How Coffee Lam Turned Her Life Around

Once an unknown TVB actress playing unmemorable characters, Coffee Lam (林芊妤) has become a successful online personality whom girls look to as their fitness inspiration. In May, Coffee became the second Hong Kong celebrity to achieve a million YouTube subscribers after singer G.E.M (鄧紫棋). Succeeding against the odds, Coffee shares how she managed to overcome obstacles and rebuild her life.

Forced to Move Out of Her Comfort Zone

Entering TVB when she was 19, Coffee admitted that she would have stayed on at the station if not for her restroom scandal. Given her personality, she would not have known where she should go in life and would have passively awaited for her chance to shine. Being dismissed by TVB therefore turned out to be a motivational force which pushed her out of her comfort zone.

Summing up her life-changing experience, Coffee revealed, “Often, there are people who ask how I walked out from the low point of my life, how I dealt with ill-meaning attacks. Perhaps, I can be considered an expert in this area. First, you have to reflect upon the criticism and improve from there, and continue to add value to yourself. Adjust yourself psychologically to become your own sunshine, and lead a meaningful life so [detractors] will continue to live under your shadows. When you feel low, tell yourself that negative emotions will always pass. Lastly, remember that you will naturally get stronger from fighting tough challenges.”

The Courage to Turn Crisis Into Opportunity

After her headline-making scandal in 2014, the then 25-year-old faced intense public glare and media scrutiny. Falling into depression, Coffee had felt that “tomorrow would never come.” While the emotional pressures she faced also affected her immunity, Coffee was diagnosed with systemic sclerosis, an autoimmune disorder, at one point.

Where it was easy to be emotionally wrecked from the crisis, in Coffee’s case, she managed to turn the tide and her life around. Forced to move out of her comfort zone after being dismissed by TVB, she started uploading yoga classes on YouTube, leveraging the infamy from the scandal to her advantage and slowly rebuilding a healthy image to become a popular weight-loss influencer for a new generation.

Not only has she established herself as a credible YouTuber, Coffee’s income has also multiplied significantly from her acting days. While she once assumed romantic happiness would be out of her reach, she has a blissful family now with a supportive husband and an adorable son. Indeed as she had once said, “If only you believe something good will come about the next second, it will surely happen.”

Source: HK01