Celebrity Life

Shanyan Fok Koder and Richard Bassett explain how a Hong Kong art entrepreneur joined forces with a former special-forces soldier to launch a health and mental wellbeing app, Mentor360.

"Mental health and mental fitness are universal concerns," says Shanyan Fok Koder. "And regardless of your demographic, social status, your job or your age, it’s something everyone has to deal with."

Shanyan Fok Koder & Richard Bassett on Mental Health App Mentor360

The Mentor360 app dropped on World Mental Health Day in October, the cumulation of the last 20 months of work and conversations (usually across continents over Zoom) between former military man Richard Bassett and worldly art advisor Koder. A month later, I’m sitting with both in a North London café talking over slices of pizza.

Their app, they hope, offers everyone a holistic 360 guide and framework to “finding your formula” for mental and physical wellbeing. It uses a hybrid approach, with a core layer of clinicians and professional Mentors and then celebrity Ambassadors (who’ve publicly shared meaningful life stories) critical for building noise and momentum.

"I’d been in the military for a long time. And there were a couple of incidents in my life that made me want to create something," Bassett, the CEO, explains. "Firstly, it was my father committing suicide. Then my son had a bit of misdirection. And several of my friends in the military had PTSD issues or adjustment disorders."

"The biggest issue is why people wouldn’t come forward and say they’ve got a problem?” he asks.

“Unlike some apps, we’re not trying to get people hooked. Come on to it when you need it”

— Richard Bassett

The answer often lay in culture, lack of education or concerns about privacy that prevent many from seeking help. With that came Bassett’s idea of creating an app that functions as a “non-judgmental toolkit” with content validated by experts – who include coaches, performance psychologists, mental health-specialising nurses and a clinical psychologist.

Basset’s link with Koder came when his best friend, ex-special forces colleague and TV star Jason Fox, sat next to a pregnant Koder at a charity fundraiser for Born (which researches to prevent premature birth) in late 2019. As the pair talked about their passions for mental health and children’s wellbeing, the connection to Bassett’s idea became quickly apparent.

"Foxy told me that I have to meet his friend, Richard, who’s building this app," Koder recalls. "I was always wanting to support things that are very meaningful and close to my heart … and now Jason is actually our key mentor. The partnership between Richard and I was almost like two parts of a jigsaw puzzle come together."

Although some might go to the app for help with stress, trauma or even resources to help with suicidal feelings, Mentor360 is designed specifically as a three-dimensional offering that will also encourage fitness, workouts, performance and meditation or more clinical matters.

"We wanted to maintain the human factor as a constant throughout. So it feels like somebody has given you some advice rather than some process-driven machine learning," Bassett adds.

The co-founders might come from two different worlds, but the unlikely partnership speaks to the ubiquity of the issues at hand. Bassett’s 25-year military career saw him being appointed the first ever Command Sergeant Major within the UK Special Forces military group. "It was at that stage where I was asked if I wanted to run defence,” he says. “At that point, I thought, I’ve kind of had my fill of the military now, it’s time to move on."

Koder meanwhile grew up in Hong Kong and the UK as the daughter of Li Ka-shing’s "right-hand man" Canning Fok, carving out a career in the arts and taking over her family’s impressive collection. As a female art entrepreneur and mother, her challenges would be different.

"When I had the misfortune of losing three babies to miscarriage and dealing with that emotional fallout, it led me to want to support this as a cause," Koder divulges. "If there’d been something like this app available to me, I don’t think I’d have suffered as much as I did emotionally. It’s a topic that’s still very taboo, even in this day and age … and while you eventually find your own community, at the very beginning, you do feel very alone."

Both were clearly driven towards the app through deeply personal experiences. Bassett saw first-hand how soldiers who’d done several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan suffered – his best friend, Fox, had left the forces with PTSD. Perhaps machismo or fear of institutional repercussions meant that the issue was often ignored or hidden in the military – but he hopes that Mentor360’s holistic approach can gently lead people to explore mental fitness alongside physical performance too.

The male-female perspectives of the pair offer a well-rounded, powerful tool. And while the wellness space is already crowded, Mentor360 stands out by being so broad, human-focused and non-prescriptive.

