Clout Asia

For the past two years, I’ve had the privilege to tell the stories of Australians and their journey to Asia capability. These are unique stories but also lived experiences shared by many Australians. I hope that these stories gave you a glimpse of the diverse fabric of what it means to be Australian, the dynamic region of Asia, and the many different opportunities that building Asia capability can...

Hi everyone, Today’s a bittersweet moment, as Clout Asia comes to an end. For our penultimate episode, I am here with Louise Tran, a strong advocate for Asian-Australian leadership and a leading profile in the food and sustainability sector. Louise is the child of refugee parents, who fled Vietnam in the 70s. Although growing up with privilege and opportunity, it was her parents story that shaped...

In this episode, I am joined by Weh Yeoh, a formidable force contributing to redefining the for-purpose space. Weh is the author of Redundant Charities and co-founder of Australian social enterprise Umbo. The youngest in a family of doctors, surgeons, and pharmacists, Weh’s initial goal was to build an empire of physiotherapy clinics in Australia. When he realised that wasn’t his dream, he moved t...

Welcome back to Season 3 of Clout Asia. For our first episode, I am joined by Penny Burtt, the former CEO of Asialink, Australia’s leading institution for driving Asia engagement and building Asia capability. Born and raised in her early years in Penang, Malaysia, Penny’s calling to Southeast Asia started long before her extensive career across government, not-for-profit and corporate. Penny’s Clo...

For our final episode in Season 2 of Clout Asia, I am joined by Edwin Chu, a Sydneysider who has had a compelling career in the commercial real estate sector across Asia. Edwin started his career in financial services in the middle of the GFC, so in 2009, he decided he would put his career in asset management on hold, and relocate to Shanghai to study Mandarin. Despite not fully mastering the lang...

My guest today is Reggie Ba-Pe III, the founder of creative venture studio AWZA, and one of the great minds behind Shanghai’s nightlife scene in the mid to late-2010s. Reggie is a Burmese-born Australian creative entrepreneur living in Melbourne with an incredible catalogue of entrepreneurial pursuits in Asia. After a spontaneous decision to work in Shanghai as a music producer in 2006, Reggie saw...

My guest today is Wesa Chau, the CEO and founder of Cultural Intelligence and one of the few Asian-Australians who ran as a candidate in the last Victorian state election. When she was 7, Wesa moved to Australia from Hong Kong with her family. Despite growing up in 90s Australia and the pressures to fit in, Wesa liked being different from others. She was proud of her Chinese heritage, and the Chin...

My guest today is Tom Parker, the Commercial Business Advisor at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and the Vice President of the Australia China Business Council in Victoria. Tom’s Asia journey was seeded in his mind when he saw his mum attend night school to study Chinese. Coupled with some rallying words from his Uncle Sharkey gave Tom enough encouragement to pursue studying Chinese in high schoo...

My guest today is Celeste Koravos, a Principal in Decarbonisation & Energy Transition at Xodus, focusing on Japanese investors in Australia and their partnerships with Australian companies to achieve Net Zero. Celeste’s choice to study Japanese in high school led her to gain experience working as a foreign lawyer in Japan, and also to lead one of Australia’s oldest business organis...

My guest today is Kevin Wang, Product Manager at a Ride-hailing Company. Kevin’s Asia journey started in his birthplace Nanjing, where he lived until he moved to Sydney when he was 10. Kevin’s career has spanned across Asia, spanning financial payments platforms, a global digital advertising agency, and now SEA’s largest ride-hailing platform. To me, Kevin’s Clout is having...

My guest today is Natalie Lowe, an Aussie entrepreneur who has built her brand and business in Asia. In 1999, Nat packed her bags with $1,000, bought herself a one-way ticket, and flew to Singapore. 20 years on and she is still in Asia and has built a thriving creative agency business headquartered in Shanghai with her husband. We talk about Nat’s struggles with her identity as a global citi...

My guest today is Andy Curtain, a recovering comedian having spent years touring China and Asia performing in Chinese and English. Andy is currently the APAC Head of Comedy for Asia, at US multinational entertainment company, Live Nation. Andy’s Asia journey started in the same way he ventured into comedy - on a whim. After moving to Shanghai in 2009, Andy built a thriving local comedy commu...

