Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Ladder of Life (“Ladder of Life,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a Singapore-based consulting firm operating across three pillars: Business Consultancy (Firefight and Next Floor engagements), Targeted Workshops (including Salesmanship and Interview Mastery, delivered to organisations and individuals), and 1:1 Advisory (Founder Room, Life Room, and The Closer). This policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect personal information across all three pillars.

By accessing our website, submitting an enquiry, attending a workshop, or engaging us in any consulting or advisory capacity, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with any part of this policy, please do not use our services.

This policy applies to all interactions with Ladder of Life, including but not limited to: enquiries, scheduling and discovery conversations, the Blind Spot Assessment and any other diagnostic tools, workshops and seminars (in-person or virtual), Business Consultancy engagements, 1:1 Advisory engagements, and The Closer (deal negotiation and pitching support).

Where a separate written engagement agreement is executed for a specific project, the terms of that agreement prevail over this document to the extent of any inconsistency for that engagement.

Your information is used solely for legitimate purposes directly related to our services:

• Service delivery: To scope, schedule, prepare for, and deliver Consultancy engagements, Workshops, Advisory sessions, and Closer mandates.
• Personalisation: To tailor our methodology, frameworks, and recommendations to your specific circumstances.
• Communication: To correspond with you about appointments, deliverables, follow-up notes, session summaries, invoicing, and service-related updates.
• Payment processing: To process fees and reimbursable expenses securely through our authorised payment provider.
• Service improvement: To analyse anonymised, aggregated data to refine our methodology and overall service quality.
• Legal and regulatory compliance: To comply with applicable laws, regulations, tax obligations, and legal processes.

We will never: sell, rent, lease, or trade your personal information to any third party for marketing or commercial purposes. Your data is not a product — it is a trust.

We process your personal data under the following legal bases:

• Contractual necessity: Processing required to perform our services as agreed between us.
• Legitimate interests: Processing necessary for our legitimate business interests (such as improving our services, maintaining security, and managing our practice), provided these interests do not override your rights.
• Consent: Where you have given explicit consent for specific uses (for example, receiving occasional updates). You may withdraw consent at any time.
• Legal obligation: Where processing is required by applicable law.

Confidentiality is not a feature of our service — it is the foundation. The nature of our work across all three pillars requires a level of trust and discretion that goes beyond standard practice.

In the course of Consultancy, organisational Workshop, and Closer engagements, you may share with us information about third parties — including employees, customers, counterparties, partners, or other individuals connected to your business.

By providing such information to us, you represent and warrant that:

• You have the legal right and authority to share that information with us for the purposes of the engagement.
• You have provided any notices and obtained any consents required under applicable data protection laws (including, where relevant, Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act).
• The information is accurate to the best of your knowledge and is being shared for a legitimate purpose related to the engagement.

We will use such third-party information solely to deliver the engagement, will treat it with the same confidentiality protections as your own data, and will not retain it longer than reasonably necessary. You agree to indemnify us in respect of any third-party claim arising from your failure to comply with this section, on the terms set out in Section 27.

We share your personal information only in the following limited circumstances:

• Payment processors: We use trusted third-party payment providers (such as Stripe) to securely process transactions. These providers have their own privacy policies and are PCI-DSS compliant.
• Hosting and infrastructure: Our website and back-office systems run on platforms that may process data on our behalf, subject to data processing agreements.
• Communication and productivity tools: We use email, messaging, video-conferencing, and document tools selected for their security and privacy standards.
• Approved subcontractors and associates: Where consultants, advisors, or specialists engaged by Ladder of Life support delivery of your engagement (see Section 24), they are bound by equivalent confidentiality obligations.
• Legal requirements: Where disclosure is required by law, regulation, or court order.

We do not share, sell, or provide your personal information to advertisers, data brokers, social media platforms, or any other commercial third parties.

