Cover Photo: Chriselle Lim

With two businesses and two kids to take care of, no one day is the same for the fashionable entrepreneur

How I’m Making It is a weekly series in which Tatler speaks to influential individuals about their unique journeys and what keeps them going.


“The biggest misconception is that my life is all glamour, exotic travels, and luxury fashion,” says Korean-American influencer Chriselle Lim, who first found a following over a decade ago by sharing tips on style and beauty through her blog and YouTube channel. “What people don’t see on social media are the long hours, demanding clients, and exhaustion that come with those perks.”

Indeed, the woman that Lim is today is not merely defined by the brilliant outfits that she puts together—which constantly land her on our best-dressed lists—but also by her tenacity and tenderness as a single mother, her sense of humour (have you seen her TikToks?), and her industriousness as a business leader.

Those long hours that Lim alludes to? They go largely into growing BümoWork—a communal workspace that she created for working parents and which comes complete with childcare services—and tapping onto her creativity as the owner of the fragrance brand, Phlur.

All of that happens while she supports her two young daughters—no easy task, especially for Lim, for whom motherhood took on a whole new dimension after her recent separation from her husband.

How does she find the time to do anything else? Below, the stylish and savvy entrepreneur shares with Tatler about how she juggles her many roles, her secrets to dealing with stress, and the importance of investing in yourself.

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Tatler Asia
Above Photo: Chriselle Lim

What is a typical morning like for you?

Chriselle Lim (CL): Every day is different depending on what’s going on in my girls’ lives, what I have going on with work, and of course, the season (I travel a fair amount for Fashion Week). Once I became a mum, I became a morning person. I typically wake up around 5 am or 6 am as this is really the only time during the day I get time to myself; my daughters are still asleep and my emails haven’t quite started piling up. During these few hours, I either meditate and read or workout, usually on my Peloton bike. These few hours in the morning are precious to me and what gives me the strength to get through my hectic days.

Once my daughters wake up, our mornings consist of getting dressed and washed up, eating breakfast, and rushing out the door for our morning drop-off. Our drives are always fun as my girls always educating me on the latest and greatest songs. Currently their favourites are Old Town Road by Lil Nas X and How You Like That by Blackpink.

Once I drop the girls off, I typically grab coffee on the go and head to work, whether that is taking meetings at BümoWork, going to meet my business partner to discuss launch cadence for Phlur, or meeting my team to shoot content.

No one day is the same in my line of work and I love it.

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What do you usually have for breakfast?

CL: I am not too ritualistic when it comes to my meals. I don’t follow any strict diet but rather, I practice intuitive eating. Intuitive eating is a simple idea. It effectively means that you don’t restrict yourself from any certain types of foods but instead you listen to your body and eat what feels right for you. Growing up with a Korean mum that was an excellent cook, I think I developed a healthy palette early in life as the Korean diet is quite healthy, being centred on vegetables, fermented foods like kimchi, soups, and whole grain rice.

All that said, for breakfast, I like to keep it simple with oatmeal, overnight oats, a yogurt parfait, or sometimes just a green juice if I’m on the go. I will admit that pastries are my weakness and I will never turn down a chocolate croissant.

Tatler Asia
Above Photo: Chriselle Lim

How would you describe your working style?

CL: Collaborative and team-oriented. Running several businesses is incredibly rewarding but can also be incredibly challenging when you’re trying to allocate your time wisely and effectively. I will say that the most important thing I’ve learned early in my career is to invest in your team as your team is hands down your greatest asset. I’ve been so lucky to have found wonderful business partners in my various ventures and I attribute so much of my success to the people that I’ve surrounded myself with.

What time do you usually have lunch? What do you usually have for lunch?

CL: Lunch is a meal that I rarely skip. As my mornings start early, I tend to get hungry in the early afternoon. As my schedule is quite demanding and oftentimes, I am on the go, I’ve naturally come to see food as fuel to power my body, boosting my physical energy, mental acuity, and of course my mood. My go-to for lunch is typically a big, hearty salad with kale, eggs, avocado, sweet potato and quinoa. If I am feeling hungrier, I will get salmon with my salad. I also always travel with snacks in my purse as I’m in the car so often, and they’re usually almonds, cashews and dried fruit. 

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Free time: overrated or underrated? Why?

CL: Massively underrated. When you are a working mother with young kids, free time (and alone time) is the greatest luxury! 

Tatler Asia
Above Photo: Chriselle Lim

What was your first job? What did you learn from it?

CL: My first job was an internship with world renowned fashion PR agency Karla Otto. I learned so much during this internship and in a lot of ways I feel that this internship set the course of a series of events that lead to me where I am now. At Karla Otto, I got my first experience dealing with stylists that would come to the showroom to pull clothes for their celebrity stylists. One of the stylists that I met was Tanya Gill and she offered me a job to become her assistant. Tanya was an incredible stylist with an incredible list of celebrity clients and she was so gracious to show me the ropes. I always tell people that being a stylist was a great crash course to becoming an entrepreneur later in my career as it really instilled in me my work ethic.

From there, in 2008 I began blogging and in 2011, I launched my YouTube channel.

What would you say is your favourite part of your current job?

CL: I feel so grateful that I can make a living doing what I love. I love that I can forge my own path and follow my intuition and passion. Over the years, my career has had many lives and it has evolved in so many ways—that is what I love most about my job. From going from stylist to fashion creator, to launching Bümo, a company that is reimagining what the future of family and work looks like for modern parents, and most recently, relaunching fragrance brand Phlur, I love that I am not confined to just one niche. Instead, I can pivot and continue to challenge myself, learn and grow.

