Tag: Empowered Women in Agency

Claudia Low, the regional creative content director of digital marketing agency Lion & Lion, is one of the winners of ‘Empowered Women in Agency’. The recognition initiative, Empowered Women Awards 2023, is MARKETECH APAC’s inaugural effort in recognising outstanding female leaders in the industry. 

Claudia has been with Lion & Lion for a little over 6 years. She started with the Southeast Asia-focused company as regional head of creative content, and only recently in 2022, moved up positions to be its regional creative content director. Prior to this, Claudia has molded her creative prowess, sinking her teeth in a wide range of roles that include experience in content, editorial and digital marketing.

Being the sole female regional director of creative content 

As a region-wide agency, Lion & Lion’s leadership structure births a number of counterparts in service of different markets. Within the creative directorial role, Claudia stands as the only female leader. 

The unique set-up of her position alone makes her an empowered woman, representing the female strength of the creative force. In the year 2022, Claudia’s exceptional leadership and guidance have played a pivotal role in securing Lion & Lion’s most significant business wins to date. Her contributions have been instrumental in securing accounts such as Mars Petcare (Pedigree, Cesar, Temptations & Pedigree Pro) for Singapore, and Mars Cool Air and Seek Asia in Indonesia. She has also contributed to several wins in Malaysia, including BigPay, Guardian, SunQuick and AIA. Claudia’s expertise and guidance to the team have also been critical in securing and maintaining major retainer accounts on a regional and global level, such as Emborg, Kellogg’s and KODAK Lens.

In the campaign level, meanwhile, Claudia’s creative direction gave way for the development of award-winning campaigns. These included Raya Ni Saya Rindu campaign and the Chopsticks of Roaring Fortune Chinese New Year film for 2022. More notably, Claudia lends a pivotal contribution in the special film to launch the agency’s film & content studio.

Shaping Lion & Lion’s agency branding and communications strategy

As a digital outfit that polishes entities’ branding, the same is also a challenge to the agency itself which has already undergone a number of business pivots, hence changes in the agency’s communications.

Claudia has been instrumental in structuring Lion & Lion’s agency branding and communications strategy. When it was acquired by Septeni in 2016, she aided the agency’s rebranding effort, and in 2022, she took over the communications department to create the MarComms team, overseeing all regional markets.

As a result of driving the agency’s branding initiatives, Lion & Lion’s branding flourished in 2022, with the main social platform of the agency, LinkedIn, surpassing its target of 30,000, and increasing the number of lead-generating posts to 100+, double the number from 2021, resulting in 55,000 impressions.

Embodying new-era leadership 

Claudia strives to be a new-era leader by being a true visionary, exercising a perfect blend of expertise, creativity, and heart. Despite being the only female creative lead at Lion & Lion, Claudia has proven herself to be an exceptional leader, commanding respect and admiration from her colleagues and clients alike. 

Regional Chief Creative Officer of Lion & Lion, Cheelip Ong, describes Claudia as a person who strikes a delicate balance between sure-footed assertiveness and bringing a fresh breath of air in boardroom conversations, making her a true force to be reckoned with.

Claudia keeps a consistent eye on how content is moving in the new era. She believes that content is evolving beyond just words and is now including moving visuals, gamification and AI. As the digital landscape evolves, the creative leader is constantly exploring how these areas can drive content in brave new ways, and is now mentoring her teams on how to take advantage of these evolving technologies. 

“True empowerment comes when every individual is given the space to fully realise and express themselves, without fear or hesitation. There shouldn’t be a limit to what we can accomplish,” remarked Claudia. 

Aside from Claudia, check out who else made it to Empowered Women Awards 2023 Winners’ list. 

Syahriza Badron, the general manager of FCB SHOUT, has been named as one of the winners of ‘Empowered Women in Agency’ category at MARKETECH APAC’s inaugural recognition initiative for women leaders in the industry, Empowered Women Awards 2023.

Badron’s journey to the top leadership at the agency started off with her joining as an account director in 2014 and then climbing to the role of head of business development in 2020. She then ended 2020 with a promotion to general manager, where she is responsible for driving the agency’s exponential growth.

Spearheading agency success through active networking and leadership

When the industry thinks of a certain agency, more often than not, they associate easily with those who founded it and have been in the agency for the longest. But few know other influential figures behind the agency, who have been instrumental in pushing the company towards success in the industry.

This was the case for Badron, often referred to as the “other S” in FCB Shout. Whilst founders Shaun and Shi Ping concentrate on bolstering FCB Shout’s reputation, Badron is committed to taking the agency to new heights of success.

