreneurs need to remember that it will be a long journey, you might pivot, meet different people and be disappointed, but just persevere. 

Travelhorse first started as a luggage deposit service to uplift travellers. However, due to the changing circumstances brought by COVID-19, the Travelhorse team made a switch to providing delivery services. Through intentional interactions with his team and clients, Scott finds ways to practice and to let these communities know more about God.

Travelhorse started due to a personal pain point Scott experienced. He had gone overseas for exchange and on a particular trip to Hong Kong, Scott underwent a difficult journey to find his destination after landing due to a downpour.

Like many start-ups, Travelhorse met many challenges. However, Scott shares that there were many opportunities God has spoken and given to him. Among the various memorable experiences, the one that Scott vividly remembers was packing over 300 parcels in an industrial car park during the early days of Travelhorse.

Experience with DM@360

Scott has been a partner of DM@360 since the launch. He attended the first-ever meeting, which hosted almost 100 people, and it was a great opportunity for him to meet other business leaders and hear what they wanted to do for God. “I enjoy the space and every encounter that I’ve had. “

Advice for other Christian entrepreneurs:

Find, know and grow. Get in touch with a spiritual community, come together and know what you can do for God.

“A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children” – Proverbs 13:22(a)

Derek, felt that the industry was overly-focused on asset-transfers, but there was a lack of conversation about value-transfers. Moreover, many of the younger generation today are not well-informed and unprepared to handle sudden wealth passed down by their parents.

“Instead of preparing money for people, which is what most people do, I think we should prepare people for money…which is something rarely talked about in the industry.”

The Heritance App is available for all consumers, regardless of  financial background. Through the app, users can connect with their family, allowing them to pass down wealth and assets, memories, stories and values. The Heritance team also have plans to take this beyond the local space, and impact lives around the region.

Experience at with DM@360

Derek and Persis share that their experiences with DM@360 are both inspiring and insightful. For Derek, he has always seen his work with Lighthouse legacy and Heritance as missional, but “seeing the younger co-workers in the Lord’s harvest field in DM@360, there’s so much I can learn from them… maybe even collaborate with them.” Likewise for Persis, she shares that it is inspiring to see other budding start-ups, where they can all learn from one another.

Advice for budding Christian Entrepreneurs:

1. Remember that God is our real CEO.
2. Seek out good talents and executors, really seek out their heart.

Advice for young Christians who are directed to change paths:

1. Seek God
2. Get blessings from your loved ones
3. “For me, it was also because I was searching for my passion..when this opportunity came along, I think it really struck a chord in me. My whole direction and motivation is to seek what is God’s call and purpose in my life.”

Meet Elaine, the founder and CEO of CNEW, a training consultancy that empowers business leaders and entrepreneurs in Singapore and China.

Before CNEW’s beginning, Elaine had two other unsuccessful start-ups. She soon decided to undergo training in the US, which allowed her to see personal development and transformation within herself.

However, the challenges didn’t stop there as Elaine shares about the rocky start of CNEW. Elaine had to live on spending at most SGD 2.50 a day for six months and there were times that she couldn’t afford to pay her bills. With these challenges presented, Elaine admits that there were many times she wanted to give up.

“But whenever I look back, I am grateful for the hardship.“

On one particular day, she wanted to give up and cried out to the Lord. Taking some time off for herself, she asked “what would you be doing if there was no hardship now?'” but her passion and heart was still inclined towards teaching and mentoring others. Thus, despite the difficulties, she was willing to push through and miraculously, she received a client the next day.

Today, Elaine has been running CNEW for 7 years and has trained over half a million leaders. “The true heartfelt moment is seeing the transformation in these women.“

“Entrepreneurship is a calling. Not everyone can give up, sacrifice and jump into the ocean.”

Experience with DM@360

Elaine was first introduced to DM during its launch. She had started a business in China, but she was the only Christian. She prayed numerous times that God would allow her to be surrounded by other Christian business leaders, and thus DM@360 was an answered prayer.

Elaine shares that she admires SC’s dedication and passion for digital missions. At the same time, Elaine was inspired and in awe of other DM Partners. “It’s a family. close-connected. And when you talk to the different members, you get new ideas, new connections and friendships.“

Advice for other Christian Entrepreneurs

1. “Understand the pain. It’s not all about the glamour or making money. In fact, it’s a tough job.”
2. The real motivation and purpose comes from a calling from God. “Take the call from the Lord.”
3. Desire to be surrounded by a Christian community. “You never know who you will find.”

To debunk and break the common misconceptions of homeschoolers, John kickstarted the Socially Awkward Podcast in 2020. Through the podcast, they share stories and experiences they had while growing up, giving others a glimpse of what life is like for homeschoolers. 

Inspired by one of his favourite YouTubers, John wanted to have his podcast as well. He soon gathered a team by contacting his friends and families. After planning for several months, The Socially Awkward Podcast soon uploaded their first episode in early 2020. Since then, the team has been growing, where they’ve recruited numerous roles and are in the process of training a new host. 

Beyond the podcast, John hopes that training more youths will enable them to bring back these skills to their church. “Being able to empower these people so that they can implement what they’ve learned in their churches and expand the Kingdom, that’s very important to me.”

Experience with DM@360

When the formation of The Socially Podcast was still in the works, the team was looking for a conducive environment to host the podcast. “At home, there are people, there’s environmental noise… so it’s not very conducive.” Shortly after, the team was introduced to DM@360. They sat down and talked to SC, where they found out about DM’s vision and goal. 

“Seeing SC’s passion for wanting to connect people, really encouraging and wanting to give them the resources that they need so that they can use their skills and talent for the Kingdom, that was a very convincing factor for me.”

Advice for other Christian Creatives

Focus on the long term goal, not short term circumstances. 

Some days will be difficult, and it can be easy to think “why can’t I not do this?“. But you have to stay grounded and remind yourself of the purpose.