The Singapore Women’s Weekly‘s first-ever podcast is here.

Hosted by the Weekly‘s editor Elizabeth Lee, the Great Women of Our Time podcast shines the spotlight on inspirational women and their journey through motherhood and their career. It also touches on grit, and overcoming life’s challenges.

In our pilot episode, we speak to Jenny Tay, mother of two as well as the daughter of Singapore’s philanthropic undertaker Roland Tay. She is also the managing director of Direct Funeral Services and co-founder of Direct Life Foundation. Since entering the death industry, she has done much to change the face of what has traditionally been seen as a sunset trade.

Image: Jenny Tay

She shares more about being a mum, talking to her two children on topics about death, the struggles she faced when entering the funeral industry, and what keeps her going.

Have a listen to her journey, below.

 Here are the highlights:

3:30: On working together as husband and wife 
05:55: On talking to her children about death  
9:43: Jenny shares her start in the industry and her journey since then
11:45: On gaining the respect of a team and revamping the company
16:14: Covid-19 and the Circuit Breaker’s impact on the death industry
18:27: On failure, overcoming challenges and growing from setbacks
23:19: On her mentor and the most inspiring figure in her life, her father
26:18 Jenny shares an incident that left a lasting impression on her
29:00 How working in the death industry inspires her to embrace life and her thoughts on death
33:26 A rapid-fire segment where we ask Jenny about her guilty pleasures, her childhood aspiration, and what she loves about growing older