John Lim shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning John, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Something that was out of left field happened back in March 2025. Two stray kittens appeared on the property where I work, which is in the middle of a busy commercial area. I started feeding them occasionally and took it upon myself to learn more about stray and feral cats; particularly, the problems of overpopulation. I was able to capture them and get them spayed and neutered (unfortunately, I could not capture their mom who left). After I let them go, I thought they would leave but they stuck around and by fall, they really got used to me and turned out to be very friendly and social. As winter approached, I knew I couldn’t just leave them there (as I’m sharing this, we just came off the biggest snowstorm in over a decade) and with a lot of trucks parked in the back lot, it was a dangerous environment for them. Unfortunately, I could not take them myself but thankfully, a friend of mine who works from home and is very experienced with cats was able and willing to adopt them. I started training them to get comfortable going into carriers, using them as feeding stations like pop-up cafes. By the time December rolled around, I was able to safely capture them, and take them home for a few days as the weather got really bad. I was shocked at how quickly they took to being indoors. I concluded that they weren’t feral or strays but something else altogether. I think we need to come up with a new word for house cats that happen to be born outside. My friend came a few days later to pick them up and they’re now living their best lives. This was definitely not on my 2025 bingo card but I’m glad to have had this experience; to take these two extraordinary kittens out of a harsh life and find them a forever home.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is John Lim and I like to say I’m an expert in “career wanderlust.” I’ve done everything from practice law to consulting for a Fortune 500 company to serving as general counsel for a biotech startup. For a time, I was also an actor for film and television. I’ve written several books, been a narrator for several audiobooks, and hosted a podcast that has streamed throughout the US and in 100 countries; recently ending a 10-year run with over 500 episodes. Currently, I’m heavily involved in my dad’s retail business, helping him steer it into the 21st century. Notably, we were one of the first small businesses to successfully use Poshmark as an e-commerce channel. I’ve also helped him create ancillary income streams with his store, including some very creative real estate applications such as leasing out short term parking spaces for several big rig trucks. My other big passion project has been decluttering, something I started almost three years ago. While not exactly a hoarder, I’ve been a “professional packrat” throughout most of my life. I decided to make a big change in July 2023 by assessing and purging things I no longer need or want. One way I’ve done this is through e-commerce and selling items online. I’ve taken my experiences with Poshmark and applied those learnings to sell hidden treasures I’ve recently rediscovered, including vintage toys, electronics, and books on eBay and PangoBooks. Recently, I became a PangoBooks ambassador, and in 2025, I achieved top rated seller status on eBay after less than a year on the platform. One through line in my career is that I like to share my experiences and pass on what I’ve learned, including the good and bad, so others can benefit. I’ve done this through my podcast and several of the books I’ve written. I also teach classes for Johns Hopkins University through their Odyssey and Osher programs on topics like writing and self-publishing, decluttering your home, and getting started with e-commerce. I like to take my goals, my life experiences and convert them into helpful teaching tools. Since then, I’ve helped students become successful first-time authors, launch podcasts, declutter their home, and start side businesses selling online.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
As a kid, I believed that life was very much an A to B path: you go to school, maybe more school, enter a profession, and stay in that career until retirement. However, my life has been anything but linear. While college, law school, and business school gave me a lot of skills and tools, I’ve had to stumble my way through a lot of the things I’ve done recently by teaching myself or learning from others, and by making lots of mistakes along the way! I was recently joking with a former law school classmate that we didn’t have a class on trapping and neutering stray cats. My time in front of a camera for film and TV did more for my public speaking skills than any course I’ve taken on communications. In recent years, I’ve developed new skills that hardly resemble anything I’ve done in my past careers, including doing voiceover for audiobooks, setting up systems to manage monthly invoices and e-billing for truck parking, and marketing old Transformers and Star Wars toys from the 1980s. While I’m grateful for my education and the foundation it gave me, what I’m doing now, and any successes I’ve had with it, has come from not being afraid to try new and different things.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
There are two. I was in a great relationship and head over heels in love when I was 27. We had an argument right before Christmas and instead of trying to work things out, I broke up with her. At the time, I was very stubborn and focused on my career. I was also admittedly immature and naïve when it came to matters of the heart. Two years ago, I reached out and we got to reminisce and make peace with the past. We both realized how silly that argument was, and we each took ownership for the way we handled things back then. She’s now happily married with several beautiful children and has built up an extremely successful career. I’m genuinely happy for her. However, I can’t help but sometimes experience a “Charles Dickens” moment when I reflect on what might have been had I made a different choice. There’s a saying “do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy?” It’s only now that I’m finally starting to understand what that really means.
Several years after, I lost my mom, unexpectedly and suddenly. That was the biggest pain I’ve ever experienced, and a day doesn’t go by that I don’t think of her or relive a fond memory. The next few years following were the worst in my life. I was a mess for a long time: directionless, angry, sad, and bitter. Healing only came with time, reflection, making peace with God, and enacting changes in the way I approach life and what’s important.
Since then, I’ve done my best to learn more about myself, to live each day as best as I can, and to be more forgiving and understanding to others (and to myself). Finally, I’m just doing my best to keep moving forward even when it feels like I’m jogging through molasses wearing heavy boots.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
Fully decluttering and purging things that no longer serve a purpose should be done as soon as possible and thoughtfully rather than in one fell swoop. I’m not a minimalist, though I can understand the allure, but I’ve come to learn that acquiring more things doesn’t really make me happy. If anything, it’s been a source of stress! Now that I’m three years into my decluttering journey, the biggest takeaway I have is that “I wish I had done this much sooner.” Given the number of retirees and people ready to downsize who take my classes, the biggest piece of advice I can share to make your life easier and to alleviate stress is to start now. The hard truth is that most of the stuff you’re saving you’re never going to revisit and no one else is really going want to inherit it down the road.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
Certain things you want to do in your life won’t fit into the neat timeline you set for yourself, and others become much harder to achieve the longer you put them off. While it’s never too late to try something new, with certain things, the longer you wait, the smaller the window. Whatever lights you up; be it a hobby, goal, aspiration, business venture, that book you plan to write “one day” or starting a life with someone you’re head over heels for, don’t put it off because time marches on and you’re not guaranteed a tomorrow. Take a chance and go for it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bemovingforward.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisisjohnlim/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhlim
- Other: 1) TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/6WFE6MCx74E?si=k7SaGYRnTdTWmqxG
2) Podcast (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/show/5WVl8A0UWJhJFq7Eh7PXBe?si=UJ_OoytVSpCBSsyrDZemAw&nd=1&dlsi=40a6988bc6414044
Image Credits
© 2026 by John Lim. All rights reserved.
