At e27, we have kickstarted a new article series called work-life balance to learn more about tech enablers and executives and their lives beyond working hours.

Will Fan is the Head of School at NewCampus, where he is reinventing management training for hypergrowth leaders in Asia.

Over the past decade, he’s empowered over 15,000 students across Southeast Asia, China and the Middle East. Fan has worked with scaleups, corporates and universities to make leadership development accessible and impactful.

Outside his life’s work, he is found writing for Forbes, practising headstands at yoga, and obsessing over his indoor plants.

He is a regular contributor of articles for e27 (you can read his thought leadership articles here). 

In this candid interview, Fan talks about his personal and professional life.

How would you explain what you do to a five-year-old?

I love this question. I am an owner of a school that teaches bosses how to become better bosses. My students often learn in groups of 25 to 50. They learn together on a computer and sometimes watch videos too. The students get to practice fun activities that help them become better bosses.

What has been the biggest highlight/challenge of your career so far?

Running a startup is already hard. Running an education startup is like doing it in hard mode as it is one of the slowest industries to reform (pre-pandemic). Founders in this sector have to balance everything — from appealing to multiple stakeholders and building a grassroots brand to creating a profitable, cockroach-type business over time.

It’s taken my team and me almost eight years to build a repeatable flywheel. It took countless years of learning, from selling to universities to governments to consumers. It’s been rough, but I’m proud to say that the accelerator is here.

It’s also critical now that the team switches mindset from “survival mode” to “growth mode” and capitalise on the momentum we have.

Ultimately, we want to build a brand that changes how people learn, work and live. There’s no proven formula to get there.

How do you envision the next five years of your career?

I’m eight years into a twenty-five-year journey, building the next hundred-year-old brand. My driver is to design what modern leaders represent and how they should be nurtured over time.

Growing up, I had very few role models, especially coming from an immigrant of Asian descent. So it’s vital for me to constantly build communities and ecosystems that provide such access and exposure.

Also Read: Cultivating an honest culture: Why leaders should be transparent

My superpower is being able to connect with people.

In the early days, it taught founding students; now, I am working closely with clients and partners who want to evangelise our mission.

Moving forward, it will be more of the same, hopefully scaling to new tribes of entrepreneurs and educators beyond Asia and creating a global footprint for NewCampus.

What are some of your favourite work tools?

Besides your usual suspects (Zoom, Slack, Hubspot), which is usually fundamental for a b2b startup, it’s also the bread and butter for NewCampus as a remote team of thirty-something people.

We’re spread across China, Australia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia. A core part of our workflow is ensuring that project management is well-documented and asynchronous conversations are cohesively written.

Personally, I’ve been very excited to incorporate Artificial Intelligence into my work. For example, this interview was transcribed by a speech tool, as I prefer sharing my thoughts verbally rather than in writing. 

For my creative hobbies, I’m diving deep into AI art and exploring ways to incorporate that into NewCampus content and storytelling.

It’s a huge opportunity to revolutionise many industries, and evolving your personal or professional toolstack is key to staying on top.

What’s something about you or your job that would surprise us?

I’m incredibly introverted! This usually surprises many of my clients, investors and even team members who have never met me in person.

You’ll often find me presenting to large crowds or swimming through networking events, but I need personal time to reset and reflect. The need to re-energise is real.

Daily, I may be taking 10 to 15 calls, but in between, I’ll be curled up on the couch. If I’m at drinks, I’m usually the quietest in the corner unless called upon to pitch and build relationships.

Do you prefer WFH or WFO, or hybrid?

I prefer to work from home. I have a sophisticated setup for recording content, hosting roundtables and teaching classes, and speaking to the remote team. My previous business was also in vintage furniture, so I absolutely love having my own “space” to think and reset.

Also Read: Your identity should not be limited to what you do at work: Sheryl Chen of Qualgro

Thursdays are our company’s “no-Zoom” day, so you’ll find me digitally detoxing and getting to know folks over meaningful coffee and drinks.

What would you tell your younger self?

I mentioned earlier that I had very few role models while growing up. For a long time, especially coming from the corporate world, it was important to put a face of confidence in everything we do. Flex your experience. Flex your wealth. Flex your status.

Looking back, it was really a naive kid with severe imposter syndrome. I’d tell myself that finding internal confidence is key for anyone to thrive. It’s why one of my core philosophies, when it comes to the team, is bringing your most authentic self to the table, whether it’s at home or work.

Finding authenticity may take you five, ten, or twenty years. Don’t rush it.

Can you describe yourself in 3 words?

Creative. People-oriented. Hungry.

What are you most likely to be doing if not working?

I’m a fanatic when it comes to working out. I go to yoga and f45 around six times a week. Especially in a tough startup climate, it’s key to take a step back and realise that everything is probably not as dramatic as you think. Often we find ourselves tunnel-visioned.

Getting a good sweat and resetting the mind keeps the journey sustainable and the experience fun.

Outside of fitness, you’ll find me illustrating, advising and investing in Web3 projects. It’s a way to learn about a new class of users, how emerging brands become relevant, and stay alert to what’s vogue.

What are you currently reading/listening to/watching?

I’m terribly outdated when it comes to music. Recently, I came across BTS, even though one of their songs, Dynamite, is a regular introduction for our cohort programmes. If you have any recommendations on what other songs are good, please share!

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