There’s been exciting traction too. Since its launch, the app has been downloaded in more than 176 countries, with the UK, the US and Australia leading. British schools have reached out and it’s one governance board away from being trialled within the National Health Service (NHS), which means added clinical risk management in the app. That has been an important validation, says Bassett, "especially when an institution like that has picked it out from a huge spectrum of apps on the market today."

Covid-19 and lockdowns have helped throw light on mental health, taking the conversation more mainstream. The timeliness has hit home; as Bassett says, “there’s a lot of people now struggling with the transition between Covid and normality”.

Koder tells us that the plan is to serve individuals but also institutions such as the NHS and the military. There’s also the option of “white labelling” it, so the app can be packaged and tailored to certain industries or corporate employees. In the future, might they look more global, with different languages and translations? Absolutely, the pair say, but they’re taking it “slow and steady”. There’s been interest from American corporations and Koder says that she’s keen to push into Asia very soon. Although going truly global might mean translating for languages, cultures and tone, as well as working with diverse psychologists, it remains a future ambition.

Mentor360 may be extra helpful in cultures where mental health is still relatively taboo. As Koder says, "I think, coming from our Asian culture, it speaks volumes to me – so much of our culture is about still performance or hiding a lot of what you’re feeling."

"Unlike some apps,” Bassett adds, "what we’re not trying to do is create a hook or get people hooked. Come on to it when you need it, and if you don’t need it for a while because you’re good, you can just put it away … We’re starting to see those patterns in the trend analysis."

To get a little personal, I ask what works for them individually to keep a healthy mind and body. Bassett’s formula revolves around daily exercise, time with the family, dogs and good sleep – even the occasional glass of wine on the sofa in front of a crackling fireplace. Koder’s happiness hacks centre around motherhood, being content and at peace in her skin, and looking at life with a certain romanticism: "I always love to see the poetry in my day,” she says, "and I think it’s important to just pause throughout the day, check-in and acknowledge that I’ve achieved these things and I should be proud of myself, rather than just rushing on to the next thing."

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In the first of a series dedicated to people being the change they’d like to see in the world, here’s our salute to women in philanthropy.

Since the summer of 2020, MacKenzie Scott has donated almost $8.5 billion to 798 non-profit organisations, with no strings attached. Her famous ex, near-trillionaire Jeff Bezos, has set up a $10 billion initiative to fight climate change. It brings to mind the phrase, “If you want something said, ask a man, if you want something done, ask a woman.”

Here’s an ad hoc list of women in philanthropy we’ve been keeping tabs on for a while. They’re the founders, leaders and advocates for notable and worthy causes in the city, who are making an impact locally – and perhaps even globally. Fighting for rights, providing safe houses and shelter, raising funds and awareness, adopting, fostering, feeding – these driven women do it all.

This is by no means a comprehensive list; we aim to continue adding women in philanthropy in the coming year and hope you, our readers, will inform and enlighten the editors of Prestige with news and information about worthy causes and noteworthy names.

Women in Philanthropy

Alia Marwah Eyres
CEO of Mother’s Choice

Alia Marwah Eyres often volunteered at Mother’s Choice when she was younger, an experience that fuelled her passion to change the life stories of vulnerable children, youth, and families – leading her back to a leadership role at the charity that serves the needs of both children without families and pregnant teenagers.

Amanda Cheung
First Initiative Foundation (FIF)

Amanda Cheung is the managing director of First Initiative Foundation (FIF). Her mother, Michelle Ong, set up the foundation over a decade ago as a way of supporting Hong Kong’s creative community.
fif.org.hk

Belinda Koo
Founder of One Ten Foundation

A charity aiming to equip young adults, aged 12 to 24, with high emotional resilience through integrating non-competitive sports with evidence-based therapeutic concepts.
weareoneten.org

Cathy Lee
Goodwill Ambassador of The Chi Heng Foundation

The Chi Heng Foundation promotes equal opportunity and the elimination of discrimination against minority groups and underprivileged members of society. From supporting children who are affected by HIV and Aids throughout mainland China to funding and operating projects in education and care for children and adults impacted by Aids, the Foundation also educates about Aids prevention and the need for anti-discrimination practices.

