Steph Zee

I thank my parents, friends, and my husband for encouraging me to write and sing. Seeing my parents become successful definitely inspired me from an early age. My dad faced disabilities at a young age, and I watched him build a business from scratch, caring for seniors and people with disabilities in the UK. It was the third top care company in the UK at that time, in his prime. My dad would click his fingers in rhythm and always say 'positive, positive thinking.' His light-hearted spirit reminded me to make sure I don't let the not-so-good days diminish the fire in my soul. He was always making me laugh and reminding me not to take life so seriously, but at the same time, he told me to be more assertive in my career, especially as a woman. Most importantly, I haven't given up in the face of adversity. Instead, I turned it into fuel for that fire in my soul, and it became one of my greatest strengths. I didn't choose to go into health writing, but all of these experiences kind of took me there. Going through something so life-changing and facing such adversity really made me step back and value what's important in my life, and it helped me craft a sense of purpose.

My creative writing college professor told our class, 'Write what you know and write what inspires you.' I can also rewind back to when I was a kid in school in England, and my English teacher placed my poem on the wall for the whole class to see, which was a bit embarrassing at the time, but he said, 'Don't ever stop writing, I believe in you.' I always remember that. My dad told me to be more assertive in my career, especially as a woman, and reminded me that if I don't know something, I can ask questions and learn.

I would say the clients and creatives you can develop long-term working relationships with are so valuable. Surround yourself with positive, supportive people. Whether it's in writing or music, take ownership of your ideas, and always have signed contracts with clear terms, goals, and benchmarks. When I was younger and inexperienced, I co-wrote and sang a song and thought I was simply writing and singing an English part dubbed in an international small student film, but it turns out it was the soundtrack for a major studio-backed action movie, top of the charts in Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, they didn't spell my name correctly, and I didn't get a contract, which would be one of my lessons. Always get it in writing, especially if you're working across continents and countries. Us women have to find that courage to stand up and advocate for ourselves in business and our professional lives. We have to remind ourselves that we deserve the rewards of our hard work and success.

One of the biggest challenges in my field is navigating industries that can feel closed off or dismissive, while also balancing the demands of work with chronic health conditions. At the same time, there are powerful opportunities to create purpose-driven health content, build independent platforms like Cup of Arwen, and use lived experience to genuinely help and inspire others.

In our fast-paced digital world, I value honest and open communication, authenticity and empathy, and being kinder to ourselves. Especially as women, I think sometimes the things that we say to ourselves in our heads, we would never dream of saying to anyone else. So we really need to love ourselves. As Whitney Houston said, the greatest love of all is loving yourself. It's like you have to put your oxygen mask on first before you can help others. The wheelchair experience was really life-changing because I learned about what's more important. It makes you realize what's important and helped me craft a sense of purpose. For me, it felt so enriching and rewarding to help others, and to know that my writing and my studying and research and my work is actually helping people heal because of what I had been through.