For Min Sheen Tan, balance starts with gratitude. A former food technologist turned UX designer, public speaker, and Programs & Digital Executive at the Centre for Entrepreneurial Research and Innovation (CERI), Min has built a career around curiosity and human connection. From running workshops on leadership and storytelling to guiding founders through early-stage challenges, his work sits at the crossroads of creativity, empathy, and purpose.
Outside the office, you’ll find him practicing yoga, gaming, or writing his first book, For Foods Sake, a behind-the-scenes look at the food industry and its impact on wellbeing. For Min, wellness isn’t about rigid routines — it’s about small, mindful choices that shape a better future self. In our chat, he shares how gratitude transformed his career, the rituals that keep him grounded, and why play might just be the secret to staying creative.
You’ve had such a varied journey — from food technologist to UX designer to public speaker. How have gratitude and mindfulness helped guide those career shifts?
What a great first question! It took me a long time to get into the practice of gratitude and mindfulness. Initially, I was very reactive, and this made me make some poor decisions in my career. When I started practicing yoga, I noticed that being grateful for the movements could also translate into being grateful for everyday things. For me, practicing gratitude means looking out for things that made me smile and made my day.
During those career shifts, even on the worst days, I had to look out for something positive. Mindfulness allowed me to be less reactive, which helped me look forward to something, look out for the positive gestures, and appreciate the career I had at the time. Now I can fondly look back at positive memories of my food technologist and UX designer days. The combination of gratitude and mindfulness has helped my career shifts to be optimistic.
You’ve said daily gratitude exercises have changed your outlook on life and work. What does that practice look like for you, and what kind of impact has it had day to day?
The gratitude practice for me is an intentional habit. First, it was just an action where I needed to actively look out for something to be grateful for in my everyday life. These small things initially start with something like someone holding the door for you or the barista having a nice chat with you.
Every night before I go to bed, I have a gratitude journal where I write down at least 3 things that I was grateful for during the day. This makes me recall, reflect on the day, and realise that the day, even if it was stressful, still had moments that made me smile or grateful. This means I’m able to lead the next day with that same kind of mindset. It seemed really corny when I first did this, but I realised this had a massive uptick on my mental health, so I just continued it as a daily habit.
Working at CERI means you spend a lot of time supporting founders and their teams. What habits or routines help you show up with energy and empathy for others?
It definitely takes energy and empathy for others, especially founders and their teams. It has helped that I have been a founder before and have helped other founders in the past, so I have empathy for the journey that they are going through. Aside from having a good morning brew, I usually keep 15 minutes in the morning to do mindfulness meditation and breathwork, which helps me be more grounded so I can help these founders. The morning meditation and breathwork help me become a better active listener and pick up on things that they are both saying and not saying to you.
You’re also a yoga practitioner, gamer, and content creator. How do those interests fit together to keep your mind and body balanced?
I love all kinds of games, ranging from board games, card games, and video games. These help me unwind and also get my creative juices and imagination flowing. I’m a big fan of Hades and Street Fighter. I then use those creative juices for my content creation or my work. Yoga practice helps both the mind and body become flexible, relaxed, and nimble. They seem like contradictory interests, but it is the contrasts that keep my mind alert, colourful, and seeing the world from different perspectives.
You’re writing a book about the food industry and its impact on wellbeing. What message do you hope readers will take away?
My first book is called For Foods Sake (ffoodssake.com). Being a former food technologist, I want consumers to know what I know. Having worked in the food industry for over 10 years, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that people aren’t aware of. I feel like I have knowledge that could really help those who are trying to live healthier; however, there is a lot of misinformation and fear-mongering on the internet that is confusing people.
The main message I want people to take away from my book is that the path to well-being doesn’t have to be complicated, to look out for deceptive food marketing, and that not all processed food is inherently bad. My book is, in essence, a truth-telling and behind-the-scenes look at processed food from someone who used to make them.
For people who feel stuck or ready for change, what small mindset shift — or daily practice — would you suggest to help them move toward something more meaningful?
What I found really helpful was to ask myself, “Will future me benefit from this action?”. Ultimately, every action, habit, and decision will hopefully lead you toward your best future self. I find it’s important as well to be really intentional as to who you want your future self to be, and I say just be completely audacious and shoot for the moon. Also, the feeling of being stuck is a blessing in disguise; it means that your mind knows you want better for yourself.
