Let’s go on an adventure… and a journey, with Jacinta Lim, Co-Founder of Seek Sophie, the travel platform curating hidden-gem experiences across Asia that are meaningful, sustainable, and deeply personal.



From jungle treks and dive trips to creative workshops and cultural encounters, Seek Sophie moves beyond cookie-cutter tours and tourist traps. By connecting travellers with independent guides and small local businesses, Jacinta and her team are proving that travel can be both transformative and responsible, supporting livelihoods, protecting nature, and creating stories that last long after the trip is over.





This episode of Open For Business is powered by PETRONAS SmartPay, the simpler and better solution for all your business needs.

Let’s go on an adventure… and a journey, with Jacinta Lim, Co-Founder of Seek Sophie, the travel platform curating hidden-gem experiences across Asia that are meaningful, sustainable, and deeply personal.From jungle treks and dive trips to creative workshops and cultural encounters, Seek Sophie moves beyond cookie-cutter tours and tourist traps. By connecting travellers with independent guides and small local businesses, Jacinta and her team are proving that travel can be both transformative and responsible, supporting livelihoods, protecting nature, and creating stories that last long after the trip is over.This episode of Open For Business is powered by PETRONAS SmartPay, the simpler and better solution for all your business needs.

The flagship entrepreneurship show on BFM, featuring personal business stories from early stage start-ups, all the way to billionaire octogenarians in Malaysia and abroad. Notable guests include Martin Cooper (father of the mobile phone), Julian Assange (founder of WikiLeaks), Ralph Henry Baer (father of video games), Tony Buzan (Mindmap Guru), Isaac Tigrett (Hard Rock Cafe founder), Robert Kiyosaki (Financial Guru), Nick Vujicic (motivational speaker) and more. Tap into this valuable resource of shared experiences for the SME industry, which also touches on news, issues and trends affecting the business community and beyond.

Open For Business

Discover fresh concepts, tackle obstacles, and unleash growth - Open For Business is the dynamic show where BFM engages with entrepreneurs, business leaders, and industry trailblazers, igniting inspiration, sparking success, and exploring new business models.

Seek Sophie: Travel with Purpose, Adventure with Heart

In 2017, Spark Liang quit a comfortable job as a Thomson Reuters analyst to make financial literacy videos from his bedroom. Within six months, he organically grew 100,000 Facebook followers and successfully raised RM1.5 million from them through equity crowdfunding on Ata Plus. In a rare startup success story, he bought back those early shares, giving his original investors a massive 300 percent return.  



However, the journey wasn't entirely smooth. After discovering the harsh reality that everyday consumers rarely want to pay for financial education, Spark executed a major business pivot toward B2B corporate training. Today, FinSpark has evolved from a simple media channel into a diversified seven-figure corporate group. The ecosystem now spans financial media, SC-licensed corporate consulting under MMC Financial, and even a TVET institution known as SUMA College.  



Spark joins us to unpack the realities of monetising an online following, why identifying a problem doesn't always equal a viable market, and the group's ambitious five-year roadmap toward a public listing.

In 2017, Spark Liang quit a comfortable job as a Thomson Reuters analyst to make financial literacy videos from his bedroom. Within six months, he organically grew 100,000 Facebook followers and successfully raised RM1.5 million from them through equity crowdfunding on Ata Plus. In a rare startup success story, he bought back those early shares, giving his original investors a massive 300 percent return.&nbsp;&nbsp;However, the journey wasn't entirely smooth. After discovering the harsh reality that everyday consumers rarely want to pay for financial education, Spark executed a major business pivot toward B2B corporate training. Today, FinSpark has evolved from a simple media channel into a diversified seven-figure corporate group. The ecosystem now spans financial media, SC-licensed corporate consulting under MMC Financial, and even a TVET institution known as SUMA College.&nbsp;&nbsp;Spark joins us to unpack the realities of monetising an online following, why identifying a problem doesn't always equal a viable market, and the group's ambitious five-year roadmap toward a public listing.

From Bedroom YouTuber to a Seven Figure Finance Group

Malaysia's corporate training market runs on slides, seminars, and motivational talks. It is also, by most accounts, not working. Burnout is at record levels. Trust between leaders and teams is eroding. And the soft skills that make the difference — self-awareness, emotional presence, the ability to genuinely listen — are exactly the ones a classroom cannot teach.



Nurul Atiqah Anuar believes the answer might be standing in a paddock.



A Chartered Governance Professional who spent a decade in boardrooms across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, she co-founded Setenang — a leadership development programme built around one of the oldest non-verbal feedback systems in the world: horses. Not riding them. But standing with them, leading them, and being read by them.



Atiqah joins us to talk about how a 500kg animal with no interest in your job title, your KPIs, or your quarterly results will show you — in real time and without filters — exactly who you are as a leader.

Malaysia's corporate training market runs on slides, seminars, and motivational talks. It is also, by most accounts, not working. Burnout is at record levels. Trust between leaders and teams is eroding. And the soft skills that make the difference — self-awareness, emotional presence, the ability to genuinely listen — are exactly the ones a classroom cannot teach.Nurul Atiqah Anuar believes the answer might be standing in a paddock.A Chartered Governance Professional who spent a decade in boardrooms across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, she co-founded Setenang — a leadership development programme built around one of the oldest non-verbal feedback systems in the world: horses. Not riding them. But standing with them, leading them, and being read by them.Atiqah joins us to talk about how a 500kg animal with no interest in your job title, your KPIs, or your quarterly results will show you — in real time and without filters — exactly who you are as a leader.

What A Horse Knows About Your Leadership, That You Don’t

Childhood friends and lifelong gamers Kashif Khairul and Rizal Azlan co-founded 1+1 Studios in 2024 with one conviction: that the best co-op games should bring people closer together, not just put them side by side. Their debut title, Duo Quest, is a co-op roguelite deckbuilder where your friendship is literally a game mechanic — you answer questions about each other to generate attacks, meaning the better you know your partner, the harder you hit.



The game has not yet launched commercially. But it has already won an award at Gamescom Asia in Bangkok, been nominated for Best Multiplayer at Gamescom LATAM 2026, drawn over 5,000 players to a closed playtest, and gone viral in Japan with over a million views. All this from a six-person studio in Kuala Lumpur, with no external funding.



Kashif and Rizal join us to discuss the gap in the co-op game market, why friendship became the design brief, what Malaysian indie developers need to break through and whether the local scene is more ready than it looks.

Childhood friends and lifelong gamers Kashif Khairul and Rizal Azlan co-founded 1+1 Studios in 2024 with one conviction: that the best co-op games should bring people closer together, not just put them side by side. Their debut title, Duo Quest, is a co-op roguelite deckbuilder where your friendship is literally a game mechanic — you answer questions about each other to generate attacks, meaning the better you know your partner, the harder you hit.The game has not yet launched commercially. But it has already won an award at Gamescom Asia in Bangkok, been nominated for Best Multiplayer at Gamescom LATAM 2026, drawn over 5,000 players to a closed playtest, and gone viral in Japan with over a million views. All this from a six-person studio in Kuala Lumpur, with no external funding.Kashif and Rizal join us to discuss the gap in the co-op game market, why friendship became the design brief, what Malaysian indie developers need to break through and whether the local scene is more ready than it looks.

Seek Sophie: Travel with Purpose, Adventure with Heart

In 1 playlist(s)

Open For Business

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips