Founder of Lab Studios and LabX Jasmine Chong demonstrates how bold decisions, self-awareness and a commitment to following your passion isn’t just fulfilling—it can change lives
“It was an impulsive decision,” Jasmine Chong admits, reflecting on the moment she left her corporate job in private banking to pursue fitness full-time.
What would make a private banking professional walk away from a lucrative career to start her own yoga studio? For Chong, the founder of Singapore-based Lab Studios, a fitness brand with yoga, barre and Pilates group classes, it was the realisation that success without fulfilment isn’t really success at all.
A graduate of Singapore Management University, Chong built an impressive career in private banking, working for firms like Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch. Yet, something always felt amiss; she was deeply unfulfilled and recognised the need to make a change for the sake of her health and wellbeing. Her introduction to yoga in 2009 began as a way to ease sore muscles from her gym workouts, but it soon sparked a passion that would transform her life—and many others.
Read more: How I’m Making It: How Jasmine Chong used her passion for yoga to launch Lab Studios
“I wish I could tell you I had this whole thing planned out. I did one thing: I calculated how much money I needed for the next six months. If I had no income during that period, how much would I need to survive? I had to think about my liabilities and any payments I had to make.
“I told myself, ‘Even if you have no money coming in, you need to have savings.’ After my calculations, I realised six months was my limit. So the plan was if at the end of six months I make no money, I’d go back to work. I set that time frame and signed the lease. From then on, I reminded myself, ‘You cannot fail.’ Basically all my eggs were in that one basket,” Chong explains.
Her journey to launching multiple studios around Singapore is marked by bold, instinctive decisions—from leaving banking to teaching up to 25 yoga classes a week, to founding Lab Studios and now launching LabX, the company’s slow resistant training brand.
Each move, though seemingly impulsive, was rooted in a deep understanding of her strengths and passions. Here, we outline the key mindsets that paved the way for her success.
