Charlene Lim wears many caps. Depending on the day, she could be producing a tour, representing world-renowned ballet stars and musicians or handling media relations as a publicist. Based in Paris, France, she calls herself a cultural broker, and the crux of her mission is to connect artists from various disciplines with audiences around the world.

When Charlene graduated from NUS Theatre Studies in Singapore in the late '90s, she set her sights on joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be a cultural attaché, not realising that the job didn’t even exist at the time. While that didn’t pan out, her career has taken her on a globetrotting journey that even the most seasoned foreign service officer would envy.

Although she applied for a corporate communications role at the National Arts Council (NAC), fate had other plans as she was offered a position in their new international relations department to promote Singaporean arts abroad.

After four years at NAC, she switched lanes and became cultural relations manager at the Australian High Commission where she championed Australian arts in Singapore.

Her deep understanding of cultural diplomacy allowed her to build an extensive international network of artists and presenters—connections that would prove invaluable in the years to come.

Looking to expand her horizons, she moved to the United Kingdom on a two-year Working Holiday Visa, where she joined Akram Khan Company, respected as one of the most innovative dance companies in the world.

Her myriad experiences now finds her in Paris, where she has established Global Arts Link, her one-woman agency which provides consultation, producing, artist representation, and tour production services.

Charlene tells us how she juggles her many roles, as well as why arts workers should bet on themselves and not be limited by geography.