Life coaching: Help, hype or hustle?

Life coaches (clockwise from top left) Ruchi Parekh, Tina Padia, Tan Yan Mei, and Ambra Liew. ST PHOTOS: LIM YAOHUI, GIN TAY, NG SOR LUAN, NG SOR LUAN

Jessica Novia

UPDATED Mar 29, 2025, 05:59 AM

Thanks for sharing!

SINGAPORE – About a year ago, logistics professional Felice Neo, 43, came across a Facebook advertisement that caught her attention.

The video featured a bespectacled Chinese woman offering advice on relationships: “When a relationship isn’t working out, don’t be stubborn and keep holding on.”

Intrigued, Ms Neo visited the page Athena’s Truth and watched more videos. At the time, she was struggling with her marriage of 10 years. 

Her husband had wanted to file for divorce, but one month later changed his mind and told her that he wanted to salvage the marriage. Ms Neo was unsure whether to stay or leave, and how to handle custody of their two children.

The woman in the videos was life coach Tan Yan Mei, who also said: “The more you focus on a specific outcome, the more you might be getting it wrong.”