A Single Mom Who Rewrote Her Story And How You Can Too - Elise Tan, Founder of Asia Startup Network, Remarkable Women Asia| Ep 42

<p>There is a part of women having it all that nobody talks about honestly. The postpartum depression that sent her to the hospital for a month. The marriage that counselling could not save. The Thursday nights her daughter went to her father, and she did not know what to do with the silence.</p><p><br /></p><p>Elise Tan has lived through all of it. And she built two communities from the rubble.</p><p><br /></p><p>She is the founder of <a href="https://www.asiastartupnetwork.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Asia Startup Network</a>, a community of 5,000 startups, investors, and ecosystem partners across the region, and <a href="http://www.remarkablewomen.asia/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Remarkable Women</a>, a growing network of 1,000 women in tech and entrepreneurship. Before that, she was a Director at Vertex Ventures, one of Southeast Asia's best-known venture funds.</p><p><br /></p><p>What she built is impressive. Who she became is the real story.</p><p><br /></p><p>Because behind all of that is a single mom of a seven-year-old who went through postpartum depression, a sudden job loss, a painful separation, and a season of alcoholism, all at the same time. And instead of letting that define her, she used every single bit of it to build something real.</p><p><br /></p><p>She did not have the answers. She just refused to stay stuck.</p><p><br /></p><p>What we get into:</p><p>💯 Why she tried to score 100 at motherhood and what it cost her body </p><p>🪞 How her daughter became her mirror, reflecting back both the good and the parts she is still working on</p><p>💔 Why she calls divorce a pointless grief and what it actually takes to move through it</p><p>🍷 The Thursday nights her daughter left and what she reached for to fill the silence</p><p>✍️ How journaling 50 dates over four years helped her finally understand what she was actually looking for in a partner</p><p>🧘 Why she stopped believing the end justifies the means and what motherhood taught her about kindness over being right</p><p>🏃 Why she no longer believes in having it all at the same time and what she thinks we should be asking instead</p><p><br /></p><p>—-----</p><p><strong>CONNECT WITH ELISE AND HER COMMUNITIES</strong></p><p>👋 LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisetanyl/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisetanyl/</a></p><p>👋 Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/gratitude_devotions/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/gratitude_devotions/</a></p><p>👋 Asia Startup Network: <a href="https://www.asiastartupnetwork.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.asiastartupnetwork.com/</a></p><p>👋 Remarkable Women Asia: <a href="http://www.remarkablewomen.asia/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">http://www.remarkablewomen.asia/</a></p><p>👋 Positive Intelligence Saboteur Assessment: <a href="https://positiveintelligence.com/saboteurs/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://positiveintelligence.com/saboteurs/</a></p><p>—-----</p><p><br /><strong>Chapters</strong><br /></p><p>00:00 What Did a Month in Hospital Teach Her</p><p>00:59 Introduction</p><p>03:25 When Everything Fell Apart at Once</p><p>09:43 How Did She Find Her Way Back</p><p>20:03 How Did Asia Startup Network Begin</p><p>23:13 Can Women Really Access Capital in Asia</p><p>26:18 Why Did She Build a Community Just for Women</p><p>28:21 What Does It Mean to Rewrite Your Story</p><p>35:36 What Dating After Divorce Really Looks Like</p><p>—-----</p><p>Watch more: Lessons From 5,000 Moms | Liying Tay, Founder of Crunchmoms | Ep 41  - <a href="https://youtu.be/bamcpRZT5pU?si=EKvURLeJ36r50W0L" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://youtu.be/bamcpRZT5pU?si=EKvURLeJ36r50W0L</a></p><p>—-----</p><p><br />Follow Make It Work! ⁠<a href="https://linktr.ee/makeitwork.podcast%E2%81%A0" target="_blank" rel="ugc noop