Cissy Wang
Co-founder of Go.Asia

An online charity platform encouraging people to participate in charity work and serve local communities, Go.Asia is a charitable initiative that aims to improve society through collective and individual efforts.
go.asia

Daisy Tam
Founder of Breadline and Hong Kong Foodworks

Combating the shocking level of food waste in Hong Kong, Breadline connects bakeries with volunteers wanting to pick up leftover loaves to deliver to charities.
breadline.hkfoodworks.com

Emily Lam-Ho
Co-founder of EcoDrive

EcoDrive promotes the awareness and reduction of single-use plastic in Hong Kong through education, connecting with corporates, and providing possible solutions.
ecodrivehk.com

Gabrielle Kirstein
Founder of Feeding HK

Providing food sourcing, operations, charity distribution and volunteer coordination, Feeding HK ensures surplus food goes to feed people, not landfills.
feedinghk.org

Jacqueline Chow
Treasurer and Fundraising Committee Member of the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children (HKSPC)

To lead and excel in keeping children healthy, happy and safe, the HKDSPC provides for and promotes the care, education and social development of children and families, in partnership with the community.
hkspc.org

Jennifer Yu-Cheng
Founder of Jennifer Yu Cheng Girls Impact Foundation

Providing teenage girls with opportunities for a future-ready education in STEM fields, the mission at JYC Girls Impact Foundation is to open the door for all girls, providing them education access, tech skills and mindset, and the inspiration and ability to lead.
jycgirlsimpact.org

Joanna Hotung
Founder of Youth Diabetes Action

Youth Diabetes Action (YDA) is a charity dedicated to supporting children and adolescents with diabetes in Hong Kong, as well as their families.
yda.org.hk

Joanna Lui-Hilcox
Executive Director of Galaxy Entertainment Group Foundation

The philanthropic activities of the GEG Foundation spread across Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China and run the gamut; from nurturing young talent to providing for the elderly, art and artists, music or medicine, the Foundation’s charitable arm and remit are vast.
gegfoundation.org.mo

Karen Chan
Creative Director and Co-Founder of HKCRAFTS

HKCRAFTS integrates various design elements into local fading crafts and supports local emerging artists and designers. Working with local artisans to train others, HKCRAFTS sheds light on fading, unique local artists – and giving them another chance, suitable employment and funding.
hkcrafts.ooo

Katherine Lo
Founder Of Eaton Workshop

Eaton Workshop is a mission-driven global hospitality company dedicated to shaping a better world based on values of inclusivity and equity, and providing a platform that holds space for belonging, expression and collective change. Activism and advocacy for a range of progressive issues are at the heart of all its programmes.
eatonworkshop.com

Kaye Dong
Founder of K for Kids Foundation

K for Kids Foundation Limited focuses on helping children with the biggest needs, aiming to provide resources, opportunities and support through educational and extra-curricular programmes and activities built on the foundation of core values: respect, responsibility, kindness, passion, happiness and love.

Laurinda Ho
Smile with Us HK

Launched in 2017 and making use of social media to raise awareness, Laurinda Ho’s initiative Smile with Us HK organises regular visits to homes for the elderly and families of children with special needs. It also provides food, clothing and school supplies – whatever the need, the foundation works with the local community and those in mainland China.

Michele Lai
Founder of Kids4Kids

Kids4Kids nurtures change through reimagining ways of learning and rethinking social expectations, galvanising youth to work together and connecting individuals with communities.
kids4kids.org.hk

Patricia Ho
Founder Of Hong Kong Dignity Institute

The HK Dignity Institute fights for marginalised communities, asylum seekers, refugees, victims of human trafficking and discrimination, vulnerable women and child victims of domestic violence and abuse.

Sian Taylor
Charity Director Of Box Of Hope

Box of Hope is a charity project aimed at teaching Hong Kong school students about giving through providing useful/educational gifts to underprivileged children in Hong Kong and Asia, which are donated entirely by local school children and organisations. The boxes are collected and delivered directly to the children in need across eight Asian countries.

Victoria Tang-Owen
President Of The Hong Kong Down Syndrome Association

The association is committed to serving individuals with Down Syndrome, intellectual disabilities or other disabilities and their family members with integrated family support and vocational rehabilitation services. In recent years, it’s expanded its social enterprises with the aim of increasing vocational training and job opportunities for people with disabilities, while promoting the concept of social inclusion.
hk-dsa.org.hk

Yvonne Lui
The Yvonne Lui Trust

Established in 2013, the Hong Kong-based Yvonne Lui Trust works with a wide range of NGO partners with a mission to develop sustainability initiatives through innovative solutions, promote the importance of health and enhance the accessibility to quality education and art.
yvonneluitrust.org

Tell us about your charity of choice and more women in philanthropy – contact us with information and links at editor@burda.hk

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A consultant with extensive experience with top collectors and institutions around the world, Wendy Goldsmith talks to us about navigating the art world, her changing clientele, the Western market and Asian collectors.

