Tell us about where you work and what you do there.
I’m on a mission to give merchandisers superpowers as Searchspring’s Head of APAC. Recruited as our first boots on the ground in the region, we have just celebrated an exciting milestone of having 100 clients that place their trust in us to power their website search, merchandising, and personalized recommendations.
Over the past 12 months, we’ve been busy growing our footprint, strengthening relationships with our awesome network of partners (like Yotpo) and building out our small but mighty team.
I could not be more thrilled to work with such incredible and ambitious eCommerce brands that are passionate about delivering best-in-class shopping experiences for their shoppers.
How would you describe yourself?
I’m someone that thrives on a challenge. Starting up a region from scratch is not for the faint-hearted. I spend my days wearing multiple hats and rapidly adapting to changing priorities as we’ve fast-tracked our growth at pace. My fierce resilience is my superpower allowing me to dig into challenges and figure out winning solutions for our customers, team, and network of partners. I find it incredibly rewarding overcoming hurdles to achieve outstanding results.
A strong sense of adventure — I love to catch up with the legends that make up the eCommerce industry at conferences and networking events, and share a few laughs with a champagne or two at the bar.
Outside of work life, I demonstrate my resilience and drive as a champion fundraiser and advocate for Cure Cancer Australia. Completing several memorable adventures (including the Kokoda Trail, Mount Kilimanjaro, the New York Marathon and the “Everest Version” of Mount Kosciuszko) to personally raise over $100,000 for this cause as a 10-year cancer survivor.
I’m also totally obsessed with my darling King Charles Cavalier who likes to come to meetings and join video calls on the regular.
Innovation is at the heart of advancements in eCommerce. Do you have any thoughts or advice around maintaining an innovative edge?
In an industry that is constantly evolving, I love to be a sponge and constantly learn. I love to understand what emerging and ambitious eCommerce brands are doing and understand the data that powers their decision making. It may be joked that I will attend the opening of an envelope but I truly enjoy the amazing eCommerce community and sign up for as many events and webinars as possible so we can continue to innovate and deliver best of breed technology, matched with best-in-class service for our merchants.
What do you think has been your biggest professional success so far?
I like to throw myself into things at 1 million miles an hour. This has led to me being recognized as 2018 CEO Magazines Young Exec of the Year (back when I was still considered young) and listed in CMO’s Top 50 two years running. These were super proud moments to recognize a lot of hard work, perseverance, and having a results-focussed approach to work and leadership. A good chance to reflect and be proud of building a career in tech as a strong and determined female leader.
However, my proudest moment would now need to be this last year (2021). Building out Searchspring’s presence in APAC from relatively unknown to having 100 leading and emerging eCommerce merchants put their trust in us has been incredibly rewarding. So whilst it wasn’t always smooth sailing, and required a whole lot of grit and hustle, it was well worth it to smash our goal out of the ballpark. It’s exciting to think of the foundations put in place to continue to take Searchspring to the next level in 2022 and beyond. We are just getting started.
What goals do you have for 2022?
I’m incredibly excited to be building out our small but mighty team in the region. I love seeing talent grow, and achieve personal bests in their careers. I’m excited by the opportunity we have over the next 12 months and beyond, and looking forward to sharing that with some emerging stars of the ecommerce ecosystem.
Not content with taking the easy road, we are looking to double our footprint in the region again. So that should keep me busy for a minute or two 🙂
What do you think is the next big trend in eCommerce?
“Experience” will become the new “brand” in 2022. We will see creating personalized shopping experiences be the key investment priority for merchants looking to turn browsers into shoppers and shoppers into lifelong fans. Whilst not new, the investment and unique outcomes will likely evolve to another level. I’m excited to see the brands that really set themselves apart through personalization.
Name an eCommerce brand you admire and why.
The Oodie (and associated brands), a fascinating story of product innovation and scale. I’m excited to see the pace of their continued global expansion.
What do you geek out over?
Website reviews! I absolutely love reviewing opportunities for optimization on eCommerce sites. It’s changed my shopping experience forever as I am constantly getting sidetracked looking at how their search, merchandising and personalized recommendations can be improved. Feel free to reach out if you’d like me to complete a review of your site.