Such drive was exemplified by her desire to never rest on the agency’s current achievement and instead reach much higher levels. For her,  relying solely on the existing client roster is insufficient to achieve the agency’s ambitious goals. Amidst uncertainty in the advertising world, she spearheaded efforts to acquire new clients.

She further added that with acquiring clients now likened to a competitive battlefield, she knows that providing excellent work is only a part of the equation and that it is crucial to deliver solutions tailored to meet her client’s business and financial needs to win pitches.

This has then resulted in a massive win for the agency in 2022, where she led the team in securing business wins from clients such as Sunlife, Casio, Amway, Sacoor Blue, DKSH, Mr DIY, Allianz, AIG, and Pepsi, amongst others. Moreover, the agency–under her leadership–has won several industry awards as well as expanding its workforce and improving employee compensation and benefits.

In summary, her leadership has been nothing short of exceptional, as demonstrated by the agency’s stellar reputation, impressive business performance, and strong company culture, making it one of the most respected creative agencies in Malaysia.

People before profit: The guiding principle of true leadership

Despite all of these business wins and positive news, Badron still believes in the principle of ‘people before profit’ in her leadership. This is why under her leadership, she focuses as well on offering a range of incentives and benefits to talents in the agency.

With this in mind, the agency managed to reduce staff turnover by 22% and received a 97.5% confidence rating in FCB SHOUT’s future from the annual staff happiness survey.

Moreover, she has built both a career and a reputation as a fierce leader, which has been exemplified by her successes in leading clients to achieve their business goals through the development and implementation of effective communications strategies during her tenures at international and local boutique agencies.

“You’re going to encounter people who straight-up say “no” to your face. Keep pushing forward, keep hustling and keep believing in yourself and eventually, those “nos” will turn into “yeses”, she said.

Advocacy for the industry through engagements

Badron remains committed to promoting the advertising industry exemplified by her active involvement in various industry events and initiatives, including speaking engagements, and thought leadership publications. 

She also hosted a content marketing workshop, which saw 150 regional marketers in attendance, as well as providing valuable insights on brands tapping into the ‘Hijrah movement’ or the travel of Muslims to the holy city of Mecca for pilgrimage, and how brands are responding to these new type of conservative consumers.

Check out who else made it to Empowered Women Awards 2023 Winners’ list.

Masayu Difa, client director at Lion & Lion Indonesia, has been named as one of the ‘Empowered Women in Agency’ at MARKETECH APAC’s Empowered Women Awards 2023. The awarding exercise is an inaugural effort by the digital media to recognise the outstanding women marketing leaders in the industry. 

Masayu began her journey with Lion & Lion in Indonesia as its client lead in 2019. After 2 years in the position, she was elevated to become the agency’s associate client director, and in 2022, inaugurated in her present role as client director. 

The force behind L’Oreal’s highly engaging digital presence 

Since acquiring the digital marketing business of global beauty brand L’Oreal in Indonesia, digital agency Lion & Lion has been making waves in establishing and expanding its social media presence in the market. One of the leaders behind its success is Masayu Difa. 

Masayu led the team in expanding the L’Oreal brand portfolio in Indonesia where from Maybelline solely operating in the market in 2019, it has been widened to add three more in 2021 – L’Oreal Paris, Garnier, and NYX. Add to this, one of the marketing leader’s major accomplishments was securing La Roche Posay, L’Oréal’s science-forward skincare brand, as a client the year after. 

Masayu’s strategic marketing foresight and creative expertise enabled her to drive the team in successfully launching Maybelline New York’s and Garnier’s TikTok accounts, as well as L’Oreal Paris’ new social media presence. Her effective leadership resulted in Maybelline achieving the impressive milestone of 1 million followers six months ahead of schedule, along with an impressive 11.4 million likes. Garnier also made significant progress, garnering 465k followers and 5.5 million likes in just seven months.

A Biology graduate making her way to the creative world

Masayu’s roots are as interesting as it gets. With a successful career in the marketing world, no one would have known, right off the bat, that her area of focus back in college is Biology. But by following her genuine passion for advertising and marketing, she was able to propel herself to milestones within the field that eventually got her to where she is now. 

Fresh out of college in 2010, Masayu didn’t wait a sec and immediately sank her teeth in account management in the creative industry. Her original academic background didn’t stop her from braving some of the most high-impact teams, and in turn, made her secure a seat in well-renowned agencies such as Geometry Global, McCann Worldgroup, and Grey Group.

