For former lawyer turned sustainability champion Meaghan See, pursuing her passion is a hard-won dream come true
In our Dare to Dream series, we invite 12 inspiring individuals who have courageously stepped out of their comfort zones to dream about a future they can truly call their own.
Former lawyer turned sustainability champion Meaghan See is the textbook definition of a multi-hyphenate. When she’s not driving the conversation around sustainability in her day job, you’ll find the 33-year-old in the barre and spin studio rallying her students to move and sweat it out.
But the road to pursuing her passion for a living wasn’t always smooth. Before landing her dream job, Meaghan – like many – spent years in roles that didn’t ring true with her inner purpose, and watched on the sidelines as her peers progressed rapidly in their careers.
Finding meaning in her work was important to Meaghan and why she pursued a career in law in the first place. Thankfully, sticking to her guns – and goals – paid off, when she eventually found a gig that aligned with her purpose: that is, to champion sustainability.
To Meaghan, #daringtodream is about tuning out the societal and parental pressures on what the “ideal” job looks like, and staying true to her “why”.
Below, Meaghan shares how staying fit keeps her focused, her skydiving dreams, and what her best investment in herself to date has been.
How did you wind up doing what you are doing today?
Meaghan: Back when I was doing my Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B) SMU, there were essentially two routes: corporate law and litigation. Neither of them really spoke to me. I decided that if I was going to stay in law, it had to be for something that had meaning for myself. And that I was going to do my post-grad in either humanitarian law or environmental law because they spoke to something greater.
When I was studying at UC Berkeley for my Masters of Law (L.L.M), I learnt a lot from my professors and other students. There was so much going on there around environmental law and regulation. That sparked my passion a lot more. While I knew what I wanted to head towards, I didn’t really know how to when I graduated. I came back to Singapore, fiddled around with a part-time job at an indoor cycling studio, and discovered my passion for teaching.
My first job was in a renewable energy investment boutique firm. Then I went to private practice in a law firm, and left to practice law in-house at a bank. I later moved to an in-house legal position in a brokerage platform and found (my role at) Eco-Business towards the end of last year. Everything pretty much settled in from there. I left a career in legal and did this. It’s completely different from what I used to do, but I saw it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Is there any setback that you’ve overcome to get to where you are today?
I tried to find a job in the US for more than a year, but this was in vain. I was the first in my SMU law school batch to leave to do my L.L.M, then when I came back, I had to start from scratch again. My peers were rising up the corporate ladder and my parents were nagging. At some point, I had to let go of that aspiration to be in a perfect company and role, and decided to follow that traditional route and suck it up. I did wonder: was this where I would be stuck for my entire career? It’s about always putting things back into perspective: in my case, coming back to why I pursued my studies [in law] and having that mindfulness of the future.
If I want to go skydiving, I want to be financially, mentally and physically fit to be able to do that at age 90.
Meaghan See, 33, sustainability champion
What does your dream future look like to you?
Being physically and mentally fit to do what I want. If I want to go skydiving, I want to be financially, mentally and physically fit to be able to do that at age 90.
What’s a habit, belief or behaviour that has positively impacted your life in recent years?
From a young age, I’ve always known that the way for me to keep my head on and keep that focus was through physical activity. If I don’t move, if I don’t sweat even for a day or two, I just feel all over the place.
What’s the best investment you’ve ever made in yourself?
Being a fitness instructor. It was my first step in investing my energy into a space where I could inspire people to move. You could also take that as an analogy for my career motivations. I’ve always wanted to come into this industry of being able to motivate or inspire people to take action.
Where does your concept of money come from and how do you think that has impacted your relationship with finances?
When I went to work, I started thinking about the way I was living before; it was quite unsustainable. I depended on my parents for everything – like food, going out, transport and all. Then you start to calculate and plan better.
It’s mostly just being aware of how much I am putting into and taking out of my account, and making sure every month that the balance doesn’t go too far off. In the past two or three years, I started looking into my insurance and passive income, but even then, I’m still learning to be disciplined and smart about it.
Be clear about where you want to be in five years to ten years, medium to long term. And don’t be demoralised by where you’re at right now. I took such a long way to get to where I am.
Complete this sentence: “My favourite Autumn app feature is….”
The Finance Dashboard where I get to see every aspect of my finances in one page, including my savings, property management, CPF savings and investments. It gives a great real-time overview of where I’m at financially. Also, the Your Circle feature is such a thoughtful addition to be able to plan along with your loved ones for the future!
What are little steps our audience can take today to move towards their dream future?
Be clear about where you want to be in five years to ten years, medium to long term. And don’t be demoralised by where you’re at right now. I took such a long way to get to where I am.
Also, don’t be afraid to talk to people. I got to where I am because of asking questions and digging around in the industry and seeing what kind of opportunities there were.
Lastly, talk about your goals more often. Don’t be afraid of how it sounds out loud even if it’s super crazy. Because you don’t know who is going to come to hear of it, pick it up and offer you your next job opportunity, or take you to where you want to be.
Follow Meaghan’s #DaretoDream journeys on our socials. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. Enjoyed this article? Take your little step today – write your dream pledge card for 2022 here.
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