Last week, 9 talented youths shared their journey and lessons in navigating their challenges, self-doubts and peer pressures. In the article, you can see that they are just like all of us, thriving hard to make their dreams come true, by holding one principle dear to their hearts – inspiring growth for themselves and other people.
On the Monsta Asia platform, 30,000+ talents have been inspired. Using the K.E.N method (knowledge, experience, network), we are letting the industry be your lecturer, the network be your opportunities.
Behind the mission of building a sustainable talent ecosystem through technology and community, stands a woman. As they said, behind every successful business there is a woman.
A successful woman who used to be eating Gardenia bread every day for almost a year and living a life with only RM1,000 in her bank account.
Now, it’s time to celebrate this amazing woman who founded Monsta Asia, Chan Zhi Ee. You will also get to know 5 fun facts about Monsta Asia many of you may not hear of.
Monsta Asia is not the original name.
Many of you might not know this. Before Monsta was born, the original company name was “ThirtyOne Asia”. It was a random registration name over our founder’s full name “Chan Zhi Ee” – since her name is pronounced as “31” in Mandarin.
As our founder always believes in the power of collaboration, she founded the ThirtyOne Asia company with its tagline, “Connecting Resources, Creating Results“. She constantly organised business talks to share her ideas in building a community to support small businesses in Malaysia.
Like other startups, she started working on the business model canvas, attending business workshops, putting sticky notes on the wall in her room and, most importantly, she dreamed big!
Then, she realised it was NOT as simple as she thought. She found out the two biggest challenges any business faces – People and Money.
So, she decided to put her focus on connecting “talent” resources to her business network by starting with internship programmes. Eventually, “ThirtyOne Asia” became the “coolest” internship platform in town.
However, due to overwhelmed applications from both companies and students, people slowly saw Zhi Ee as the famous “intern headhunter”, which has NOT aligned with her intention to build a community that develops a talent ecosystem in Malaysia.
Watching Disney movies is not a waste of time!
Making the decision to rebrand, she changed the company name from ThirtyOne Asia to Monsta Asia (inspired by Monster Inc, her favourite Disney movie) with the belief that every youth is unique, and given an opportunity, they will be the “STAR” in their own ways!
However, our founder and the team encountered some companies rejecting to pay up because they were not satisfied with the students and at the same time, students did not like the culture of the company.
After a year of hustling, we realised that we were blindly creating opportunities but we missed one major determining point – there was a HUGE MISMATCHING on both spectrums of expectations from companies and youngsters.
So, once again, Monsta Asia was transitioning and transforming!
“Maxis saved Monsta!”
“This RM10,000 saved my life!” said Zhi Ee. She suddenly found the Inspired Challenge from Maxis and decided to apply just a few hours before the deadline closed. Then the rest became history.
After she won the challenge, our founder emphasised, “My vision in building a university that empowers future generations for the real world has never changed. This was just the START!”
“I didn’t create Monsta. They did.”
They made our founder believe that everyone deserves a stage to shine and unleash their best potential.
In 2017, Zhi Ee met with some of our Malaysia Prides, Datuk Nicol David, Datuk Jimmy Choo, Dato’ Sri Hajah Siti Nurhaliza, Amber Chia, Datuk Lee Chong Wei etc., and she realised they have a similar trait – they may not have the BEST grades in their studies but they have the RIGHT mindset and attitude to shine!
With this in mind, our founder always inspires the younger generation to amplify their voice; have the grit to overcome challenges; be confident in themselves; and, have the courage to choose what they really want in life.
Datuk Nicol David once told her, “If a young Penang girl can make it, why not YOU?”
We are nobody without “Ken”! 
Monsta has grown since then. With the focus on 100% Knowledge, Experience and Network (“Ken”), Monsta has become a STAGE to recognise young individuals, a PLAYGROUND to showcase their talents, a PLACE to meet new friends and a PLATFORM to learn from the best!
Now, Monsta is built by a group of innovative young individuals who have diverse backgrounds sharing the same goal – inspiring growth across Asia.
Our vision is that everyone has the FREEDOM to learn based on their own strengths, skills and interests. Ultimately, we aim to empower individuals to unleash their best potential in their lives.
This year is no exception! We are having our biggest flagship event, MonStar Awards 2022 – A Year of Transformation, from August until November 2022.
Here we have shared our transformational story. So, it’s your turn now. This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to let everyone across Asia know your worth and your talented story.
If you have any questions, you can always drop us a message on any social media. We are looking forward to hearing your inspiring story!