She has been able to excel in the area through hard work and dedication, and her commitment to continuous learning and growth is what enabled her to attain her current success in Lion & Lion as one of its respected and notable leaders. 

A leader who isn’t afraid to ‘get dirt’ on her hands 

According to Masayu’s team, she is a leader that has a bias for action – both in managing herself and in leading her team. She banks on the practical approach, where she’s truly hands-on and leads her team by example. 

In the words of John Campbell-Bruce, the regional managing director of Lion & Lion, “she is the person who gets in there, and gets things done, and she would never ask her team to do something that [she] herself would not do.” Masayu leads with a sense of purpose and direction, inspiring her team to perform at their best and achieve their goals.

One of the key qualities admirable in her is her ability to set clear expectations and empower her members to grow and develop. The team can vouch for Masayu that she fosters a culture of openness and transparency, where the team feels comfortable sharing their ideas and feedback, leading to increased collaboration and innovation.

Masayu reminds, “Be yourself, without worrying about judgement. Your authentic self is one of the most valuable assets you can offer to your work, in addition to your expertise and skill sets.”

Aside from Masayu, check out who else made it to Empowered Women Awards 2023 Winners’ list.

Jiravara Virayavardhana, the chief executive of Ogilvy Thailand, bags an award to be one of MARKETECH APAC’s ‘Empowered Women in Agency’. The recognition initiative, Empowered Women Awards 2023, is an inaugural effort to honour empowered women leaders in the industry.

The Ogilvy veteran started her journey with the firm when she joined the team in Thailand in 1995. From there on, she has been elevated to various senior positions such as being the managing director of Ogilvy Public Relations for 8 years and managing director of Ogilvy Thailand since January 2016. It was in November 2022 that when she was inducted into the chief executive position.

Creating campaigns that bring ‘real impact for real life’

In 2022, economic conditions in Thailand brought a mix of challenges to businesses, and advertising firms such as Ogilvy Thailand, were let off the hook. In order to cushion its businesses with brands, the agency went the route of ‘creating real impact for real life’. 

As the company’s chief executive, Jiravara led her team into adopting said practice of delivering meaningful impact through creative force, and these were manifested in three areas – people, planet, and performance. 

The company’s growth strategy for 2022 is to regenerate growth by making real impact on creativity, operations, talent, clients, and new business. As a true empowered woman, several campaigns that brought positive influence to society were crafted under Jiravara’s watch. 

One would be the campaign for the Miss Universe ‘Force for Good’ crown which marked a new era of the Miss Universe brand that continued to support diverse women to realize their ambitions. Amongst other campaigns under her leadership is the Culture to Commerce campaign for Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) which championed a new form of sustainable virtual tourism. 

The four features that Jiravara swears her leadership by 

Not everyone can say that they have grown to be veterans in their fields via an enduring tenure. Jiravara’s loyalty to Ogilvy has shaped a leadership that’s unique and holistic to the renowned advertising network. 

Her approach to leading a team can be described in four aspects – being a cheerleader, a firefighter, a conductor, and a psychiatrist. To be a good leader, Jiravara believes that one must consistently be at the frontline in rallying one’s team to success. Meanwhile, when real challenges arise, a leader must suit up with a firefighter stance. Firefighters don’t fear the blazing fire in front of them and makes sure everyone is safe under one’s command.

Next, Jiravara as a leader is also a good conductor. At work, everyone must work in harmony, and as a conductor, she knows how to bring the best in each player. Finally, Jiravara says it is important for a leader to also act like a helpful psychiatrist – someone who’s sensitive and empathetic enough to perceive when one’s team is being challenged mentally and physically in their wellness.  

“The great power doesn’t come from muscles. The heart gives us all strengths,” she said.

Working hard as an industry ally

Jiravara’s passion for the creative craft goes beyond the Ogilvy bounds. As a true ally, she has been invited to notable industry conventions and even regulatory councils to represent the industry and create meaningful impact. 

She was once invited to represent female leadership in the agency field at Global Summit of Women 2022, the high-profile convention of leading women from around the world. In it, she imparted her valuable experiences in transforming traditional PR to performance PR. 

Jiravara had also been part of the Superbrand Thailand Council. Together with this group, she was tasked with the elusive mission of seizing and creating new opportunities in business in a more sustainable way as Superbrand is committed to creating impact not just for their own performance but for the people and the planet.

The marketing leader comments, “No matter who you are, just let your heart powerfully conquer what you want to achieve.”

