Charlene grew up in an animal research facility where her father worked as a lab technician. There, in the leafy outskirts of Sembawang, Singapore, she made friends with giant moths, thousands of laboratory mice and chimps, and a pair of geese called G1 and G2. This unusual background helped her excel in university, where the Theatre Studies professors rewarded her wild antics by graduating her top of the honours programme. She tried her hand at journalism and then entrepreneurship, before ending up in advertising. Today, she continues to monkey her way around the marketing jungle, crafting campaigns for brands like McDonald's, HSBC, Nikon, Johnson and Johnson and Audi.