Wendy Goldsmith first joined renowned British auction house Christie's 19th Century European Art department in London over 20 years ago. There, she would travel across Europe and West Asia, sourcing key material for auctions and heavily contributing to the house's name and fame. After becoming its youngest Director and Auctioneer, she moved to New York and became the International Head of 19th Century European Art. In 2003, she returned to London and established herself as a private art consultant – Goldsmith Art Advisory.

Goldsmith's experience includes achieving some world-record prices in the art auctioning world while working with top collectors and institutions around the world. These days, she works out of her Mayfair office, focusing on Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary paintings and sculpture. We talk to her about the importance of art advisors, navigating the art world and the Western market, and the changing face of Asian collectors.

Goldsmith Art Advisory's Wendy Goldsmith on Navigating the Art World

Where have you been spending time over the past two years?

The last two years have been spent mainly in the UK. When not working in London, I was exploring many of the regional British museums and staycationing in some of our gorgeous country hotels whenever openings allowed. The only trip abroad was a trip to America last spring when I was able to sneak in due to my American passport. It had been too long not to see clients.

Have you been able to travel when possible during the pandemic and have you noticed people's travel patterns changing due to it?

It was exceedingly difficult for people to travel, hence almost impossible for them to view paintings and attend art fairs – because they simply didn't exist. The vaccine became the gamechanger, allowing the confidence for globetrotting to the world’s cultural capitals once again.

Has the demographic of your client base altered in any way in recent years?

There is no question that the clients have become younger and younger and younger, and they start at a much higher level; in my day you'd have 50, 60, and 70-year-olds buying the great works and the younger ones would start collecting with prints. Now you have 25-year-olds starting with seven-figure pictures which, having done this for so long, I still find extraordinary. 40 percent of the new clients at auction are under 30, as they are so comfortable buying online as well which is where all the sales seamlessly moved to over lockdown. In addition, the depth of the market is like nothing we've ever seen. Almost every country is involved – there were many years when certain nationalities would dominate; the Japanese in the late 80s, then the Russians, then the Italians yet now, literally everyone is enjoying the ride, with Asia leading the way.

Are there particular types of works that are notably popular at the moment?

Art that is popular to Western buyers has been filtering over to the Asian audience over the last few seasons. Now you have Western artists appearing more and more in the Hong Kong sales, which we never saw before when they were dominated almost purely by Asian artists. The experiment was a great success, especially as Asian collectors are educated and sophisticated, wanting to collect in-depth. They started with the obvious artists such as Andy Warhol, but have moved on to the likes of Nicholas Party – not necessarily a household name for those outside of the art world.

Are there obstacles to accessing specific works from the Western market for Asian collectors? How can these obstacles be overcome?

The problem with the current market is that everyone seems to gravitate to the same artists, which makes access the most difficult hurdle. Working with an advisor helps to overcome these obstacles. They have usually worked for years to cultivate relationships with the galleries, along with various other key colleagues, in order for their clients to have priority for the next great work to appear by their coveted artist. The other way to gain access is auctioning, which is why we have seen some outstanding prices in recent years. The person who puts their hand up in the air longest is the one who wins. Cash is king. It’s the great equaliser, without any waiting lists.

How has the pandemic affected your own ways of working?

Technology changed everything, and thank goodness we had it. Viewings were impossible over lockdown although, at one point, I did have a warehouse opened up exclusively to show a client one painting. The entire warehouse was completely empty, except for the managing director showing us around. I had to pull a lot of strings to make that happen, but it was the only way that deal could have gone through. That was early on during Covid but as time went on, collectors became more and more accustomed to buying online, especially new ones, once they were familiar with an artist and could see a high res jpeg, or had faith in the seller such as the brand names of Christie’s or Sotheby’s.

How would you say the pandemic has affected the buying and selling behaviours of your clients? How so for a wider collector base?

