Hi, I'm Yvonne, The Happy Coach — founder of yvnspace.
Former senior leadership. A high-performer. A person who had it all, and quietly fell apart. Here's what happened, and why it became my life's work.
I grew up as the eldest child and grandchild in a strict Asian household. As a girl, it took every ounce of effort to be the best and stand out. It was tough. Being the 'model kid' wasn't a choice. It was a contract. Study hard. Don't cause trouble. Make the family proud. Do what looks right.
From the outside, it worked beautifully — a career leading teams across luxury events, medical sales, Amazon Prime Video, global agencies. Competence at every turn. But inside? I felt suffocated, unfulfilled, and deeply stuck. I had built an impressive life I wasn't sure I had ever actually chosen.
"I was performing a version of myself, designed for someone else's idea of success. Not mine."
Early in my career, I had a boss who checked in every couple of months and asked what I wanted — not for the company, for myself.
My mind went blank. I never had an answer. I'd grown up believing wanting things for yourself was something you earned, not something you were allowed to have. I'd learned to take instructions and stay quiet, even when I wanted something.
One day, over a project I cared about, I finally pushed back instead of staying quiet. He told me he was glad I'd finally said it out loud. It was the first time someone showed me that having a voice wasn't the same thing as being selfish.
It didn't undo years of conditioning. But it planted something.
Then came a period of deep darkness, one that brought me to a place I never want anyone else to reach alone.
I had mastered the art of looking fine. Of showing up. Of delivering. But the gap between who I was performing and who I actually was had become unbearable. The mask worked against me right when I needed it to come off. I did not know who to reach out to, because I was supposed to be strong and invincible.
It was a random text from a friend that pulled me back to earth. A simple message: I see you. That moment taught me that emotions are not weaknesses. Real strength begins when you stop performing and start feeling.
"The most courageous thing I ever did wasn't climbing the career ladder. It was deciding to stop and ask: is this actually mine?"
I started making decisions that baffled the people around me. Freelancing when I was doing well. Switching industries. Saying no to the "right" opportunities. It was lonely — a particular kind of lonely that comes from a path that doesn't match the people around you.
I caved and went back into corporate, chasing the kind of stability that was supposed to be right. Twice in two years, the thing I'd built my identity around disappeared without warning. The first time, I told myself it was circumstance. The second time, I couldn't tell myself that anymore.
I could have gone back to corporate again. This time, I'm choosing myself.
I didn't come to coaching from a textbook. I came to it from the inside of the experience. Coaching gave me the language for what I had already been living.
I know the specific exhaustion of high-performing your way through a life that doesn't quite fit. I don't coach from theory. That's not something you can fake. And it's what makes the difference in the room.
You don't need to have it figured out. Just be honest enough to reach out.
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