Looking at the confident, charismatic and jovial Donovan today, you wouldn’t be able to guess he was once a sickly and angsty teen with poor self-esteem. Diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse (MVP), a congenital heart palpitation condition, as well as a blood-in-urine disorder when he was a child, the business development director was a frustrated 15-year-old. His parents were also going through a separation and he felt unmotivated to achieve anything in life. Fortunately, his grandmother moved in to take care of him and helped him overcome his inferiority complex and low self-esteem. “She taught me to love and care for myself; but to always put others before me,” he remembers.
“I started going to the gym when I was 20 and turned my frustrations into something positive.” It was then that he realised that a “healthy mind begins with a healthy body”. Donovan would set simple goals in the gym, slowly gaining confidence as he achieved his targets. “It might seem frivolous to others, but to a once sickly person like me, every little achievement counts.” To date, he has been training for 15 years, and it has served him well in keeping his body fit and healthy.
These little steps taken in the gym would later translate to other successes in life. Donovan started his own fashion business at aged 18 with the design skills he taught himself. He later sold off this successful enterprise when he had to enlist. Upon completing his national service, a sense of adventure spurred him to become a flight steward where he fulfilled his desire to see the world, all the while saving enough money to pursue a business degree.
When he discovered an interest in media arts and acting in 1997, Donovan entered the then-TCS Fame Awards, emerging as a finalist. While he has continued to feed his passion with freelance acting and modelling work, Donovan today runs his own business providing sales, communication and leadership training. “I believe that the journey of life is more important than the destination itself,” he professes. “Every day is about learning something new and constantly improving myself in body, mind and spirit.”
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