Aside from Jiravara, check out who else made it to Empowered Women Awards 2023 Winners’ list.

Simone Tam, the Group & Creative CEO of Dentsu in Hong Kong, clinches an award to be one of MARKETECH APAC’s ‘Empowered Women in Agency’. The recognition initiative, Empowered Women Awards 2023, is an inaugural effort to honour empowered women leaders in the industry. 

Simone is an advertising and marketing veteran, having started her journey in agencies way back in the 90’s. Her creative expertise is nothing short of commendable as she sharpened her agency prowess with some of the most respectable firms. Her early career saw her serving in FCB and then the DDB Group. She spent a number of years at mcgarrybowen before finally landing her current position at Dentsu Hong Kong.

Distilling 13 creative outfits into an integrated division of 6

From the period of 2012 to 2019, Dentsu, the renowned global advertising agency network, began an aggressive growth journey where it made more than 200 acquisitions, twice the trajectory in the market. Whilst the group was continuously acquiring new talents, it became a compilation of many different companies working in silos. For Hong Kong, this meant 13 individual agencies.

The said agencies all had different management teams with 13 P&Ls, all operating without any relationship to one another. Enter Simone in the picture. In 2021, her focused leadership as one of the CEOs of the 13 units quickly escalated when she was tapped to be the Group CEO of the entire Hong Kong division. 

The year 2021 saw Simone driving the network’s transformation agenda and restructuring the organisation into six agencies; most importantly, she created a single leadership team and one P&L across the group of 6 agencies. In 2022, for the first time ever, Dentsu Hong Kong was ready to operate as one integrated agency group.

Operationalising a growth strategy – one that’s sustainable 

There’s growth, then there’s sustainable growth. The former is less elusive given the right mindset of a team, but the latter – much more challenging to achieve with the incredible need for strategic foresight. With Simone’s impressive leadership direction and approach, she’s built a team structure for Dentsu Hong Kong that is thriving and sustainable. 

She knows that in order for talents and clients to be well taken care of, value must be afforded from the inside. Just like with any great culture, the building blocks are effective practices — and this is exactly where she drew her influence from.

To breathe life into the ‘one dentsu’ vision, Simone leveraged town halls, sharing sessions, and workshops in order to create excitement for employees for the said company maxim. In addition, she scheduled bi-weekly one-on-one sessions with all 14 direct reports to share leadership wisdom and ensure alignment with management. 

Ultimately, she fortified this unity in leadership and shaped a high-performing culture by introducing the ‘Care to do Better’ motto to the entire organization This eventually turned into practice that awarded teams and individuals who championed their ‘Care to do better’ attitude.

Empowering the industry as a true advertising ally 

Simone’s passion and expertise for advertising transcends her drive to perform excellently in one entity, but to contribute to the betterment and evolution of the entire industry.

For the past six years, she sat on City University’s Advisory Committee for the Graduates Program to provide career guidance and design internship programs for undergraduates. As a guest lecturer at HKU Business School, she taught in its MBA class on creative effectiveness.

More notably, because of her belief in the power of the industry to create meaningful influence and change society, together with her creative partner, she led a 100% pro-bono project that produced a game helping autistic children build social & problem-solving skills.

With insights gathered from autism advocates, parents, therapists, and educators, the project ‘Critical Core’ enabled players to develop and adopt a magical character and work through a series of encounters with teammates whilst role-playing the adopted persona.

She commented, “I believe every industry, every leader needs to work on women empowerment until glass ceiling is no longer a term we use.”

Aside from Simone, check out who else made it to Empowered Women Awards 2023 Winners’ list.

Geetha Boyani, the head of performance at 2Stallions Digital Marketing Agency, is one of the winners at MARKETECH APAC’s ‘Empowered Women in Agency’. The recognition initiative under the ‘Empowered Women Awards 2023’, is an inaugural effort to honour empowered women leaders in the industry.

Interestingly, Boyani didn’t necessarily start out her career in marketing, as she initially had a background in civil engineering. She then made the conscious decision to go into marketing to blend her interest in finance, data and project management, eventually finding her way to 2Stallions in 2018 and getting promoted to her current role in 2022.

Establishing a strong performance marketing team through new development and strategy adaptation

When she first held the position of head of performance for the agency back in 2022, Geetha was put in charge of establishing a strong performance marketing team with brand new members and integrating the existing SEO specialists into a holistic marketing strategy that benefited not only them but their clients as well.