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected:

• Active engagement: For the duration of your relationship with us, plus a reasonable period for follow-up and continuity.
• Session and engagement notes: Retained for up to 24 months after the end of the engagement, unless you request earlier deletion.
• Consultancy and Closer working files: Retained for up to 24 months after the engagement closes, except where retention is required to defend a potential legal claim.
• Financial and contractual records: Retained for the minimum period required by applicable tax, accounting, and corporate regulations (typically 5–7 years in Singapore).
• Website analytics: Anonymised data may be retained indefinitely for aggregate analysis.
• Assessment results: Retained for 12 months after completion, or until you request deletion.

Upon expiry of the retention period, or upon your request (subject to legal retention obligations), personal data will be securely deleted or anonymised.

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information, including:

• Encryption in transit (TLS/SSL) and at rest for sensitive data.
• Access controls ensuring only authorised personnel can access client data.
• Regular security reviews and updates to our systems and processes.
• Secure, password-protected systems for engagement notes and client records.
• Payment processing handled exclusively by PCI-DSS compliant third-party providers.

While we take every reasonable precaution, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security but are committed to maintaining a high standard of data protection appropriate to the nature of the information held.

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience:

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure: Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Right to restrict processing: Request that we limit how we use your data.
• Right to data portability: Request your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
• Right to object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Right to withdraw consent: Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 35. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

Ladder of Life is based in Singapore. If you are accessing our services from outside Singapore, your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in Singapore or other jurisdictions where our service providers operate.

Where transfers occur, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including standard contractual clauses, data processing agreements, or reliance on the recipient's participation in recognised data protection frameworks.

Our services are not directed at individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected data from a person under 18, we will take steps to delete it promptly. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or for other operational reasons. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page will be revised accordingly.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of our services after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. For material changes, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you directly.

By accessing or using Ladder of Life's website, attending a workshop, scheduling a session, or engaging our consulting or advisory services in any capacity, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service (“Terms”). These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any individual written engagement agreement, constitute the entire agreement between you and Ladder of Life regarding your use of our services.

Where a separate signed engagement agreement, statement of work, or proposal is in place for a specific project, that document governs the commercial and operational specifics of that engagement and prevails over these Terms to the extent of any inconsistency for that engagement.

If you do not agree with any part of these Terms, please do not use our services.

Ladder of Life is a consulting firm operating across three pillars:

• I — Business Consultancy (Firefight and Next Floor): diagnostic, strategic, and operational consulting for SMEs, founders, and leadership teams.
• II — Targeted Workshops (including Salesmanship and Interview Mastery): structured intensives delivered to organisations and individuals, typically 3 hours in length.
• III — 1:1 Advisory (Founder Room, Life Room, and The Closer): senior advisory engagements, including, where engaged, hands-on negotiation or pitching support.

Our services are advisory and consultative in nature. Specifically:

• We are not licensed therapists, psychologists, counsellors, or medical professionals.
• We are not licensed financial advisors, lawyers, accountants, tax advisors, regulated investment professionals, or licensed insurance intermediaries.
• Our work does not constitute therapy, legal counsel, financial, tax, investment, insurance, or medical advice.
• We provide strategic perspective, structured frameworks, analytical thinking, commercial judgement, and execution support applied to business and personal challenges.

Clients are encouraged to engage appropriately licensed professionals for matters requiring regulated professional expertise, and to obtain independent legal, financial, and tax advice before acting on any recommendation arising from our engagements.

Our services are available to individuals who are at least 18 years of age and have the legal capacity to enter into binding agreements, and to organisations duly incorporated and authorised to engage external advisors. By engaging our services, you represent and warrant that you meet these requirements and, where engaging on behalf of an organisation, that you are duly authorised to bind that organisation to these Terms and any engagement agreement.

