Outside The Box

Can you tell us a bit more about GetSpaces? What made you want to start this business?
At GetSpaces, what we do is we work with studios, and we rent these spaces out on an hourly basis to whoever needs an ad-hoc space.

I used to dance in university, and back then I found it hard to find spaces to practice or just dance. My friends and I had to go and ask individual studios about their rates and stuff, so I was thinking that it would be good to have a platform for studios to compile and list their prices clearly.

When I was starting out and doing research, I was looking at a lot of empty offices and empty spaces. I also found people who were renting spaces on a monthly basis, but were only using it maybe on the weekends for things like teaching crafts or photoshoots. So I found it to be a waste of space. They could help others by putting their space up for rent when it’s not being used, so that people who need it can use it without the monthly commitment. I thought that this would help the gig economy in that sense.

What kind of dance do you do?
I dance much lesser now, only once in a while, but I do popping and locking. I actually didn’t really expect to enjoy dance when I first joined, because I have two left feet (laughs). I really just joined dance to try something new and to make friends, but it’s taught me quite a lot. I learned to step outside of my comfort zone by going out and dancing with others. Before uni, I would have been way too shy to do that.

Is there anything you’re thinking of picking up now?
I am a curious person, so I want to learn everything. but due to the lack of time, the things I need to learn first are work-related things, like a new computing language or machine learning. Something that is not work-related though, is yoga as I think that would help with my backaches (laughs).

What are some of your New Year’s resolutions?
I want to slim down to 75kg, get a minimum of seven hours of sleep each day, and carve out time to play games. I don’t have a favourite game, but I mostly play offline single player games. The games I have been playing recently are Red Dead Redemption 2, Tales of Arise, and It Takes Two. It’s therapeutic to unwind by playing a game with a good story and mechanics after a long day of work.