The Innovate for Growth Podcast

In this episode, I talked to Marie Kretz Di Meglio, Founder & CEO of Uplifters who is on a mission to help domestic workers take better care of their finances and mental wellbeing during their stay in Hong Kong. Marie shared more about why well educated Filipinos are coming to Hong Kong to work as domestic workers and their common challenges, how she leverages innovation like Facebook chatbots to grow her online education community and scaling the positive impact of the Uplifters platform by keeping their student groups small and led by alumni community leaders .

Have you ever wondered about the business of children’s character brands like Disney, Sanrio and Line Friends? As somebody who used to work in the children’s industry and have always loved the idea of creating my own character IP since childhood (probably because in Asia we have a huge obsession with merchandises like Hello Kitty schoolbags, Mickey Mouse stationery etc), I was delighted to chat with Alexis Bautista, Founder of Kokonuzz Media Group and creator of numerous international children’s character brands and TV shows. In this episode, we talked about how he has been able to build a successful licensing…Continue ReadingEp 018: “The keys to growing an international children’s media brand – licensing and innovation” with Alexis Bautista, Founder & CEO of Kokonuzz Media Group

Regina Larko was my very first guest when I first started podcasting (with a live audience no less!), so I was delighted to do this follow up interview with her and find out more about what she’s been up to with Hashtag Impact since. Regina has built a successful business around podcasting, using her platform to spotlight change makers and leaders of charities and NGOs in Hong Kong to help their voices get heard. In this episode, we talked about what makes a good podcaster, launching her own online course and membership to build a sustainable business around podcasting, and…Continue ReadingEp 017: “Growing an impactful business through Podcasting” with Regina Larko, Founder, Host & Producer at #Impact Podcast

In this episode, I talked to Kat Lai, Founder of DK Aromatherapy, one of the first aromatherapy businesses that started in Hong Kong. Kat has taken an incredibly diverse approach when it comes to growing her brand empire, ranging from innovation product development, personalised aromatherapy workshops for corporates to aromatherapy x personal development afternoon tea experience. She also shares some practical tips on how to use essential oil to keep your immunity system boosted during the pandemic seasons.

Coming up in Season 2 of The Innovate for Growth Podcast – we have some incredible guests lined up including an aromatherapy brand empire builder, Children’s character brand & TV show creator, a pioneer in personalised yoga and many more incredible purpose driven entrepreneurs and creators sharing their entrepreneurial journeys and practical tips on thriving through Covid-19. Here is a sneak preview!

In this episode I’m delighted to chat with Natalie Chan, Founder & CEO of OWN Academy and one of the most inspiring education innovators in Hong Kong. OWN Academy bridges classrooms and the real world by giving secondary school students practical industry experience with companies like New York Times and Cartoon Network, helping them to discover their unique talents and career path. Natalie will be sharing more about their programmes and industry partnerships, the challenges and future for OWN Academy, and her experience and insights from Davos. What we talked about:  Natalie’s career journey going from corporate to becoming a…Continue ReadingEp015: “Redefining the future of education” with Natalie Chan, Founder & CEO of OWN Academy

In this episode, I talked to Tom Grundy, Founder and Editor in Chief of Hong Kong Free Press, the only crowd funded English news media organisation in Hong Kong. We’re going to chat about what led him to start HKFP, how it’s been able to sustain itself as a non-profit news organisation with a growing presence in Hong Kong, and his thoughts on innovation and technologies when it comes to journalism. What we talked about: Tom’s inspiration behind starting HKFP and his entrepreneurship journey from being an English teacher and popular Hong Kong culture blogger who started ‘Hong Wrong’ blog…Continue ReadingEp 014: “How Press Freedom Concerns Led To The Very First Crowd Funded News Organisation in HK” with Tom Grundy, Hong Kong Free Press

In this episode, I was delighted to have the opportunity to chat to Helen McEachern, CEO of Cherie Blair Foundation for Women who just happened to be stopping by Hong Kong. As a charity dedicated to economic empowerment of women in developing countries through supporting women entrepreneurship, Helen will be sharing more about the challenges of gender discrimination that leads to financial exclusion for women, why entrepreneurship is a necessity rather than privilege in developing countries, and her work in ensuring that women entrepreneurs have the skills required to build successful businesses through connecting them with mentors from around the…Continue ReadingEp 013: “Empowering Women Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries” with Helen McEachern, CEO of Cherie Blair Foundation for Women

In this episode, I talked to Jeff Rotmeyer, an extraordinary school teacher turned social entrepreneur who started two NGOs on the same day. Jeff is the Founder & CEO of ImpactHK, an NGO that is tackling the homeless issue in Hong Kong, and Love 21 Foundation, a charity working with the Down’s syndrome and Autistic community in sport and nutrition. He shares with me more about his motivation and challenges of running two NGOs, the system they’ve developed to get the homeless off the streets, and how sports and art play a big part in holistically supporting their communities. What…Continue ReadingEp 012: “Solving Social Issues through Kindness” with Jeff Rotmeyer, ImpactHK & Love 21 Foundation

In this episode I’m pleased to have the chance to explore the world of news and media tech, an industry that has gone through rapid transformation over the last 10 years. I got to find out more about the innovation that’s been happening in the media business with Malcolm Ong, Head of Product at South China Morning Post. Malcolm has an incredible background having been a successful tech entrepreneur himself as a co-founder of e-learning startup Skillshare. We had a very interesting conversation about SCMP’s digital transformation, the role of Artificial Intelligence in the newsroom, their latest experiments innovating with…Continue ReadingEp 011: “From Print to Digital First – Transformation and Innovation in the world of News Media” with Malcolm Ong, South China Morning Post