It remains a problem for Asian collectors, especially Chinese, as they literally cannot leave the country. Nevertheless, when there is an exhibition in say, Hong Kong, there are queues out the door. Local collectors can’t go elsewhere to view and experience art, so this is a very big event for them, even more so than usual. Art Basel Hong Kong was a huge success in March. Then the series of auctions held at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips saw some extraordinary numbers from this captive audience.

When looking at recent sales in Hong Kong, is there anything notable in the types of collectors? Or the prices reached for particular works?

There is a trend in every sale. At the moment, collectors are looking at Black artists, they're looking at women artists and even within this field, they are looking at female surrealist artists. Every collector is always looking for the next big thing which speeds up exponentially. This again stems from technology. There's such unprecedented access to information so people's tastes are constantly in flux.

More broadly, art fairs in Hong Kong (from Art Basel in May to Unscheduled more recently) have in 2021 reported strong sales – do you have any comments on this in terms of what it says about the market in general? Does this have longevity?

The art world is not going anywhere. Again, there's just greater and greater depth of the market as a whole new generation of worldwide buyers come into the marketplace. The younger collectors obviously start at the contemporary side of things with what their friends are collecting and what they understand. Sometimes, they then work backwards to early modern, which looks like such good value in comparison at the moment. On the other hand, their parents started with some classic names they knew from their art history books – Van Gogh to Renoir to Picasso – but as these artists become harder and harder to come by (as well as increasingly more expensive), some of them realise that it was actually more fun in a way, once they collected what they wanted, to move on to contemporary. So it's really interesting where all the generations are meeting.

What might be your predictions as we come out of lockdown?

As we come out of lockdown, people are going to be more and more selective of the number of art fairs they attend, as well as the actual auctions. Having said that, they are also grasping any opportunity to see art in person once more. You can become familiar with paintings by a particular artist but nothing duplicates the experience of actually standing in front of a work of art. Interacting with artists is also the lifeblood for collectors – they love a good studio visit. They get great satisfaction from meeting with artists, understanding their thought processes, seeing their progress, supporting them and often, becoming friends. It is a dynamic that will last for hundreds of years.

Are there art fairs you have booked to visit in your calendar currently, now that some areas are opening up?

The size and numbers of art fairs may become reduced as many of the smaller galleries are realizing that without the huge expenses of these overheads, between travel, shipping and hotel costs, plus of course the cost of renting a booth for the fair, they can do just as much and more with .jpg and online viewing rooms. It’s also an impetus to get clients back into bricks and mortar galleries and view proper exhibitions. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to Art Basel Miami in early December, along with some excellent satellite fairs. Plus, everyone is in a good mood in the sun.

How can people try to navigate a complicated and increasingly overwhelming market?

The art world has become an almost impossible beast to navigate, even for professionals. That's why an art advisor is so essential if you're going to take collecting seriously. It would be physically impossible for a layperson to go to all the exhibitions, auction viewings, museum shows, gallery openings I attend, as well as read all the websites I look at, the previews for the shows and art fairs – not to mention the endless auction catalogues. So you really need someone in your corner: a support system, a teacher and an educator to really understand the complexities of this absolute minefield, especially when there can be so much money on the line. Art advisors pay for themselves, just in that aspect alone.

What advice would you give to burgeoning collectors unsure of how to build their collections?

You can't see enough. Look at art anywhere, anytime and at any opportunity. Start to really understand your taste which is why it also helps to see the bad, in order to understand the good. It can take years to gain the confidence and education to build a collection so there’s no need to rush but if you’re still unsure, some professional advice would make all the difference.

You can find out about Wendy Goldsmith and Goldsmith Art Advisory here.

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Most ballerinas begin as small children, smitten with a desire to dance, or coaxed into classes by parents. But tutus and ballet shoes weren’t part of Misty Copeland’s early life. The first African American woman promoted to principal ballerina at the American Ballet Theatre (ABT), Copeland didn’t take a single dance class until she was... View Article

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The past year saw huge shifts in philanthropy by wealthy individuals, mirroring seismic global events. There wasn’t just the pandemic: there was also a historic US presidential election and a world reckoning with new conversations around racial and social justice. But will 2021 see philanthropists make lasting changes? In 2019, ultra-high net worth (UHNW) individuals... View Article

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