Interview with Melissa Tan: Model, TV Host and Zero Waste Advocate

Hey Melissa,

First off thank you for taking the time to get involved in this interview for my readers.

We first met at a Malaysian co-working space when I helped charge your MacBook. You soon then introduced me to the world of Instagram when you did a shout-out about my supplement, Supergreen Tonik.

I was terribly camera shy, but it came completely naturally to you. I soon realized why, as you work in modeling for a number of top brands as well as being a TV host.

Alongside your glamorous working life, you’re an advocate of zero waste and responsible consumerism where you promote re-using resources. I look forward to learning more about your many roles.

So, thanks again for Melissa for spending time with me today, and let’s jump straight into this with our first question.

It would be great to get some background on where you’re from, your early life, studying.

I grew up in Kuala Lumpur with modest beginnings, being taller than the average Malaysian meant years of laypersons telling me I should be a model.

I was good at math, so I went on to a degree in Actuarial Studies and finance while I harbored that dream, because try as I might, I couldn’t yet figure out how to make reasonable money from it.

I convinced the industry much later to accept me into their folds, haha, and then the money started to make sense. The right door finally opened up.

You have a career as a Malaysian Model and work with a number of top brands. How did you first get into modeling and what sort of brands do you tend to work with?

I tend to be risk-averse and kept working on a career in consulting while I “tried” to be a model. Eventually, time caught up and the dream kept getting smaller, with the oft-quoted perception that modeling favored youth.

Consulting honed certain soft skills in me – critical thinking, communication, how to reason, and build a case. Knowing when to be frank, when to weave it into a bit of storytelling.

I still threw my name in the hat every time I saw a modeling competition worth doing, despite it being almost laughable at my age at the time. I was getting aged out of most competitions already.

As a young girl growing up watching America’s Next Top Model, that was the mother-load. So, when they brought the franchise to Asia, I had three years left to go before I was aged out. I kept trying every year.

And in my very last year of eligibility at the ripe age of 27, it was that same frank honesty that got me the gig. My story connected with the story producers, and I got into Asia’s Next Top Model (“AsNTM”) representing Malaysia.

I left consulting for the competition and thankfully did not have to look back since. It was a calculated risk. I had a decent consulting CV under my belt, one that ensured I wouldn’t start at the bottom years after the modeling train ends. And it was a big enough door, that made the risk worth taking.

I ended up doing lots of commercial work apart from the fashion jobs I enjoyed as a working model – from airports to theme parks to fashion brands both local and international. Did placements in Singapore and Jakarta, before deciding to stop traveling and invest fully in Malaysia. It’s been a fun ride.

You’re very active and prominent on Instagram, more so than other social platforms. When and how did you get into this social platform?

ASNTM fans are very active on Instagram so it really began then. The moment I was on the show, it drew attention to me so since then it’s been about slowly growing the followers organically and having them stick around for your journey.

It has grown from a career as a budding model, the learning curve of going professional, the foray into being a host and producer, and then add a splash of acting for good measure. A person is usually constantly growing and it’s nice when people can watch it happen as a story, albeit a little filtered.

Over the years, it has evolved into building a platform to speak on issues that matter most to me, like the climate crisis, the zero-waste movement, and what individuals, businesses, and the government can do about it.

When I was younger, I wanted fame and fortune to do more to help create change (while still enjoying the actual fame and fortune as a credit to worthy accomplishments of course, not saying I’m a noble saint).

Right now, it may not be fame or fortune, but it is a following that is observing you. So, I might as well give them something that adds value – using my own #lowwaste lifestyle as an example and another learning curve they can follow and learn from as well, whether directly or indirectly.

You’re an eco-warrior at heart being a big advocate of zero-waste where you encourage sensible and sustainable consumerism. From purchasing groceries, responsible shopping to recycling, you promote this approach for sustainable living. Can you outline how you first got into eco-living?

I was always an eco-loving girl, this kid furiously recycling everything in sight. I did everything an eco-conscious person of that time would do and embraced the tagline ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’. It hurt me to see the paper or a plastic bottle in the trash. Yet with stuff like plastic wrap and styrofoam, I had to put blinders on. I knew they weren’t recyclable so “what else could I do?”.

After all, almost every single thing you could buy was wrapped in plastic packaging. So, I just reduced where I could.

Then one day in early 2017, I learned that you could actually live zero waste. It was a choice.

