Always been on the skinny side since young, Diane Foong only started to struggle with her body in junior college. “The pressure to stay skinny was immense and I struggled badly,” the 31-year-old product manager said. “I was in the touch rugby team and became a little muscular due to our physical training. I was then ridiculed for “looking like a guy” by a male friend. It really affected me and I started to be more wary of what I ate and how hard I trained, just so I wouldn’t gain too much muscle.”
Eventually, Diane came to accept her “more muscular” body. She didn’t exactly like it and it took her a long time to accept that she will be “muscular” so long as she is training as a touch rugby player.
This has since become a thing of the past. Diane now feels great about how her body looks and feels. She picked up yoga three years ago and has been running regularly. Yoga has made her body more toned but she has a different perspective about her body now.
“To me, being stronger doesn’t mean I am more manly but it just shows my dedication to staying healthy and pursuing what I love. I have learnt to love my more ‘muscular’ self instead of wanting to be skinny,” she added.
Diane feels that every woman should be her authentic self and stand up for whatever they believe in, rather than conform to the norm. “Thus I wanted to be part of this campaign because it’s aligned with my beliefs. I also wanted to support all the local businesses that were started by women; they deserve to have a mouthpiece to share what their brands stand for.”
Diane stands for sincerity and being genuine.
“I wear my heart on the sleeve and hardly hide my emotions. You can read me like a blank piece of paper. I open up easily to most people and sometimes, I can have ‘word vomit’ so much I can’t stop. Hopefully, people I meet feel likewise about me,” she shared.
Believing that women should not shy away from jobs that are assumed by men, like science, technology, engineering, mathematics, manufacturing, design (STEM2D) jobs, Diane hopes to empower women by encouraging young girls to pursue their interest and dreams in science and engineering – if it happens to interest them – and not let societal stereotypes stop them.
Personally majoring in chemical engineering, Diane volunteered her time in the last two years to give talks to secondary school girls on her own education and career journey. She also volunteers in her organisation’s Women’s Leadership & Inclusion Chapter to champion for gender equality and build more women leaders in Johnson & Johnson.
[Diane is wearing the Enva Top in Black and Soph Skirt in Red from GOYA, and Raw Cork Pumps from Stand. Use ‘istandforme‘ for 15% off both brands!]