Tatler Asia
Above Photo: Chriselle Lim

What are some misconceptions of your job and how do you normally respond to these?

CL: I would say that the biggest misconception is that my life is all glamour, exotic travels, and luxury fashion. Sure, my job comes with a lot of amazing perks, all of which I am so grateful for but what people don’t see on social media are the long hours, demanding clients, and exhaustion that come with those perks. What people see on social media is only 10 per cent of what goes on behind-the-scenes in the world of a creator.

I think another misconception about my job is that the fashion world and influencers are all competitive amongst one another and are catty but in my experience, that has been far from the truth. The people that I’ve met through the fashion industry have become lifelong friends that have supported me and championed for me through some of my life’s biggest moments.

How do you chase your dreams?

CL: I think that I’ve always been somewhat of a risk taker but what has really propelled me to chase my dreams is the desire to learn and grow. As a creative, my strong suit has always been ideating. From there, I go out and find the right team to help me bring my vision to life. What I’ve learned over time is that growth takes curiosity and curiosity takes courage. Taking risks can certainly be scary but what I fear more than the risk failure is the risk of complacency.

Risks: should you take them? Why or why not?

CL: Absolutely. “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny,” as C.S. Lewis wrote.

How do you deal with your shortcomings?

CL: I surround myself with people that are stronger than me, more creative than me, and smarter than me. This may sound scary and uncomfortable and certainly takes a certain level of self-confidence to employ this strategy but having people who are stronger than you in certain aspects makes it easy for you to keep learning. This will help you continuously improve and grow.

What is one failure that you have experienced and what did you learn from it?

CL: There have been a lot of failures over the course of my career, but I think that a lot of my mistakes earlier in my life came from my pride. Pride is a dangerous thing and it can come in many forms. Pride will always get in the way of you achieving happiness and success in this life.

Tatler Asia
Above Photo: Chriselle Lim

What is the best piece of advice that you have ever gotten?

CL: Invest in yourself. I think this is something that women especially need to hear as I think that women by nature like to give rather than receive. As a mother and an entrepreneur, this is something that I am continuously having to work on and improve on as it is easy for me to give all of myself to my kids and my work.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realise that investing in myself will only improve my life as well as the lives around me. Simple things like taking those few hours in the morning for myself or hiring a babysitter for the night and enjoying a nice dinner and a glass (or two) of wine with my girlfriends will go a long way. Investing in yourself is literally the best investment you can make as there is little to no risk and huge return.

How do you unplug?

CL: Honestly, I love being with my kids. When I am with my kids, it is the one time that I can truly put my phone down and just enjoy their company. I love playing with them as they have such rich imaginations. I love dancing with them every night via Just Dance, a dance game series, as they teach me what kids listen to these days. I love watching them interact with one another as it reminds me of the strength of the sisterhood bond.

How do you stay grounded?

CL: My family and my friends. My closest girlfriends do not work in the same industry and frankly, it is a breath of fresh air. We rarely talk about work when we are together as we are too busy getting advice from one another about our children and relationships, reminiscing about our younger days, and just laughing about... well, everything!

At the end of the day, I have been in this industry long enough to know that this is my job and though I share a lot of my life on social media, I also do draw boundaries between my professional life and my personal life.

How do you manage stress?

CL: Exercise. I truly believe that exercise is the most effective way to deal with and handle stress and anxiety. It is said that regular and consistent exercise encourages your brain to regularly release endorphins, which can help improve your mood. For those days that I just can’t find the time to work out (i.e. during Fashion Week), I still make a daily effort to move my body and get my heart rate up whether that be through push-ups at home or doing some simple at-home stretches.

How do you prioritise tasks?

CL: I am a journal and planner type of person. I know that there are now a lot of apps and tech tools that can help with this but I am an old school pen-to-paper person. I am also so lucky in that I have great teams with my businesses that help me plan, schedule and prioritise. 

Do you have moments of doubt and how do you overcome them?

CL: I love the quote “Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”  When I have moments of doubt, I like to read this quote as it reminds me that it takes courage to make a make change and pursue the life that you want.

Tatler Asia
Above Photo: Chriselle Lim

What would you consider your greatest accomplishment to date?

CL: When I look back on all that I have accomplished, I would say that I am most proud of the risks that I have taken to follow my heart. It’s easy to default to taking the safe and easy choice but there is little reward here. Pivoting from fashion influencer to launching Bümo has really expanded my world and taken me out of my comfort zone, which has been so rewarding. From there, launching fragrance brand Phlur has been another whirlwind of an adventure and I’m so excited to see where this takes me. Other great accomplishments include being on the cover of Parents Magazine and Entrepreneur Magazine and of course, getting a Barbie made after me!

What would you still like to accomplish?

CL: Currently I am really focusing my energies on growing Bümo and Phlur, but I do think there is so much more that I want to accomplish. Exactly what that is, you will just have to wait and see!

What is the last thing you do before you go to bed?

CL: I read every night, even if it’s for just 10 minutes. Reading helps reduce mental chatter and helps me detach from worries and stress and enter a quiet state of relaxation before bed. I have a nice ritual every night where I do my skincare routine, I get in bed with hot Korean barley tea, light a candle, perhaps play some ambient lo-fi music and read.

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