The Closer is a consulting and execution-support service. It is not a brokerage, agency, financial intermediary, or licensed advisory service. To avoid any ambiguity:

• No authority to bind: Unless expressly granted in a written mandate signed by you, Ladder of Life has no authority to enter into, sign, vary, settle, waive, or terminate any contract, agreement, or commitment on your behalf, or to make any binding representation to a counterparty.
• Final decisions remain with you: All commercial decisions — including price, terms, acceptance, rejection, and walk-away points — remain solely with you. Our role is to advise, structure, prepare materials, conduct or support negotiations or pitches, and recommend a course of action.
• Counterparty conduct: We do not control, and are not responsible for, the conduct, performance, solvency, or representations of any counterparty.
• Independent advice: You are responsible for obtaining independent legal, tax, financial, and regulatory advice before entering into any deal or commitment that arises from a Closer engagement. Ladder of Life does not provide such advice.
• No outcome guarantee: The Closer is not a guarantee that any deal will be won, signed, closed, or completed on any particular terms. See Section 25 (No Guarantee of Outcome).
• Success fees, where applicable: Where a success fee is agreed, it is earned solely on the terms set out in the written mandate. The existence of a success fee does not alter the limits set out above and does not create any agency, partnership, or fiduciary relationship between us.

• Workshops: Fees are payable as set out in the engagement proposal or registration confirmation, typically in full and in advance of the workshop date.
• Consultancy: Fees are billed as specified in the engagement proposal or statement of work — typically a deposit on signing and the balance against agreed milestones, monthly progress, or completion. Reimbursable expenses (where agreed) are billed at cost.
• 1:1 Advisory: Fees are billed as specified in your individual engagement agreement (per session, per cycle, or as a retainer).
• The Closer: Fees may comprise a fixed engagement fee, a success fee, reimbursable expenses, or a combination, all as set out in the written mandate.
• Refunds: Fees are non-refundable once a session, workshop, or milestone has been confirmed or delivered, except at the sole discretion of Ladder of Life or as expressly provided in your engagement agreement.
• Currency and taxes: All fees are quoted in Singapore Dollars (SGD) unless otherwise stated and are exclusive of any applicable taxes (including GST), which are payable in addition where chargeable.
• Late payment: Invoices are due on the date stated. We reserve the right to suspend services on overdue invoices and to charge reasonable late-payment interest in line with Singapore market practice.
• Fee adjustments: We reserve the right to adjust fees at any time. Confirmed engagements will be honoured at the agreed rate for their current term.

All bookings, engagements, and fees are non-cancellable and non-refundable once confirmed. By confirming a booking or executing an engagement agreement, you commit to the full scope and fees agreed, regardless of whether you ultimately attend the session, utilise the deliverables, or proceed with implementation.

By engaging our services, you agree to:

• Provide honest, accurate, and reasonably complete information relevant to the engagement.
• Engage in good faith with the consulting process, frameworks, and recommendations provided.
• Respect scheduled session times and the no-cancellation and rescheduling policies in Section 21.
• Maintain the confidentiality of proprietary frameworks, tools, materials, and recommendations shared during sessions.
• Refrain from recording sessions (audio, video, screen capture, or otherwise) without prior written consent.
• Comply with all applicable laws and regulations in implementing or acting on any recommendation arising from an engagement.
• Where you share third-party information with us, comply with the warranties set out in Section 6.

Ladder of Life serves multiple clients across overlapping industries and may, from time to time, be approached by parties with potentially adverse interests — including, in the context of The Closer, counterparties to a deal you are pursuing.

• We will not knowingly act for two clients on opposite sides of the same live transaction.
• Where we identify a material conflict of interest in relation to your engagement, we will disclose it to you promptly and, where appropriate, decline or withdraw from the conflicting matter.
• You agree to inform us of any actual or potential conflict you become aware of in relation to our engagement.
• The fact that we have advised, or may in future advise, other clients in the same industry or on similar matters does not, of itself, constitute a conflict of interest.

Engagements may be delivered by Ladder of Life's consultants, advisors, and approved associates, including subcontractors with relevant specialist expertise. Where this is the case:

• Ladder of Life remains your sole point of contractual responsibility for the engagement.
• All such individuals are bound by confidentiality obligations no less protective than those set out in Section 5.
• We will inform you of the principal individuals working on your engagement.