To make this possible, she spent time actively headhunting the right people – reaching out to potential candidates and bringing them on board. Moreover, she needed to develop as well new standard operating procedures (SOPs) and adapt existing workflow structures to be more efficient and effective in response to the changing requirements of both internal and client project demands.

To that end, Geetha set about establishing clear guidelines and methodologies to allow for smooth working standards. Many of the SOPs she has implemented over the last 12 months have been adopted by other department heads in the agency. It has since then seen the growth of several long-term projects of 2Stallion under her supervision.

How her workflow-oriented leadership has helped agency productivity and efficiency

Despite her previous experience in civil engineering, Geetha has exemplified her strength to be able to see what really matters – whether she’s looking at a landing page or a proposed strategy. And this has been the driving force of her leadership under a marketing agency.

It is noted by her colleagues that rather than dictating to others, she lays out her reasoning and opens their eyes to the rationale behind doing something one way or the other. 

Moreover, her patience, understanding and skilful advice are not only highly valued by her team but also by her peers within the agency, who often come to her for insight or help – especially when it comes to the organisation, collation and interpretation of data.

Leading the way while keeping feet on the ground

Despite all of her great work, Boyani is described as keeping her feet always on the ground. This was best exemplified at the time when she was first approached about this nomination. Her initial reaction was to recommend another team member for nomination instead, showing her compassion for others and putting others ahead of herself.

She leads the way in this industry because of her ability to deliver amazing results for her projects and her skill at training and guiding her team. Not only is she making an impact for the clients and for 2Stallions – she’s helping create the future leadership of the digital marketing sector.

Moreover, she has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with directors and CEOs in this industry and has often been the only woman among them. She has never backed down and she’s never let her gender be used against her. Even before joining the digital marketing industry, the construction industry where Geetha started out was a male-dominated sector. 

As she says herself: “Sitting in a room filled with men is nothing new for me.”

Geetha also adds, “Diverse perspectives lead to better decision-making and ultimately drive innovation in the workplace. Women empowerment is just a step towards bringing those unique perspectives to where they matter the most.”

Aside from Boyani, check out who else made it to Empowered Women Awards 2023 Winners’ list.

Amelia Peng, the business director for Malaysia at Lion & Lion, is one of the winners under MARKETECH APAC’s ‘Empowered Women in Agency’. The recognition initiative, ‘Empowered Women Awards 2023’, is an inaugural effort to honour empowered women leaders in the industry.

Peng has a wide range of leadership experiences revolving around strategic communications and marketing. She started off with roles in agencies such as JWT Malaysia, Naga DDB, and Leo Burnett. She then took the role of head of marketing at online book store BookXcess before shifting to Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution for a senior role in strategic communications. Prior to her current role at Lion & Lion, she was a client service director for GrowthOps.

Blending exceptional leadership and business forward-thinking skills to achieve agency success

As a market leader with a wide experience in strategic leadership, Peng shows a trifecta of an effective leader: exceptional leadership, management and business development skills. With this, Lion & Lion has viewed her as an invaluable asset to the agency and pushed them towards new business heights.

Under her leadership, she has helped her team secure and diversify offerings for current retainer clients as well including AIA, and integration of Lion & Lion’s range of services which included diversification of the service portfolio and increased value delivered to clients.

Moreover, she has been vital in renewing accounts for its clients Tropicana and Kellogg’s, all thanks to her maintaining strong relationships with clients. She has also pursued big clients such as Red Bull, leading to successful pitches and later on, positively impacting company revenue.

As the business director, and market leader for the Malaysian team, Amelia has made an indelible mark on Lion & Lion in 2022. Her contributions are remarkable, as she has led and expanded the client servicing team for the Malaysian market, paving the way for growth.

Strong and intelligent, yet emphatic and compassionate: the true definition of a leader

Peng’s leadership style is deeply rooted in her belief that leading with empathy and compassion, combined with strength and intelligence, is key to driving a team towards success.

As described by her colleagues, she was able to create a work environment that empowered people to do well while setting clear standards. Moreover, she was also instrumental in bridging the gap between departments, something that is often challenging in agencies, especially with creatives.

Other colleagues note that Amelia strikes a balance of hard and soft skills, which influences the team to achieve that balance as well, even in tough situations. She encourages critical thinking and pushes boundaries to think of new possibilities, opportunities, and solutions on the spot, confidently and with no hesitation.

She believes that using your heart to lead with compassion and your head for strength and intelligence is key to effective leadership. She strives to create a work environment where everyone feels empowered and supported, encouraging the team to think outside the box and challenge the status quo.

