OLIVA LEONG

CEO, Verra Asia Pte Ltd

(In her 50's)

 

 

Her story (as shared by her nominator)

After 20 years of holding leadership positions in the corporate finance world, primarily with Visa, Olivia embarked on an entrepreneurial journey by founding Verra Asia, a boutique go-to-market consultancy firm.  She has built up a thriving organization by attracting some of Singapore's best marketing talent. She has cultivated a culture that empowers her employees while embedding an entrepreneurial spirit. It is a true testament of her drive and ambition to make such a big change from climbing the corporate ladder to building her own ladder.

 

She is an excellent example of not just "talking the talk‚" but also "walking the walk". She is passionate about entrepreneurship and helping other entrepreneurs succeed, as demonstrated by the inception of Verra Asia - which works with several growing startups. Not only is Olivia an entrepreneur, she is also an investor and advisor to other growing businesses, which further exemplifies her commitment towards fostering an entrepreneurial ecosystem.

 

She truly believes in the mission of the organisations she advocates for. With her passion for building great businesses, Olivia will often volunteer to get her hands dirty and get involved, to help a business enter the next stage of success. For example, she is an investor in the fintech company, ipaymy, and is so compelled by their mission that she has also taken on a role of Chief Revenue Officer (while still managing her business at Verra Asia!). This has brought an invaluable resource of thought leadership and networking to the organization. Not only did Olivia leave a successful career path at Visa to take the plunge into entrepreneurship, she also actively shares her experiences and helps other entrepreneurs succeed in their mission.

 

In her own words:

Greatest achievement

After over 20 years as a corporate business leader, in 2018, I founded a Go-To-Marketing consultancy and advisory firm, Verra Asia Pte Ltd, based in Singapore that focuses on helping B2B businesses to develop effective growth strategies for their brands.  Over the last 5 years, we have been supporting business from start-ups, multinationals and global brands by augmenting their marketing strategies and initiatives.  Our clients represent firms in Singapore, UK, USA, India and Middle East. Within the first 3 years, the firm achieved ARR of S$1.6M.

 

The opportunity to provide consult and advisory to business leaders to shape their GTM strategies, and gaining the trust of C-suite executives and their teamsto augment their marketing strategy and plans with impactful contribution to their business objectives and growth has been a purposeful and rewarding experience.

 

Biggest challenge thus far

Confronting the ambiguity and challenges of running a startup after spending over 20 years in a corporate environment was a daunting experience. When I started Verra Asia, I was 47 years old. While I was committed to contributing purposefully in my role as a corporate executive, I was encouraged to step outside my comfort zone, and dared myself to embark on an entrepreneurial journey.  I put my focus on building a purposeful business with the right values that shape our culture, with the determination to attract like-minded, young professionals with a growth mindset that are aligned to bring our values to life everyday.  I am proud of the team at Verra Asia for embracing our values of Value-centricity, Efficacy, Respect, Resourcefulness and Advocacy into our work and people culture, that continues to motivate and energise us over the last 5 years. 

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