Ladder of Life provides guidance, perspective, structured frameworks, and strategic and execution support — not guarantees.

Every client's circumstances are unique, and outcomes depend on a wide range of factors beyond our control — including your effort, decisions, internal execution, market conditions, regulatory changes, counterparty conduct, interpersonal dynamics, and follow-through.

Our work is designed to give you clarity, structure, and better decision-making tools. However, we make no promises, representations, or warranties — express or implied — regarding specific outcomes, deal closure, revenue, profit, return on investment, hiring outcomes, or any other commercial or personal result.

By engaging with our services, you acknowledge and accept this.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Ladder of Life, its principals, consultants, employees, agents, associates, and affiliates shall not be held liable for any losses, damages, costs, expenses, or claims — whether direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive, or otherwise — that arise during, after, or in connection with the use of our services.

This includes, without limitation, any losses or damages that flow from:

• Decisions made, actions taken, or opportunities pursued (or not pursued) as a result of, stemming from, or in any way connected to guidance, perspectives, frameworks, deliverables, recommendations, or conversations provided during our engagements.
• Any reliance placed on information, opinions, recommendations, drafts, or materials shared during our engagements.
• The conduct, performance, solvency, or representations of any counterparty in a Closer or Consultancy engagement.
• Loss of income, revenue, profits, business, contracts, deals, opportunities, data, goodwill, or anticipated savings.
• Emotional distress, reputational harm, or any non-economic damages.

Engagement with Ladder of Life is voluntary and undertaken at your own discretion and risk. By using our services, you accept full responsibility for any outcomes that may follow.

Aggregate cap. In any event, our total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising from or related to a given engagement (whether in contract, tort, statute, or otherwise) shall not exceed the total fees actually paid by you to Ladder of Life under that engagement in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

Carve-outs. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, including liability for fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, or death or personal injury caused by negligence.

Time bar. Any claim against Ladder of Life arising out of or in connection with an engagement must be brought within twelve (12) months of the date on which you first became aware (or should reasonably have become aware) of the circumstances giving rise to the claim, failing which the claim is irrevocably waived to the extent permitted by law.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Ladder of Life, its principals, consultants, employees, associates, and agents from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to:

• Your use of, or access to, our services.
• Your violation of these Terms or any applicable engagement agreement.
• Your violation of the rights of any third party (including under data protection, confidentiality, or intellectual-property laws).
• Any actions taken or decisions made by you, or by any party on your behalf, based on or in connection with our engagements.
• Any inaccuracy in information you have provided, or any breach of the warranties in Section 6 (Client-Provided Third-Party Data).

• Neither party may record (audio, video, or screen capture) any session or working call without the prior written consent of the other party.
• Ladder of Life may take written notes during engagements solely for the purpose of service continuity and quality. These notes are covered by our confidentiality commitments.
• Session summaries, deliverables, and follow-up notes provided to you are for your own internal use, subject to the intellectual property provisions in Section 28.

Ladder of Life shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performing our obligations where such failure or delay arises from circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to: natural disasters, pandemics, epidemics, government actions, civil unrest, war, sanctions, internet, power, or telecommunications failures, cyber-attacks, or other acts of God. We will use reasonable efforts to resume performance as soon as practicable.

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Singapore. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms or our services shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Singapore. Either party may, before commencing court proceedings, propose mediation under a recognised Singapore mediation framework as a good-faith first step.

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect. The invalid provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable while preserving its original intent.

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any individual engagement agreement, statement of work, mandate, or proposal, constitute the entire agreement between you and Ladder of Life regarding your use of our services. They supersede all prior agreements, understandings, representations, and warranties, whether written or oral. No variation of these Terms is effective unless agreed in writing by both parties.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, these Terms of Service, or our data practices, please contact us through our enquiry form.

We take every enquiry seriously and will respond within a reasonable timeframe.