How to make leadership more far-reaching and inclusive

While many individuals focus on their personal achievements, Amelia’s impact is far-reaching, as she has dedicated her time to producing the next generation of compassionate and capable account servicing professionals. Through her leadership, she has encouraged her team to speak out with confidence, to make mistakes, and to grow. Her emphasis on treating all individuals with respect has helped to create a work environment that promotes equality and encourages team members to support one another.

In terms of advocacy, she supports a wide range of interests including animal welfare, environmental sustainability, as well as mental health.

Meanwhile, in terms of empowerment, she is a firm believer that everyone has a voice. However, she understands that some people may be too scared or intimidated to make their opinions heard – especially females. That is why it is important to her that she takes extra steps to empower her team to be vocal and have their voices heard.

“Never put a limit to what you can achieve. Never allow someone else to determine your worth. Go above & beyond, believe in yourself as a person, unbounded by gender,” she said.

In short, Peng is a true inspiration for many – she has achieved remarkable success in her

career and is a loving mother of two children and one furkid. She is a strong advocate for gender equality and believes that both men and women should be given equal opportunities and respect.

You can check out other winners of the Empowered Women Awards 2023 aside from Peng.

Mikaela Crimmins, the head of strategy and experience at Orchard, has been named as one of the winners of the ‘Empowered Women in Agency’ category at MARKETECH APAC’s inaugural recognition initiative for women leaders in the industry, Empowered Women Awards 2023.

Crimmins has been with Orchard for over four years, starting off as a digital strategist in 2013 before leaving the agency for a stint at Ogilvy from 2016 to 2019. She then returned to Orchard as planning director and was elevated to her current role on February 2021.

Propelling agency growth through forward-thinking leadership

For Crimmins, as a strategic leader, she is responsible to push the agency to meet greater success and achieve greater results. This was first put into action when she developed a new proposition called ‘the home of connected experiences’. The new proposition, made alongside Orchard’s senior leadership team, highlights the agency’s capability to connect customers with a full range of experiences and passions, positioning the agency for success in the future.

With the proposition being the driving force for the agency, she doubled down on the agency’s need for data and experience design through new hires and products to achieve this.

This resulted in new business growth through winning new clients such as Epson, Johnson & Johnson Eyecare, Clear Skincare, Beyond Bank, amongst others. Moreover, she was also vital in leading some of the agency’s transformational projects, which included launching Hyundai Worldwide’s first e-commerce direct-to-consumer service and launching an app for Tourism Tasmania.

In addition, Crimmins is a strong advocate for courageous thinking and values individuals who bring unique perspectives to the table. She is also committed to fostering a culture of inclusivity and creativity, empowering her team to succeed by giving them a platform to showcase their talents.

She also co-created the agency initiative ‘No Guts, No Glory’, which blends passion with purpose –designed to leverage creative thinking to solve real-world health problems.

How a dynamic leader leads through fearlessness and tenacity

When asked about what makes her strategic leadership work, Crimmins notes that she adheres to four key qualities: bravery, grit, inclusivity, and realism. For her, bravery and grit help inspire her team to keep moving forward, while inclusive and realistic attitudes help create a work environment where everyone is valued and encouraged to contribute.

In her current role at Orchard, she has developed an experience-led proposition, built the strategy and experience team from 5-15 people within 3 years, and transformed the agency into a digital powerhouse.

Her various experiences at past agencies had also helped her to strategise and communicate with teams in a compelling way and then ensure that it can be practically implemented.

Developing the rise of female talent and leaders through advocacy

For Crimmins, she has always believed that sharing knowledge is an essential skill of a team leader, particularly in an industry where there aren’t many opportunities for professional development. For her, sharing knowledge is a way for people to gain new insights, learn from experience and develop new skills.

She also stressed that the industry has an absence of female voices in the strategy area of the industry. As such, this has been an area that Mikaela has actively sought to address through industry (external) and agency (internal) initiatives.

“We (women) are a fearless bunch who not only blaze trails, but also support each other. Imagine the impact we could have at the executive level with that kind of spirit,” she said.

Crimmins also added that for too long, women who have caregiving responsibilities have found it difficult to progress into senior roles in our industry, finding it difficult to work traditional hours, making the industry‘s proposition unattractive to working mothers. And so, she wants to keep this incredible talent in the industry through creating flexible working conditions so that these women can continue with their careers while meeting their family obligations.

Check out who else made it to Empowered Women Awards 2023 Winners’ list.