People often do extreme things to avoid Sydney house prices but none more extreme than Chris Edwards and her husband. Fifteen years ago when staring down an exorbitant quote to renovate their tiny, inner city cottage – they decided to take an easier option. Move to Singapore. On their own coin and for Chris, without a job. After a start in publishing, Chris went out on her own and established Honeycombers – a lifestyle guide to all things Singapore that has now grown into a group of publishing and digital services businesses. Four years ago, after 11 years in Singapore, Chris and her family moved back from the little red dot to set up life in Byron Bay. Chris spent three years planning the move back home so that her businesses could manage itself locally – this involved working with her team to make sure there was a skilled and trusted management team and structure in place in Singapore. This worked pretty well – until just before COVID when her General Manager resigned and Chris found herself managing her Asian businesses in the midst of a pandemic from her home office in Byron. She weathered the lows, which included seeing revenues fall off a cliff, and experienced the highs of seeing her team at their creative best. In true expat spirit, her resilience has paid off and she has some key learnings to share about what is and isn’t possible for managing international businesses remotely.

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