COMING of AGE

At 63, former high-powered fashion executive and viral TikTok-er Gym Tan has never felt younger. In an intimate letter, the Los Angeles-based Singaporean shares why it’s worth doing things on your own timeline.

- CHANDREYEE RAY

Don’t be nervous about starting late. I had my daughter at 39 and my son at 44. Being an older parent, all the new mums I hung out with were 10 to 15 years younger than me. But I didn’t feel older—I felt just like them! My kids had given me a new lease on life and helped me embrace my inner child again. Imagine realising at 45 that there was so much more to life. So much more to learn and so much more fun to be had.

I met my husband much later in life too. I’d always been a career-first kind of person, but I opened up to the idea of kids when I realised what an amazing father he was going to be. We are a modern couple and we intuitively knew that we were going to be equal partners. Some years, I am the breadwinner and he takes a backseat. He’d say: “Go kill it, honey. I will take a smaller job so I can spend more time with the kids.” That’s the beauty of meeting your partner when you’re older. You don’t have that pressure of continuously needing to prove yourself.