HLP Voices: A conversation with Dr. Christina SS Ooi on her new book Tough as Nails

Dr. Christina SS Ooi is a corporate leader mentor and thought leader with nearly four decades of leadership experience across Asia.

Recognized as a 2024 LinkedIn Top Voice in Career Management and Leadership, she is widely respected for her work at the intersection of leadership ESG and social impact.

We are proud to say that she is also a member of the Her Leadership Playbook community. Christina is deeply committed to paying it forward through mentoring speaking and storytelling that centers resilience empathy and human connection.

Her second book Tough as Nails reflects this mission by bringing together eight powerful true stories of notable personalities, six in Malaysia, and two in Singapore, Malaysians who have faced extraordinary challenges. and found the courage to rise again. With Christina's three R's – Reset, Restart, Re-chart – it offers a powerful perspective on resilience and new beginnings.

Pınar: Your book brings together such powerful real stories of resilience and human courage. Was there a specific moment or question in your own life when you knew this book needed to exist now, almost like a quiet inner nudge saying it is time?

This book is a long-awaited homecoming. I felt the need to return to my love for storytelling after 16 years (after my first book, “Surviving the War for Talent in Asia: How Innovation Can Help” was published in 2009. The time is right for a second book.

So, it’s my deepest hope that this book becomes a beacon of strength for every reader. May it inspire us all to persevere relentlessly, and to bounce back from moments of despair. Let us all remember that there is always hope to reset, restart, and re-chart our lives. The storm, in time, will always pass.

I have chosen to complete writing this book and to launch it in November 2025. It marked my 40th year in corporate leadership spanning global organizations and Corporate Malaysia after a brief stint as a criminal lawyer.'

In today’s ever disruptive and unpredictable world, I sense a real need for people to continue to be inspired by the stories of others. I have always had a knack for great timing, for recognizing the moment when a story needs to be told. I guess I possess an innate talent for identifying opportunities and critical topics.

Above all, I was so inspired by the famous quote of Thomas Jefferson. He said, “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done before.”

And that was my source of inspiration to deliver “Tough As Nails” spreading untold true stories of notable personalities who had the hope, courage and resilience to rise again. That all royalties earned will benefit underprivileged children. This is something I have never done before. Something that I wanted which I had never had. And so that was how my personal book project started.

Pınar: You focus on real Malaysians who have faced extraordinary challenges. As you were writing and listening to these stories, what was the emotional thread that kept connecting them for you, the feeling that stayed with you even after you closed your notebook?

Actually, this book is about eight true stories of six notable personalities from Malaysia, and two from Singapore. But there is one common powerful truth: You can rise again. They are not just ordinary people.

Whenever we face adversity, some of us have our lives transformed overnight into nightmares. I’m sure everyone has his or her fair share of sad stories. With no happy endings in sight.

And I asked myself. What if we could take charge of our lives and turn our sad stories into stories with happy endings?

And I was curious to find out if notable personalities also experienced the same as those who are not well-known. Did they also face extraordinary challenges and were able to find hope, courage and resilience to rise again? How did they do it?

So, I decided to find out.

And I made cold calls to as many notable personalities in Malaysia and Singapore who have stories about their personal or professional resilience journeys to share. But these stories must not have been told to anyone before.

Pınar: You introduce the ideas of reset, restart and rechart, which I find incredibly grounding. We often associate these shifts with major life crises. How do you see them showing up in everyday leadership decisions, in the smaller moments as well?

That’s the point. We must not wait until a crisis happens before we begin to think of how to pick up the pieces again. So, the reset, restart and re-chart approach is to avoid having stories with sad endings. I introduced this approach in my book to allow us to draw from deep self-reflection and self-awareness. The goal is to completely change our mindset and attitude.

To me, Reset means we take time to take stock. Look at where we are. Restart means we take the positives, and discard the negatives. Re-chart means we take a fresh look at the present and the future. I look forward.

I’m particularly inspired by the famous quote by C.S. Lewis: “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

Pınar: One thing I deeply appreciated is that the book does not romanticize struggle. Many leaders worry that resilience narratives sometimes do that. How did you personally hold space for pain while still honoring dignity and compassion?

In my book, I introduced the 3Re approach in the form of Reset, Reset and Re-chart. On top of that, I wrote about the 3Re5Q Rule of Thumb. Simply put, the 3Re actions are each accompanied by 5 Questions for each of these actions.

It’s not a mathematical equation. Neither is it a chemistry formula.

Just very practical 15 questions which we must ask ourselves at each stage of the 3Re actions. The goal is to provide guidance on thought leadership, and to instill hope, courage and resilience as we face every adversity and challenge in our life journey.

Pınar: You have shared that this book is closely tied to giving back. At this stage of your life and career, what does paying it forward truly mean to you, not as a concept but as a lived choice?

This is the right time to channel all my knowledge, expertise and professional experiences into a personal ESG mission, with a distinct focus on social impact. I am driven by my desire to pay it forward. I actively spend time and energy of my waking hours focused on empowering the Next Generation, and enrich communities and society. And so, every royalty I earn as the author is channeled directly to support underprivileged children.

It is my small and humble legacy of giving, my way of turning words into tangible hope.

I know this: by elevating my focus and commitment to Pay It Forward to communities and society, I know my own inspiring personal journey has just begun.

Pınar: Many women leaders reading this will recognize themselves in these stories, especially in the silent battles. When they close this book, what do you hope shifts for them internally?

Of the eight stories in my book, four are about women, and four about men. It is my greatest hope that their stories would serve as a beacon of strength, inspiration and motivation as they look at themselves. Self-reflection is important.

They would be drawn to examine the reflective heroine in them. To understand how their personal journeys could discover their purpose which is hidden within their toughest battles. I want them to think about their “lifequake” or most significant challenge they have ever faced so far. That they can rise again.

I take inspiration from the wisdom of Winston Churchill: “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

Pınar: And finally, if a young leader or a student picks up Tough as Nails, what is the one inner muscle you hope they start strengthening early on, something that will serve them long before titles or achievements do?

The one inner muscle is that they must learn to TRUST and BELIEVE themselves sooner than later! It is only then that they would muster enough courage to persevere and to continue with grit and tenacity.

Doesn’t matter how many times we fail but each time when we fail, we must ensure we fail forward, learning what went wrong and avoiding repeating these mistakes and setbacks.

So, they cannot let failure and rejection bother them in their quest and pursuit of their life’s goals.

Closing Reflection from HLP

As this conversation comes to a close, one thing lingers powerfully: Tough as Nails is not a book about extraordinary people doing extraordinary things. It is about human courage, lived honestly, and shared generously.

Through Christina’s words and the stories she chose to carry forward, we are reminded that resilience is not about being unbreakable. It is about being willing to pause, reflect, and begin again with intention. Resetting when needed. Restarting with clarity. Re charting with courage.

For us at Her Leadership Playbook, this conversation feels deeply aligned with why this community exists. To hold space for real stories. To honor leadership that is human. And to remind each other that even after the hardest chapters, there is always a next page waiting to be written.

We are proud to call Dr. Christina SS Ooi a fellow HLPer. And we are grateful for the legacy she continues to build, one story, one life, one act of paying it forward at a time.