I could REFUSE to create waste.

It all boiled down to very basic, intuitive ways that are guided by the intention to do as little harm to the environment as possible. So simple that I was dumbfounded, “Why didn’t I think of this before?” We as individuals don’t have to just accept the current situation as it is – we can say no, we can demand better practices, we can influence our communities and the businesses we frequent.

I learned you don’t have to buy into the vicious cycles of consumption, AND you can do it without being a hippie living off the grid. I kinda went off on a whole new trajectory since then, redesigning my life and my mindset consciously to one that is of much lower impact on the environment.

I wrote about my lightbulb moment on my blog here.

Many people haven’t heard of the zero-waste movement before, I included. Are you seeing brands taking note and changing their practices and/or messaging?

Sustainability and the push towards a circular economy have been a big topic in the last few years with the impacts of the climate crisis getting too severe to ignore. People are joining the dots now, but it is challenging with the current system and its players being very invested in not changing the status quo. But at every segment – individuals, communities, businesses, industries, lawmakers – the move towards sustainability is growing.

A lot of it has come down to awareness and joining the dots for people, which encourages people to question “the way things are”. From there, to seeing how it translates into action in communities and businesses has been exciting. A lot of times, it takes one individual who cares in any organization to spearhead new practices, get buy-in, and then get business-wide change implemented.

We have B-corp brands who champion sustainable practices, local homegrown brands that are building their business on the right foot from scratch sustainability-wise, but I also really want to celebrate all those incumbents with that “one passionate employee” who then influenced more in the organization and eventually the higher-ups to improve on existing practices.

What companies or brands are you finding taking the zero-waste approach?

I wouldn’t say #zerowaste because there isn’t true zero waste, but businesses that are working hard to close the loop and approaching circular economy.

There are many groundbreaking innovations and businesses offering solutions to close the loop.

If you mean a relatable consumer brand, I’m going to use one example – a clothing company that only sells timeless Tencel basics (not trend-based clothing) with Tencel being one of the most sustainable materials to produce, ships entirely in the paper, no tags or ‘future trash’ included, made in a factory with ethical working standards. Not #zerowaste per se but definitely took great lengths on everything they could think of to minimize environmental impact.

I was interested to discuss recycling and the use of plastics as I was looking at options for my supplement packaging. I wasn’t able to find a practical solution to storing and transporting my greens powder. Have you come across potential solutions that could be worth investigating?

I totally empathize with your predicament. It can be like finding a needle in a haystack, especially with finding a vendor that can cater to small businesses, the geographical challenges, etc.

I would say bioplastics could be an option (though their compostability can still be a question mark, but still relatively better than fossil fuel-based material).

Kraft paper would be an option but with a product like yours, it would still have the plastic lining inside (and if that can be a bioplastic, better) – but damning it to the non-recyclable pile because of that mixed material packaging.

Recycled plastic is a good alternative to not using virgin plastic – again possibly vendor MOQ issues on your part.

I’ve seen supplement companies sell loose by weight in bulk stores locally, which could be a good option to offer to consumers to refill their own containers with supplement powder albeit with limited reach i.e. only with zero-waste stores that have “refill” stations. But grocery chains are starting to look at providing bulk refill stations in the near future, so who’s to say we won’t get a wider refill network very soon.

It’s all relative. The point is to keep exploring new alternatives as a business to improve on what is currently being practiced, keep moving up the chain, keep lowering the environmental impact.

Many big brands are setting themselves sustainability goals each year, and that should be more common no matter the size of the business.

Do you see your personal and professional life going more towards zero-waste and sustainable ventures? Or are you keen to diversify your professional life?

Like many people, I have different facets to me. I don’t want all my eggs in one basket because I don’t think a person needs to just commit to one thing. I might get terribly bored.

So, I still have my hosting, my production work, my acting – all those different learning curves drive me just as much as my sustainable ventures do. They all bring different satisfactions and they are also nicely related in some way or another.

The host in me and the storytelling of my creative side helps in telling a compelling story for the environment. The producer's brain helps craft sustainable ventures.

Diversification for sure, but it all builds on each other.

What’s next for Melissa Tan, any big plans for 2020 and beyond?

I don’t have everything figured out, but I’m looking to initiate more sustainable projects in 2020. My overall goal is to play a role in the movement towards a more sustainable world – whether it’s speaking to individuals and communities, working with businesses, or being a part of the conversation with policymakers.