A second wind is a sports phenomenon where an athlete experiences a burst of energy after feeling completely exhausted. It doesn’t come predictably. But if it does, it fuels the athlete with the strength they need to keep going.
This second wind concept also applies in life. When Chua Jing Zhi realised a career in the army wasn’t for him, he found new direction and energy in entrepreneurship.
From initially achieving army objectives to now overseeing various health ventures under his company, ALLWIN Services, Jing Zhi shares how he switched gears to becoming his own boss.
Read Also: 4 Important Small Business Questions To Ask Before Becoming An Entrepreneur
Leaving His Army Career
Jing Zhi’s army journey started like most other Singaporean males: compulsory two-year military service. After three months of basic military training, the physically fit soldier—whose friends consider a quiet leader—was selected to undergo commando officer training.
Training went smoothly, and at the end of it, Jing Zhi decided to sign on to pursue an army career. He was attracted by the straightforward culture he experienced, where a goal was set and everyone worked towards accomplishing the goal together. He also liked the lack of politics.
But when Jing Zhi completed his university studies and returned to the military, he realised life as an army regular wasn’t so straightforward.
For one, he had more responsibilities. “You don’t just listen to orders and then go ahead,” Jing Zhi shares. “You have to dictate [and] come up with the orders based on the higher goal.”
Through interacting with peers and familiarising himself with the army’s ways of doing things, he also got glimpses of what life would be like if he stayed, and it didn’t feel right for him.
Jing Zhi informed his superiors of his decision shortly after. He didn’t leave then as he had a four-year army scholarship bond to finish. But he started making backup plans.
Finding His Second Wind
A month after making his decision, Jing Zhi launched a passion project—a free triathlon magazine called Second Wind Nation.
Second Wind Nation was inspired by his desire to contribute to the sport of triathlon, from which he’d learnt a lot, and his experience editing the English edition of a Filipino triathlon magazine while in university. Pumping his army pay into the magazine, Jing Zhi wrote its articles, took the photos and did most of the magazine deliveries himself.
He kept this up for a year before deciding the “money-burning operation” wasn’t sustainable. While he had a few sponsors, the advertisement revenue wasn’t enough to recoup his costs.
“After that, I realised: ‘Hey, if I want to give back to the sport of triathlon, I need to be a coach as well,’” says Jing Zhi.
“‘I need to be on the ground. Not just write articles—I need to influence people.’”
With that, Jing Zhi took up certifications to become a triathlon and athletics coach. He also started running workshops and other small events.
Going All Out
Jing Zhi left the force in February 2019 and continued with his high-performance coaching work. It became profitable for the first time in January 2020—and then, just one month later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
He tried to continue the business for a few months, but it was bleeding too much cash. He was forced to close it.
Jing Zhi then pivoted to other business ideas. Some of them, like a platform that uses your phone or laptop camera to recognise your exercise form and a customer management system for trainers, had limited success and were scrapped.
But others have shown signs of promise. Last year, he launched ALLWIN, an online school that matches health enthusiasts and professionals with health service providers. The school is also a continuing professional education course provider for registered Allied Health Professionals—healthcare professionals who provide services like physiotherapy and diagnostic radiography.
Jing Zhi separately offers healthy ageing consultancy services under the ALLSET brand. These include a Sports and Healthy Ageing Lab for clients to test their strength and VO2 max (the maximum amount of oxygen a person can take in at once), which Jing Zhi shares are the “two greatest predictors of longevity”.
Other ALLSET initiatives include a 1.1K-subscriber YouTube channel covering health content with an Asian focus and a newly launched Healthy CEO Club for past and present C-suite executives to hold each other accountable for their health goals.
Shortcutting His Career Progression
“The soft skills I picked up in the army were very helpful [for doing business],” says Jing Zhi.
Creativity is one of them. While Jing Zhi can’t talk too much about his work in the army, he was involved in counter-terrorism efforts and had to step into the shoes of a terrorist. This role called for a lot of creativity in deciding how to achieve certain objectives.
He also likens the COVID-19 period to “war mode”.
“In counter-terrorism, you basically thrive in war mode, in chaos,” he shares. “So, you embrace [and] enjoy the challenges. You don’t see it as something that will stop you.
You see it as an advantage.”
But having left the army to strike it out on his own, Jing Zhi appreciates how he now has a “shortcut” for meeting successful people. He no longer needs to slowly climb the corporate ladder before these opportunities open up for him.
Earlier this year, for example, he met Ho Kwon Ping, executive chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings, and received business advice from the lauded veteran entrepreneur.
All Set To Win
Jing Zhi’s umbrella of services currently brings in a five-digit monthly recurring revenue. This revenue supports him and two other team members, and he aims to grow it to $10 million in annual revenue in three to four years.
“We’re pretty much growing the ecosystem in many pillars by ourselves,” he says.
According to Jing Zhi, the ALLWIN online physio school, with its lead generation feature for health service providers, is “a completely new concept” in Southeast Asia. He also wants to grow the ALLSET YouTube channel to deliver more Asian-focused health video content, which he sees as lacking in this region. Last but not least, he has plans to expand his Healthy CEO Club overseas.
When the business is more profitable, Jing Zhi wants to invest in startups. He’ll park these investing efforts under a new brand—one that not only indicates his goal for the endeavour, but also incidentally signals he’s made it.
The brand’s name?
ALLWON.
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