SINGAPORE — Social media agency Gushcloud announced on Friday (Oct 6) that it has signed leadership and healing coach Carrie Tan — who “happens to also be a Member of Parliament (MP) in Singapore”, as the firm put it — to its roster of “managed and represented business personalities”.
The agency, which is headquartered in Singapore, said in its press release that the partnership would involve managing Ms Tan’s social media channels for her own leadership and coaching practice.
It added that it will “collaborate closely with Tan to build her online presence and highlight her role as a dynamic healing coach and change-maker personality”.
“With this partnership, Gushcloud International will be expanding her online presence featuring Tan in her professional capacity as a transformative and healing coach via TikTok, Instagram and on YouTube via her handle ‘ThrivingWithCarrieT’,” the company said.
Ms Tan, who entered politics in 2020, is MP for Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency and a transformation coach at Lightbearers Collective. It describes itself as a community of like-minded coaches, psychologists, healers, therapists and counsellors.
In response to queries, Ms Rachel Ong, country director of Gushcloud Singapore, told TODAY that Ms Tan is the first MP the company has partnered with, but “the focus of the partnership is Ms Tan’s capacity as a leadership coach and business personality, not as an MP”.
“Gushcloud will support and manage Ms Tan’s online presence as she pursues her endeavours as a leadership coach and business personality. If that means being present in her offline engagements, our team will be there to assist.”
On people getting support to manage social media presence and if the company is aware that Ms Tan is the first MP to do so, Ms Ong said: “We cannot speak on behalf of other MPs and their staffing for online presence and social media content.
“However, having an agency’s help is vital in standardising the online presence of any business, personality or political figure and so for that matter, it’s considered a usual practice.”
As for Ms Tan’s accounts pertaining to her work in politics, they are not managed by a paid third party.
“I want to make it clear that I have always run my MP and constituency social media accounts myself, with the help of Nee Soon South volunteers. That will not change,” she told TODAY.
When asked why she signed with Gushcloud for her work away from politics, she replied: “I spend a lot of my time on constituency work in Nee Soon, and (with) whatever time left, I prefer to work with clients on their coaching journeys as well as teach, facilitate workshops and speak.
“This leaves me very little time for coaching-specific content creation where I share my insights and knowledge on healing, emotional awareness and mental wellness with a wider audience.”
Her hope is that “by leveraging Gushcloud’s expertise in the social media space”, it can help her to share content to “benefit more people”, and make her coaching and teaching services more accessible.
Her decision to have separate and dedicated social media pages to share content focused on healing and “selfwork” is so that it can “serve as a safe space for people to access and explore these topics for themselves, and engage with me in my capacity as a healing coach and not as a politician”, she added.
“Selfwork”, Ms Tan explained, is a form of inner discovery and personal healing work that serves to uncover a person’s behavioural patterns, beliefs and values to enable them to improve their well-being, relationships and performance in life.
In choosing to sign with GushCloud, she said that it was because it was “aligned in what we want to do, which is to address mental well-being and use the power of social media to bring about positive change”.
On whether she has any concerns that this move may invite talk that she is using her position as MP for commercial gains, she said: “This is exactly why I have always made a clear distinction between my work on the ground as MP and my private practice.
“Whenever I’m on the ground in my constituency, I focus on the concerns of my residents and am mindful to only refer to social media platforms relating to constituency work.
“Similarly, I draw a distinction with my coaching content platforms.”
The partnership began around four months ago, when Gushcloud and Ms Tan launched the TikTok and Instagram accounts in June for her coaching and healing practice, after “some planning”.
Ms Tan is also the founder of charity organisation Daughters Of Tomorrow, which facilitates livelihood opportunities for underprivileged women.
Commenting on the partnership, Gushcloud’s co-founder and group chief executive officer Althea Lim said in Friday’s press release: “We are delighted to have Carrie in our talent pool. She embodies positive influence and is a true changemaker in Singapore and beyond.
“Her passion for self and leadership development aligns perfectly with our mission of empowering talents and shaping their personal brands.”