S11E02 Evolve Without Losing Yourself | Desleen Yeo & Lim Pei Ying | CYT Tradition & Heritage

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What happens when the thing you build becomes so much a part of you that you lose yourself?And what does it take to find your way back?For Desleen Yeo, Founder of YeoMama Batik, entrepreneurship was never the plan.Recovering from ankle surgery, her mother called from Yogyakarta: “Do you want to sell batik in Singapore?”Desleen said yes.What began like a school project grew into YeoMama Batik, a business modernising batik while honouring her Indonesian heritage.In this episode of Tradition & Heritage: Compass or Shackle, Desleen sits down with Lim Pei Ying, ICF Master Certified Coach and Producer of the Clean Your Toilet Podcast, to explore evolving without losing yourself.Desleen has always been someone who jumps in first and figures things out as she goes.That gave her the courage to build a business without knowing where it would lead. But it came with a price.She lost friendships. Self-care disappeared. The business became so intertwined with her identity that she could no longer separate herself from it.Even her creative voice began to disappear.Listening increasingly to customers, her designs moved away from the younger, edgier style she loved. Until feedback that the brand had become more “auntie” made her confront:Had she lost herself too?Then motherhood changed everything.Pregnancy forced Desleen to step back, trust her team, build systems and rethink being a business owner.For the first time:“I am me. The business is the business.”Stepping out helped her find herself again: her creativity, priorities and the life she wanted alongside the business.Together, they explore:* Why Desleen jumps first and figures out later.* The friendships entrepreneurship cost her.* How family gave her the foundation to take risks.* What happens when your identity becomes your business.* How customer feedback cost her creative voice.* Why motherhood changed how she lived and worked.* The shift from doing everything to becoming a business owner.* Why tradition must evolve to survive.* What she hopes to pass on to her daughter.