Commerce graduate carving a niche in digital news.
What did you study at Murdoch? What do you do now?
I studied a Bachelor of Commerce in Malaysia. Happily married to my work now. I co-founded and am the CEO of INFLUASIA. INFLUASIA is an award-winning digital media group and influencer agency that operates a network of Malaysia's leading news sites. I used to perform every task and assumed every departmental role in the company, but now, to put it simply, I work to ensure every task is done right.
What do you think is Murdoch’s point of difference compared with other universities?
The kindness and helpfulness of everyone at Murdoch. I was able to get help with my studies easily (having a close-knit study group) and also with more leisurely errands. Group projects were also a pleasant experience where everyone contributed. I used to stay in the dorm and everyone was really nice and welcoming. Sometimes they even cooked dinner for me unconditionally. Life was great!
What drew you to working in the digital media sector?
Mostly for the first-hand dibs to exclusive invites to events and parties, PR drops, free passes, and movie premiere screenings. I’m kidding! I was very much into digital marketing before dabbling into this business in all my previous roles. I also did a lot of freelancing in web development and providing digital services on platforms like Fiverr.
My co-founder, Michelle, and I have always liked discussing business ideas, bouncing them around, and debating over their feasibility. We eventually talked about online media and saw a gap in our market when it comes to delivering news to younger adults. We realized that modern society is moving at a much faster pace and attention spans are very limited.
We wanted to create a platform that delivers news and information in an easily consumable way, one that is still able to entertain, engage and inform the public. Also, news via traditional means such as newspapers isn't immediate with a next-day delay, and smaller matters don't usually get covered. One of our intentions is to give a voice to the public who may have shared their experience socially, but did not garner wide enough attention for the public to be aware.
An exciting part of being in the digital media industry for us is to also be able to work alongside clients creatively, provide value through our services, and seeing the success of their marketing campaigns.
What have been some of the big changes in your line of work given the COVID-19 pandemic?
We've moved our entire company to work from home. We had to strategize and adopt new ways of reaching out to clients and setting meetings as everyone else is also working from home during the pandemic. Communication flow and workflows had to be adjusted to ensure efficiency and effectiveness while everyone is working remotely. Continuous attention and care needs to be in place to ensure everyone stays productive and no one is feeling left out, or distant from working in isolation.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?
If you don't do it yourself, no one else is going to do it for you. Alternatively, a quote that I have always liked - If you can see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hand.
Who inspires you?
Not particularly anyone. I find inspiration whenever brilliance is present in anyone from their work, demeanour, traits, or skills which I could look up to and learn from. If a name is needed, then I'd go for Elon Musk for being able to break the barriers of what's seemingly impossible.