Karan Anand is the Managing Director for Australia at fintech company Hnry. Unlike my other guests, I didn't know much about Karan's background apart from what was on his LinkedIn, but we had a great conversation. Perhaps it was because our journeys were so parallel yet so different. We discuss Karan's experience growing up in Darwin as the only kid with a turban and delve into the inspiration beh...

In our mini bonus episode, Lucy interviews Victoria about her new role at the ANU's Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership (CAAL). Victoria shares insights about her position and highlights some of the exciting projects that CAAL is currently involved in. These projects aim to break the bamboo ceiling and encourage more Asian-Australians to take up leadership roles. More on the Counting for Change...

Victoria Kung is an Australian-born Chinese to Shanghainese and HK parents. At uni, Victoria was one of the few Asians who studied English Lit and Philosophy. Upon graduation, she took a non-linear career path and accepted an offer to study international relations at Tsinghua University. After returning to Australia, she joined the Australia China Business Council and later the School of Asia-Paci...

James Scullin is the Programs Director at Asia Society. James' Asia journey started when his Melbourne school made Mandarin studies compulsory for the first four years of high school. James and I first crossed paths via our China connection. But what intrigued me about his Asia journey was his experience leading guided tours to North Korea, which later inspired him to create a photo book documenti...

Joanna Capon is an Art Historian, Industrial Archaeologist, curator, writer, art consultant, cataloguer, and lecturer. Joanna was born in the UK, and her interest in Asia, specifically China, began when she received the book The Dragon Fish by Pearl S Buck for her 8th birthday. In 1974, Joanna travelled to China for the first time, and since then, visited almost all of its provinces, mostly to vis...

Andrew Nip is a Chinese-Australian born to Shanghainese parents in Hong Kong. Andrew moved to Australia when he was in Year 7 and lived in Sydney until 2012 when he moved to Shanghai with his former employer, Hays. 11 years later, Andrew is still in Shanghai and is now the Director of Talent for LVMH Fashion Group APAC, and the proud father to a 5-year-old son. Professionally, Andrew is passionate...

Friska is Indonesian-Australian and has worked for the biggest names in mining, engineering and technology, leading change programs that have influenced over 20,000 people across 6 continents, transforming organisations to enable them to better respond to the changing environment. Not just a global change management leader, Friska has led by example for women in business and women in leadership, a...

James Oswald is an Aussie in Beijing who has had more careers than he's had farmers union ice coffee. Not only does he have a doctorate in Asian Studies, but he's also a qualified electrician. Jimmy's career has crossed the fields of translation, policy research, and government relations, leading him in taking on the cloud industry in China as Product Manager for AWS We asked Jimmy to take us on h...

Aimee Zheng is the Founder of Oplay, an online community promoting women’s sexual health wellbeing across cultures. Before empowering female communities Aimee was trained as an architect and was involved in a number of residential and commercial architectural design projects in Australasia. We asked Aimee to take us on her journey to Asia capability by nominating a food, song, movie, and per...

Jessica Mudditt is the author of Our Home in Myanmar – Four Years in Yangon,  a memoir that describes her life in Myanmar in the lead-up to the historic general elections of 2015. She worked in Myanmar as a journalist at the state-run newspaper The Myanmar Times, as well as for the British Embassy and the UN. Jessica is also a freelance journalist currently based in Sydney. Her articles have...

Christopher Kong is the founder of Data Hero Network, a company that helps organisations build data capability, identify business use cases and recruitment to find data talent. Chris has a deep understanding of data transformation and understanding consumer behaviour, with 18 years of in-market experience in Australia, Singapore & China, where he held leadership positions at Danone, Nielsen &a...

Natalie Liddiard-Gray is  an educational leader. She has spent the last decade recognizing and developing the talents of a generation of young Shanghainese at the renowned YCIS International School, following earlier stints in Melbourne, Sydney & Guangxi Province, China.     Her journey to Asia capability spans deep friendships with punk rockers in China's Zhuang Autonomous Region through to m...

Frances Goh is an innovation expert, serial entrepreneur and champion of women-led businesses. Frances was born in Melbourne to Chinese-Malaysian parents and retained her hybrid American-Aussie accent after spending a part of her life in the Philippines. Frances has spent her professional life working in mainland China, Kuala Lumpur as well as Hong Kong, and is now the Chief Community Officer at O...