Serene Chua

As a successful multi-hyphenate, Serene has learnt to deal with the challenges that come with wearing many hats. When Covid-19 threw a curveball earlier this year, the private banker, F&B entrepreneur and mother of three found herself having to adapt in diverse ways. With dining-in disallowed during the Circuit Breaker period, the business model of her F&B brands Wolf Burgers and Carvers & Co had to adjust and shift more resources towards online orders for takeaways and deliveries.

Fortunately, this was not completely new as apart from the five physical outlets in Singapore and Japan, her brands have also been operating out of cloud kitchens since 2018. “The pandemic certainly accelerates digitalisation and we are now faster and more nimble, flexible and aggressive in the innovation of products,” she says.

On the private banking front, the way she has had to interact with clients has also changed. “Private banking is a highly personal business and can’t be fully replaced by technology. However, there is a lot more flexibility on time and empowerment, which is great for us working mothers who need to balance work and family life.”