Farewell to 2022: The Year of Finding My Purpose

Happy New Year, everyone!

I can’t quite believe that 2022 has come and gone, and I hope 2023 is treating you well in its first few days.

It was quite a rollercoaster year for me, with so many crazy things happening. Amid this chaos, the heartaches and the joys, I found my purpose. It is perhaps one of the best gifts last year has given me.

To properly close this memorable year, I reminisce on the things that unfolded. And, oh my, so much has happened.

I started 2022 to get fitter and stronger with a friendly fitness challenge. Even though I lost the challenge to my best friend, who finished earlier, I lost 10 kilos in 4 months and regained my discipline and drive to train again and be more consistent in intermittent fasting.

Although maintaining a training routine while travelling for work may have made me gain a couple of kilos back, I feel stronger and healthier than I did when the year began.

Speaking of travelling, I did so much of it last year! 

After the pandemic lockdowns, I was back on the road. Well, quite a lot of it – 20% of my time during the year’s second half was packed with travel – 70 days of moving around (primarily for work).

I got to visit: Kuala Lumpur in May, Bali and Jakarta in June, London and Greece in July, Kuala Lumpur again in August, Manila in September, London, Paris, Geneva, and LA (whew!) in October and back again in Jakarta in November and ended the year in Manila for our christmas-year end party.

It felt wonderful to see the different members of our team in different corners of the world and to meet each other again in the flesh. Especially as our team doubled to 132 talents around the region last year, there really is nothing like face-to-face interactions; being around people is so essential.

Aside from travels, I was also given many opportunities to share my experience and expertise.

I got to speak for the Glints ExpertClass last February about the “Magic of Data in Storytelling” with our Head of Search & Innovation and my good friend Ayie Austria. The Drum and the The Content Marketing Association opened doors for me to share my thought leadership articles. I contributed monthly articles such as “The Future of Content Marketing is Shoppable Content” and “How to Own the Room and Be a Better Leader”. I hope these contributions reach out and help more professionals.

A definite highlight for me is to be named Mentor of the Year by Campaign Asia-Pacific in June, and Women Leading Change of the Year finalist; I was so happy that I learned about it during our first leaders’ retreat in Bali. It felt wonderful to be surrounded by supportive colleagues. I am humbled and grateful to be in a position to help lift others and push them to reach their peak performance. Special thanks to everyone who wrote beautiful testimonials of how I have touched their lives.

I was also very fortunate to be part of so many milestones for Green Park Content last year, among them launching the Greenpark for Good initiative in March to create meaningful connections that would impact people’s lives, increasing commitment to give back to the community and create a social impact amongst the organisation, employees, and the community.

We are honoured to be given the opportunity to partner with the The United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS) to discuss some of the issues affecting women worldwide. And to promote Women’s Economic Empowerment as an anchor towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 5, Gender Equality. We developed impactful campaigns through a compelling and creative narrative. In October, I was hosted by Ruby Lambert, Santiago Fernandez de Cordoba and Rupal Verma at the UN in Geneva – Thank you.

We also saw memorable wins–among the memorable ones are bagging the Digital Content & Social Media Agency of Maxicon (a snack brand under PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk) in Indonesia and Globe Group (Telecom) Creative Agency for postpaid business in the Philippines.

Also proud to have Perfect Day (a food tech company) as a new account; launching Coolhaus Ice-cream and VeryDairy Milk – Asia’s first Animal Free Dairy in Singapore. Thank you for your confidence in us AC Sangalang.

Our efforts were recognised as we were shortlisted for four social media categories for MARKETING-INTERACTIVE Hashtag Awards. Thank you John Caro, for your continued trust in our team to manage RELX International regionally. All these made it an exciting year for us in Greenpark, and we capped it with a fantastic Grammy-themed Awards night. Celebrating with everyone was a definite highlight!

And finally, I came full circle by ending 2022 with a long-distance run. I started with a fitness goal and finished strong (my personal best) at the Standard Chartered Marathon in December.

It fills me with so much pride to reflect on last year–so much happened. And with that, I also saw myself growing and learning more.

Among my best lessons learned last year? The importance of people.

I had the profound realisation that when someone enters your life, it is not by accident; they are sent to you for a reason. They may be there to help you go through tough times and accomplish your purpose. Some are there to bring out the best in you, but some are there to test you and teach you a valuable lesson.

I am so blessed to have met and crossed paths with so many new people that have now become acquaintances, colleagues, and good friends, and every one of them can be considered my teacher. Through my encounters with people, I understood very clearly, why I am here.

It all came into focus when I won Mentor of the Year: I was meant to do this. I am here to shine a light on others and help empower others to become future leaders. I realised that it is not just about how well I do; it’s about how my performance can impact others to become better. I welcome the challenge of leading by example and sharing my struggles so that others can learn from them.

In 2022, people formed a very significant part of my journey. I owe part of the year’s milestones to the extraordinary talents of my team. To the heads of my team, know that I count myself fortunate to have you–your dedication and passion are incredible, and I will always be here to support you.

One person, in particular, Marcelo Bittencourt, my partner and best friend: all this would not be possible if we didn’t meet four and a half years ago. You have been an incredible teacher, and our time in 2022 taught me so much. Thank you for helping me realise my purpose of being a mentor. I will fulfil this role to coach and empower others as I enter a new chapter as Deputy Managing Director, APAC. 

To everyone I have crossed paths with this year, thank you for the lessons and insights in this eye-opening year. Last but not the least, thank you, Sven Lung, for your continued trust in me to lead. I will hold these learnings close to me as 2023 unfolds – and will continue to learn, unlearn and relearn to be a better leader.