Today, we celebrate International Women’s Day, and I am celebrating my fourth anniversary at Airwallex. This year’s theme of “Embrace Equity” really resonates with me on a personal level as I reflect on my journey at Airwallex.

Throughout my time here, I have felt empowered and supported and have been provided with the ideal platform and resources to grow professionally and contribute meaningfully to the company’s exponential growth. I am excited to share my story.

My early career experiences and interest in fintech led me to Airwallex

I started my career with the Economic Development Board (EDB), a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. It was a privileged position that gave me broad exposure to the workings of the government and the public sector in Singapore and the trust to manage relationships with senior executives of some of the largest multinational corporations operating here in the region.

While at the EDB, I was heavily involved in initiatives and discussions to grow the tech sector in Singapore and felt drawn to being a part of the industry itself. That led me to App Annie, which has now been rebranded to data.ai, a Silicon Valley-based company that was the industry leader in mobile app intelligence and analytics. There I led strategic partnerships for Asia Pacific, forming product partnerships with app publishers and other players in the mobile ecosystem.

The world of tech is fascinating, and the pace of startups to innovate and thrive is exhilarating. I know that this was ultimately where I wanted to be. But personally, I have always been curious about payments and financial services innovation. It’s something that touches on almost every aspect of our lives. Serendipitously, I came across Airwallex and was drawn to its mission to create a global payments and financial platform for modern businesses.

Also Read: This year, International Women’s Day calls for the tech startup ecosystem to look within

Airwallex was still in its early days at that time. It had just obtained its status as the fastest-grown unicorn in Australia but had a limited presence outside of Australia, including in Singapore. I was torn between joining a fast-growing, relatively young company versus a more established organisation where I could learn the ropes and get my feet wet in the industry.

What it boiled down to was the growth opportunity I saw in each business. The bigger firms preferred someone with relevant experience, whereas Airwallex embraced diversity and welcomed the fresh perspectives I brought. Instead of focusing on my past experience, they hired me with the mindset that I could grow along with them.

So, as much as I sometimes say I took a chance on Airwallex, in many ways, Airwallex took a chance on me.

I began my career in payments and never looked back

I officially joined Airwallex in early 2019 as a Strategic Partnerships Manager. There wasn’t a lot of us back then, so we all ended up wearing many hats to support the business. I took care of all types of partnerships in APAC at the time – from managing our relationship with financial institutions like banks and schemes to working with other tech players in the ecosystem on product integration and commercial and marketing opportunities.

We explored various partnership models, tested out pitches, were quick to pivot when things didn’t work out, and I recall making many, many cold calls. It was an incredibly rewarding first year for me – we secured our partnership with two global banks, launched our first Cards product with Visa, and hosted our first partnerships event with Shopify in Shenzhen, which attracted over 800 attendees.

At the start of 2020, I was promoted to Director of Financial Partnerships and refocused on building a dedicated team to manage our growing network of financial institution partners.

Also Read: Keep learning and building relationships during funding winter: Richard Yan of Airwallex

By the end of 2022, I became the Head of Financial Partnerships for APAC, working closely with our Product and Leadership teams to set out our mid-to-long-term roadmap and strategic direction for the company. As a part of the regional leadership team, I also support the growth and operations of our Singapore office.

Growing from strength to strength with Airwallex

It has been exactly four years since I joined Airwallex, and I am now the longest-serving employee in Singapore. During this time, I saw us grow from a newly minted unicorn to being valued at US$5.5 billion today.

My employee ID is number 200, and today, we have over 1,300 employees globally across 19 locations. We moved from a co-working space where we started to our first office on Market Street and, more recently, to our new home at Guoco Tower.

I have also grown personally from someone with little knowledge or experience in the fintech space to being entrusted to build and lead an amazing regional team to grow our financial service offerings for our global customer base. Our team manages some of the most critical partnerships underpinning Airwallex’s global payments infrastructure.

Countless accomplishments so far, with many more to come

Going into my fifth year at Airwallex, I always get asked the same question – why have I stayed as long as I have? Airwallex has given me the opportunity to learn and grow and to help others do the same.

I am still amazed by what we have accomplished together as a team, with people from such diverse backgrounds coming together to work towards the same goal. The learning never stops, and we continue to inspire each other to make a meaningful impact in our work.

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Image credit: Airwallex

The post Breaking barriers: My journey with Airwallex this International Women’s Day appeared first on e27.