This May, we spotlight three remarkable individuals who are breaking boundaries and reshaping the narratives around motherhood, ambition, and self-expression.
Selene Xie, founder of The Rebel Mums, is transforming the fashion world by celebrating real motherhood and post-pregnancy bodies with authenticity and style. Lisa Cheng, Hong Kong’s speed climbing champion and a mother of four, proves that strength and softness can coexist as she continues to push her physical and personal limits. CHOR, a genre-bending indie artist, channels emotion into sound—crafting music that heals, challenges, and inspires through fearless creativity.
Each of their journeys is unique, but what unites them is a shared courage to live boldly, dream loudly, and define success on their own terms.
Selene Xie, founder of The Rebel Mums (TRM), is reshaping how motherhood is seen and celebrated in the fashion world. Her brand was born out of a deep personal frustration with society’s unrealistic expectations of women, especially mothers. From a young age, Selene was told that a “successful woman” should raise multiple children while maintaining an image as if she never gave birth. These unfair, contradictory ideals ignited a fire in her that only grew stronger when she became a mother herself.
Selene created The Rebel Mums to challenge these norms. More than a fashion label, TRM is a movement that celebrates the strength, individuality, and badass energy of mothers. The brand designs stylish, empowering clothing specifically for moms—clothes that allow women to feel confident and beautiful in their bodies. TRM also acts as a platform for women to connect, share, and support one another through every stage of motherhood—from pregnancy to postpartum and beyond.
As a mother of three and a founder, Selene openly shares the ongoing challenge of balancing family life with her career. Her approach is rooted in understanding her priorities. She believes in honoring the unique, fleeting moments of her children’s early years while also nurturing her own dreams and identity as a fashion designer. Life is a constant balancing act, and Selene embraces that reality, adjusting as she goes with grace and intention.
Her role as an influencer further enhances her connection with her community. Through social media, Selene shares real stories of motherhood—breaking taboos and offering support through honest, relatable content. This authenticity becomes especially meaningful around Mother’s Day, when she reminds her audience that motherhood should be celebrated every day, not just once a year. This year, the celebration was even more personal as she welcomed her third child, baby Kendrick.
Beyond fashion, Selene finds mindfulness in cooking. She describes it as a form of meditation, much like designing. Both practices allow her to be fully present and express her creativity. Seeing her family enjoy her food or her customers feel confident in TRM clothing brings her immense joy and fulfillment.
Selene also uses TRM to challenge toxic beauty standards ingrained in many women from a young age. She wants to change the narrative that women must fit into an unrealistic mold to be considered beautiful. Instead, TRM empowers mothers to embrace their post-pregnancy bodies with pride, strength, and style.
Looking to the future, Selene plans to expand the brand with more everyday wear, grow TRM’s online presence, host more pop-up events across Hong Kong, and eventually reopen a physical store. At its core, TRM will continue to build community and celebrate motherhood in all its forms.
Her advice to aspiring mompreneurs is simple but powerful: take your time, honor your role as a mother, but never give up on your dreams. “Start when you’re ready,” she says, “and trust that balance will come.” Through The Rebel Mums, Selene Xie is proving that motherhood and ambition don’t just coexist—they can thrive together.
Lisa Cheng is Hong Kong’s female speed climbing champion for eight consecutive years. She credits her success to her genuine passion for the sport. Never imagining she would achieve so much, her dedication and drive to continually challenge herself pushed her to discover her full potential. Competing from youth to adult levels, both locally and internationally, Lisa constantly seeks improvement, especially in technical details, fueled by her love for climbing.
Her journey in bodybuilding competitions began only after establishing herself in climbing. Bodybuilding was a childhood dream—she describes it as becoming a “muscular Barbie,” embracing a different form of beauty on stage. While speed climbing emphasizes explosive power and speed, bodybuilding focuses on aesthetics, posture, and confidence. Despite these differences, both disciplines demand the same core values: persistence, focus, and creativity. Lisa emphasizes the importance of self-learning and innovation, especially in Hong Kong, where support for niche sports is limited.
On the family front, Lisa is a mother of four children. Balancing life, caring for them, and attending intense competitions and training requires careful management. When she is an athlete, she fully commits herself. Her childhood dream was to be a mother, and becoming one brings her great joy. As her children grow older, caring for them becomes less demanding. Most of her training happens after she drops them off at school, usually in the mornings. With a solid foundation now in place, she continues to train her physical fitness and adjust her goals according to different training cycles, always progressing.
Lisa embraces both her identities as an athlete and a mother. They motivate her to invest in and enjoy her life, as her children give her strength to excel in everything she does. After recharging through training, she happily returns to care for them, and sometimes they even support her athletic pursuits. She believes that at different ages and stages, doing different things brings unique experiences and joy.
Every task deserves seriousness and dedication, and Lisa takes each day as it comes. When she is a mother, she fully embraces that role; when she is an athlete, she devotes herself completely to it. Training sessions might last one, two, or three hours, and she focuses solely on what needs to be done during that time without distractions. Careful time management and the right mindset are essential. Lisa believes that as long as you do your best, like an athlete, even if results are uncertain, you won’t have regrets and can enjoy the journey. This approach can lead to unexpected rewards in the future.
CHOR is an indie singer-songwriter who debuted with her single “midsommar” in 2020, which quickly charted on the Ultimate Song Chart. Known for her unique style and versatility, CHOR isn’t just a singer—she also composes, arranges, produces, and performs her own music, including guitar and live programming. She has collaborated with well-known artists such as Hins Cheung, Gigi Leung, and Gigi Cheung.
A graduate of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in Sound Design (2015), CHOR spent five years honing her skills in Johnny Yim’s studio. There, she took part in a range of commercial music productions while developing her own sound.
CHOR’s music draws on genres like post-rock, dream pop, and ambient music. Influenced by artists like Sigur Rós, Deserts Chang, and Carl Wong, she creates immersive, emotional soundscapes meant to bring healing and comfort to listeners.
Her latest single “死亡芭比粉” (“Death Barbie Pink”), released on May 2, 2025, is a tribute to legendary Japanese guitarist hide from X JAPAN. Deeply inspired by his rebellious spirit and vibrant pink aesthetic, CHOR wrote, composed, arranged, produced, and directed the vocals for this track—her first time taking full creative control.
The song’s fierce rock energy reflects hide’s belief in living without compromise. The music video, filmed in Los Angeles, revisits places where hide spent the final months of his life.
With “死亡芭比粉”, CHOR not only honors a music legend but also marks a new chapter in her own artistic evolution—blending dreamy textures with bold emotion, and carving a unique space in Hong Kong’s indie music scene.
